Райский остров Ко Липе. Paradise island of Koh Lipe.

Thailand 2017

Journey starts here

This is the first country from far Asia to which we returned for the second time. The first Thailand was already more than four years ago, and our independent trips began with it. Then it was the mainland. Now our goal is one of the most beautiful islands - Koh Lipe. It was Dasha who introduced him to our route. In guidebooks, it appears as the Thai Maldives. Since we have already visited the real Maldivian Maldives, now let's see what we have in common...

Our ferry had been on the road for more than an hour, the warm winter jacket that lay on our backpacks gave us severity in these hot countries. Usually, on such trips, we dress in summer clothes back in Kyiv, but there was an exception here. Since the first country on this route was 13-hour Istanbul, we had to take warm clothes with us. Fortunately, a complete warm set was collected from the cabinets in Kyiv, which it was time to throw out. But a warm jacket was good. Thus, the cleaners of the Kuala Lumpur airport will find women's jeans, men's jeans and even a women's autumn jacket in the trash) And now we have summer, it's in full swing. The ferry slowed down and stopped at the maximum distance from the shoal. We were all transplanted into a boat, which was also afraid to swim to the very shore. Acquaintance with the island began with a jump with things into warm water. It was about knee deep. It all reminded me of the plot of "The Last Hero". At first we thought that we were unlucky with the weather that day. The sun was out, but in a thick haze. Turquoise water needs a blue sky, otherwise the water can become completely ordinary. But even in such weather it turned out to be a big plus, there was a unique opportunity to go kayaking without burning down in the trash. Our passports were taken from us at the Malaysian port. Now you need to get them back and put an entry stamp. Everything was very exciting. I wanted to start exploring the island as soon as possible. A serious officer came out of the visa house, looked at the photo of the first passport, then carefully studied the hundred tourists who had arrived. Loudly called the name and surname of the first lucky man. An excited Malay woman approached the officer. The guy shook her hand sternly, handed her the passport, and gestured sharply over his shoulder, keeping a cool face. An even more excited girl went to get an entry stamp. The officer continued to greet the first batch of tourists in a military manner, whose stay on the island was less than a day. When the first stack of passports ran out, the officer folded two fingers in the shape of a fork, and began to walk along the remaining tourists and said “Two minutes! ” while depicting as if poking everyone in the chest with a fork. It was a kind of dedication to those who arrived on the island. Such a meeting changed the mood in the right way. Our passports ended up in the second batch. In the meantime, a taxi driver drove up from our hotel and sat in the shade under a palm tree. After the stamp, we still had to pay for visiting the island, but we did not plan to change dollars, so we agreed that we would pay later. Thais live according to the principle of “sawaidi”, this is so that no one tenses up, everything works out and it is a joy. The guy didn't hesitate to let us in and we paid him after dinner. Island taxis are motorized tuk tuks.

The taxi driver brought us to our exotic hotel. From that moment our heavenly page of this trip began. Our hotel consisted of individual bungalows in the jungle, located above the sea. At the reception we were given cool wet towels and flower juice. A cold towel to the face, this is really what was needed.

“Your room with a sea view will be ready later, change clothes, leave all things at the reception, we will bring them to your room ourselves. There are taxis around the island, masks with snorkels to watch fish with corals and transparent kayaks, all for free. Down the stairs is access to one of the main beaches. ” These words are like honey to the ears. Free taxi? Masks? Cool! And what views!

So, urgently camera in hand and forward to the beach. Our beach was called Sunset. The water in this light was transparent emerald. We took a series of photos, but it was clear that when the sky was blue, everything would have to be re-photographed. Taxi, where to start. Probably from a kayak. The next tourists just returned and carried the oars to the reception. The kayak was made of transparent plastic. Swimming in it, one could view the underwater world. There were hefty boulders on the sunset beach, under and above the water.

Dozens of crabs of various sizes basked on the blocks. Swimming to the stone, the crabs began to scatter. Against the backdrop of palm shores and emerald water, it looked very bewitching. It was impossible to look away. Especially in those places where there were no beaches and the jungle immediately began from the water. From time to time we made stops on uninhabited micro beaches. One even had a cave. I wanted to swim endlessly, but the forces did not think so. The way back was also a bit against the current. Other tourists were less fortunate and got a very strange shape of oars. Seeing that we were heading back, they agreed to exchange with us at the hotel. Our boat had comfortable inflatable pads, apparently for back comfort. Sometimes a little water flowed into the boat along the oars. Even then I thought: “something is too much water”....

It was a warm February day. Tourists of a hotel unknown to us on a private beach sunbathed lazily, read books and sang drinks, against the backdrop of a paradise sea. In the next moment, literally everyone just as lazily watched Dasha swimming towards the shore, with oars in her hands. After Dasha, I climbed onto the shore, pulling a sunken kayak out of the water... We, with an air of “we just wanted it, ” with difficulty poured water out of the boat. They sat down, swam three meters and drowned again. There was already not enough facepalm to cover his face from the ridiculous situation. From the second take we sailed successfully.

