At the doorstep we were greeted by bouncers, after a little bit of a discussion which involved pretending to not understand what they were saying and playing the part of a Farang that didn't understand what dress code and reservations meant we head off downstairs into what was a full on Chinese restaurant. There were tiny little tables with a menu on the wall entirely in Thai, the ceiling full of beautiful parasols,  in the center of the room is a cage with a lizard (or maybe an Iguana).  I thought "This can't be the bar?" This is where the full experience begins.

Koh Lipe is in the South of Thailand, a beautiful island that's only an hours ferry ride from Langkawi, Malaysia. This ferry only runs in high season though, November to May, otherwise you'll need to take a scenic route to go through immigration.  We made Koh Lipe our entrance point into Thailand on our way up the coast. Having booked a small villa on Sunrise beach, we had a wonderful

Have you ever been surprised by a place? I recently returned from my longest journey of the year. I planned a trip from Singapore up the coast of peninsular Malaysia through to my home in Thailand. When planning a longer itinerary some destinations get lost in the shuffle and logistics of putting a full trip together. I have to say that this time