Day 12, Saturday 2 November 2013 - Koh Kradan

Koh Lipe departure..... I've set the alarm for 6.50 am just as a precaution, but it isn't be needed. In any case it failed to go off. In rural Thailand the cock crowing is a useful alarm but here the sound of motors chug, chug, chugging on rua hang yao (long-tailed boats) is the call of the new day. I'm washed, packed and ready by 8 am. I've made no arrangements for breakfast not even coffee and check out of Wapi Resort. Transport to the departure point is complimentary. Unlike my arrival at Sunrise Beach, I'm told to report to Pattaya Beach for departure. Otherwise, I would need no transport at all. I arrive for departure which will be straight off the beach, necessitating the manhandling of luggage at the water's edge. Nobody is exempt from paddling up to knee height except two young girls who get a fireman's lift as if they were luggage. The speed-boat is soon loaded and the beach anchors weighed in. With a morning higher tide there is less concern about underwater coral which could damage the blades. Unlike my arrival, this boat has three Yamaha four-stroke engines which deploy in deeper water. What effect this has is immediately felt. Unlike the smoother trip out here, this machine propels itself out of the water before crashing back down again with a thump, the repetition of which continues until calmer waters are reached near Pakbara Pier. While the sea is a little choppy because of the wind, you wouldn't call it rough, but I guess the company has a schedule to keep which takes priority over passenger comfort. One could say it adds to the adventure, but I have a lot of travelling to do today.
Pakbara and La Ngu..... Having already purchased a return ticket to the mainland, I'm now committed to travelling all day. I have adjusted my budget and set an arrival time at Koh Kradan of 4 pm. On arrival at Pakbara Pier I'm bombarded by offers to take me to Hat Yai. Wrong way! No obvious transport is heading for Trang, so I retrace my steps back to La Ngu where I can get transport on the main Satun-Phuket highway. A songtheaw drops me off near the booking office. It's gone 11 am and I've still had nothing to eat. I grab a snack just in time for a thorough bus to Phuket which will drop me in Trang. That takes another hour and a half.
Trang..... Just before 1 pm the bus arrives at the old bus station in Trang where it stops for a break. Now I need to head for the train station. That requires a tuk-tuk which delivers me to a travel agent dealing with transport out of Trang. One thing becomes abundantly clear. My journey from here will be nothing like the Lipe experience.
There are no tour buses or vans arriving from Malaysia or Hat Yai airport filling the pier with customers on their package tours, just a handful of people waiting at the booking office. Just three of these are heading for Koh Kradan. To get to the islands from Trang requires charter boats and vans. You can travel immediately if you can pay the full rate. From Trang to the pier is 800 baht and to the island, 1200 baht far more than I wish to pay. It all depends on other customers turning up at the same time.
Two things I would like to do before decision time. First some lunch. A short walk and I find a food court filled with local people. I take this opportunity to fill my belly at a price I can't resist and tasty too. The second is a short visit to the railway station just across the road from the booking office. This is a terminus for most trains, although the line does continue a bit further to Kantang. A late afternoon Bangkok bound train is in the station, but I'm expecting little more and head back to the travel agent. There are no other customers for Koh Kradan, but I will be able to divide the boat fee. If I care to wait another 20 minutes a minivan will depart for the pier. That's just 150 baht for nearly an hour that will take. When the van arrives its overfull and requires reorganization of seating. Most of the passengers head for Haad Yao, but I need to get to Khuan Tung Goo pier which involves a detour along a road being upgraded.
Khuan Tung Goo pier - Koh Kradan......
Progress is rather slow but, I make it to the pier. Not unexpectedly, this bears no resemblance to Penang, Langkawi, Satun or Pakbara. It's just a concrete pier along a mangrove mud-lined river estuary. Here another two passengers have arrived from Phuket by car. This helps. There is a frantic recalculation of the boat crossing fee and I'm due a refund. Happy with that it's time to scramble aboard the rua hang yao. The crossing will be about 45 minutes to Koh Kradan taking it to the south of Koh Muk and over to my left is Koh Lebong, both larger islands. The distance to Koh Kradan is about 20 kilometres and at first glance looks a little like Koh Lipe but there any similarity ends. Unlike Lipe, Koh Kradan has no inhabitants except for those servicing the few resorts. Far from being a free for all for developers, just 5% of the island is allocated to resorts. My arrival time is 4.30 pm at the end of a long day's travel.
Paradise Lost..... Among the resorts is Paradise Lost where I am expected. Just a few bungalows appear on the shoreline but on my arrival I am taken a few hundred metres inland to a clearing in the jungle. Here paradise is truly lost. Throughout my travels I have a basic checklist of facilities I use to evaluate my accommodation. Here, I already know I have to sacrifice something on account of this fabulous location. In these rustic wooden bungalows, air-conditioning and a fridge become unnecessary but here are no shops here for supply; I'm totally dependent on what the resort provides. In this jungle clearing neither is it too hot that a fan won't suffice.
Also sacrificed is a hot shower, but the bathroom is huge, a room in itself. The bedroom is designed for comfort with plenty of space with a fine lace mosquito net as a centerpiece. Outside is a veranda inviting and cool. Only in the middle of the clearing does the sun penetrate though coconut palms. I settle in and night closes in. I've brought enough food in from the mainland but sit awhile in the restaurant. There appear to be no other visitors apart from those who arrived with me by boat. One young lady from Holland agrees to stay at Paradise Lost. I admire her tenacity by making it here all alone. She says she prefers it. With little else to do I turn in for an early night after the odd whiskey.
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