This is a post by Jenny.

Island hopping and beach going every day has been great, though a bit tiring to go somewhere new or travel every 2-3 days. Oh the woes we face!

We took two ferries from Ko Jum to get to the island of Ko Phi Phi, which became very famous in popular after the 1999 release of Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie The Beach. Ko Phi Phi was also severely damaged during the 2004 tsunami. We were a bit hesitant to go, as what we’d read and heard made it sound like it would be an island packed full of partying bros. In fact, it was. Despite Ko Phi Phi’s party atmosphere, there are some amazingly gorgeous things to see and do around the island.

We got up early and hiked up to the look out point over Ko Phi Phi.You wouldn't believe the color of the water!

Can you believe we still like each other after not being apart for more than a few minutes for 2 full months? We can't believe it either!

We went on a half day snorkeling tour, visiting 4 different sites and seeing water the color I have never seen it, as well as chasing after a sea turtle. We felt like we were watching a Discovery Channel special through our very own eyes!

David snorkels, while I hang out on the boat.

We frequently got around while island hopping on long tail boats. These boats look beautiful in pictures, but they are actually quite loud and give off a lot of pollution.

Long tail boats off of Ko Phi Phi

While island hopping, we felt like we ought to enjoy some of the plentiful seafood, which included getting fried fish multiple times. For me, it tasted reminiscent of the fish my grandfather used to catch and my grandmother would fry up outside on summer weekends. But instead of sitting in her back yard, I was sitting under a coconut tree on a beach in Thailand.

A fried snapper fish with chili sauce, complete with teeth, fins, and tail. Yum!

After Ko Phi Phi, we headed to Phuket, another notorious tourist area that has no Thai culture and is an overdeveloped island. We, however, did not see or partake in any of that since we just used it as a one night stopover en route to the airport to get to Bangkok. I opened a Marriott credit card last year that earned me a free night stay and a bunch of bonus points, so we “splurged” and stayed somewhere fancy, for free!

Marriott (for FREE), complete with pool with swim up bar and water slide!

The Marriott Phuket was the fanciest hotel either of us have ever stayed in, ever. It had a separate living room from the bathroom, 2 tvs, a stand up shower, a stocked mini-bar, free fresh fruit, a bed with a top sheet, comfortable pillows, free beach towels, and quite the pool set up! We felt like high rollers, and out of place in our smelly clothes and dirty backpacks

Delicious, ice cold coconut!

Off to Bangkok for a few days, before heading to California!

This is a post by Jenny.

I’m writing this entry from the front of a ferry boat in the southern Thailand province of Krabi, on the Andaman Sea (part of the Indian Ocean). We’ve been island hopping for nearly two weeks, enjoying the beauty of the area. It’s early morning, the sun is out, and the wind is blowing in my hair.  I just saw a school of small fish jump up in the air as our boat passed. Life is good.

Beach dubbed "the best beach in the whole world" in our guidebook at Railay Beach. Overpriced, but stunningly gorgeous.

We had some initial hiccups (i.e. paying too much to stay in a dilapidated shack on an expensive peninsula,  not having bathing suits or towels, leaving stuff behind in our hotel, etc) but have nicely recovered after taking a day to get everything in order and plan. One thing we’re still working to fix:

David's unfortunate sandal tan

We’ve gone to Krabi Town, Railay Beach, Ko Lanta, and Ko Jum:

Our bungalow (a.k.a shack) at Railay Cabanas. It seems like a romantic idea, but was dirty, full of bugs, had no running water, and was hot as hell...and cost more than most places we've stayed. We also got caught in two rain storms in 16 hours.

The island of Ko Lanta was very large, so we took a full day to explore by (pink) motorbike, driving on the left side of the road. It was quite the adventure, and we found a lot of secluded/nearly empty, gorgeous beaches.

Let me describe our day yesterday:
1. Pick up truck (songtao) with covered benches in the flat bed arrives; luggage is tossed on roof, we get in with 6 other people. Songtao proceeds to stop at 4 other hotels , resulting in us having 14 people, plus their luggage, traveling in one pick up truck. Back home, the most we can fit in my dad’s truck  is 3.
2. We arrive at the pier, which is actually no more than a half mile from where we left
3. Get on a ferry boat for 45 minutes, en route to Ko Jum, the island described in the guidebook as having not many tourists, nothing on it and nothing to do (Chuck & Aiden, if you’re reading this, thanks a million for the recommendation!)
4. Our ferry boat stops in the middle of the ocean and is swarmed by long tail boats, who attach themselves to our boat, all shouting out the names of bungalows; we feel like we are being attacked by pirates. We disembark the ferry by jumping off the side onto a wooden boat, climbing across 3 boats until we get to the one labeled with our bungalow’s name
5. As quickly as it happened, the boats all disperse and we speed off to the nearby island, landing on the beach in front of Season Bungalows. We hop off the boat and wade through warm, clear water onto the shore and up to the open air hut to reception
6. We check into our clean $16/night bungalow and spend the rest of the day reading, napping (3 in one day!), swimming, eating, and walking around the island. No Internet available (this post was written on the island, and posted later).

Our own little slice of beach on Ko Jum.

Thatched roof sitting areas, where we spent much time reading, sleeping, playing cards, watching the sunset, drinking beers, and listening to the ocean.

I’m pretty sure heaven is a place like Ko Jum.

Sing this to yourself to the tune of the Beach Boys “Kokomo”:

Ao Nang and Krabi,  come on pretty mommy
Koh Lanta, Koh Lipe, Let’s go to Koh Phi Phi
Railay, Phukett, and don’t you dare forget
Way down in Koh Jum

On the Andaman sea,
there’s a place called Koh Jum,
that’s where I rest my bum…to get away from it all!

Another island post to come shortly, about Ko Phi Phi and Phuket. See ya soon!