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We got to the pier late at night and had to wait until the morning to catch a boat so we stayed at a guest house that could have done with a few Orkin visits. Anyway, the next morning we were in the van to go to the pier and were passed by a motorbike... not just any motorbike. A barbecue motor bike!! There were 3 people clinging onto this thing as it sped down the road with a chargrilled chicken smokescreen on their way to meet the boat.
I just had to try it. Verdict: Delicious. It only cost about $1 US for a marinated, grilled chicken breast... to go.
After the great people we met on the Perhentian islands, we were excited to make more great friends. It turns out that when the guidebooks say that an island is closed, people believe it and don't go. We turned out to be two of 10 tourists on the entire island.
As we walked around the tiny island we picked up some tagalongs. I had noticed in Malaysia and Singapore that there were no dogs! I think I saw 3 the entire time we were there. We found out later from a couple Canadian guys that owned a scuba shop that Muslims believe dogs are very dirty creatures. In fact, if they get licked by one, they have to go through a ritualistic cleansing process. So they don't have them as pets and thus, have no (or very few) strays wandering the streets. Here in Thailand, Buddhism is a lot more common and they love animals. Well, a lot of the locals loved them so much that they let them hang out on the beach all day - forever. Some of the dogs and cats that were once pets are now feral and roam the beaches and jungle in small packs.
We had a young dog from one side of the island follow us to the other side, only to be attacked by the residents of that beach. He ran off with his tail between his legs. Awww poor thing doesn't know it's a dog-eat-dog island. Anyway, the animals are everywhere. We sat at the restaurant in front of our bungalow and had dinner and by the time dinner was done we had 3 dogs on the floor. A cat behind me on the railing, one behind Celia on the railing and one on her lap.... Gross! Let's just say Petmeds.com hasn't quite made itself known on Ko Lipe. Who knows what they're carrying! Sure, they're fine from far away and it breaks your heart to see the dogfight wounds and to be nibbling away at a pesky flea.... But keep it away from my dinner table!!!
Aside from the fear of contracting mange, it was a beautiful place and had beautiful beaches, quaint bungalows, friendly locals, and nice weather... for the first day.
Monsoon season in Thailand is May-October. Monsoon translates to lots of rainstorms. The resorts refer to it as "Green Season" but they're not fooling anyone. But us.
Our first plan was to explore the island the first day, take a snorkeling trip the second and then leave on the third. We woke up to a rainstorm on the second day and decided to cancel our snorkel trip.
-"Oh, we didn't expect you to even show up."
-"Well... We had nothing else to do."
And we didn't. The 3 days of rain and high seas meant the boats weren't operating and we were stuck. We read several books, took naps, ate a lot of food, and had THE BATTLE IN THE BUNGALOW!!! While laying on the bed reading one of the rainy days, Celia felt a little tickle on her shoulder. She brushed it off and thought nothing of it. A moment later she felt it again and looked over suddenly screamed and jumped from the bed and I, naturally, jumped up in a state of alarm. -"What is it?! What happened?!"
She pointed at the pillow and I moved it away to reveal the culprit. Oh, it's ON!
"In this corner at one inch and less than an ounce.... THE COCKROACH!" (BOOO! HISSSS!)
"And in this corner at 5 feet nine inches and 150 pounds, weilding a tennis shoe and a water bottle... THE BACKPACKER!" (HOORAY!)
A battle of epic proportions ensued and in the melee, I somehow smashed my thumb in one of the many strikes at my opponent. He's fast, but not fast enough.
Since we had nothing else to do I got a Thai massage. Now Thai massage is different to a Swedish or any other type of massage because rather than just rubbing and compressing the muscles, you're getting pulled and stretched and twisted and manipulated.
Just after this pose she had me cross my legs and she sat down and pulled me up on her legs. It was like doing a superman, except Indian style and facing the ceiling. Noi and Danee were very friendly and we talked with them quite a bit because they were such good company on the rainy days.
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