We have just returned to Bangkok safe and sound from an unbelievable week in Koh Mak, an island in SE Thailand. The island is only 16square km and full of coconut and rubber trees. We took an hour ride ferry after a 6 hour bus ride to get to this paradise.
Our first two nights were spent at a great little guesthouse called island huts. We lived in little open air bungalows right on the edge of the ocean and enjoyed lots of sunshine, great food, and some really cool snorkeling at our beach. Then we were off to find our first farm, run by Ann and Sunny, a Thai couple who are inheriting her fathers coconut farm soon. They could not have been nicer and were great to talk to and learn from.
They had only reached Koh Mak days before us so, instead of farming, we were instead dropped off on the uninhabited side of the island in a crazy overgrown jungle that hadn't been touched in ten years, which for those of you who know me, was pretty awesome. We had to clear out land for our tents with big blades and rakes and we were right on the beach. For food, Ann dropped off rice and veggies and the occasional bag of chicken to go along with the coconuts we collected and even some clams we found in the ocean. It was completely secluded with nothing in sight but trees and vines and water(only reachable by foot). We spent our days clearing jungle (they have plans to build a farm on this land one day) and swimming and exploring. We built a cool fire pit, some benches, and a kitchen area with shelves and a sand floor. Everything was pretty perfect until the moon started reaching its peak, and the tides began to become less predictable....
It was a cool night and we were sleeping peacefully in our tents on our third night. At around 4am we began to feel some splashes and hear the water outside unusually clearly. When we looked out, we realized the water was about five feet from the door of our tent. Stef and I decided to take our chances and moved our tent just a few feet to the edge of the jungle. Luckily it was just enough and we stayed dry. The next night, the tide reached our tent edge around 2:30 am...this time we were a little late in realizing it. While Stef wanted to have a little chat about our options, I jumped out of the tent, yelling at her to follow and we picked up our tent and ran, through the waves, to the furthest back point of our cleared jungle over in the kitchen. Safe and a little wet we went back to bed. The next morning we found out that even there the water was only feet from sweeping us away and this time we had no more room to move back. With a heavy heart and a firepit filled with sand, we packed up from our little paradise and spent the next night on Ann's lawn before heading back to the big city. It was a great experience despite being cut a bit too short. We will just have to return soon to finish the job.
I almost forgot, we had 10 puppies with us the whole time living around our tents. They
had a mean mom, so Ann brought them to our beach to live with us and eat with us. It was great. We are off for Suratthani in southern Thailand on the train tonight to find the organic shrimp and oyster farm. Hope your all doing well, miss you. Love, Mas
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