A walk around the island

Our last full day on Koh Lipe. The following morning we were leaving for Hat Yai and then Bangkok for our last night in Thailand. We were sad we were leaving, but we wanted to use the day to the fullest. Apart from packing, we did a lot of fun things, too.

We spent the morning on the beach. The weather was perfect. Hot (but not unbearably hot) and sunny. We went to Pattaya Beach for a change. The reef there was so much different than the one on Sunrise Beach! I might say that it was even better. I was really sad than we didn't discover that earlier. But everyone kept saying that Sunrise Beach is so much better. Sand quality-wise - I agree. Views - I agree. The reef - not so much. Plus, we were there in the rainy season, so the ferries were arriving to the platform by Sunrise Beach, not Pattaya. So Sunrise Beach was also louder...

Anyway, it was so beautiful. We kept swimming around, nobody was disturbing us. There were many different kinds of fish to observe. Plants and formations I can't name (I suck at that. I've spent my whole life living by the sea... But, in my defense, we don't have coral reef in Poland. At least not to my knowledge ;)). I was really amazed. I didn't take any pictures, cause I just wanted to enjoy the moment. And not focus on trying to capture things I wouldn't be able to name anyway ;)

After delicious lunch, we decided to have a walk around the island. Ok, maybe around is too much to say, but we simply decided to go for a walk. Wherever we want to go, wherever our legs take us.

We walked by the temple.

Before we finally got to the third of the main beaches of Koh Lipe:

In order to get to the beach, you have to walk down a flight of stairs. But before you do that, you can have a first glimpse at the beach and at the sea. In between the huts, you can see the marvellous colours of water, sky and sand.

When we got there, we were the only people on the beach. As if it was made purely for the two of us. Birds flying high above us from Koh Adang to Koh Lipe. Crabs walking on sand. And the sound of sea... A perfect place for an afternoon nap:

or for simply chilling, walking around, doing nothing, thinking about nothing. Just looking around. Taking in the beauty of the place. And the quietness. Magical.

Then we walked across the island. They're either preparing for building a road or they simply made it available to get from northern to southern parts of the island.

We ended up on westernmost end of Pattaya Beach. White sand, warm water, and hardly anyone on the beach. A paradise on earth?

We got to Walking Street and got back to our hut. We had to finish packing.

We spent the sunset on Sunrise Beach again. Its northernmost part. We wanted to see the last sunset in Thailand, cause it's not that pretty in Bangkok. The water level was extremely low. Boats were parked on sand. And people were partying. Full moon. That's what it was (I guess).

The clouds and sun were dancing together in the sky. A colourful performance. And from the east, an evening storm was approaching. Again, very beautiful. I miss those evening spectacles.

The reef sticking out of water (water was knee-deep at that place):

We ate delicious dinner (I love Thai food) and went back to our hut. We had to get ready for our morning departure. We got up early, ate breakfast (took some food for later as well) and went to Sunrise Beach. There were many people waiting there for the taxi boats to get to the floating platforms already. We got into the line. A guy came up to us, wanted to see our ticket. We showed him our voucher. He said we should get out of the line, that we should first talk to some guy (he pointed at him). Before we got tu that guy, he got into one of the longtails and we never saw him again. So we got back to the line and that same guy (the first one) had no objections anymore. We got to the floating platform. Got a ticket (same thing as they were distributing in Pak Bara, only this time our numbers were thirty something) and had to wait for the speedboat. I could feel that this platform was floating... Oh, my sea sickness kicked in a little bit. Though focusing on the last views of the island helped a bit. Then the speedboat came. It was much, much smaller than the ferry that brought us to the island. We were lucky to have the low numbers, at least we had seats. Many people were standing. When I already though no one else could get on board, more people were jammed... Oh, boy, that was scary to see them getting on board, and with small children. Kids were getting sick on the way again, but this time in the toilet. We finally (and luckily) got to Pak Bara. We could leave the speedboat (through the ferry!). We got to the van that was already waiting for us. The van took us to Hat Yai airport in time for our flight back to Bangkok. For our last night in Thailand.

But more on that, later.