Kirk and I finally arrived at the place we’ve been waiting for since we left the last time in January 2015 – Koh Mak. From the U.S., we crossed through four countries, took four planes, three cabs, and one ferry to get there. There are easier ways to travel to Koh Mak, but we took the cheap way instead, which takes a lot longer. When we arrived at the ferry dock, we were greeted with excited hugs from our friend Pikae, who is the proprietor of the Banana Sunset resort, where we stayed last year, and where we will stay for the first few days of our visit this year. What a nice surprise to see a familiar face after traveling 9,227 miles!
We don’t plan to do any real activities or sight-seeing here, because our goal is mainly to sit on the beach and read for a couple of weeks. So instead of documenting our activities here, I decided to focus on the island itself, and why we love it so much.
Right now is the rainy season on Koh Mak (from June to mid-October,) which means there are hardly any people on the island. Including full-time residents and tourists, I would guess there are less than 300 people here. The “high season” starts in a few weeks and many more tourists will arrive at that time. For now, the residents of Koh Mak are busy with renovating their hotels, restaurants and shops to prepare for the rush. Even in the high season, the population is sparse (around 700) so it is still a quiet, sleepy place to relax.
The main mode of transportation here is motorbike. There are some cars and trucks, but these are mostly used for transporting goods. Kirk and I have our own bike and Kirk is getting really good at navigating the sometimes muddy dirt roads.
Koh Mak is the perfect place to grow many tropical fruits and nuts, including pineapple, coconut, papaya bananas, cashews, and even rubber trees.
We met Julien and Julia who are from Germany. The four of us hired a boat and went on a snorkeling trip. We saw thousands of fish, beautiful coral and spent time on a remote beach just listening to the waves and sunning ourselves. Once back on Koh Mak we had a nice dinner and conversation with our new friends at Koh Mak Seafood Restaurant. We were leaving for Koh Chang the following day and they were heading to Chang Mai. Now we’ll keep up with each other on Facebook! Cheers to new friends!
