Adventures with Jack and Julia

Day 1:

You can get to Koh Jum in one of two ways: the slow ferry, or the speedboat. We opted for the speedboat, but when we did so, we did not realize what we had signed up for. Jack valiantly gave up his seat to a mother of three young children but ended up having to stand at the back holding on for dear life as we made the ocean crossing. We barrelled over large waves through the rain as passengers were either in tears, trying not to be sick, or generally terrified for their own well-being and of their babies. Safe to say we took the slow boat back.

Koh Jum itself is a tiny little island that you can scooter from one end to the other in about 20 minutes. It’s so small in fact that they only just got electricity and wifi in 2009, but it was only available during certain times of day. It wasn’t until 2012 that it became available around the clock. As a result, the island is very laid back, relaxing, and devoid of tourists. Exactly what we were looking for!

We arrived at our accommodation via a saleng, which when you look up what that is it’s exactly as crazy as it looks. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the most friendly family who would be hosting us during our stay. We had our own little blue bungalow near town with the perfect little porch to have our morning coffees and listen to the birdsong.

It should be noted that our place was located off of the “main road”, and it was immediately obvious that the people of this island were not as successful as those of the previous two we’d been to. In order to reach our accommodation, you had to scooter or walk through a very poor area where people’s homes are literally constructed over a swamp. Each home was a small one room building with many family members living inside. Despite this, everyone always seemed to cheerful, and always smiled at us when we went by. One woman even offered us to come over for food while she was feeding her family, which we politely declined but were in awe of nonetheless. It really reiterated for us that you don’t need a lot in order to live a happy and fulfilled life, and to never take for granted what you have. We were getting to see a glimpse of real Thai life outside of a tourist destination, and although it was tough at times to witness, we were glad to have had this eye opening experience.

After we were all settled in, we settled in and decided to go for a walk along the beach to explore the area.

Due to a severe lack of infrastructure, Koh Jum does not have a proper waste management system and trash must be taken to the mainland to be disposed of. The result being a lot of garbage covering the beautiful beaches and the main road. In bigger tourist areas such as Koh Phangan and Koh Lanta, the shops and restaurants along the beach help to pick up the trash in front of their space to help entice customers to stop by, but in Koh Jum, there are so few people and even fewer along the beach so no one is regularly helping keep it clean. We had this vision before going that we’d be escaping to our own private beach oases, but that was definitely not always the case. We still had a great time and enjoyed the beaches in cleaner areas and loved exploring the waterfront, but it was really heartbreaking to see. We ended up at a funky reggae bar on the water this evening and enjoyed a margarita in a coconut shell and a beer while watching the waves crash against the shore. This was a highlight for Jack as he loved the vibe they had there. The whole compound was made from driftwood, and was complete with hammocks, swings, and a tree house to sit and watch the ocean while listening to some tunes.

We continued our journey down the beach until we found ourselves at another spot on the water called “The Rock Bar,” which was built by a local fishing family out of driftwood. It was a really cool little spot. Jack had a beer and Julia had a coconut.

One thing that Jack had noticed from time to time for sale in Thailand was freshly caught barracuda. On our walk home from the beach, we spotted a restaurant that had barracuda advertised out front so we decided to come back here for dinner. Jack enjoyed the barracuda and Julia had her favourite green curry. Julia tried the barracuda but it wasn’t for her.

Day 2:

We woke up, had coffee and cards on the patio, and went out for breakfast. Today, we decided to go for another walk and explore a different beach called “Magic Beach,” where we relaxed, read our books and dunked in the ocean. It was boiling hot and very humid the whole time we were on Koh Jum, so we came home and tried to cool off in our room with no AC (only a fan). It wasn’t super successful, but we endured until just before sunset when we headed down to the beach to enjoy the last bits of sunshine. Tonight for dinner, we went to a restaurant right next to barracuda man that seemed to be very popular called Tingrai. We’re so glad we did as it was so delicious that we went back every night for our entire stay. It was the best panang curry that we had every tasted (see photo below of curry). Once you find a reliable restaurant and have tried what you like in these more quiet towns, we’ve found it best to stick with what you know to avoid getting sick especially with our dietary requirements. Although as you’ll find out in the next blog post, no matter what you do, it’s sometimes an inevitability…

