Traveling to Jamahkiri via Koh Samui

It was a pretty uneventful ride to the airport, in fact it was a while before someone said “Hey, Merry Christmas”. We had pretty much forgotten about this even though there were signs of Christmas all over the place. For country of mostly Muslims the church’s marketing power seems to have made an impression.


We flew Bangkok Air domestically and I have to say our airlines have a lot to learn from them. First they offer a lounge for all passengers complete with free coffee, juice, pastries, and internet access. Second this flight was around an hour and they had enough time to hand out a hot towel, full meal, then another beverage, followed by a final hot towel, and it all it cost less then what I pay for cable and internet in one month. It was at this point that I realized the no one ever asked for my ID or Passport, I went through security to get in to the airport, checked in, and then went through security again at the departure gate, all using either my plane ticket or print out of my confirmation when I bought the ticket. We arrived at the airport in Koh Samui.


We then worked our way through the streets of Koh Samui to the dock to catch a ferry to Koh Tao.




Wasn't there a map in this book someplace?


Maybe this guy can help?


OK, now we are really lost, wonder if he speaks English?


The wedding dress seemed to be fairing well, in fact its journey almost warrants a separate blog as photos were taken of it in over head bins on planes, across people’s laps on ferries and taxis, and hanging quietly in corners.


We had about four hours before the ferry arrived and one of the few places open had a breakfast buffet of hot dogs (sausages) and processed ham, among other things, so we passed. This is where Kyle’s style creates magic. I would have sat at the ferry dock worrying about missing it or getting on the wrong one ending up on some other island. Kyle disappeared for a few minutes only to come back with two pickup trucks with non-English speaking drivers. We piled in the back, luggage and all and were off, having no idea of where we were going or what we would be doing.


Once we got to our destination my western prejudice kicked in again as we were told to leave our bags in the back of the truck with these drivers that we could not communicate with, but like before everything was fine, in fact they probably would have fought off tigers and lions to protect our luggage. We then met our guide “Captain Jack Sparrow”, I guess our movies travel fast. In fact I think I even saw that I could buy Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Shrek 5 on Khao San Road. Anyway we soon found ourselves elephant trekking.
















They even weaved us a ring out of palm leaves during the ride. Then it was time for the baby elephant show and Kyle became the first of our group to get a Thai massage, complete with the happy ending.


The elephants were followed by the monkey show and they show us how the monkeys were originally trained to get coconuts out of the trees.






It was then time to head back to catch the ferry to Koh Tao, but this was a great spur of the moment activity. Just enough time for a pre-ferry ride beer and group shot.




It was at this point that I got a smudge on my camera lens that I would not discover until a day later, so sorry for the quality of some of these images. The boat on the left is the actual ferry to Koh Tao, the boat on the right is the dock it tied up to and what we used to board the ferry.


It was about an hour and a half ride with a stop at Koh Phangan.




We finally arrived at Koh Tao, however our journey to Jamahkiri was far from over. Because of a land dispute there was no real road to the resort and it was beyond what you would want to walk, so we rented mopeds for 150 Bhat a day. For most of us that was dirt cheap, however if you did not mark every little scratch they would later get you for damage and the price sky rocketed.


We now faced a long dirt road complete with steep ups and downs, rocks and sharp corners. I’m amazed that the only injury was a cut foot, some of the hills were so steep that the rear wheel would spin and kick up dirt and pebbles in to the rider behind them, plus at this point the moped would end up sideways and then on the ground.




No Mom, I am not the only one without a helmet.


With all those bumps and previous beers bathroom breaks were frequent.


But once we got there I would not have had our travels any other way, this journey was part of the experience and the resort was simply amazing. The staff out numbered us two to one, each private bungalow had a view of the bay and included one complementary massage.








The rooms were beautiful and my only complaint was that the previous guest left a bunch of mulch in the bath tub.




This place even had a monkey reserve and local parrot who like to hang out at the bar, thus by the end of our stay we were close friends and exchanged email addresses.






Not a bad place to get married, plus it had hot water.