Chapter 91 - 72 hours in Koh Lipe, Thailand

Glad that I had my first ever trip this year recently to Koh Lipe, Thailand. It was not in my plan to visit this island but well, peer pressure won this time. I was joined by another 7 of my friends including my bestie in this trip. 

It is really up to the individual on where they can board the ferry, be it from Langkawi or from Thailand. There is no direct flight to Koh Lipe, considering that it is a small island. Knowing nothing about this place, I leave it to my friends to take lead. We left Kuala Lumpur on Thursday evening and touched down in Langkawi at about 9++pm. Pretty much, Langkawi was just a transit for us to sleep in. When the sun rose, we checked out and headed to Telaga Harbour.

It was very early in the morning that we had to force ourselves to wake up. This is me, bringing my luggage to catch a taxi to drive us to the jetty. My breakfast at that time was just 2 slices of Gardenia bread while bestie had a bottle of Somersby ..Imao

A must wefie shot before we departed to Koh Lipe. Everyone was really excited to feast our eyes with clear blue water.

Pretty much, it took us a few hours from checking in all the way to waiting for the local immigration to open and board on the ferry. We literally wasted half a day to be transited to Koh Lipe. After touching down in Koh Lipe, we were greeted by the unfriendly immigration staff. We were waiting in a clueless state, hoping to collect our passports soon.

By the time we collected our passports, it was already past noon. Dragged ourselves to the hotel and rested a while before we headed for our late lunch. After lunch, we roamed around Koh Lipe and signed up for a snorkeling package the next day. 

The rest, I shall leave it to the photos to tell the story.. 

Upon arrival to Koh Lipe. We boarded a big ferry from Langkawi however, the big ferry couldn't stop us at the island itself. Hence, we were picked up by the famously Thai longboat to chauffeur us to the island itself. After that, we dipped our legs in the cool water and walked to the beach.

While waiting to get my passport, my eyes were also feasting to this beautiful scenic view. A calm and peaceful view despite that it was really really hot on that day.

A must-to-have drink in Koh Lipe. Thanks to the scorching sun, I was fortunate to at least have a coconut drink when I was in Koh Lipe. I still managed to source for a coconut on the first day in Koh Lipe. But after that, I couldn't find any from one restaurant to another. Apparently, it was sold out! So, bestie and I had no choice but to grab coconut drinks in bottle, sold at 7-11 to quench our thirst.

Wefie with bestie upon arrival. Barely able to open my eyes widely

Strolling along the beach while heading to Budhaya for a massage, I spotted some love stones. Pretty interesting and cool hence, I squatted to take a few shots of it. Here is my selfie post with the love stones.

Mandatory shot for a tourist to take photo with Thai longboat

Breakfast in Thailand was really simple. Not sure whether it applies in my hotel, San Pita or this is just the way their life is. It was my second day in Koh Lipe and I ensured that I had enough since we had snorkeling on that day where we were supposed to visit 10 islands.

A mandatory group shot when we visited the first island. All with sunnies, indicating how hot the weather is. In fact, before I left to Koh Lipe, I read NST and saw the news that the temparature in Thailand exceeded 40 degree celcius.

One of the shots that was taken during our island hopping and snorkeling session.

This is a very unique rock! The rock stands strongly albeit the roaring waves and strong wind - bear in mind, the upper rock is not glued to the bottom hence, can you imagine how does the upper rock balance itself?

 

Besides snorkeling, I had a very good massage session there. I literally used up my leisure time to get myself pampered and at the same time, suffered! Each day, I visited the Bundhaya Resort for massage such as foot massage, Thai massage, coconut oil massage and etc. It was not cheap compared to the massage session I had in Krabi and Phuket the last time. All massage rate is the same which is 300 baht and no bargain is allowed. Not sure whether is it because of a peak season.

Another shot with bestie on the final day in Koh Lipe before we bid farewell. In fact, this was actually after our Aloe Vera + Coconut Oil massage.

View from Bundhaya

Weather was freaking hot and it decided to leave a mark on me. It was just a day of snorkeling and look at what I got. Sunburn! The photo does not really show how bad my "burn" is but those who have seen me face-to-face would realize how tan I have been.

So, that pretty much sums up my Koh Lipe trip! Oh ya, not forgetting about the food - well, I still find that Malaysia food, be it Malaysia Thai food is still the best! The taste is more flavorful as compared to the food in Koh Lipe. 

