Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
REMARKABLE RUBBER TREES
If you ever wondered where the bounce in your rubber comes from, wonder no further: unlike money, it grows
on trees. All over the Trang region, particularly on the islands floating off its coast, you are likely to come across
rubber-tree plantations.
Rubber trees produce the milky liquid known as latex in vessels that grow within the bark of the tree. The
trees are 'tapped' by making a thin incision into the bark at an angle parallel with the latex vessels (note that
latex isn't the tree's sap). A small cup collects the latex as it drips down the tree. New scores are made every day
- you can see these notched trees and collection cups throughout the region.
Latex from multiple trees is collected, poured into flat pans and mixed with formic acid, which serves as a co-
agulant. After a few hours, the very wet sheets of rubber are wrung out by squishing them through a press.
They're then hung out to dry. You'll see these large, yellowish pancakes drying on bamboo poles wherever rub-
ber trees are grown. The gooey ovals are then shipped to processing plants where they are turned into rubber as
we know it.
Sleeping & Eating
Hat Sivalai & Hat Lodung
Most places in Hat Sivalai and Hat Lodung are a short walk from either side of the pier.
If you're facing the sea, humble, local-flavoured Hat Lodung is to your left after a stilt
village and some mangroves; stunning Hat Sivalai wraps around the peninsula to the
right. Though beautiful, that murky backwash from the mangrove villages on mainland
does lap these shores. You can even see the oily sheen sometimes. The sea is cleaner on
Hat Farang.
Ko Mook Garden Resort
( 09 0703 3570; Hat Lodung; r 400-800B)
Wooden rooms are large while bamboo bungalows are
small and basic. Staying here means you're in with a local family who take guests snor-
kelling, rent bikes (100B), and give out detailed maps of all the island's secret spots.
GUESTHOUSE
$
Pawapi Resort
( 08 6444 7543;
www.pawapi.com
; Hat Sivalai; bungalows incl breakfast from 1600B; )
The upscale
bamboo bungalows here are perched on stilts about 1.5m off the ground so that breezes
ventilate the room; the 180-degree view of islands and turquoise sea is insane. A collec-
tion of newer concrete jobs were nearing completion at the time of writing.
BUNGALOWS
$$
Sivalai
HOTEL
$$$
