Koh Mak, 'Long Live the Danes!' and a Shipwreck...

We wanted to squeeze in just one more 'koh' before we met up with our friend Denis in Bangkok. We loved the Thai islands so much already, we agreed we'd definitely make time to escape the city for a few more days on the beach.

Back in Koh Lipe, we befriended a nice Danish family. The mom and dad were a) some of the coolest parents on the planet always swimming and playing around on the beach with their two young sons, b) told us about how cool Koh Phi Phi was 20+ years ago and c) are most definitely 'koh experts'. They have been to the Thai islands many, many times (I mean I think they went to Koh Phi Phi in 1979!!!) and gave us some 'koh tips'. We told them we were looking for something like Koh Lipe: beautiful, not touristy and beyond awesome.

The Danes told us about Koh Mak. We spent our 4 days on Koh Mak often saying things like 'long live the Danes!' and wondering how we could attach a note to a bird's foot who would magically fly away to Denmark and thank these people for telling us about this beautiful island.

I mean...

...we walked to a shipwreck...

...we motorbiked through pineapple fields...

...we had one of the best pork with chili and basil dishes we ever had (Christian says it was the best)...

...we went to a live acoustic jam session...twice...

...and we had a beachfront bungalow for $18 a night...

It was ridiculously beautiful. We loved Koh Mak and we really love Danish people now, too...

TRAVEL TIPS

*Koh Mak is only 4-5ish hours by minivan from Bangkok. Take a minivan from Ekamai station to Trat, then a 1 hour speedboat to Koh Mak.

*The Monkey Island Resort was perfect. Cheap bungalows with fan right near the beach and also with a hammock. But get breakfast in town...their bungalows are great, their breakfasts are terrible. And you need to call the hotel directly to reserve your room!

*Mong Restaurant was the site of that amazing pork with chili and basil we had. It's down the highway from Monkey Island Resort on the side of the road--we went by motorbike.

New Year's Eve in Koh Lipe

We loved Koh Lipe so much we headed back to the island for a week to ring in 2014! We couldn't have chosen a better place ;)

{In the late afternoon the tide goes out and you can WALK to the nearby small islands}

{First pic of 2014 above and first nap of 2014 below ;)}

A Koh Lanta Christmas

Around the time we left for our Asia trip, we had read how crazy Thailand gets around the holidays. So we booked a cheap guesthouse in Koh Lanta early on. We figured it was a central island to get to where ever we were before Christmas and had read that plenty of people loved Koh Lanta.

After our overnight stopover in beautiful Koh Kradan, we took the speedboat up to Koh Lanta to celebrate Christmas. 

It was great to see a new Thai island and we left Koh Lanta with full tummies and nice tans. But confession: we liked Koh Lanta, we didn't love it. Why didn't we love it?

1. The beaches weren't as beautiful as we expected. But now I know that the beaches I love the most are small, cove-like beaches with clear turquoise water instead of the long stretches of open beachfront.

2. There were small sting-y things in the water! Everywhere! And we saw quite a few big jellyfish washed up on the beach. We found out later that the sting-y things in the water were either tiny creatures who sting when they touch skin and/or were jellyfish stingers which wash up on the beach from jellyfish from the open water. So every time we got in the water, we never really stayed too long.

3. Koh Lanta is SO big so the touristy stuff is very well spread out. But it's still very touristy...then again we were there at peak season.

While we were kinda bummed we didn't love Koh Lanta (and we wanted to love it so much!), we embraced everything we enjoyed during our few days there, like:

*The best Thai meal we had so far has been at Nong Cat by the Koh Lanta pier. This place is managed by a sweet German woman and was so cheap and delicious. We went to this place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and enjoyed free welcome cocktails before dinner. This place has few reviews on Trip Advisor and we were shocked! If you find yourself in Koh Lanta, get to Nong Cat ASAP.

*We rented a motorbike for $5 each day and explored the island. On Christmas Eve, I even took a shower in a jungle waterfall! Highlight of Koh Lanta for sure :).

*We enjoyed a relaxing beach day on Christmas Day near Kantiang Bay (much prettier than the north of the island) and had delicious vanilla bean pancakes and bacon at Drunken Sailors cafe for 'Christmas Brunch'. And relaxed in their hammocks afterwards.

{Look at the size of these things!}

{The beach we liked most in Southern Koh Lanta: Ao Nuy}

{Christmas brunch at Drunken Sailors in Kantiang Bay}