“WHEN YOU REALIZE HOW PERFECT EVERYTHING IS YOU WILL TILT YOUR HEAD BACK AND LAUGH AT THE SKY”

Our Beach @ the Resort in Koh Mook- yes, it was this empty :)

The first few months I was here, I bought a Lonely Planet guide to Thailand (LP, for short). I was at the Bangkok airport waiting for a friend from home to arrive. Our original plan to head to Samui was thwarted (my word of the day, apparently; I have used it three times thus far) by the floods that hit the southern part of Thailand in April, and we needed a new plan. But I planned nothing. Then, hours before her arrival, I thought I should plan something. Our trip ended up being pretty good, and LP proved to be pretty useful. Sometimes I love LP and sometimes I feel like LP really steers me in the wrong direction and I don’t like to take its advice. 

Anyhow, there’s a section of all color photos with short descriptions in the front. As I sat in the airport, flipping through the pages, I saw this photo of one of the contributing authors, sitting in crystal clear, aqua water. You could tell the sand beneath him was perfectly powdery white and behind him were these beautiful little islands, an archipelago of limestone rock jutting out of the sea. The sky was a perfect blue. It was perfect, it was beautiful, and I dog-eared the page. The Trang Islands. I looked it up on the map. Then, I promised myself I’d go there.

As my months remaining in Thailand are winding down- well, they’re pretty much done winding, as I have just over a month left- I’ve been really thinking about what I want to do and where I want to go before I leave. I’ve slowly been crossing things off my list, and last weekend, I crossed off that photo. 

The Andaman Coast of Thailand, where Trang is located, is just coming into its high season. So last weekend, when I went, it was practically deserted. And perfect. Although it didn’t exactly start out that way. 

As we sat on our broken-down “ferry” while it poured down rain, I asked my travel companion when she thought the real adventure this weekend began. “Hmm. I guess the minute we stepped into the mini-bus to come here?” I disagreed. “I feel like it was when we parked our motorbikes at City Hall, walked across the street to the van station, but it was the wrong van station, and so we had to hop on a teeny motorbike taxi and I almost fell off the back, and had to pay him to take us to the other van station.”

Our broken-down ferry wasn’t the only break-down issue. After we hopped on the motorbike in Nakhon, we went to the van station that took us to Trang. Then we had to stay the night in Trang and get another mini-bus the next day. Our mini-bus from Trang to the ferry terminal also had some issues. First, our driver was quite leisurely in his manner. There must have been some good sales (it WAS a holiday weekend), because we stopped at various stores along the way and he perused many a fine goods. We picked up some kind of water pump, some irrigation hosing at a different place (don’t forget we also stop to pick up/drop off various packages, as our mini-bus also functions as a postal service) and THEN we stopped because there was some kind of issue with the radiator. So he turned off the van and consequently the AC and we sat sweltering with it packed full of people and the door open just barely, while he tinkered with some water and the radiator cap.

At this point, I would like to point out that I don’t find this at all frustrating. It actually makes me smile to think about and it made me smile then. Because it is SO SO typically Thailand. You just kind of have to go with it. About a half hour and a chicken skewer or three for our driver later, he decided it really just needed more water after all, poured in an entire big bottle of it, and we were off again.

Winding through rubber trees and palms. And then we got to the “ferry” terminal. And it started POURING. Just torrential, typically Thai, rain. “I’m SO excited!” I said. And I was. And then the rain let up just a bit, the rickety old wooden glorified longtail boat that was our ferry arrived, and we piled in. Then it started thundering and lightning flashed every few seconds and it was pouring again. And then the boat engine wouldn’t start.

Andaman Sea (West side- I live on the East) in the Land of Southern Thai.
Below Phuket by about 3-4 hours(ish). Stayed on Koh Mook, also
ventured over to Koh Kradan!

And guess who came to the rescue? Our trusty driver! And after about a half hour of tinkering, he finally decided he couldn’t fix it. And so another longtail came by, and our boat driver got them to tie us to their boat and they pulled us all the way to Koh Mook, one of the Trang Islands. It took about an hour and forty-five minutes, but we got there. And on the way, I read some Wuthering Heights and chatted with a travel-writer from Travelfish.org.

We expected to arrive on the island around 1pm, and got to our resort at 5:30pm. A little late. But we had a relaxing evening, watched a beautiful sunset, chatted and in the morning woke up to beautiful skies. At breakfast, a couple invited us to accompany them on their longtail boat that they would be taking through the islands for snorkeling and exploring. Of course, we hopped on and for 400 baht (about $13) we got to spend the day basking in the beauty of the Trang Islands! I really wanted to see Koh Kradan, as it’s supposed to be the most beautiful island there, and the Emerald Cave. I got to do both. And both were simply stunning.

Of course, I forgot my camera. It would have been great to have captured what the inside of the cave was like, and the secret beach that opened up to us after our swim through the cave. We had it all to ourselves for the better part of our time there. And the water was so crystal clear. And the photo from LP- I was there. I lived it. Almost 100% sure it was taken from the shore of Koh Kradan.

I want to post photos, but after scouring the web, I really cannot find one that does even one of these beautiful places justice. 

After snorkeling and the caves, we spent time on Koh Kradan. I sat in the sun and tried to absorb as much of the beauty and as much of the moment and as much of the sea and the warmth and everything about the present as I possibly could. This mini-adventure reminded me again and again that I only have a short time here left. Part of me wants to cram as much in as I possibly can- with school and my students and with traveling. But I also think that if I do that, I won’t be taking time to reflect and enjoy everything before I let go of this part of my life. It’s a delicate balance. Life always is, I guess. No point in trying to control it- just go with the gently ebbing and flowing waves. Ahhhh, I love my life. Thank you for letting me share it with you.