Figuring out how to get from Koh Phi Phi to Koh Lipe where we were to meet up with our friends Naree and Ploysai from Center for Girls, we eventually decided on the 6 hour boat ride. As you might expect carrying all your luggage on your back around the world, these 6 hour boat and bus rides are never actually the true duration and this was no different, 3 boats and 8 hours later we arrived at Koh Lipe and met with the girls, backs aching from the various lifting and lugging of our backpacks from boat to boat and lying flat out on the hard seats in the non-air con room was a delightful experience….

Koh Lipe has a short walking street with restaurants, 7 eleven of course, massage and tattoo studios and bars. The beach here is stunning on the sunset side and also on the sunrise side, Sharki3 and Naree making the sunrise at some godforsaken hour. The small huts we stayed in were a mere 20 metres from walking street and proved to be a quiet, small, yet comfortable arrangement.

The girls were adamant on their holiday to go snorkeling and being the brave Thai girl that Ploysai is she jumped in and joined us for more wonderful sights under the water, whilst Naree, posed in the spare gear on the boat.

GoPro secured neatly in my trunks, I found space, off we swam into the reef and managed to cover about 3 islands that afternoon. Kayaking was different for Sharki3 and I, paddling around a couple of the closeby islands and getting some true heat from the sun your arms soon get tired in the calm waters. Finally, Naree braved the waters and came kayaking with more photos taken of her than any of us two!