Posts filed under 'Koh Lipe'
Well, it’s going to be difficult, but I am leaving Ko Lipe today. There is a 2-hour speedboat back to the mainland which leaves at 2pm. It’s been a good time, with good people, nice beach, and great snorkling. My bungalow was right on the beach and I have been easily passing the days on my porch in my hammock. There’s definitely lots of wildlife here and I didn’t ever have to leave my bungalow to see it – first the scorpion, then 2 gigantic spiders, 2 big monitor lizards, a bat, and last night, a snake! (The scorpion, by the way, commited suicide the day after I first saw him…I found him the next morning drowned in a bucket of water in the bathroom. I scooped him out to show the guys then gave him a proper burial by placing him on the root of a tree next to my bungalow and I watched as the ants surrounded him and carried him away.) Luckily all the beds have mosquito netting so at least you have a barrier between you and THEM.
The whole island is getting ready to close up for the rainy season – the boats back to the mainland will stop running on May 21rst. So most of the restaurants (all 4 of them) are running low on supplies – no yogurt, no cheese, no banana, etc, etc, depending on the restaurant. And the rain is getting closer – every night we have had the most amazing lightening storms out at sea. Sometimes 3 or 4 at the same time in all directions.
In the evenings we’ve been going over to Pooh Bar for a few drinks and laughs and then heading to the beach to watch the lightening shows. During the day I’ve been dividing my time between the hammock and the beach, either laying in the water with Matt and Jim or snorkling at Porn Beach and Pattaya Beach on the other side. The snorkling right here has been great – I’ve seen a spotted sting ray, one moray eel, a lobster, and many, many fish. I made the mistake of showing the guys how to pick up a sea cucumber and since then have been witness and victim of many sea cucumber fights in the water.
‘ BLOODY HELL, that sea cucumber is MASSIVE!’
‘I am COM-PLETE-LY WANKERED!’
‘Do you want to walk home? Well, I suppose I can TRY.’
‘I’ll have 2 more brownies IMMEDIATELY.’
Too much fun. The Irish girls left 2 days ago on their way to Singapore and then Perth, Australia. Matt and Jim (the Playboys) decided enough with the rehab and are heading straight up to Ko PhaNgan for the Full Moon Party on the 26th. So much for a quiet island with no partying for the next 2 weeks! I may be seeing them again on Ko Samui because I’ll be heading up there myself to meet 2 friends from Philly who are coming to visit (yeah!).
So once I get back to Satun today I’ll decide where to spend the next 10 days before going up to Ko Samui…somewhere in Malaysia yes, but where, I dunno yet. That’s what I love about this trip so much – I’ll figure it out when I get there!
The UK Playboys, Jim and Matt
Are you sure you know how to use my camera?
My roomate the spider (in the bathroom)
April 25th, 2002
I could get used to this place. Such a small island, Ko Lipe, with no roads or cars or Starbucks (yet). The only way to get across the island is by longtail boat or by walking through the jungle on a 1 km long path. The water is perfect. Yesterday some of us got together to go snorkling for the day. It was great – 3 good spots plus a long break on the beach, all at our own pace since we were the group, so to speak. Nice coral and good fish too. We had 7 people total – me, Tom (from the UK, he’s been travelling for over a year and teaching English in South Korea), Sharon and Maurienne (from Ireland, travelling for 3 months so far, getting ready to go to Perth, Australia to work), an English couple who’ve been travelling for 10 months, and Adie, another English bloke whose been travelling for 9 months.
We arrived back at Lipe for sunset and then all went to Pooh’s bar later for drinks. There are only 2 bars on the island and Pooh’s is the better of the 2 so pretty much everyone goes there. There were about 20 people or so in total at the bar which is quite a crowd for Lipe. It was a very fun time!
Today I hung out at our beach, Porn Beach. Yes, that’s what it’s called, but in Thai porn means good luck or lucky. Most Thais don’t even know what’porn’ means in English. So I’m staying at the Porn Resort on Porn Beach which is pretty funny I guess. I hung out today with the Playboys – Matt and Jim, just laying on the beach in the shallow water, swimming, and reading my book.
Oh, and I almost forgot, when I got home last night, there was a scorpion on the floor in my bathroom. I missed stepping on it by inches apparently because when I sat down on the toilet I saw it right in front of me, already in the striking position! A bit scary! I managed to get him to scurry off but it was hard getting to sleep knowing he was still in my room somewhere! All in a day in Thailand, right?
The main highway on Ko Lipe…
Big night out at Pooh Bar
Heres the scorpion (the day after)
April 20th, 2002
I’m on a different island, but still in Thailand in the South Andaman Sea. The island I’m on is Ko Lipe, a very small island 4.5 hours from the mainland by boat. Arrived here yesterday…left Ko Lanta the day before yesterday, first taking the 2-hour boat from Lanta to Krabi on the mainland, then taking a 2.5-hour minivan south to the pier for Ko Tarutao and Ko Lipe. Since I arrived late in the afternoon I was able to get the last boat to Tarutao but had to over-night there and then get the boat to Lipe yesterday. That was fine with me because I wanted to see Tarutao anyway. All of the islands around here are part of Ko Tarutao National Park, the island of Tarutao being the largest of them all. You can’t get much more south in Thailand than Tarutao – it’s only 5 km from the island of Langkawi in Malaysia. It’s a beautiful island and apparently the location of the next SURVIVOR which is supposed to be filming here this summer.
It’s a 1.5-hour boat ride from Tarutao to the mainland. The only lodging available is at the park headquarters and they also rent tents so you can camp on the beach. I chose the tenting option. Very pretty beach – really big with white sand. I had just set up my tent and was watching the sunset with my tent neighbor Augustino (from Italy), when a big storm started brewing from behind the mountain. It was a fierce one! We got up to the park restaurant in time but the wind was so strong and the rain, lightening and thunder came out of nowhere! So much for a peaceful night’s rest in the tent on the beach. My sleeping bag was wet and so was everything else. Oh well.
I did have a good time passing the evening with Matt and Jim, 2 guys from the UK who have spent the past 6 weeks (partying) on Ko Samui and are now heading to Ko Lipe in search of some peace, quiet , and rehabilitation. They are characters.
So yesterday we all got the 1pm boat from Tarutao to Ko Lipe. It was a beautiful boat ride. The water here is so blue and clear! I mean, it’s that way all over Southern Thailand, but here it’s especially blue and especially clear! Ko Lipe is a paradise – the sea looks like glass it’s just so nice. Augustino, the UK boys, and I all got bungalows at the same place (there are only 6 places on the entire island) and then I spent the evening chatting with a really nice Swedish couple. They’ve been travelling for 8 months and have been to some amazing places. Today I plan to snorkle some, relax a lot, and just lay on the beach and soak it all in….
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: Just to let you know, I’ve just finished uploading pictures from the past month, starting on 3.21.02 in Bangkok up until the latest journal entry of today. To view the photos, click on the Journal button above, and then navigate to the last record and go back from there. Hope you enjoy!
Sunset on Ko Tarutao
She SURVIVED!
Sunrise from my bungalow on Ko Lipe
April 18th, 2002