Day 16 Farewell from Ko Lipe

It was really hard to say goodbye. I had found my paradise and now I had to leave. However, I also knew that I still had a lot to do. Ko Lanta, Ao Nang and finally, of course, Bangkok. All destinations to look forward to, of course.

And so I left this island with a smile and a tear in my eye. And also with the thought that I would come here again...

I checked out of my room and the staff loaded my luggage into the moped while I was still having a delicious breakfast to take me to the pier later.

It was low tide today and the view of the sea was beautiful and special.

One of the young, friendly hotel staff drove me to the pier on Pattaya beach. There was a lot going on here! Everyone got a sticker on their T-shirt, stickers for their luggage and a number when they checked in. The number thing was new, I was curious.

First our luggage was loaded back into the longtail boats and then transferred to the speedboat out at sea. As the tide was low today, they had to go quite a way out.

Then it was our turn, one after the other as everyone had their number.

It was interesting! Everyone was totally relaxed and waited patiently until it was their turn. But as you can see, not everyone was in “Thai mode”. People who obviously had a high number and still had to wait were keen to stay at the front instead of simply moving aside so that the others could get to the front.

We all got into the longtail boats one after the other, then we were taken out to sea and waited until the boat in front of us had unloaded everyone. Then it was our turn. In typical Thai fashion, they just drove up close to the speedboat, held the rope and we took a giant step onto the speedboat. That's how it works here :)

I am absolutely enthusiastic about such simple solutions. The Greeks are very similar in this respect, maybe that's why I feel so comfortable there...

It was late morning when our speedboat took off. This time the weather was much better, the sea was calm and there was no rain. Nevertheless, the very loud engine noises and the hard impact on the small waves were very exhausting.

My route now only went back to Ko Lanta. That was my stopover on the way to Ko Lipe. I don't remember how long it took, but it was around lunchtime before we docked in Ko Lanta.

The arrival was similar to that on all the other islands. We tourists were greeted by loudly shouting cab drivers. What a hustle and bustle! I passed them all because I had to go to the toilet so urgently. A long queue had already formed there and it felt like it took half an eternity. By the time I had finished, most of the tourists who had arrived had left and I approached one of the cab drivers and asked for a fare to my hotel. He said it would be expensive, that I should just wait until the next speedboat docks, because then the trip would only cost 300 baht, no matter where. This was because they had of course filled their cars with lots of tourists and the price was therefore much cheaper. We loaded my luggage into his vehicle and I got myself an iced coffee and a small snack and chilled a bit on my cell phone in a cafe in the harbour until the next boat arrived. Then I actually wanted to get into the vehicle with my luggage, but it was already full of new tourists. Instead, I was allowed to sit in the front of another vehicle next to the driver and enjoy the air conditioning, while the others sat on the wooden benches on the flatbed in the back, hahaaaaa

Nevertheless, I felt a bit queasy, my rucksack in the other car between the other tourists and me here in the front of the other car. But well... Incidentally, I had bought an air tag for my luggage and fastened it inside. I can only recommend it. It made me feel relaxed and I could locate my luggage on my cell phone if necessary.

The cab driver had a very nice chat with me, as he also happened to be the cab driver from my hotel. He was thrilled that I love Thai food so much. However, he was completely impressed that I was traveling alone with my rucksack and that I had already seen everything and still had a long way to go.

My backpack arrived at the hotel before I did, which caused a huge laugh in the hotel lounge when I arrived. I received a very warm and friendly welcome.

I was curious about this hotel. My mother had been here several times before and was very impressed.

I didn't actually have Ko Lanta as a destination on my itinerary. However, when planning my trip, I realized that I was really running out of time. So I treated myself to a really great hotel room here and planned a few quiet days. And the hotel room was really great!

The hotel was quite large and there was a separate tunnel under the road to get from the hotel grounds to the beach, breakfast room and beach bar. The staff were all very friendly and courteous. You really felt at home here in a larger complex.

I settled in for a while and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach while other pictures from Germany reached me, hahaaa ;))

Ko Lanta

Vergleich zur Heimat

I ended the afternoon relaxing with a, well what? My iced coffee, of course! And I'm really lucky here at the Beach Bar! They made a really good iced coffee.

For the evening, I looked at where I might go. Unfortunately, my mother's tips were often no longer up to date, as things change here all the time. Some restaurants no longer existed or had a different name.

Of course, I still found something... It wouldn't have been me if I had stayed in the hotel restaurant ;)

And so I made my way to a nice restaurant that had a great recommendation according to Google

... my way:

I found a really fine restaurant a few meters down the main street

Frühlingsrollen

Thai-Curry

Chang Bier

For this food alone, the thought of emigrating really isn't a waste!

And I can really promise you, the food was always better than it looked in the pictures, simply heavenly.

Maybe I should start another blog series about Thai food and recipes?

Conclusion of the day:

“If you want to find yourself, don't ask others for directions” - Hermann Hesse

All the worries that others - and of course I too - had about whether it was all too much for me, whether it was really good for me and whether I was taking on too much. Alone with a rucksack through a foreign country, after this stroke of fate...

I'm glad that I listened to my inner voice and took this path.