Livin' the Hippie Life a World Away
As I've grown older and traveled more, I've tried to pinch myself more often to really stay in the moment and soak in everything that's around me. My first two days in Thailand have already made me fall in love with this country.
After meeting 15+ international teachers, we traveled to Khanom beach for the weekend for our first trip together.
Growing up and traveling to the Caribbean on a yearly basis, I've seen my fair share of beaches...but this has taken the cake so far. With crystal clear water - full of star fish...and jellies - white sand, lush green mountains in the background, and the outline of dark blue islands across the way this beach was gorgeous.
We wasted the day away swimming, eating, drinking, playing volleyball and listening to other teachers (and locals) play the guitar. With a small dive bar on the beach called Jam Bay, we ate fried rice and drank cold beer.
When the sun set is when the real "pinch me" moment began. Most people go on vacation and talk endlessly about the sunrise or sunset, how beautiful it was and the colors it painted the sky. In Khanom, however, its all about the moon. My mom has always had an obsession with the moon which has made me aware of its coloring, size, and brightness most nights. This was nothing like I've ever seen.
Pictures don't even come close to what I saw...but I tried anyway. The moon rose out of the ocean, right in front of us full and bright. I've never seen the moon look that large which actually made me think for a second this can't be the same moon we have at home? We've all seen the moon on nights when its particularly golden and looks incredible. But have you seen a red moon? This giant red sphere popped against the navy background and shown off the water so brightly that I had to remind myself that this was the moon - not the sun.
Being the festy lover that I am, the rest of our night was fantastic! We headed over to a house concert with a handful of locals to see Job 2 Do perform in his own backyard...he is basically Thailand's version of Bob Marley and he did not disappoint. It reminded me of Wormtown (a festival I go to in the summer) in the way in was set up. A makeshift stage in the middle of the Thai "jungle" as we were calling it, with a small bar set up and people eating, drinking and dancing the night away. It was one of those #secretsofafestygirl moment that I would have never been a part of had I just been a normal tourist in Thailand.
Sorry to disappoint with the lack of pictures but this hippy chick was off the grid for the weekend with no phone and no camera...so I made due with what I had. I'm sure we'll spend another weekend living in beach bungalows sometime soon so keep an eye out!
