“That night on Koh Rok Nok, I slept in a hammock,

gradually falling asleep in the arms of the half-moon shine.”

Thanks to the early bedtime, we all got up with somewhat a much more refreshing look on our face. Some, however, were already smeared with sun block, so I guess a lesson was learnt from yesterday.

I decided that I would take a day off that day. By this, I meant that I would let the others have all the fun, while I would go to the common, choose a good book, and pick up a nice breezy spot to read. While some, like the CD, might call me a lazy bum, I called it a living. It was something that I might as well do at my home, and, at the time, Jim Jam was mine.

Koh Chuak and Koh Muk were only the appetizers of the day, but at least some of us were hooked. And the morning dip, jumping off from Jim Jam had become one of our rituals.

I however had to put my book down as we approached Koh Kradan where Kradan means a board in Thai. Despite the somewhat boring name, the island has hidden one of the best preserved coral beds in the south of Krabi, and the area is called Hin Khai Muk. So, apparently, I had to break my vow and went to my cabin to change and went with the rest to explore the area which in Thai means a boulder of pearl.

Although our dinghy is not a glass-bottom one, that was okay. The water around Hin Khai Muk is so crisp and clear that all you have to do is to peer down on the sides of the dinghy to see what lies underneath the glass-like surface. There were fish of all the colors you can imagine everywhere, and the corals were so alive that it swayed like a human hair.

There was one thing that I hate though, the urchins. I stepped on one of them once a couple of years ago at Zanzibar, and the bar owner had to use a coke bottle to smash the black thorns in my foot down to powder. In process, I wept and lost my cool right in front of the German girl that I had a crush on. So this time I kept my feet clear of the coral so I would not make a fool out of myself in front of the Swedish couple.

And then we went on to the days’ highlight, Koh Rok Nai and Koh Rok Nok. Again, one of the beauties of this multiple-day cruise like this one is that you can get to places that only a few have time to afford. The result is that it makes you feel like an explorer, going to where no man has gone before. Everything was untouched and seemed to be there waiting all these years just only for me.

Just for an experience, the CD suggested that we should have a BBQ dinner on a beach and sleep under the clear sky. We all agreed and readily got down to work.

The crew set up the camp on the main beach on Koh Rok Nok which is by far the most beautiful I have ever see. We helped each other to pick a nice spot, hidden from the wind. When all set we went for a swim and WOW, luminescent algae, it looks just like millions and millions of stars in the water when you move around.

Jim Jam came back, and unloaded in the dinghy was a big basket of fresh seafood they bought from the fishermen nearby. We also had corns, vegetable and other BBQ essentials that we brought along with us from the mainland. It was going to be fun, but first we had to go back on the boat to take our must-have hot shower.

As the grill was going, the music was also flowing, thanks to Jimmy and his makeshift guitar. The crabs were our favorite. A bit hard to eat, but definitely tasted differently from what we used to have elsewhere. And so we ate, drank and talked until the fired burnt out and called it a day.

That night on Koh Rok Nok, I slept in a hammock, gradually falling asleep in the arms of the half-moon shine.