Time to move on to the next "Ko"

"Sweet 2" at the Varin Resort on Ko Lipe
Originally uploaded by richardinsale

Having finished the kayak tour of the islands surrounding Ko Lipe in the Tarutao National Park of Thailand, we explored the island itself. It really is very basic and it turns out that we are probably staying in the nicest set of bungalows in the Varin Resort. So nice in fact, that they even have "Sweets" to stay in!

We discovered over new year when we sent the text messages to all our friends that one of them, Robin (who we haven't seen for over 2 years!) was coming to Thailand in January for a kayak tour. And, would you believe it, he was actually coming to Ko Lipe on January 17th!!!! So we decided to stick around to see him and catch up. What a coincidence and it turned out to be a real pleasure to see Robin.

Anyway over 2 weeks is probably a bit long to spend on Ko Lipe - the island is only about 3 km wide and less than 1 km across. It really is very small. The water supply is a bit basic - its all pumped from the ground probably not far from where the septic tanks deposit the you know what. So, if you get sick, then you'll probably end up staying that way for quite a while. Of course we don't drink the water (everyone drinks bottled water throughout Thailand), but it is difficult to avoid using it for showering and brushing teeth and so on. Charlie got a tummy bug (normally this is what happens to me, but so far this holiday I have been blessed!), poor chap and while he was quite OK, it just refused to go.

So we had the choice after 2 weeks of where do we go next? Should we like our friend in Amsterdam, Jansje, suggested, move on to the "next ko", or should we do something completely different? What a challenge while you're sitting on a tropical beach to work that one out (I can think of harder problems to solve!).

We decided that the "next ko" would actually be Laos (or rather Lao as everyone seems to use over here). The thing that tipped the balance in favour of Lao was the availability of an easy direct boat back to Langkawi followed by a GBP30 flight (fare is for both of us) back to Kuala Lumpur with an onward flight the next morning to Vientiane at GBP80 (fare again is for both of us) all made possible via Air Asia. And with 2 further plusses, the main one being that we actually got to eat again in our favourite restaurant in Langkawi (Matahari) and a cheapie nice hotel at KL airport.

So that sealed the deal and off we went. After a hair raising ride in a speedboat which leapt from wave to wave and soaked the people on the port side (yes - cleverclogs here realised that the port side would get wet as this was where the wind was coming from, so we sat on the starboard side!), we made it to Langkawi. After a mad dash for me to get further passport photos for the Lao visa which was made so easy via the generosity of the Immigration Officer to use his driver and car to go to Kuah, we landed for dinner at Matahari. And yes it was wonderful and yes the staff all remembered us with smiles and welcoming hugs!

The evening was made more perfect by the fact that we flew on the Air Asia plane which was specially painted in Manchester United's livery and was 30 minutes early into KL and our bags came off first!

What a perfect day!