Kho Muk is a great island to kick back and chill out. Being here for 4 nights has proved a good move. Initially I thought it would be too long on a small island and Crispy would get fractious. She soon gets bored. As I said it is a tiny island with only one bricked road and that only crosses the south of the island between Muk pier and Charlie beach. The remainder of the island is a national park and there aren't even any trails through the jungle to speak of. As such it is perfect to just go with the flow and chill. Because of this there has been no adventuring of any merit today.
This morning we lay in bed till 9.30 before taking a motorcycle taxi to Charlie beach. There are No cars at all on the island. Nothing other than the scooter and side car combos. They are used for everything from moving furniture to picking the kids up from the longtails on the school run (the school is on the mainland). I really want one back in blighty. I'll have a look when we get back. You never know there could be a business opportunity there.
Kho Muk was a small fisherman's island before the advent of tourism. At present it only caters for independent travellers as there are no large hotels or resorts. The main "town" is small and consists of two narrow single track roads with 4 small restaurants, one bar and 2 supermarkets. The supermarkets are so small that they wouldn't even qualify as a corner shop in the UK. We deduced it would be impossible to do the monthly "big shop" there. They are a tad smaller than Asda or the local Co-op.
It still feels very local here and we love it. I was worried that everywhere would be a disappointment after the paradise that was Kho Ngai but this place feels fresh and young and vibrant whilst maintaing the island feel.
The only beaches that are accessible are the Pier beach and Charlie beach. Charlie beach is the busiest but has crystal clear waters and a small collection of food stalls to provide everything you could need. The only drawback, if it is a drawback, is that it is western facing and as such is there is not much shade after midday. To make up for this there is a nice little reef at it's northern end for snorkeling. Nothing like Kho Kradan yesterday but enough to keep it interesting.
Another massive plus for me is that the only monkey here live deep within the virgin jungle of the interior. Perfect, as you can leave your things on the beach without risk of a simian assault.
We lounged on the beach, swam in the sea, snorkelled on the reef and generally chilled out for the full day. In two days time we move even further south to Kho Libong so we are going to make the most of this amazing place and just crash till it's time to move on once more.
It's Crispy's Birthday tomorrow and there is not a lot I can organise here for her celebration. I hope she likes the treat I have arranged on Kho Libong.
I don't know if I've mentioned it but I've eventually managed to secure a boat to take us direct to our accomodation in distant Kho Libong. It's well off the beaten track and has been a struggle but we should be ok.
Libong is the furthest of the Trang islands that we are visiting. The next island further south is Langkawi, Malaysia and we have already been there years ago when we travelled around the Malaysian islands. As we recall they were amazing too.
Bare and Crispy, signing off Kho Muk, Thailand
No comments:
Post a Comment