Lovely Koh Lipe

Tung, our faithful boat driver

What a difference a day makes. From the busy, developed shores of Malaysian Langkawi we arrived in Koh (Thai for island) Lipe (pronounced 'Lee-Pay'), just north of the Thai-Malay border. This stunning little Thai island is home to less than a thousand inhabitants and luckily, for us, is still in its early stages of gringofication.

As our slightly listing ferry pulled in to the main beach of Pataya (that means about 6 places to stay and 8 bars) we transferred to a local 'Longtail' boat for the last 200 meters. Once on the beach we were greeted by the local Thai customs delegation - a smiling woman in board shorts and tank top. After a very casual signing in process (in a beach bar) and a small donation towards the upkeep of the place, we walked across the island to find our best yet accommodation of our trip - a beautiful and comfortable bamboo hut right on the beach, complete with a picturesque hammock and open air bathroom.


Post Tsunami signage

As part of 51 pristine mountainous islands of the Tarutao National Park, situated some 70 kilometers from the mainland, Koh Lipe has an interesting history. In 1939 it had a prison built on it, but due to lack of supplies during the second world war both prisoners and guards became a feared group of pirates. After the British restored order and the pirates were dispersed, the current locals (descendants of Sea Gypsies) permanently settled down here.

Since then it has slowly developed to what it is today, a relaxed beach destination with sarong shops, massage parlours and smoothie huts. During the day groups of kids play on the beach, unambitious shop keepers laze in their hammocks and the few travellers mooch from beach to lunch and back. When night falls a few distant generators kick in to provide precious electricity and people gather by the beaches for another round of cocktails.


Cocktail hour, again

On our second day we decided to take advantage of the rare variety of marine life here, and did two Scuba dives with a local dive shop. Since the proper Scuba boat had a "tired engine", we took a couple of noisy Longtails (powered by giant cluttering truck engines, as they are apparently easier to maintain) to the dive site, a good hour away.

As we pulled in to the site and the heroic dive instructor put his wetsuit on, an angry looking scorpion wandered out of his neoprene sleeve towards his bare chest. He flapped about with his arms like a nine year old girl and desperately flipped the scorpion into the water, to everyone's amusement. Could have been the sequel to Snakes On A Plane. Scorpions On A Boat. That would rock.

The first dive, in the powerful current between two large islands, was down to 17 meters and showed us lots of pretty corals and ominous abandoned fish pots (unfortunately still catching fish). Our second one, after a yummy curry and water melon lunch on a nearby beach, was even better. Holding both our regulators and masks we fell back into the inviting waters at another nearby island.

Our ever-smiling Greek diving instructor swam with us (and our other dive buddy, 30 year old 'Pru' from Stoke Newington) around the headland to a max depth of about 23 meters. Huge schools of fry and other brave little fish surroundeded us as we cruised weightlessly in the current over Stone fish, Lion fish and a variety of colourful giant shells. And when we had used most of our tanks we ascended slowly, to a timed stop, of course, to meet with our waiting boat.

Yesterday we snorkelled around another island and saw sting rays, squid and some vicious looking sea urchins. All in all, a lovely introduction to the marine habitat of Asia. Afterwards we both felt like we should do more diving, eventually perhaps one day doing some more advanced PADI qualifications.


Lovely jubbly

Today is our massage day and we're both looking forward to lying motionless for a while, our faces comfortably wedged in cushioned holes (hrm, perhaps they can arrange for our books to be readable and our cocktails to be drinkable with a straw).

Tomorrow we'll need to tear ourselves away from Koh Lipe in order to make some time for Bangkok and the north of Thailand. A difficult thing to do when you've found such a likeable place. But if we don't leave now, we may never do.