Day 3:

Having fully exhausted every possible thing to do in our little town, today we rented a scooter from the lovely ladies at our accommodation and decided to check out the other areas of the island. Koh Jum has three “towns” or stretches of road: Ban Koh Pu, Ban Koh Jum, and Ban Ting Rai. Our town of Ting Rai is located right in the middle of the island, and we started by making our way north towards Ban Koh Pu. On the way, we stopped at a restaurant called The Simple Life Cafe & Restaurant and had delicious vegan smoothie bowls for breakfast. We had a nice long chat with the owners, who are a young family with a cute baby who told us that they came to Koh Jum to open up their restaurant and live a more simple life (hence the name) after living in Bangkok. He told us that he built the restaurant and can remember where he got every piece of wood and decorations from as it’s all driftwood and local art. This was a highlight of Koh Jum as they were so kind and we were more than glad to support their business. It should be said that things weren’t a lot cheaper on Koh Jum as we had originally anticipated. Since there are so few tourists, they increase the prices to the same as you’d see on the other islands just to get by. It’s still much less than you’d pay back home, but it was still a surprise to us anyways. When you could be someone’s only customer, you really feel for the struggle that these people face from day to day.

After breakfast, we attempted to do a hike (Khao Kau Pu) but AllTrails led us on a weird path straight up a hill through the bush and we were met with a sketchy barbed wire fence. With no service to guide us, we decided to come back down and not try to figure out the right way on our own even though it’s pretty hard to get lost on a tiny island. This was also our first major encounter with the rubber trees that grow throughout Koh Jum! They have these huge clear cut areas where they grow these trees and then tap them for this white sap that is later turned into rubber. We were fascinated to learn that they have this industry there and it turns out it’s a large part of their economy outside of trying to attract tourists.

As a reward for attempting to do something athletic today, we got back on our scooters and headed over to a place called Rock View Terrace to share a delicious mango smoothie right on the water with nobody else around. From there, we continued our northern Koh Jum tour by visiting Sunset Beach where we walked along the sand until we came to a bar literally built on top of a rock, where someone apparently used to live.

Since we still had some energy in us but we were running out of gas, we quickly filled up before heading all the way south to the very bottom of the island and sharing a fried rice for lunch at Mr Boy Cafe. If you ever find yourself on Koh Jum, Mr Boy actually offers various fishing tours, including one right off the dock where you pay $10 and he’ll give you a rod and will cook you anything you catch off the dock. He also does this for squid at night if you’re up for it which we thought was pretty cool.

In the evening, we relaxed at home and had Tingrai for dinner again. They remembered us from the other day and even remembered about Julia’s allergy which is always a really nice touch.

Day 4:

Not too much happened today. It was raining on and off all day so we had a big relax and catch up day. The only main outings we had were in the morning when we went to a cafe to get caught up on some blogs and emails as our place did not have WiFi and then having a final dinner at Tingrai before packing up and preparing for a travel day tomorrow.

Day 5:

We said goodbye to our lovely hosts and made our way to the ferry to head to our next location: Krabi!

Overall, Koh Jum is what you make of it. If you have high expectations, you’ll be let down. If you have a desire to travel off the beaten path and to really see how Thai people are living in the more remote parts of the country, then absolutely consider it. We’re sure in the next ten years it’ll be slammed with tourists, and that’s of course both a good and a bad thing. While we were on the island, we did witness some animal cruelty with pet monkeys being kept in tiny cages and some very sick animals which we did report to the necessary authorities, but at the same time you have some of the most kind and considerate people you’ll meet anywhere. We did struggle for some time trying to figure out whether we should say anything about what we saw as we didn’t want to take away the livelihood of some impoverished families, but in the end knew what we did was right and is what the Thai authorities hope people will do. Hopefully as they get more access to the internet it will become more common knowledge there.

We’ve been doing our best to keep an open mind with everything we are experiencing, and are having the most incredible experience of our lives on this trip. If anyone is needing a change in their lives, feeling stuck, or always wanted to travel, deeply consider making a paradigm shift and allowing yourself the opportunity to enrich your life through these experiences. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us and we’d be happy to share our story of how and why we ended up taking this trip and what it’s meant for us so far.

Lots of love,

Julia and Jack

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