Quiet Koh Jum

It’s been a long time since our last post, we’ve spent the last 8 nights in quiet Koh Jum. Koh Jum is a small island between Krabi and Koh Lanta; no electricity, nothing to do really except go to the beach, snorkel, read, etc. We stayed at Andaman Resort which has rows of brightly painted a-frame houses along the beachfront.

It was an extremely lazy week, we had some great food (the best so far in Thailand) and met some great people during our stay; the locals were really nice and the foreigners we’d met had been coming to the island for a long time. One man from France has been coming to Koh Jum for the last 8 years, even during the Tsunami. The people from the island have given him some land to build a home and surprised him a few days back with a repaired long-tail boat; painted in yellow, red and green with ribbons on the bow.

The sunsets on Koh Jum were particularly beautiful, with the sun setting directly over the Phi Phi islands and different every night. We started an impressive shell collection along with sand-dollars. Excited on seeing the first one, as we continued walking we found one after the other.

We are now back in Krabi and staying in Noppharat Beach. The tide gets so low in the afternoon that you can walk to the nearby islands. We walked to a couple of islands yesterday; so many little crabs, starfish, snails and fish.

Tomorrow we are leaving for Khao Lak and the Similan Islands where Matt will be scuba diving. The pictures of the Similian Islands (check online) look amazing and the underwater life is said to be the best in Thailand (sea turtles, manta rays, reef sharks friendly, etc). Most dive trips are over night, so we’ll probably be on a boat for a few days. After that we make our journey to Koh Phangan and the Gulf of Thailand.

Koh Lipe to Ton Sai Bay

Our last days in Koh Lipe were great; Matt and Josh completed their open-water diving course and we brought in the New Year at the Karma Bar with friends that we met on the island. We arrived back in Ton Sai Bay on January 4 to hugs and smiles; knowing people here almost makes it feel like home.

We went kayaking for a day around the limestone rocks in Krabi; there are so many caves and tiny beaches around the rocks. In the middle of the day it just started pouring so we pulled in to a beach and just swam in the warm water as the rain poured down. After a few minutes the rain stopped and it was sunny skies again.

We chartered a fishing boat the next day, which meant waking up at 5am, taking a long-tail boat to Ao Nang and heading out to the Chicken Islands and Phi Phi returning around 7pm the same day. The guys on the boat didn’t speak much English but brought us out fresh fruit, drinks and thai food and took care of everything. We were trolling for barracuda and dorado but Josh was the only one to catch a fish… or bait :). When we returned to Ton Sai we all had sea legs. At dinner it felt like the whole restaurant was rocking back and forth.

We had to do a visa run yesterday; taking a minibus to the Malaysia border and then coming back to Krabi. We drove to Satun, walked over the Malaysia border, filled out a form, walked back into Thailand and filled out another form. We now have another 30 day visa for Thailand. Our next border run will be to Burma before we head to the Gulf of Thailand.

Today we are just lounging at the beach and taking it easy. Waking up early the past couple of mornings has been tough :).

Lazy Days in Lipe

Not too much to report from Koh Lipe, it’s been one lazy day after another. Our friend Josh flew in from Hong Kong to spend the next couple of weeks with us. We spent some time at the beach and then lounged around in hammocks for sunset; with the moonless sky the stars were incredible last night. Matt and Josh signed up for an open-water scuba course so they’ll be on a boat for the next 4 days visiting various islands. I’m going to use that time to work on my tan and do some snorkeling. You only have to go 20 feet from the beach to see living coral and the most beautiful fish.

Well, that’s all for now. We hope you all have a happy and safe New Year!

Merry Christmas from Koh Lipe

We hope everyone had a great holiday. Christmas day for us was much the same as the day before. Everyday consists of waking up and getting breakfast and coffee. After breakfast we tend to relax on our porch and then walk down to the beach below to find some lounge chairs. In between sunbathing sessions we read or go snorkeling. In the afternoon, we venture into “town” which is just a path into the jungle with various shops, restaurants and bars along the way. We’ll eat some apple pancakes or fruit shakes and find a dinner spot (usually serving BBQ shrimp, steak, tuna, pork and chicken). Our vegetarian diet has slowly been replaced with a carnivorous one.

In the evenings we tend to find a nice beach bar to relax at. Most are outfitted with floor pillows, candles and hammocks where you can hear the waves of the ocean mixed with the music. Last night we caught a fire show at Karma Bar (just below our place). It was a great show with performers on rocks in the middle of the water, and dancing on either end of the beach, etc. It was one of the best shows we’ve seen. We've included a short video at the end of this blog post.

Well, this will be it for now. Merry Christmas everyone!

Paradise

We’ve arrived in paradise and it’s called Koh Lipe. This island is so beautiful, the sand is a fine white powder and crystal clear water. It’s surrounded by larger islands which are in a national park; we’re planning on kayaking to some of them soon. We have a great bungalow with an amazing view of the beach below. There are coral reefs all around the island which will be great for snorkeling. We’ll be spending the next couple of weeks on this island, celebrating Christmas and New Years Thai style.

Today we spent the morning at the beach and then walked around the island. It only takes 30 minutes to completely circle Koh Lipe. The island is mainly habited by sea gypsies; generations have lived here off the land and sea. The majority of the bungalows here are made from bamboo and wood rather than concrete which the more “developed” islands are scattered with. Most of the bars/restaurants on the beach are made from driftwood, giving one that deserted island sort of feeling. There is one bar on the beach next to our place where you can relax on large mats with candles in the sand.

Besides from the occasional crab startling on the beach there really isn’t much to complain about. Pictures give the best description of Koh Lipe…

Ton Sai Bay

After 5 nights in Krabi we decided to take a long tail boat to Ton Sai Bay. Krabi was great but very touristed, two words…McDonald’s Delivery. Ton Sai is only about 15 minutes away and a quiet little stretch of beach and bars. The place lights up at night with fireworks and fire shows. We have a cute little bungalow just a short walk from the beach. Unfortunately I came down with food poisoning on the second night, so the last couple of days were spent in bed. It was my mistake for eating chicken from a street vendor; it came medium-rare with a side of salmonella.

We took a 2 hour boat to Koh Lanta and we stayed in a beautiful resort right on the beach. It was a short stop in Koh Lanta as the next day we had an onward boat ticket to Koh Lipe; the southern most island in Thailand and just a couple of hours from the Malaysia border.

Krabi Thailand

We've finally arrived in Krabi! It is so nice here, I've never seen beaches this beautiful. Unfortunately Matthew became sick shortly after we arrived in Delhi, another case of dysentary... We're not sure if it happened after he shook the taxi driver's hand or the samosa that he ate along the way but he's been sick for the last 2 days. He started taking antibiotics again and is starting to feel better though.

We went to Ao Nang Beach our first day in Krabi. It's a beautiful stretch of beach where people sell you ice cold coconuts, offer massages ($5 for 1 hour), give you pineapple and drinks. It's a tough life in Thailand... :)

Today we plan to go to Railay Beach, which is a 20 min boat ride away. There you can rockclimb the limestone rocks in the water. If you fall, you just plunge into 85 degree water!