Koh Lipe on Crocs

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Going to Koh Lipe used to be treacherous as you would have to pass through the occasional unrest in Southern Thailand before reaching the city of Hadyai. It was often perceived that cowboys ruled the border towns & lawlessness was the order of the day. Instead of travelling 9 hours into Hadyai by bus, 2 hours by van to Pak Bara and 5 hours of boat ride to Koh Tarutao before finally reaching Koh Lipe, I took a solo flight to Langkawi to board a 1 hour speedboat at Awana Porto Malai harbour the morning after.

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How the place has changed! The Mat Sallehs, Mat Sallies & even Mat Salahs thronged what used to be a tranquil isle of recluse. I was somewhat, irritated by the crowd, the chaos at the point of waiting for our passports to be stamped by the authorities and the price hike of food at the resorts. I met a friendly Malay chap called Azhar, who had a car rental counter at the airport on the way there as we shared a conversation over our deteriorating state of affairs in Malaysia. He went to the trendy new resort at the end of the beach while I decided to traverse to the west of the island to Sunset Beach with its own fringing reef that I can snorkel over without much stress. Packing a 40litre Deuter backpack, my entourage this time excluded Choffster but had Simba & Monchichi in tow.

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Settling in, I dropped in next door to say hello to Barry of Sabye Divers & Flour Power Bakery. Then upon embarking on my cross island adventure, I was shocked to see half the jungle was cleared to make way for development. What used to be the wetlands for the migratory birds was now a barren land with excavators paving the way for roads and more resorts. Horrors, I did not expect to see this.

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Consolation was, I had a furry entourage with me wherever I went on the island & wherever I choose to settle. I could be taking shots of sunset for all that matters when these pooches come & settle alongside with me or on me. What a joy! Im never alone! I had them check out my camera, my pareo, my Crumpler, my hair, it was as if God had it all planned to welcome me. A Rottie greeted me by dropping the frisbee for me to pick up & throw. What do I do with such a mean-looking dog guarding the frisbee??? Nothing, he stepped away beckoning me to take the frisbee anyway. Upon flinging it into the sea, this Rottie ran into the water, fetched the frisbee & swam back! Woohoo! I am definitely not alone! What a dog!

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The following day, while snorkelling, I met a German guy named Peter, who had ventured most of Indonesias exotic islands & was in Lipe for a fortnight. We had a fantastic, yummylicious seafood dinner at Daya Resort on the beach under the stars. He told me about the things he had encountered during his travels, all the while, showing me pictures on his camera! I must write about the people I encounter on my journeys one day…… 🙂

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Venturing into the sea gypsies village, I took pictures of the way of life here. They were fixing their bubus and having a bath by the well & boiling water over a fire, definitely not something that we see in the city.

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Apart from falling off a disused hammock on Andaman Beach, there was nothing eventful nor dramatic about this trip. I returned to Langkawi a day earlier only to find that tranquil in my homeland. And I have been to Koh Lipe almost 10 times now, each time with a hurdle to cross or an issue to fix but this time, it was just me, my Crocs, my lion & my monkey.

The rest of the pictures of my travels can be found here:- http://picasaweb.google.com/pummkin/KohLipe2010?feat=directlink

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