You want as little heat as possible. Remember you are not smoking it, youre vaporizing it. Keep your lighter away. The INSTANT you notice that puddle at a simmer take the heat off. The "smoke" will start plumig much faster. Inhale as much as you can, but SLOWLY and hold pipe down to make sure the smoke rises. Hold it. Hold it. Exhale a little. Exhale a little. Keep doing small exhales until you need to exhale completely or already have. This will keep the smoke circulating around and absorbing into the walls of your lungs. You will get a much better hit.
I can make a point last hours. Proper smoke technique goes a long long way.