M&C: Koh Muk & Koh Ngai

Sticking with Ryan, we chartered a van and longtail boat to a nearby island, Koh Muk. The trip from Trang took about an hour and a half total, and we arrived on the island just after noon. The inhabited part of the island hugs the eastern side and is not more than 3 km north to south and 1 km east to west, so all pretty self-contained. The western half of the island is about the same size again and is occupied entirely by towering, jungle-covered karsts. Once we arrived, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and found a place to stay (our first same-day booking of the trip), and we ended up booking a place for all three of us towards the southern part of the island.

After settling in to our accommodation, we rented scooters and ran into town quickly. The narrow streets were hardly wider than sidewalks, slightly elevated from the ground, and only permitting scooter traffic--no cars at all. We passed many cute little houses among which were scattered a smattering of tourist accommodation, restaurants, and little shops. From there, we scooted to Charlie Beach, located on the southwest side of the island, near our lodging. We set up shop on the beach, ordered a few drinks, and watched the beautiful sunset from the beach, just after which the sky erupted with bats, many of them enormous flying foxes with at least a two-foot wingspan. There were a number of longtail boats just sitting out in the water during this time, and we went over to one to ask about chartering a boat ride for the three of us the following day. With a little negotiating, we found a price that pleased all parties and arranged to meet the guy back on the beach at 8:30 the following morning. We had a really delicious dinner of whole roasted fish, chicken curry, and a veg plate before calling it a night.

The next morning we met our boat guy, Suk, at the appointed time on Charlie Beach. The itinerary included Koh Kradan, a nearby island, as well as Emerald Cave, the principal attraction on Koh Muk. It took about half an hour to make it to Koh Kradan, which was just the next island over. We parked the boat just outside of a cordoned-off area and were invited to jump into the water and snorkel around. The underwater world was once again delightful and vibrant, and we saw many of the same creatures and corals that we had seen on our dives, including large schools of brilliantly-colored fish, dozens of sea urchins, and even a moray eel. About half an hour of snorkeling later, we went to shore for a quick breakfast, basking in the tranquil turquoise ocean view. Then back on the boat over to another snorkel area before making a full circumnavigation of the island, heading back towards Koh Muk and Emerald Cave.

The cave consists of a dark watery passage through the cliffside, over 100 meters long, that ends in a shallow pool with a nice sand beach set amid dense jungle and completely encircled by towering cliffs. The swim through the tunnel was very dark and more than a little freaky, even with life vests and snorkels. But the payoff was well worth it, and we spent an amazing 45 minutes or so in this ancient-feeling Edenic space.

Shortly thereafter, we returned to shore, very satisfied with the morning. We scooted over to the other side of the island (facing the mainland) and walked along the beach for a little while, eating at a restaurant right on the shore. Another beautiful sunset at Charlie Beach and early to bed once again.

After sorting out some logistics the next morning and grabbing some breakfast, we scooted to the far north side of the island to hike up to an overlook we'd seen on the map. The trail ran almost vertically uphill and with the sweltering humid heat we were pretty exhausted by the time we reached the top. The view was well worth it, though, with the western-facing view framed by two more towering limestone walls and the eastern view a more gently-sloping sprawl of jungle and cultivated land back towards town with the mainland easily visible beyond. We hung out at the top for about half an hour, chatting with a friendly German couple, then grabbed a light lunch before heading back to our hotel, meeting our "taxi" to the pier (really just a small motorbike with a caged-in sidecar), and catching our chartered boat over to a nearby island, Koh Ngui, where we had booked one final night all together before Ryan returned to Trang to begin his return journey to the States while we headed south towards Malaysia.

Koh Ngui is known for being even more remote than Koh Muk with no roads or motor vehicles at all: just a few upscale resorts and a couple of more glamping-style places. We were staying in the latter and were dropped off right on the beach in front of our place. Our tent, set back from the ocean about 50 meters, was very bare-bones (one tiny lamp, one double bed, and one single bed, all just sitting on the floor. But definitely comfortable enough for one night, especially since it unbelievably also had air conditioning. With nothing else to really do, we just sat at a table on the beach, did a little snorkeling at a reef just 50 meters from shore, and whiled away the afternoon. That evening, we walked up the beach nearly a kilometer to an adorable little restaurant. And even though the food was mediocre and vastly more expensive than we were used to, we greatly enjoyed the ambiance and the ocean and even a short fire-spinning show after the meal.

Our boat off the island wasn't scheduled to leave until about 11:30AM the next morning, so we left Ryan sleeping and got up early to do a little exploring. We walked south from our tent, looking for a trail that would lead to a viewpoint we had seen on the map. We didn't find it immediately, but we did see some kind of hornbill, which was very cool, as well as followed a very nice little trail along the shore for a little while.Michelle went back to get some breakfast and Chandler continued exploring a little, eventually finding a trail leading through the jungly hills to the opposite side of the island, then along a completely empty beach for a little while before finally reaching the tip of a tiny peninsula jutting from the southwest corner of the island out into the ocean.

Chandler got back to the restaurant by our tent just as Ryan was getting up, and the three of us sat and had breakfast and went for another swim before packing up and actually having to kind of rush to catch our speedboat south. Ryan got off at Koh Muk where we said goodbye to him, and we continued on south about 2 hours to Koh Lipe, then a quick turnaround to catch the international ferry over to Langkawi, Malaysia, signalling the start of the next leg of our journey.

Next up: Langkawi & Penang