6th March - Koh Tarutao to Telaga Harbour (Langkawi)

Thursday 6^th March

Koh Tarutao was our last Thai island.  It is a national park, very impressive.  I could just imagine David Attenborough traipsing through the thick jungle, espying langurs, gibbons, monitors…

In the sunset hour, we had fishermen near us…on a little raft ingeniously constructed from a large slab of polystyrene, with oars made from branches, propped on forked sticks for rowlocks.  They all waved happily and were very proud to show us each tiny fish caught on their lines.

As we approached the Thai/Malaysian border there was a whole line of fishing boats.  Were they poised, ready to dart, this way and that??

Mind you, we haven’t seen anything remotely resembling g a coastguard or fisheries vessel.  The nearest was at Koh Lipe, with the two angry little old men in a kayak, telling us to GO AWAY.  They were so no cred…bobbing around slightly awkwardly in a small yellow kayak, no ID at hand, shouting at us in Thai.

Last night we were nestled cosily in Telaga Harbour, right underneath the cablecar.

The only boat we know here is Jackster, with our cheery UK friends Dave and Jacqui aboard.  They came for a sundowner and we swapped adventures.  They too had just arrived back from Thailand.  There is a steady exodus of boats leaving Thailand.  Two reasons – it is advisable to leave by April, because of monsoons, deteriorating conditions.  And…our visas all run out.

So yes we feel just a bit at home* here, in Langkawi… Familiar territory, smiling people, easy bureaucracy.

Beautiful Telaga Customs House - all over done and dusted in minutes...

It is very hot.  The barometer in the cabin says 43; this is the hottest it has ever dared to show us…I have been dipping in and out of the tepid sea.  Sadly I can’t stay in long enough; I have to look after my rather dodgy coral-wounded knee.  It is fine, no probs, but…I am still very careful not to let it soak for too long.  I am haunted by stories of the skipper on Velella III, last seen hobbling bravely along the rickety footpaths of Labuan Bajo.  He had a wound which he was rather too cavalier in treating and…ghastly things happened…I won’t go into details; but I DO NOT want an ulcerated leg in the tropics!

We are still fascinated by boat names.  WHY do people choose this name, or that??  I spoke to a man who changed the name fo his boat – when he bought it, the name was…Excuse Me.  SO awkward, being on the radio, saying, for example, Rebak marina, Rebak marina, this is Excuse Me, Excuse me, Excuse Me.  He changed it to something simple, like Quetzacoatl**… Well no he didn’t.  Maybe to something like Silver Bird; easy.  Just near us is a boat with a very puzzling name…

Mélancolie!!  It looks like a lovely boat; the people look perfectly nice.  But…usually boat names are more, ummmmm, upbeat…

* Home is still, absolutely…Tasmania!!

** There is a lovely boat around these parts, called Quetazacoatl, either Canadian or US.  It is of course a perfectly good name for a boat but…the skipper is forever spelling it, laboriously…