An Adventurers Tale: Onto Kho Jum

All things must come to an end and our time in Phi Phi is no different. We have loved our time here. Quiet, peaceful and only frequented by travellers. Today we move east and north onto the island of Kho Jum. It's named differently depending on which map you refer to. Either Kho Jum or Kho Pu. For ease I shall stick with Kho Jum.

It's only a 30 minute speed boat ride from Phi Phi to Jum but the service is limited due to the island not being on the regular backpacker route. I don't think there is a tremendous amount to see on Jum but it puts us on track for Kho Lanta in a few days time.

The free transfer long tail boats run from our little village twice a day to accommodate travellers moving on. 07.30 am and 11.00 am to ensure that most onward transfers are accommodated. I had arranged our seats, which again are limited, on the 11.45am crossing to Jum so we were forced to take the 07.30 longtail. Neither of us like early starts when travelling but needs must when the devil drives. This meant a couple of hours hanging around in Phi Phi town. We were at reception at 07.20 and were met by our motorcycle taxi who was already waiting for us. A few minutes later we were at the beach and once again striding into the surf to board our transfer.

A quick ride around the south of the island saw us once again at the beach in Phi Phi.

We had a coffee and a snack before heading to the Tiger Lines check in office. It was chaotic and a huge shock to the system after the idyllic serenity of the past few days. There were hoards of people waiting for the boats to travel to the many different islands. There were the travellers and the regular tourist crowd. Phi Phi town is on the package tourist map now and as such there were tourists from all over Europe laden down with huge cases and multicoloured holdalls blocking the pier. All being shepherded by sad and weary guides directing them to there relative ferrys. I felt sorry for the guides as it must be like herding cats in a thunderstorm. Crispy and I sat in the shade of a tree on the beach watching the chaos. It was nowhere nearly as busy when we arrived but it must be change over day for the hotels in the town. It didn't really matter to us as we were booked on a small boat heading to a not so popular island so the only incumbrance was pushing through the melee to get to our transport.

The speed boat ride was fast. A 30 seater boat powered by 4 huge outboard motors. The only downside to the speedboats are that the seats are a lot lower than the windows so there is nothing to see. Except the captain of course who's seat is higher. It would be dangerous otherwise. The boat motored through the waves and the only indication you have that you are nearing your destination is when he kills the engines.

We alighted onto a ramshackle pier in a mangrove river estuary. It was basic. Plus the pier was a lot higher than the boat so it was a scramble up a rickety ladder onto the pier itself. There were not many people about. A few pick up trucks and motorcycle taxis stood around. Shortly a guy approached us and said he was the sapat for our lodgings. Full of smiles he ushered us into the back of his truck and set off. Down a narrow concrete road. There was not much about other than wooden shacks and forest. Lots of forest. After about a mile he slowed and turned down a very rough unmade road. It went on forever through ever thickening forest and eventually thick jungle.

We bounced along in the back not having a clue where we were headed. The road seemed to go on forever.

Crispy loved it. You could have charged good money for this bumpy rollercoaster ride and called it a 4x4 jungle safari. People would have paid without question. He stopped at what seemed the only brick structure we had passed. A very nice modern cafe advertising fine French food and wine. It looked ridiculously out of place here. A lady called Valerie came to greet us and informed us that she was the owner of the lodgings and that the "resort" was a further kilometer down the road. She would see us later in the restaurant. She loaded several parcels into the pickup and again the driver sent off down the track

Eventually he turned off down an even smaller road and travelled down to the "resort".

What a surprise it was. It's miles from anywhere on an island in the back of beyond but it is amazing. A collection of beautiful tree chalets on a thick jungle covered hill leading down to a fantastic beach. Crispy loves it. There is everything you could need here as a base which is a bonus as it is very isolated. Restaurant, beach bar, sun chalets, WiFi, all the mod cons. Crispy is ecstatic. It's paradise found with all the mod cons.

The rooms don't even have door keys as we are so isolated. It's fantastic and will be a genuine island retreat for the next few days.

The only rule is don't leave your room door open as the monkeys will nip in and trash it.