Our own private Island, and other pictures

Links in this post are to pictures only.
Just see the pictures, and do none of the reading (for you lazy bums out there).

So yesterday I wrote this really funny post... trust me... you all would have laughed your butts off. But the interweb, being what it is here in Asia, is often a bit sketchy if you're on public lines (instead of designated private lines for business, for example). It's even sketchier when you use crummy old computers in some strange internet cafe. Needless to say, my gem of a posting is now lost to the ages. Anything I post now will simply not be as funny, but you'll have to put up with it somehow.

The crux of the post was about our most recent island visit. To summarize, we first went to Phuket to stay in a luxurious resort with my sister, who not only put us up on our own room with a hot (yes, hot) shower, but also provided us with meals, an excellent pool, free drinks, and I even got to share a vicious jellyfish sting with her! J and I then moved off on our own to the island of Koh Phi Phi, where we ran into Andy and Kelly, some friends we met in Kolkata, India several months ago. They were checking out of the island because it was too much MTV Beach Party and not enough interesting things to do. Plus it was ridiculously expensive. After leaving Phi Phi two days later and heading off to Krabi (where we ran into Andy and Kelly again on the street!), J and I happened upon a tiny section of our travel guide about a pair of nearly-deserted islands, one of which was called Koh Jum (rhymes with "toe jam" said with a phoney-baloney British accent). We booked a boat and a bungalow and off we went in search of the perfect island beach.

Koh Jum is a small island that has only three tiny fishing villages and about 10 bungalow operations, each with around 30 rooms. We stayed in a pretty popular, long-established joint in a super cheap bamboo hut (with a bathroom) for about $7/night. Our hut, which was nestled back in the jungle a bit, was still only about 100 m from the sand, and the place was gorgeous. Although it wasn't fully deserted, we rarely saw anybody outside of meal times and maybe a few on the beach. It wasn't some white-sand, turquoise water beach, but it was our beach. The sands were yellow, the water clear and warm, and there was plenty of shade, which you need because the sun was blazing out there.

The bungalow outfit that we stayed with, like all the others, is pushed back from the sand a few feet in a jungle clearing. A path from the bungalow leads across the island to the town, if you want to see it or have something besided bungalow food. Basically, we did nothing for four days, and being on Koh Jum is the most relaxing thing we've done since we started our trip over five months ago. For four days, we spent our time napping, reading, sunning, swimming, chasing/observing the different kinds of crabs on the beach, and eating pizza. Yes, pizza was the best food served at our bungalow, and it was worth it!

Now, I should point out that our bungalow was an old bamboo structure built on a raised platform, but still, we saw lots of bugs and critters. We had a mosquito net, which helped, and some anti-mosquito incense to help, but that didn't help keep out the moths and geckos and skinks, or the wasps that wanted to build a nest in our (cold) shower or the two frogs that liked to hang out under our sink or the (elusive) rat that kept eating our provisions or the huge monitor lizard looking thing and who knows what else. BUT, our bungalow operation also had luxury rooms, too, so before you write off going to Koh Jum, think again. For 30 bucks a night, you get a concrete bungalow, with real windows, a raised bed, a hot shower, sunset and ocean views, fans, lights, and all on an island that almost nobody goes to! Seriously, if you need a break from work or whatever and only have a week off, don't go to Phuket or Phi Phi or Lanta or Hawaii. Go to Koh Jum while it's still cheap and relaxing. The place is nearly perfect!

Now we're in Ao Nang, back on the mainland of Thailand. Tomorrow we have to go to Malaysia for a day to renew our Thai visas, but we'll be back in Ao Nang at night. The following day, the 26th of Jan., we're taking a bus up to Khao Sok national park, before flying up to the hill/mountain town of Chiang Mai on 30 Jan. Till next time, enjoy these pics from Phi Phi, Krabi, and Koh Jum!

-Mike