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.
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:
We’ve gone to Krabi Town, Railay Beach, Ko Lanta, and Ko Jum:
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).
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!
jd - To Infinity & Beyond! 
beautiful!!!!