After living on the coast for 8 days we made our way to Koh Lipe, a very beautiful island infested with tourists. Did I mention we made our way via personal ferry? ISDSI hooks it up. Although I could also blame them for the awful sea sickness I had the entire 5 hour ride due to writing an essay for the first hour....
We spent two days on Koh Lipe, taking a break for the most part...enjoying the beaches and lounging in bungalows. But it was also the place we used to compare the rest of the island we would be visiting, Koh Adang and Koh Rawi, both of which were practically untouched, at least in comparison and are protected by the National Park. We had to get special permission to camp on their beaches...Again..ISDSI hoooks it upppp.
So there we were. 16 students in bright orange kayaks, making our way through the turquoise waters, on our way to camp on beautiful beaches and snorkel all day. Little did we know we were about to see the last rays of light for several days.
It's true. It rained and it rained...it was cloudy. It was wet. It was...in my opinion a ton of fun. Sure we missed out on some snorkeling, but hey...I got to body surf in the most massive waves I have ever seen. There is no similar feeling as riding on top of a white cap, until the end when it feels similar to what I imagine it would be like to go through the washing machine. I wouldn't have traded it for the world.
And playing frisbee right before high tide, when I would go to pick up the disc, look up, and see a wall of water that was definitely not there a second before. Delightfully drenched.
OR walking on the shore at high tide, feeling the power of the tide trying to pull you away, bring you with her, take you prisoner...I felt at several times like I was in a movie, at this point Narnia.
Then, finally the sun got sick of hiding and came out to play. Time to move camp to the next island while we have the chance. Of course it took us at least 3 times as long as it should have to pack up camp, due not only to the fact that everyone was discovering molding possessions but also...we just wanted to enjoy some warmth. Well we should have known to move quickly in case the clouds got sick of sharing the sky...by the time we had to load the boats with our gear the storm was moving back in. Waves fought us back, trying to prolong our stay on its shores, but with our camp already packed up we had no choice but to push forward. Chaos ensued as we attempted to get off the shore as fast as possible, and finally there we were a little cluster of orange probably looking rather pathetic in the midst of the massive dark waters, choppy with rain. I looked back and was surprised not to see dinosaurs crawling through the primitive looking island, heavy with mist. Goodbye Narnia, hello Jurassic Park.
It was actually pretty exhilarating, feeling as though we had to paddle with all our strength, to get to our destination before the storm got worse, in case we got stranded somewhere. Luckily by the time we got to Koh Rawi, it was sunny again and stayed that way the last few days, allowing us some perfect snorkeling opportunities in which I saw sting rays, eels, a scorpion fish, some nemos and dories, and sssssssssoooooo much more. Oh and some monkeys, on koh pung!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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