The first of many Island

Trip Start Aug 15, 2006
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114
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Trip End May 27, 2008


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Flag of Thailand  ,
Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Yesterday started with more hassle as we couldn't get any independent information on the national park and the islands plus little English was spoken in the area and we spoke little Thai.  We decided to just head for Ko Lipe since we were worried we'd be stuck if we stayed on the main island of Tarutoa and managed to get 150 baht off the fare which was good since they then stung us with a whopping 200 baht park entry fee.  Once we arrived at Ko Lipe we noticed we could have used our tickets to stop at Tarutoa then come here a couple of days later but never mind (note to anyone else who does this journey).  We then got stung another 50 baht by the longtail boat driver who had to take us the whole 100m to shore since the big boats can't go through the coral.  He's making a fortune!   
We found a bungalow we could afford at Asia beach, on Sunlight beach and hit the water straight away for a swim and snorkel.  The water was so nice and crystal clear with great snorkeling.  That evening we had a nice meal in a quaint bar laying on these funky triangle pillow chairs/beds eating off a low table which is actually more comfortable than it sounds.  
Today we treated ourselves to a nice breakfast of muesli at a small restaurant with a friendly owner, ate lots of mango and hired a kayak to do some more snorkeling.  We saw heaps of Crown of Thorns starfish which are actually a pest to the reef as theyb eat everythging in their path.  We also found a bakery on the island (don't get your hopes up) which was a bit of a let down but did have some nice bread.  We treated ourselves again at dinner time and went to a popular looking seafood restaurant and had half a kilo of fresh red snapper steamed with lemon complete with green curry and rice and it was so tasty!  I'm appreciating the good food after all the chicken and bones in Malaysia.  
After dinner we headed down to the main beach (sunset) for the full moon party we'd heard about.  It was pretty low key but that made it really nice.  Then party was basically a few bars on the beach, some chilled music, people sitting around chatting, some fireworks and a bit of fire twirling.  We got prime seats in a couple of deckchairs in the water's edge to watch the entertainment.  Bliss!  On our way back to the bungalow we were shouted at by some local who we then realised was the friendly restaurant owner who'd started giving us free water bottle refills during the day.  He was in a great mood as he'd drank a bottle of spirit of some kind and I was surprised he recognised us!  

Tomorrow we hope to make it to another island.....
 
 
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