Koh Mak: Worth It

Like many of the amazing vacation destinations in Thailand, getting to Koh Mak was quite the journey. After an overnight bus trip that concluded with a roadside drop-off at 4:30am, an hour-long songtow ride, a 5 hour wait that involved sleeping on cement benches on a pier, and an hour long boat ride over choppy waters that rearranged some of my internal organs, we finally arrived to our colorful bungalows at Monkey Island. As soon as we got there and saw the hammocks blowing in the wind and the clear blue ocean waters not 10 feet from the front door, we knew immediately it was well worth the trip.

I was joined by my friends and fellow teachers Nell, Shea, Clare and Ciana on the weekend away. It was a great group and everyone was psyched for a weekend with nothing to do but laze on the beach, swing in the hammocks and eat delicious Thai curry and lots of fresh pineapple. The bungalows were simple with a bed, a fan, and a mosquito net - but they were also only 75 Baht per person! (That would be about $2.50). It was quite the steal and since we were pretty much the only people staying at the resort (it's low-season in Thailand right now due to the frequent rain) we had the run of the place and didn't have to share the hammocks with anyone. We did get to hang out with a pretty chill rasta man who worked there and played us Thai reggae every night, bonus! We got lucky with the weather and besides a few afternoon storms which helped to cool things down, I escaped with a pretty decent tan.

Koh Mak is definitely a bit of a trek from Suphan but so worth it and so beautiful.  I love how many gorgeous islands Thailand offers - I've hit up a few but there are still many to explore - what a lucky country!  The way home was not nearly as stressful, except maybe for the poor puppy and box full of chickens that had to tough out the boat ride with us, and we made it back to Bangkok in time for a 3-D screening of the new Transformers movie before we hoofed it back to Suphan. The countdown to the next long weekend is already on!