#I can’t even imagine the time jump with tuk all grown up

[eywaseclipse]

Crazy to think that at some point in time, Tuk will have been alive longer than she’s known her brother 💔💔💔

[wanderinglotus7]

Escape to Paradise

My time in Bangkok is coming to an end real soon. Instead of being cooped in the city, me and some friends decided to take trips to Khao Sok and Koh Phangan. Both places are located in the south of Thailand. These are my last two trips before heading back to Virginia. I want to include Laos too, but my finances pushed back this trip till further notice.

Khao Sok was first! Some might think this trip could’ve waited, but it was a great mini vacation before I started finals. Besides it was for McKenna’s birthday and I’ve been studying almost every other day for finals...so I deserved it. Khao Sok is luscious with the many greens and colored flowers showering the landscape. The bungalow we stayed at was located in the jungle and near a local river where you can go tubbing. Awaking up to the sound of rain in the morning was relaxing and refreshing. Another place that reminds me of home, and it also reminded me of Vietnam too. The trip there wasn’t too bad expect for getting scammed to take a Tuk Tuk to the bus station which was in walking distance. Whatever.

We mostly walked around the local area and played plenty of card games pretty much every where we went. I learned some new card games like poker, but don’t expect me gambling away at the big casinos in Vegas or anything like that. I did spend one morning and afternoon studying for my Basic Thai exam, I’m not really sure how effective that was because thinking about taking that quiz and exam those grades are gonna be kind of iffy. Besides chilling, I hitched on the back of Noah’s rented motorbike and discovered a Monkey Temple not too faraway from our accommodations. Before the temple, I purchased a nice piece of clothe that has multiple purposes. I’m using it as a wrap skirt, head wrap, scarf, and cover-up. I’m always telling myself to stop messing around with these monkeys, and yet again, I found myself walking a monkey temple. Cue the PTSD again! As me and Noah were walking, we witnessed a group of monkeys and dogs getting buck with each other. Suddenly, I was transported to an episode of animal planet. I caught on video a pack of wild dogs attack and kill a full grown monkey in front of my eyes. It was complete savage. Then the whole place went into a roar. I was ready to book it! I was not getting caught up in this hot mess.

Eventually, things calmed and the monkeys went their way and the dogs went their way. I did feel sorry for the dead monkey, he didn’t deserve to die like that (what if he had a little family). On the bright side, I did see baby monkeys playing with each other. Noah went back and brought everyone else to the temple and we climbed up the stairs built in the cliffs. The view from the top was amazing, but then it started to rain its tail off. Some us waited in a small cave till the rain lightened enough to walk in the rain without being drenched. We stopped at an excursion spot and signed up for an all day tour at the lake. They did not inform us what type of activities we will be doing. We thought it was going to be a simple boat tour of the lake and we would chill there and have lunch. Wrong! We did tour the lake and had lunch on the water. After lunch, we ended up completing a two hour hike/trek through the jungle. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, however, the terrain was slippery and muddy (I slipped maybe once or twice).

Our tour guide was chill and kind of funny. The water was nice and cool. I’m glad I did this, we ended up exploring a cave to reach the waterfall inside the cave. The water level was pretty high so, we couldn’t go that far but the distance we did go was good enough for me. Good thing our guide had some head lamps because it was dark up in there. He took us to a place in the cave where the conditions/environment was similar to what the young Thai soccer team and their coach had to experience when they were trapped a couple of months ago. I couldn’t imagine living in those conditions for days and not knowing if anyone knew where you were at or if people were even looking for you. After our exploration, we went back to the restaurant and spent the rest of our free time on the lake. Right when we exited the jungle it started to pour down rain.

We stayed in Khao Sok for at least five days and headed back to Bangkok on Tuesday. Then that following Friday, after our Thai final, we left for the airport to go to Koh Phangan. The mission was to attend the Full Moon Festival that Thailand host every month of the full moon. The festival is held on one of the beaches on the island. So, we had to take a taxi, plane, bus, and ferry to get to the island and then we had to take another taxi to get to our accommodations. The entire day was exhausting and the actual ride was bumpy the back roads are worse than my driveway at home. The trek was worth it because we were staying directly on the beach with the prettiest blue water and baby powder sand. The water was the right temperature, and the jungle was the back drop. Along the way, we convinced a nice woman named Diane to come along with us. We meet her on our ferry ride and she became like our adopted mom or the fun cool aunt. The festival wasn’t till Sunday so, we all just chilled at the beach and relaxed. Again, we played plenty of card games, swam and laid out in the sun (expect for me of course LOL). I spent most of my afternoons sleeping or listening to music in the hammocks around the property. The locals there were friendly especially our driver and the old head who ran the snorkeling boat.

Of course, we took plenty of pictures worthy of Instagram (I know I did). I’ve been flexin’ on the gram for a good while. Sunday came which meant all the parties and weirdos were coming out that night. The party was at the opposite end of the island, so we had to endure a crazy and bumpy 45 minute ride (I think it was that long). Pre-gaming was a necessity which began earlier that day. We ate dinner first and played a game before entering the event. Out of nowhere the sky fell and water flooded the streets. I was not having it. I found a plastic bag and used it to protect my braids from getting drenched. People stared, but I didn’t care. They were not the ones who spent a bunch of money getting their hair done (#blackgirlproblems). During the high season there would’ve been around 40,000 people but it was the low season so there was around 10,000 people which is still a lot in my book. During a 7/11 run, I wander off and found a tattoo studio. And that night I received my fifth tattoo (a big compass on my thigh). 

Different areas of the beach had different Djs playing various types of music. EDM music was mostly played throughout the night. I witnessed people dancing, puking their brains out, jump rope [which the jump rope was on fire], people sleeping, peeing in the ocean, and even saw two people having intercourse in the ocean ( I’m a little traumatized). It was an experience. Those are the only words I have to describe that night. We left around 3am and mostly rested the next day. I saw monkeys again (I can’t escape them). Then Tuesday morning, we left and headed towards the pier to go home. I don’t think either of us wanted to leave. I was really enjoying the island vibes. At least I’m done with all my finals so, I didn’t have to worry about studying, writing a paper or preparing for a presentation.

What a trip to finish out the semester.