Initially, when I noticed that the water level in the boat was rising, I realized that we were doing some maneuver wrong. When I figured out what the maneuver was, it was too late. Without thinking, I jumped off the boat, trying to grasp the magnitude of the coming catastrophe. Dasha was sitting in front and did not see the whole picture from behind, and there was not even the end of the boat behind. Dasha's last chance to keep the boat afloat was to jump out. I, like a real captain, shouted “Jump urgently! ” Dasha promptly complied with the captain's order, but the ship could no longer be saved. Dasha quickly clung to the oars, inflatable tied pillows surfaced from the sinking ship. Now it is clear for what purpose they were. I was able to drag the wrecked cruiser with me to the shore. Why we drowned right at the start for the second time remains a mystery, apparently we pushed off the coast very sharply. Having sailed to our own hotel, we proudly handed the oars to the guys with whom we agreed. This trip was a real exotic adventure safari. We really, really liked it. Then we went by taxi to see the second beach and the main street of Walking Street. On the second beach, the water was a little turquoise, but due to the lack of a clear sky, it was clear that the potential was not fully revealed. Although honestly, it was very beautiful. Koh Lipe has a relaxed atmosphere. Everyone should behave lazily and not rush anywhere.

Dasha was the first to catch this wave. After the Malaysian pace, I wanted to get somewhere urgently. Although in fact, where to rush something on this cozy island. I began to explain my vision to Dasha, what must be done and where to go. During my interpretations, I sat down in sapphire water and said: “You know, really, forget it. ” Immediately, the whole body, in addition to warm water, was saturated with waves of idleness and a completely unloaded mood.

Indeed, everything we need to do on this island can be repeated 1000 times in the current two days, and there will even be time left) We are in Thailand. I'm used to walking fast, but not on this island. Here the legs did not even try to speed up the pace. This is really such a corner of the earth, the vanity of which does not suit. Despite the fact that Malaysia was only an hour away from us, everything was completely different here. Thailand is very different from Malaysia in every way. Although there are common points, for example, Thailand is just as cool. Thai smiles are wider and more joyful, Malay smiles are more sincere.

Dasha was sitting on the shore, I dipped in warm water, we talked about something pleasant. It was very easy and serene. The sun gradually began to move towards the horizon, appearing through the blue. Vodichka began to play with even brighter colors. We were now sitting on Sunrise Beach, for the traditional meeting of the sunset, we had to go to Sunset Beach, which is located on the opposite side of the island.

Although the island is relatively small, but every independent attempt to cross it across ended in epic wanderings.

In principle, you can wander around the paradise island, but the main thing is not to collide with the scorching sun. It took us 40 minutes to get to our chalet. Having thrown off our things and changed into evening clothes (the same as day clothes, but dry), we went down to the beach.

Almost the entire island has already gathered on the beach, even the dogs have come. Everyone was waiting for what Sunset Beach is named after. There were free mats around the restaurants to make it easier to enjoy the beauty of the sunset.

Someone set up professional burst shooting, someone launched a drone that flew suspiciously far and disappeared over the edge of the island. At first it was beautiful, but when the Thai sun went over the horizon, it became 3 times more beautiful. All the red color that illuminated the shore began to be projected onto the clouds. It was such a mesmerizing and exotic sunset that in my rating, it entered the top three - a sunset in childhood at my grandmother's and a sunset from the Sugar Loaf in Rio.

You could take hundreds of photos and they all turned out ultra-beautiful. As the red light began to fade from the clouds, more distant layers of the sky began to light up. 15 - 20 minutes and that's it, the session of collective magic is over for today. Another heavenly day passed to the stage of night festivities. "Taxi! Walking Street please! ". Vzhik, and we are on the busiest part of the island, on the main street. Where to start? Let's find a better Thai restaurant first. Thai food is similar to Malay, but nevertheless it also has something special. We had an unusual dessert - coconut ice cream in coconut. It tastes more salty than sweet, but tasty at the same time. I would say that it is salty at the beginning, and then it seems to be sweet. In general, everything is complicated) After dinner, a walk along the night promenade. It is a pity that in the dark the water does not glow with a turquoise light. I love the islands because even at night they are beautiful in their own way. When all the restaurants along the waterfront light their fires, and tourists wander aimlessly to meet each other. We already have a four-year Thai tradition - not a single day in Thailand without a massage! There are probably more massage parlors on the island than shops and hotels combined. Prices are fixed everywhere, you just choose a salon that is closer to your soul. At the current rate, an hour full-body massage costs about $12. Prices are not much different from Kiev, but nevertheless it is real Thai) The first day on the island was perfect.

Our Chalet welcomed us with air conditioning.

If the first day was perfect, then the bliss of the second is beyond description. Thick blackout curtains kept the darkness out even in the morning. The alarm clock said it's time! “Open the curtains! ” said Dasha, holding her breath in anticipation of what the weather will be like. I open the curtains, a perfectly blue sky with a couple of clouds, a bright sun, a bright blue sea striped from corals! True, the curtains had to be closed abruptly, because the eyes would not be able to adapt so abruptly. We went out onto the balcony - the singing of exotic birds, the sounds of insects. An impressive view, such as is depicted on the booklets of hotels where there is no such sea at all) On the second tier, breakfast and fresh lychee juice are already waiting for us. The juice was not only tasty, but also cold. On the palate, it has a pronounced floral-spicy tinge. Usually in such beautiful places you have to get up earlier, have breakfast and quickly run to the azure shores. But not on Koh Lipe in February. Many people here get up early, just like us.

But only in order to have a measured breakfast and soak up the atmosphere of a carefree life. The whole chip in the morning low tide. The sea is so shallow that it makes no sense to swim at sunset. The tide will refill the shores by 11:00. Therefore, for those who wake up at 08:00, you can completely slowly go through the morning procedures. This is generally our most beautiful view from the hotel for all-all trips.