Koh koh koh
Trip Start
Aug 07, 2008
1
44
79
Trip End
Ongoing
Pattaya,
Thailand
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Koh Lipe: our previous stop was on the resort island of Pulau Langkawi on the very north of Malaysia. from the hustle and bustle of a resort island, we took a 1.5 hour speed boat ride (everyone got sea sick) to the small, tiny rural island of Koh Lipe on the very southern tip of Thailand (i think it might be the southernmost island, but i could be wrong). anyways, i've got one word for you... "paradise"... imagine clear turquoise waters, soft white sandy beaches, and a wonderful clear blue sky... it was the most beautiful beach we've seen so far.. by far... the whole island itself is tiny. if there was a road, you could probably walk the circumfrence of the island in a couple hours. you could definitely walk across it from one end to the other in about 20 minutes... the beaches are lined with simple "resorts" or what looks more like a cluster of bungalows... nothing fancy, just simple and "rustic". BUT, it wasn't cheap (in thai standards... in US standards, for what you get, it would be unimaginably cheap... but eunice and i have quickly adjusted to the relativity here)... at 600 baht (about $16/night) it was one of the pricier places we've been thus far. but well worth it... the interior of the island is basically one street with small restaurants and shops... again, nothing fancy... but good food nevertheless... what did we do on this island?..... here's our daily schedule: wake up, grab a beach chair, set up our spot, go eat breakfast, lay out in the sun for a few hours, bring lunch back to the beach and eat, lay out for a few more hours, eat dinner, have a drink or two and then go to bed... for three days... oh, and we managed to get a couple of hours of snorkelling each day right off the beach... that was in between laying out on our stomachs and laying out on our backs... it was truely wonderful after three months of moving and moving... sadly, however, the small island feel of Koh Lipe seems to be on the verge of becoming commercialized... we learned from a few people that land leases were coming to an end and we could see some fancier resorts starting to build... one near completion and was rumored to be up to 35,000 baht per night... that's $1000 US per night!!! sadness....
Koh Lanta: we sadly left our island paradise to head for another island on our island hopping journey. but instead of a direct speed boat to Koh Lanta, we decided to take a more detoured route to save a few dollars... besides, the speed boats are sea sickeningly rocky... Koh Lanta was NOT how we imagined it... it was not the island paradise we've become accustomed to... it was bigger, busier and more bustling... three B's you do not want on a tropical island... anyways, we arrived late and after roaming around in the dark for a while with our packs, we checked into the Mook Lanta... another bungalow resort... Lanta was rumored to be beautiful and a wonderful place to chill... to us, it wasn't... i guess Lipe had turned us into tropical island paradise snobs!... if we had not been to Lipe, Lanta would very well have been incredible... so instead of laying out on the more rocky beaches, we rented a motorbike and just rode around the island drinking young coconut juice and sampling local foods... not much else here on Lanta... off to Koh Phi Phi!
Koh Phi Phi: it's pronounced "PEE PEE"... don't try to make it fancy by saying "fi fi"... Lonely Planet describes Koh Phi Phi as "the most beautiful place on earth". that's a pretty hard title to live up to... but it was beautiful... the most beautiful, i think not.. but like the saying goes in SE Asia... "same, same, but differnt"... Koh Phi Phi is tragically, the most damaged island in thailand from the Tsunami a few years ago...i saw the photos... it was pretty much leveled... well, it's rebuilt itself into a wonderful town full of souvenier shops, restaurants, diving companies (some of the best diving in the world), and guesthouses. the beaches are beautiful and te jungle is dense and the tall cliffs give it a distinct personality. BUT, it is as differnt from Koh Lipe as a tropical paradise could be... it is not the tranquil beach style island.. instead it is more of a fun, always something going on sort of island... that's Phi Phi's description. now let me get into our experiences.
we arrived on the afternoon boat... BIG mistake... busy season... we hiked around the island for 2.5 hours before finding a place to stay... everywhere was either FULL or too expensive (again, thai standards)... we even took a boat to a beach on the other side of the island only to find the places were full... and on the way back to the main beach, the long tail driver dropped eunice's pack in the water... everything got wet... well, we finally found a place in the center of town for an exorbant 1200 baht per night! almost $35 US!!! after checking in, we ran into a couple friends we met in indonesia. that night we went to a couple bars to eat dinner and hang out... let me tell you about the bars on Phi Phi... there's always something going on... fire dancers, free buffets, 2 for 1 drink, free buckets... there was even a bar with a kick boxing ring in the center! anyone could get in and go three rounds with another person from a bar... it was so funny watching some of these guys (usually at least a little faded) get in the ring and slug it out... and as you know with guys, after the first hit, all fun and games are over... our competitive nature kicks in... there were even a couple girl fights! "where are we???" the next day, we rented a longtail boat and driver and went snorkelling on Maya Bay... where they filmed the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio... awesome scenery, but unfortuneately, we didn't have very much sun our whole time on Phi Phi... then another night of free buffets and fire dancing at the Half Moon Party... we decided to head out the next day to save our budget... with that, we waved good bye to Phi Phi, its gorgeous beaches, crazy bars, and sticky rice/fried chicken meals...
