Trat to Ko Mak

January 9, 2017

I decided to go ahead to Ko Mak today. I booked a room for one night, and will need to move to the other place I booked for tomorrow.

I left the guesthouse as they were unlocking the doors this morning, headed to the pier at Laem Ngop. I made a brief stop at a 7-Eleven and picked up mosquito coils, just because I have a fan room tonight and expect that an island will have lots of mosquitos.

I was at the pier by 8 am, and there was no sign of any activity. I rode back down the pier to the road, where there was a tour agent that sold, among other things, tickets for the boat. The first boat is at 10:30, and she told me it was full, that I would need to take the 11:30 (which is a different company). She said I could take my bike if it comes apart, and that it would be an extra 150 baht. Yesterday I had been told it would be 100. She told me to go away and come back closer to 11:30.

So I went back down the pier, and saw someone who told me that they do sell tickets on the pier. Before too long, the cashier showed up and took quite a while setting up. She had a little dog with her, and I played with the dog and tried to make a good and friendly impression.

The cashier for the boat. The furry thing on the table is a dog. I played with the dog. She discounted the ticket for my bike. I think those 2 things were related.

She sold me a ticket for the 10:30 boat. She told me the bike would be 300 baht each way. I said I'd been told 100. We settled on 150. At no point did she mention taking it apart. The boat was only about half full.

The boat was a speed boat, and the 45 minute trip was rough as the bow of the boat bounced off the water. I was glad when we reached Ko Mak. I got my panniers back on the bike and was walking down the pier when someone asked me if I was going to Banana Sunset. Yes, that's what I had booked for tonight. It was the resort owner, and he gave me and my bike a ride to the resort, which beat trying to find it myself. I had noted on my reservation that I would be arriving with my bike, so I was easy to pick out.

The Banana Sunset faces west and claims to have the best sunset views on the island. It does not have a sandy beach, or really any place to go swimming, but is supposed to be a good place to chill out. It is run by 2 Cambodian guys, and isn't really close to anything else. I have a "garden view" bungalow, with fan. It is advertised as having a private terrace with a hammock, which I was looking forward to, but it doesn't. Apparently the old bungalows used to have hammocks. The other ones do have a terrace of sorts, but mine appears to have been removed. I'm guessing it collapsed.

My bungalow at Banana Sunset. The "private terrace" is missing the roof and does not have a hammock.

The restaurant is pretty good. I had some Cambodian amok. It's on the expensive side, which I expected. Unfortunately they turned on loud music mid afternoon, and it is still going. I went for a walk, sort of across the island.

The middle of Ko Mak has lots of coconut trees.

A sculpture on the island. This is near a temple, and seemed sort of uncharacteristic.

Even on this island full of tourist dollars, some people live in shacks.

I stopped for an ice coffee, and was invited to see 5 baby pigs. The babies ran off as I approached, but mom and dad stayed.

Now I'm on the terrace waiting for sunset, drinking a lime frappe, with my ear plugs in. I can still hear the music. Everyone around me is smoking. I think the folks on one side are French and the other side Australian. When are people going to learn that stuff kills you? There is supposed to be live music starting at 7. I don't know what genre it will be.

Sunset Banana is definitely in a good spot for the sunset. It was pretty, but not especially colorful tonight.

Update: The live music started early, and was a nice change from the loud recordings. It was an acoustic guitar playing mostly soft rock. Lots of songs in English with a Thai accent. The atmosphere in the restaurant was pleasant, and I shifted from a low table with a view of the sunset to a hammock, and got into the island spirit.

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Today's ride: 19 km (12 miles)
Total: 2,472 km (1,535 miles)

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