With such a short amount of time in Thailand we figured we would stay in Bankok for the night and then get to an Island. We were concerned with it being monsoon season so we decided to go stay on Koh Kood (Kut), an island in the north, right off the coast of Cambodia where our chances of having sun would be best. We were excited to just sit on a beach, snorkel, eat great food and drink Pina coladas in an actual resort…yes, I said resort; pretty fancy for us. If you know us at all, you will know that we never stay in a place with the word “resort” in it or even “hotel” for that matter so I was excited!
After a long day of travel from Indonesia to Thailand, we quickly hopped in a cab and had them drive us to Koh San Road; A place booming with tourists, tuk tuks, street vendors, and great food. G was jonesin’ for a cold beer in the city humidity so we dropped off our things and went in search of food and drinks…well, we found food, but found out we would have to go thirsty. It was a Buddha holiday where no alcohol could be bought or sold in any restaurant or store for the next 3 days. Shot down!
After dinner and a massage, we started our our mission to get to this “special” island that we had reservations for the next day. So after numerous travel agencies told us it was impossible to get to the harbor in time for the only boat that is going there tomorrow, we found Tuk. He ran a travel agency and said “Normally its impossible, but I just happen to be driving down there to pick up a friend. I’ll pick you up at 3am to take you down there.” Seemed a little suspicious, but we had no other option. So we headed to bed only to get up for our 3a.m. pick up and 6 hour drive to the harbor. We got there pretty early and waited as the rest of the ferry passangers slowly started to arrive. Much to our surprise, many of the passengers, were dogs! Turns out a Thai television show was having a dog show out on our “remote” island and it sounded as though they were staying at our resort! We laughed nervously as the dogs dressed in various costumes began to surround us.
Upon our arrival of the Koh Kood resort, again we were starving and had not eaten anything all day, so excitedly put our things in our not so resortish room…a bit of a bummer. The shower and sink were outside…I think they were going for jungle romantic but it was dirty, falling apart and mosquito infested…not as advertised…and headed up to the restaurant. This was also a bit of a let down. To be fair, we were in the wrong by ordering a “club” sandwich in Thailand, but it was really the most disgusting thing I’ve ever had to try and choke down. Greg ordered fries, again, our mistake and they arrived in a bowl (no joke) of oil…kinda like a soup. So far, we were 0-2. Thankfully, the mixed juice I was drinking was delicious and G was able to order a beer, finally. From here on out, it looked like we were going to be on a liquid diet.
Because it was incredibly windy, there was no visibility in the water and it was way too choppy to attempt a snorkel…we were really feeling shot down once again. We rented a moto scooter and decided to explore the island in search of better food and sites. We are so thankful that we did this because the waterfalls and swimming holes that we discovered were beautiful and so much fun. There were rocks/cliffs to jump off of, a rope swing next to a waterfall, and the best part was the water, was warm! After staying a few hours, we decided to go to the pizza restaurant on the island that people had raved about. An Italian couple had opened a similar restaurant in Phuket years ago and then recently one in Koh Kood- One of my fondest memories of Phuket was the amazing Italian food there so I was so excited to find that there was a restaurant on the island that actually had great food, and we drove halfway around the island only to find that once again…shot down…it was closed for low season as were many other restaurants. But during the search we ended up hearing about other good places to eat that were open and ended up finding a gem. We ended up having a really good time and although our two month trip had been amazing, we were sad that it was coming to an end and prepped for our 28+ hour trip back home.
In the spirt of the 2012 Olympic Games that were going on at the time, we held competitions in the:
Rope-Swing
10 meter platform
3 meter platform
and kayaking
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