An odd and strangely comforting breakfast combination greeted us this morning, comprising a thin milky cereal-based soup tasting of Weetabix with chunks of warm garlic bread on the side. Nothing surprises me any more for breakfast.
We eschewed the local snorkelling experience at Pulau Payar, which involves a similar journey time but according to reports promises a far inferior experience than what awaited us in Thailand. Tourists complain of being treated like cattle, herded from bus to boat and shouted at through megaphone not to step on the coral, which has already been largely destroyed by hundreds of tourist feet.
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| Arriving at Ko Lipe |
At Ko Lipe, crystal clear waters awaited us as we were brought by long-tailed boat from the jetty to the beach. Ko Lipe is open for only part of the year, while the remaining months are used to clean the area. While rubbish may not be generated there, it has a tendency to wash up unbidden on the shores of even the remotest uninhabited islands.
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| Private long-tailed boat |
Having passed immigration - a one-man hut on the beach - we were escorted onto our own private long-tailed boat. For the rest of the day we didn't see more than a handful of other couples.
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| Clear waters |
Ko Lipe itself is rather small, but is part of a cluster of islands around which corals and tropical fish abound. The corals were stunning, all different shapes and colours, ranging from brown and orange to vibrant purple, some shaped like bracket fungus (or the ear-shaped wood fungus beloved of Chinese), some shaped like giant brains or enormous underwater blob creatures.
While the sea bed threatened razor-sharp corals and black spiny sea urchins, nestled like unexploded bombs, the surface boasted a tropical dance of fish. Clown fish, neon fish, and many more colourful varieties we could not put names to swam curiously towards our masks until we were part of the shoal.
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| Lunch at the beach |
Our boat driver pulled up at a perfect strip of sand along the coast of Adang island. We ate a packed lunch of fried rice and a skillfully carved pineapple.
The water along the coast was calm, but quickly became choppy farther out into the open sea. Our first drop left us drifting from the boat and corals in the strong current, with the result that we exercised greater care on subsequent attempts.
Returning to the landing point, the boat sailed clear over the waves, landing with a thud after each one, and had us gripping on at the prow.
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| Lighthouse at Telaga Harbour |
Returning to Langkawi's Telega harbour and once again resetting our watches to the new timezone, we were met by our host.
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| Veggie barbecue |
Back at home, he had been preparing a barbecue for the evening. Vegetable skewers, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes were all staples of a vegetarian BBQ, normally the preserve of meat-eaters. A curry and rice (not cooked on the barbecue) gave an Asian twist to the food.
After the barbecue, a cake appeared, which is odd as there was absolutely nothing special about today. It was our host's first attempt at baking a cake - orange sponge with fresh fruit on top - and went down a treat.
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