Koh Lipe

7th February

The ferry to Koh Lipe and hence to Thailand was a 90 minute ferry ride at two in the afternoon, and yet the whole affair took nearly all day.

I did get up early to write a bit and get my stuff together, bought some breakfast (biscuits) from the supermarket. Said goodbye to the very sweet Malay girl, Milan, who worked at the hostel and got the Grab to the ferry port. 

The process of boarding the ferry was structured and organised but involved a lot of waiting around. 

First you had to check in at the office (at least 90 minutes before boarding) to show your passport and receive a boarding card and a sticker, then wait in front of another office to go through immigration to leave Malaysia. 

I needed the loo, of course, which was 50 c and I only had 20 - the lady laughed and let me through anyway.

There was a large group of very loud Italians waiting - rather impatiently - and one Italian couple had the wrong date on their boarding card (the 4th not the 7th) and some other people had the right date but no sticker. This all seemed to resolve with trips back to the office then after a while we got filed through and our fingerprints scanned and passports stamped (as seems to be the process in Asia). 

Then on to a waiting area for the ferry - where they took our passports. I had read on the sign that this would happen, but couldn't help feeling a little anxious as she threw my passport down on top of the others, and it teetered slightly on the edge of the huge pile. They do this to stop people from 'skipping' immigration when they get to the island & receiving a fine. You have to collect your passport on arrival at the Island to clear immigration into Thailand.

The waiting area was very full and when the ferry arrived, 30 minutes late, I was wondering how we were all going to fit on. It didn't even look big enough to hold the Italian party's suitcases! 😂

On the ferry, there was not a single empty seat, and I got chatting to the couple next to me, Don and Michelle, from the Isle of Wight. They were used to ferries! In fact we chatted the whole journey, sharing travel stories etc., and after the ferry taking 2 hours, plus the clocks going back an hour, we arrived at around 3.30 pm, where we had to board a second boat for a short ride to the shore, and then had to cross on a floating bridge to the beach called Pattaya beach. There were people lazing about on the sand in bikinis and relaxing in the water.

Then - a massive queue to collect our passports. We surmised there was some system for this but I'm not sure. We seemed to be the last in the queue - the Italians somehow got there first and were long gone!

Eventually - at nearly 5 pm - we got through immigration - received our passports and paid the 200 Baht for the National Park fee. I expect the Italians were already on the beach with a cocktail in their hand.

My hostel  - 8 mile backpacker and bar - was not the party place I'd imagined - thank goodness!

In fact, the island seemed more of a family and couples place rather than a party island. 

My bunk - another top one after a good run of bottom bunks - but at least it was sturdy.

The main strip - Walking street - was extremely busy in the day and between 5 pm & 9 pm but then died down later. 

The island is small - you can walk across it in around 20 minutes - and there are both Sunrise and Sunset beaches - so named for obvious reasons.

Sometimes termed 'The Maldives of Thailand' it was certainly very pretty, with crystal clear water and soft powdery white sand.

This was Walking street later on, as things were dying down

and outside my hostel

8th February

The host at the hostel, Tom, was so knid and helpful and left out breakfast stuff in the morning - doughnuts and little cakes and bananas to have with complimentary coffee and tea.

I had a lazy beach day. Sunrise beach was packed with long boats - these are wooden boats, they used to use for fishing, but now mainly for trips and as water taxis. It was also a bit windy and there was no shade.

I crossed the island, passing a Monastery - with a temple and had a short walk inside. It was extremely peaceful there - notice the tsunami evacuation sign on the left

They had these little 'miniature houses' I'd seen in other parts of the island

I managed to capture this sound of there birds I keep hearing everywhere. It is the Asian Koel bird

Here's the 'YouTube' version:

Sunset beach was quiet and I spent most of the day there, in and out of the sea. Little fish were swimming around me and I wondered what was out there further, on the reef. I was going to hire snorkel gear, but in the end I booked a snorkel trip for the following day.