Last week I took my week vacation and went to Thailand to escape the cold Korea winter and get some much needed rest and rejuvenation. I have not had anything more than a 4 day weekend in the past 7 months so this week off was such a treat.
Friday night after work I pulled an allnighter. I had to catch the bus at 5 am to go to the airport, so I decided it was not worth it to try to sleep. I had a 7 hour flight to Malaysia a 6 hours layover ( not so much fun) and then a 2 hour flight to Phuket in the south of Thailand. Once I arrived in Phuket I took a cab to my hotel and grabbed some dinner. I’m obsessed with pad-thai, so of course that’s what I had for dinner.
The next morning I got up and took the first ferry of the day to Phi Phi Island. This island was made famous by the Leo DiCaprio movie, The Beach and also was one of the hardest hit islands in the tsunami. You would never be able to tell that it was hit because of how well they have rebuilt.
The ferry ride was breathtaking. I sat at the back of the boat and took in the view. Check out the wild dolphins I shot surfing behind the ferry.
When I arrived at Phi Phi I meet up with Jen and Kate. I worked with both of them for the past 6 months. Now they are finished working in Korea and they traveling in SE Asia. I was so happy to get to hang out with them.
Day one was spent at the beach and in the pool. Going to college in Florida I fell in love with the beach and I have missed it so much. I was so happy to get to spend some time in the sun.
Oh- and get this- we stayed in a TREE HOUSE! ligit- right? It was the dream . I could not picture anything better.
We ate lots of wonderful Thai and western food. I had a least 1 fruit smoothie a day (usually it ended up being 2) =). I ate more fruit in 5 days than I have in the past 6 months all together. And every night I had a different fruity- beachy- cocktail. My belly was very happy.
One day we took a half day snorkeling trip (btw it was less than 10$). We went to monkey beach, stopped for a swim, snorkeled, played at a beach, and just enjoyed island life.
We also went SCUBA diving one day. By far one of the coolest things I have done ever. The experience was like a dream. It was so peaceful along the reef. The fish, creatures and the coral were so beautiful. Everything was so colorful and bright. We even saw 3 SEA TURTLES. They came right up to us, I could have kissed him if I wanted =) I was hooked right away. Now I need to get certified =)
At night we went to the beach bars and watched the fire shows. It was so cool to meet people who are traveling. Most young people we meet were not just on vacation, most were traveling for 3-6 months! So cool- no idea how they get the money to travel for so long, but it was just really exciting to hear their stories of their adventures. They really inspired me to travel SE Asia- that will probably have to wait until the summer after my first year of teaching in the states. But regardless, I’m going to do it.
My 5 days in the south were amazing. Just what I needed at this point in my contract. After my time at the beach I hopped on a plane to Bangkok to see my brother and sister-in-law. I’ll make that a separate post in a few days =)