When comes to night time, there is no particular night life here in comparison with Phuket. So, what you can do at night is simply have a bonding and chatting session with your friends at the beach while accompanied by the sound of waves. 

The next island that I would like to visit will be Khao Lak! :) Let's see when....

Regards,

Foodiestravel

Chapter 49 – Top 5 things to do in Phuket, Thailand!

Lately, I went to Phuket for a short getaway – it was a last minute planned trip with a few friends of mine and off, we headed to Phuket without exploring the dos and the dons there. Initially, I thought that 3, 000 baht would be sufficient for my 3 days and 2 nights but unfortunately, I was wrong!! I couldn’t even do much shopping since my pocket was quite tight and there was one extent whereby 3 of us had to share a plate of spaghetti..Aiyoyo..what a life man.

Anyway, I was glad that I managed to at least visit some prominent places even though our resort was located at quite an isolated place – what I meant by isolated place was the resort would be more suitable for couples or families who want to have a peace and serene getaway or the best way to put it is a retreat; not for people like us who want to explore the city. Hence, the cab fare totally stripped us off.

Above all, I must say that Phuket is a nice place to visit. Instead, I would reckon one to stay in Patung Beach as that place is more happening. As we went in July, we were told not to do any island hopping, snorkelling or any beach activities due to the high water tides and current.

After my 3 days and 2 nights trip, these are what I have compiled for top 5 things to do in Phuket:

1. Do grocery shopping @ Tesco Lotus Express

I couldn’t help much but grocery store always lured me to step into the place. Following to my Krabi’s experience, I knew that their snacks are sold at a slightly cheaper rate. For instance, I can get a stick of Sugus for only 60 baht (RM 0.60). Looking at the rows of items, my aunti-ness started to take a toll on me; I bought 2 packs of Lays, a bottle of milk, a stick of Ovaltine biscuit, 10 packs of Tomyam Maggi, a Tomyam Maggi Noodle cup and many more. I felt so happy after I did my shopping there.

2. Visit Phuket Night Market @ Phuket Town

Lady luck was with us despite it rained throughout our 3 days there. Phuket Night Market is available on every Saturday and Sunday; apparently, people there associate Phuket Night Market with Chatchuchak market in Bangkok. I have never been to Bangkok before but the Phuket Night Market is really big – I spent about 3 hours there, from shopping to buying my dinner there. We even packed some food back to our resort because they were just irresistable.

3. Visit Patong Beach

It is a happening place where you get to see tourists from all over the places. Of course, you get to see rows of “Tiger-Show” especially at the Bangla Road – I didn’t go in despite that my curiosity hit in. In fact, I couldn’t even go in since I did not have enough money. Aiks! Nevertheless, there are lots of restaurants, massage places, and it is a shopping paradise for shoppers too. What made my day was I got a foot massage session for 180 baht (RM 18.00) only – so cheap la!

4. Eat Thai food

How can you not taste Thai food when you are at Phuket?? Throughout these 3 days, I filled my tummy with lots of yummy food such as Green Curry Chicken, TomYam soup, Spicy Chilli Meat and many more. Some of the dishes were really spicy where it nearly burnt my tongue but it was way too awesome till one wouldn’t say no. I too learnt that pork dishes are rather popular in Thailand – I had Char Siew there too. Yum..

5.Visit Upside Down House

We didn’t come across this place actually but I guess fate wanted us to visit that place. On our way to Phuket Night Market, we saw Upside Down House and quickly reminded our cab driver to bring us there on the very next day. However, there were some hiccups in between and we visited this place on our last day. The name itself has already stated on what one can expect when they go in.

Since most of us were already broke at that time, we visited Upside Down House only and forgo-ed The Garden Maze. Everything in the house is attached to the ceiling and it becomes a challenge for a photographer to take nice photo. One must be creative too, to pose for a certain angle.

A place that is worth to visit actually! Entrance fee is only 200 baht (RM 20.00)

That somehow summarizes my 3 days and 2 nights trip in Phuket. Besides feeding my tummy in the morning, noon and night, these are the places that I visited. Other than that, I was leisurely chilling myself in the resort since we had an indoor poolJ.

Life can never be so amazing when you let your brain, body and your soul to rest. It will be an added bonus if you go with the right group of people as well as a planned itinerary.

Regards,

Foodiestravel