Day 11, Friday 1 November 2013 - Koh Lipe

High Season..... Today according to the seasons in Thailand this is the start of high-season and a signal that the rainy season is at an end. Certainly October has had its share of rain, some heavy thunderstorms at times but now things seem more settled and there is frantic activity on Koh Lipe getting geared up for the new season. That will signal higher prices as if things weren't already expensive here. That won't affect me much; I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm still surviving on some provisions I bought at Pakbara especially coffee, so I won't need to venture far from Wapi Resort today. In fact, it's lunchtime before I walk into the town.
Any thoughts though of snorkeling this morning are out of the window due to high tide and a brisk wind blowing across the bay. Low tide won’t be till 3 pm. I stay near the bungalow and start thinking about the remainder of this tour. Now I have a good internet connection I can add the final touches. Initially, I had no idea how it would end. My plans for a three night stay in Trang Province are in tatters. It seems with only two night left it makes sense to see it out on Lipe, but then I get a break.
One more island..... One more island..... I notice a resort on Koh Kradan, an island off the Trang coastline. My flight is at 4 pm on Monday, just 3 days away. I can't put that in jeopardy. I first need to establish availability of accommodation then confirm the route. I call the resort. There is only one problem. Koh Kradan has no regular ferry service. If I want to reach the island I have to charter a boat. It's a case of money will buy you anything. There's no need to rush to make a decision; I'm not going anywhere at the moment, but this gives me the chance to complete the tour on a high and achieve my objective of a four island hop. Before the day is out I learn that a speedboat service is available from Lipe to Kradan, but that won't help me as I've already purchased a boat ticket back to Pakbara. I'm committed to the land route from there. I draw up a plan and calculate the cost. First I need to get to Trang. The speedboat leaves Lipe at 9 am. There should then be a van available to Trang. That shouldn't cost too much. The resort informs me that they have an agent in Trang near the railway station. If I make that, all should then be arranged for me. I would have to plan for a worst case scenario that there are no other passengers willing to travel. On the return leg that has to be the case since I am governed by my fight schedule. On the plus side, of course, that means I can choose the time. After I feed all this information into the mincer the verdict is affirmative. In the grand scheme of things I should go over budget for this tour but by just 5%. I'm conscious that I've passed by so many opportunities already on a tour that is reaching its end. I confirm the accommodation and also the speedboat for the morning.
Beer, Coke and..... It's now around 12.30 pm and I pop out for lunch. With clear skies and a drop in the wind I can think about snorkeling again. I'm keen to get back and change noting the tide is now well out. Among the fleet of long-tailed boats I note the arrival of one loaded with beer and soft drinks, someone's order? Black-skinned bodies manhandle cases up the beach, a reminder that everything that arrives here has to come in this way. It makes me wonder how Eddie Stobart would have dealt with this!
More coral..... Off sunrise beach there are 2 small islands. Both can be accessed at low time but as I find out, it requires appropriate footware. A feature of the seabed around Lipe is the granite rock bed that has become weathered by wave action and forms a habitat for the amazing variety of sea creatures around the island. It is difficult to negotiate the mosaic of coral and sand bed, the former appearing just below the surface. The main problem I find at low tide is simply that the water is to shallow. Despite this I am again treated to an amazing display of sea life, an abundance of which you would unlikely see on land. The colours of the butterfly fish and angel fish are incredible in the bright sunlight and sea anemones look like purple cloth has been draped around then. Spiny urchins deter me from walking too near the coral. Here and there small fish appear in shoals. One species appears to find me irritating and swims towards my mask then veers away when I don't respond. This is all a great education to me. I spend maybe 90 minutes in the water, but I'm conscious of the fact that I'm exposing my back and upper arms to the intense sunlight.
I decide to take a break for an hour. At 5 pm I head up the beach towards a view of Koh Adang. Here, the water between the islands is deeper. Here also is a chance to witness a beautiful sunset. For the final hour I get a view of larger fish amongst coral not so dense but all too quickly the light fades and with it my stay on Koh Lipe. As I head back to Wapi a small army of volunteers is scouring the beach for debris, each sole equipped with a black bag. It's curious to see the number of foreigners involved. Unfortunately after every high tide an unsightly band of garbage appears on the shoreline. After a clean-up of my own, I head into town for my last meal, a tuna baguette.
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