Koh Lipe - my next new home

Koh Lipe just appealed to me on every level and I ended up living in three different locations there. The first beach at Sunset side was quite far away from the night life and the 10 minute walk through the jungle either had to eb immaculately planned and timed so that someone else was going that way, or scarily attempted alone. I never did. After I bumped into Adrian, Monica, Katja and Josh I was more inclined to move over to Pattaya beach and stayed with the German girls for two nights. On the next night, which was to be our final night, I stayed in Pink resort next to Peace and Love bar. This was yet another bungalow on the beach but with millipedes on the bathroom floor. At Sara's bar on Pattaya beach one day we met three English girls from London and three Swerish guys that they had met. We formed the Thai big brother house. Hanging out at Sara's bar on three consecutives days we were lucky enough to be invited to the family's home for dinner on our final night. Sara's bar is a small hut on the beach facing out to sea with a few bamboo tables and chairs and a prime position centre of the long stretch of sand. They have no electricity. The front of the hut is decorated with hanging fruit and reggae colours and the owners daughter Sara was a very bold and lovely little girl who spent here days playing cards with us, showing us the fish in the sea, screaming and laughing and practising counting 1-10 in English. The whole atmosphere was really relaxing and with six new great people to get to know I had an evewn better time on the island. Natalie, Hannah and Kirsty are really outgoing girls with big personalities and I really warmed to them straight away. They met Niklas, Stefan and Ricard a few days before and they travelled to Lipe together. The Swedes are only on holiday for 3 weeks so they are constantly in the lap of luxury. Duting out time there we visited Sunset bar in a small cove on one side of the island, enclosed in a bay all of its own. A rock sits in the view of the sky, mounding out of the sea and a few small islands in the disrance are the backdrop to our view of the sun setting one evening. Sliding through the cloud the sun reminds me of an egg yolk running through the white really slowly before plopping out of the bottom and dipping into the vast sea. Eagles are circling the air above mimicking the solidity and presence of small aircrafts. As the clouds and sky turn orange and pink the bright burning globe sinks away. I always find watching a sunset a mixture of emotions. Really beautiful to watch and obviously relaxing but also like the end of an era, another day, with so much expectation of the next. The mats and low tables at sunset bar were a perfect lounging ground for us all and the cold singha beer another nice touch. As the long drawn out clouds stretched lazily across the deepening blue and light yellow sky we made our way back up the dusty mud steps up into the forest and back over to Pattaya.

I discover that the path leading from Sunlight to Pattaya beach is lined with amamzing little coffee shops, travel agents and clothes shops. It is a really lovely little pathway with the sun lighting it fully during the peak of the day and little pockets of shade appearing later on. I try on various clothes, browse the bookshop, buy some postcards and drink my iced tea before heading back to Pattaya beach to meet with the group. A few pwoplw have cameras and we take some group shots to remember these moments by. Adrian is missing having headed home, bored of the shopping, and Hannah has wandered up to a tatoo place to see if she can get a new piercing through two places in her ear.

The final dinner at Sara'a bar was an unexpected night and a really fantastic end to our stay at Lipe. Now staying in the same resort the girls got ready together, me now designated as the group hairdresser so I twist and plait until everyone is satisfied. We walk down the beach to meet the guys and the rain starts dropping lightly from the sky refreshing our hot skin. At Sara's bar they have made a table inside for us, sat in he middle of what is usually a small and chaotic shop selling sarongs, nuts and beach toys. We are welcomed by the family and they sit us down to watch us eat the food that they have prepared. Masaman curry with plenty of peanuts, thai omelettes, vegetables and boiled rice which I take the liberty of serving to each person on the faded blue and white plastic plates. We all eat our fill and order rounds of beers and eventually samsong buckets. Katja introduces a game into the mix to do exactly that...to mix. In German (that I do not remember right now) the person sitting next to the empty chair says that they have an empty seat beside them, and then they state who they choose to fill that seat. It works really well in the dynamic of our big brother group and everyone has more time to chat to different people through the evening. We are soon brought more samaong by a friend of the owner and he brings a guitar and bongos. With the addition of a harmonica and singing voices we have great music, and the adlibing that goes on with lines like 'we love you Koh Lipe, we al;ways want to stay' will make me laugh everytime I think of them. Hannah turns out to be a bit good on the bongos, and having had a few drinks by now I take up the job of singing whilst making up lyrics as I go along. Drinking games are then brought in and without any surprises...we end up at Peace and Love that night. Tong is there as usual behind the wooden bar with his brothers one of whom is Zak and Pisau (big sister). Tong plays a variety of songs from his laptop and guests at the bar request their favourite songs too. A few people we know from the island are also there, the German guys we met the night before, the Swedish guy Pete and his brother newly arrived onto the island. There is a real comfort in being here when the island is not so developed and over run with 'farang'. But the developments goup behind this beach and the only thing keeping me optimisitic for the next couple of years here is the lack of a jetty.

The next morning is a delicate and sad one. I have not long been to bed when I have to get up, take my prepeacked bag (organisation is the key) and make my way to the boat that will take us to Pak Bara followed by a bus to Krabi.

I slept on the boat to Pak Bara the whole way. No more rollercoasrer adventures for me. The logn boat picked us up at Pattaya beach out side Peace and Love, took us into the open sea, and then we transferred onto the ferry. The ferry docks at 11.30 and I buy some watermelon immediatly and drink a litre of water. We make our way to the pier road for breakfast, drop our bags with our travel agent, and await the bus to Krabi. Boss lady is back on the scene and seems to be slightly annoyed that we wont be bookign with here again today as I had done previously before leaving for Lipe, and incidentely turns out that Adrian etc had been caught by the same woman. The bus to Krabi is fine, air con large bus with one stop where thai women climb aboard selling fruit, packets of boiled rice and sweet fried chicken. James Bond music plays from the speakers but the tv screen fails to show the picture. On arrival at Krabi we are once again ushered into a tourist bureau where we buy boat tickets to Phi Phi for the nxt day and accommodation in Krabi town. Adrian, Monica and Katja are with me and we are taking a different route to Phi Phi to meet all six of the bog bro house for Natalie's 25th birthday. Krabi is a mixture of styles with old meets new and lots of great boho type shops. I am determined to buy a camera but we get sidetracked into the bright lights of an Italian restaurant and we all four of us treat ourselves to a lovely meal. I have Mediterannean antipasto and a brushcetta follows by crepe suzette. Its indulgence but its a mouthwatering change from noodles and rice and well worth the extra extravagance. Mine is served on a wooden platter and a basket or my bread. The service is impeccable. After the meal all camera shops are closed so I am happy with an internet cafe. My blog still doesnt work so I write an email to my Dad to cut and paste and call home. Perfect timing, everyone is there and I speak to each person in turn before calling my Grandma who also has a small family gathering. Its nice to speak to people a home, and all for a very small cost on Skype. I could get used to this Skype thing!

The next day after a great long sleep and no alcohol we are picked up for the boat to Phi Phi. Already it feels different as the long truck is full of westerners and even worse when we reach the ferry it is a massive boat full of tourists. We have been truly spoilt in Koh Lipe. The boat journey is short but again me Adrian and Monica sleep, occassionally with our mouths wide open stuffed in rows of seats like a cinema. Katja feels ill, has been quiet all day, and wanders the boat or fresh air.