My Hammock with a View in Koh Lipe

Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Koh Lipe, Thailand
I had planned on staying another night on Pattaya Beach, but my Paradise Bungalows was full and the only opening I could find was close by at Pattaya Song which had some great hilltop bungalows with a great view, but they were a little pricey ( 1000 baht) for what you got ( a concrete bungalow) and they had a pet monkey tied up on a rope attached to a plastic chair that he scooted around when he wanted to get somewhere. So much wrong about that, I couldn't't even take a picture for all of you.

So I moved over to the other side of the island, to the beautiful beach and Mountain Resort that Maureen and I stayed at, and loved several years ago, Diane you stayed here too as well? The resort has gotten a little bigger, and fancier . The staff wears uniforms now! And there are brand new bungalows right on the beach. But the beach is still as awesome, and hasn’t changed a bit. Its layered with shades of blue that is surrounded by a pure white sand beach, and   a sand bar that extends into the water. Its so shallow at times that at low tide, you can practically walk to the other island beside it. The resort is beautifully landscaped and kept very clean, they even installed frog shaped trash cans that you can place your trash inside its mouth. The restaurant has a large wooden deck, with a tremendous view of all sides of the beach below. It looks like something from the Maldives and from postcards that you put on your fridge and dream about visiting one day, and I’m here for three days living it.,

I got the same fan bungalow as I did on my last visit, with a Thai style toilet that you flush with a scoop of water, and the bungalow is very basic but I have an amazing view from my deck and a hammock that I put up to enjoy it . . This side of the island is quieter, and the beaches are picture perfect, it’s a great way to start winding down my trip, since I have one island left and then it’s the journey back to Bangkok…will I fly? Bus? Overnight train?   I haven’t decided yet, a lot depends on what’s available. That will probably make the choice for me!

I spent my first day on that beach, mostly just swimming in the clear blue water. When I was lying out in the sun, I noticed this 70 year old French woman lying close by on the beach, topless, as I being rather shy about that sort of thing, left my bathing suit top on. There are so many travelers here from Europe, and it’s just what they do, sunbathe topless. More power to them, and that confidant woman from France, I wish I was that brave. I would swim thru a dark cave, and come backpacking for a month by myself, but sunbathe topless, way too shy for that. But Sarah is glad that I’m not open to that sort of thing, she would be so embarrassed! Right Sarah?

For such a light sleeper as myself, it’s hard to get a good night sleep sometimes. I could never date a snorer, I have to sleep with my IPod and my headphones for my few friends I travel with who do snore (you know who you areJ) and sleeping in huts made of bamboo, with neighbors close by, you can only imagine how difficult it is for me sometimes to make it all the way thru the night . Right away when I checked in to my bungalow here at the Mountain Resort I noticed the high tech stroller parked outside the bungalow next door…great a baby! Less than a year old to be exact. Now that baby is not even going to remember this trip…is it necessary to bring them along? Ha, ha, I know the parents are enjoying themselves and they aren’t bothered with their baby crying in the middle of the night., lol. And then there are the sounds of nature. Birds, roosters, monkeys, those large geckos that say "oh-ohhh" I wish sometimes I could be like Fonzie in that one episode of Happy Days( now I’m really aging myself) where he goes camping with the Cunningham’s and he’s sick of the sounds of nature in the middle of the night and he snaps his fingers and gets them all to silence. Well, that won’t work for me, so in the meantime there’s always Tylenol Pm.

So my next day while taking a nice afternoon nap on the beach I was woken by one of the creepiest attempts by a man to get my attention. I was startled from my nap to see an Brazilian man squatting beside me in a Speedo (not a pretty sight to be woken up by) and he proceeded to place a pair of headsets on my ears playing the famous love song from the movie Ghost., you know the scene with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore when they are together making that clay … the Man smiled at me and said” you like..Yes?” And nodded and pointed to himself, and then to me,,, I took the headset off and handed it back to him, and said “ ahh, no thanks, not really”  Give me a break, wake a girl up from sleeping by putting a headset on me with a cheesy love song playing? Definitely on high on the creepy scale. I moved myself and my towel to a new spot.

I had my last dinner in Lipe at the place that we had those yummy grilled prawns sitting a little raised booth sitting on cushions Maureen! They were just as yummy, but not the same without you. I am happy to report that my tummy is all better. The walk back on the beach was lit by the almost full moon. And no, I’m never afraid of walking around any of these islands by myself, I’m very comfortable here, and feel very safe.

Tomorrow I’m off to my last island. I will take my hammock down and pack up my backpack for one of the last times, next week its back to Bangkok, and then the journey home.
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Comments

Tracey
2011-02-19

Another beautiful destination!!

Sarah
2011-02-28

I want to go back there and save the monkey!!! Really I do!!! :(

Uh-oh....uh-oh.....uh-oh.... Who am I? The frog!! I'll never forget that story you told me and you, Sara, and the frog! Haha

And that man!!! I would be so creeped out!

2025-02-09

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