Tom Yum Goong Paradise!!

Ko Lipe

Crossing that border and arriving in Thailand felt so good. Malaysia as lovely as it is, is far too developed for the likes of my trip. I want pristine white beaches and I want jungle. I want bamboo huts with a hint of danger: snakes and other critters (and the lungs required to alert people in the immediate 5mile radius that I need immediate help should the danger present itself) and I most certainly want a spicy Tom Yum Goong!! :)) My friends laugh. It never ceases to amaze them that I could quite happily live off this spicy prawn soup, day in day out and never tire of the wonderful flavours... !


I took a ferry from Langkawi to Ko Lipe. A darling of an island which up until only 3 years ago was apparently quite untouched. Unfortunately people like myself looking for that more remote location found it and then the Thais of course cottoned on to the opportunity. I saw people arriving on the long tail boats (that pick you up off the ferry and deposit you on the beach) with luggage on wheels... when you see that and the hoards of backpackers in the usual backpacker's uniform you know the place has its days of pristine bliss numbered..

So far Ko Lipe has managed to retain something of its original charm. The majority of the population there are Chao Ley. The sea gypsies. Poor things really dont have any undeveloped islands left for their nomadic marine based lifestyles. They have had to put down roots and stake a claim on whats left.


On arrival, I walked (there is no transport of any kind on this island) around the island in the already steamy heat at 9am and I looked for a decent bungalow to call home. On the way I also checked out each of the dive operators. I was planning on doing some Dive Master work and getting paid to dive!!


It was only when I stopped at the 3rd decent looking dive shop to have a chat that I was asked how long a visa had the Thai immigration stamped in my passport. I reached for my passport in my back pocket only to find ...opps passport is not there!! A Bad mistake - and I remember thinking this as I did it, never put your passport in your back pocket... I now had to retrace my steps and walk the island again!

I was lucky, I found it. A caring French lady had found it in the sea (!!!) and handed it in to the resort nearby. It had fallen out of my pocket when I was walking along the shoreline to the next bamboo resort and the tide had risen. It was soaking wet and full of sand and the identity page had fallen out but was still with the passport! But of course now cello taped and still sandy, Ive not had many problems traveling on with this document of character! Don't you just love SE Asia!

I had been in Lipe for 6 days when Ben from Lotus Divers announced 'I need a Dive Master pronto!' my other Dms are sick and may even leave the island.

Ben's chipmunk impression

And great news this was, although I was thrown in at the deep end: I had to lead 3 dives the next day for 7 clients at dive sites I had never dived and I was informed that I was going out there with an apparently somewhat dodgy boatman called Tom who didn't always know the best drop in location!! Ben had Open Water courses to teach and the two other DMs were out of action! So I took a deep breath and confirmed that I'd do it!!


Ben in the hammock with some well meaning Dive Students !!

I immediately began to dive for free and not only that, I was being paid for this pleasure. The first dive was hilarious. 45mins in and we still hadn't seen a single fish! This doesn't even happen in the Med! It was one of those dive sites that was easy to miss ...and thats exactly what we did !! The next two dives and all subsequent dives thereafter were bliss... loads of fish and good coral. All the clients we had were incredibly good fun and Ive kept in touch with some of them. Tom however, was not only dodgy but also quite scary!! Take a peak...

Don't you agree?

Besides Ben from Edinburgh were the other DMs Francois and Armelle, a French couple from Toulouse who I managed to persuade not to leave but to take a few days of rest.
We lived in the same area of the 'jungle' and walked home together at night on many an occasion.

Oui Je suis Fort, je suis Beau... et je suis Francais!!

Armelle & Francois

We were terrified of snakes. A python had been found in some girl's bungalow and the Frenchies found a small snake in their bathroom. I found two scorpions!!! I almost forgot to photograph them... this is the second on its way down the drain...

Big ones one each on two consecutive nights. I killed them both.... with mosquito spray!! It worked thank god they were pretty nifty and I certainly didn't want to share my bathroom with them! Hehe I got what I wanted... danger had eventually found me on this long trip in Asia!! I also had this weird critter come visit ...anyone knows what it is??


What IS this???

My Bungalow was owned by a couple who I affectionately named Wilma & Fred, they were Choy Leys and they lived next door. Wilma used to sing a really strange song too early in the morning, lucy I had to get up at 7am to go to the dive shop most mornings! This is them...

'Fred n Wilma'

Ive always found in Asia that when you take a picture of someone who isn't used to having their photograph taken, they stiffen up and try to look as official as possible. If they have any photos of themselves in their homes you'll notice its always the same official pose! Its not that they are opposed to the photo being taken as I always ask first.


Wilma on her morning walk

I have to say it was fun but a little different to go back to the basic bamboo hut, after spending so much time with Carrie in her gin palace in Bali not to mention the recent 5 star treatment recently received in Malaysia! But I liked it nonetheless..

Home

Being a DM was a lot of fun. Its quite tempting to do it again. With the right team and the right dive shop set up you can quite happily spend 6 months looging up some great dives and being paid to do what you love most. We had a really great time in Ko Lipe.

The Dive Boat