Ko Lipe - Ko Lanta: Island hopping in Thailand

To get to our first destination in Thailand, we have to cross the border at sea! This picture was taken pretty much around the border line... Behind us the Island of Langkawi, Malaysia.

Although we left Malaysia under the rain, we reach Thailand under a nice blue sky to the heaven-like tiny island of Lipe (about 3 km long, but surrounded by only beautiful beaches).


Following the advice of our bible, we make our way to the other side of the island (20 minutes walk with the backpacks) to the small "sunset beach".

Don't pay attention to the name of the resort... it's the best place we've ever been!

It's a perfect small beach with white sand and great views to the next Island.

Our wooden hut is just 5 m from the beach!

Ok, it's not the most comfortable place, but it has all the basic
(i.e water and mosquito net) and is clean!

On the way from Malaysia, we met Ignacio and Cecilia from Chile, same age as us, so we decided to spend the next few days together.

In THE street on Ko Lipe (literally, there's only 1 street) with Ignacio and Cecilia

Here the Tuk-tuk are also 3-wheeler, but the motorbike is on one side instead of being in the middle. They use these for taxi and goods

Here's our private beach, getting ready for snorkeling

Our second day wasn't really sunny, so we went out for a walk under the rain. Here this sign is indicating the Tsunami evacuation road towards the highest point on the island, probably about 20m above see level

You will surely recognize these brands....

Here's the laidback atmosphere of Ko Lipe's street: no cars,

small shops and restaurant and no stress...

Another stormy afternoon on the island...


Our last evening on the island, enjoying a great sunset...

We loved every bit of Ko Lipe, especially the great white beaches and the laid back atmosphere. But it's only our first stop in Thailand and in search of more lost paradise it's time to move on to our next destination: Ko Lanta.

In spite of a bumpy boat ride, Caro fell asleep on the boat and

used her neighbour's shoulder as a pillow.

Just as in Ko Lipe, these signs can be seen everywhere, but
I'm not sure how efficient they would be in case of Tsunami...

Ko Lanta is nice, but surely doesn't live up to the French reality-TV show of the same name: it's huge and very touristy and unfortunately not half as beautiful as our first island Ko Lipe....

For 5€ per day + 1€ petrol, the best way to get around is on a scooter.
No need to show your licence ;-)

Automatic 24hr petrol dispenser, just like a can dispenser.
Insert coins (as little as 5 cents...), get the gas

Huge yummy grapefruit in the market!

Small sticky rice sweets

We got lost on our way to the beach and ended up on the other side of the Island ( I wondered how this happened since there's only 2 roads, but never mind). But we found this great bar on the cliff.


The electricity was gone, but we still had the possibility to get a fresh juice with this stone-age hand juice extractor. Quite hard for pineapple, but still does the job (10 min preparation and one full pineapple for a glass)

For our second day on the island, we went away from the beach for an Elefant safari in the jungle. They are obviously real slow and it goes from left to right, so everybody got more or less dizzy from the ride, but was still great!



For our final day in Ko Lanta, we took a boat ride to the diving site of Ko Haa: great formations at sea and also great for snorklers...

Arrival at our first diving / snorkeling spot

Here with our friends and the diving instructor

Caro got a little seasick on the way, but nothing serious...

Sunset on the way back!

David