Ko Kret

We hopped on bikes for a day trip to Ko Kret. I had ventured to this car-less island once before and I wanted to show Lexie this adorable non-touristic diamond in the ruff. (Did I mention Lexie is now here? She is pretty much the best thing that happened to Bangkok since the pink colored taxi!) But I am not going to lie, she doesn't love the bike and this adventure brought on some stress in that realm- although she did great! After crossing a four-lane highway alive, I knew we were bound for success. I remembered the general direction of the river so I just started peddling that way. Lexie didn't question me, even when I would say "looks like we have to go the other way" as I passed her in the middle of a wide U-turn, changing our direction.

The roads to Ko Kret were narrow and quiet (except for the two street simulating I-94, which each took us at least ten minutes to get off our bikes and run across safely!) The streets resembled alleyways, tangling us through backroads of little neighborhoods that not too many people even accidentally cruise past. A barbed wired building filled two of our blocks with the sounds of children's laughter, the school was incognito from the streets surrounding it's perimeter. The open fields across from it, were so filled with garbage I was surprised to see that some families' homes shared this hot filth pile. We passed some middle class houses as well, decorated with potted plants and nicely painted exteriors.

I recognized the Wat, buddhist temple, that denotes the dock landing for the boat that constantly ferries across from mainland to Ko Kret and back again throughout the day. The two pieces of land are close enough that any professional football player could spiral a ball from one land mass to the other. The ferry was 4 Bt a piece ($.10) The boat was on its return trip from the island as we reached the end of the dock (think catching sunnies in northern MN dock) and we hopped onto the boat's deck as it bumped into the mini tires bordering the dock. Lexie and I and our bikes barely fit on the deck of the boat, but it wasn't a long ride so we managed. No photos could be taken because one hand had to hold on to the bike while the other grasped the boat.

Once on Ko Kret, everything seemed much more relaxed. The island is tiny. The map on the side of the pier shows the 2 km island's only road to follow... so we took it! It is a concrete path ranging from widths varying from 4'-8'. Walkers, bicyclists, and motor-bikers were the fastest moving things on the road; pigs, dogs, an extremely old women pushing three wheeled carts were among the slowest. The road is sometimes as high as five feet above the island floor and sometimes too narrow to fit two bikes across! The sights from the cruise are spectacular, although, taking photos while biking felt a bit dangerous at times! Banana trees, tropical gardens, and shanty homes. The foliage and farms were amazing. The fields had hand dug trenches going through them and the average house is lifted about 8' off the floor in anticipation for the wet season. The houses are sporadically placed around the road, some right up against the concrete, others a long elevated sandbag hike to the front door. Everyone was extremely nice, and when I asked how one man's day was he was shocked and replied, "You speak thai very good!" So they are used to tourism on this little island away from the chaos of Bangkok. I guess most tourists visit during the weekend, when the pottery focused market is hosted by the Ko Kret community, originally known as the Mon tribe. We definitely saw traces of their ancient craft, but will have to peruse the island on a weekend day to get the full view.