Paradise Found

Muay Thai ring at school!

Many times during the day at school I ask myself, “What is going on?” Apart from being a school, Benchama often has many other activities going on. For example, the other day I was walking to building seven (all the way across campus- the other teachers refer to it as Laos because its so far away) and I realized that there was a baseball game in the field! The next day I walked past the cafeteria just to see that a Muay Thai (Thai boxing) ring was set up and that there were fights going on. How could I expect ay of my kids to show up to class when all of this was going on. I didn’t even want to go to class-  I wanted to stay and watch the fight!

Decorating flowers for the princess

Some more flower arrangements for the princess

And then, the most exciting event of all, the princess came to visit our school. The princess has this drug free campaign, and apparently the school I teach at is number 1 in Chachengsao with this project, so we were lucky to have her as our guest. As soon as we found out the princess was coming, everything at school got turned upside down. There was a day that was dedicated to cleaning, and before I knew it every single desk and chair was thrown out of the classrooms and the students were scrubbing. There was a room that was completely renovated. And of course they completely re-landscaped the front of the school. In the days leading up to her arrival there were beautiful flower arrangements all over the school and lots of preparation and excitement.

Of course the princess came to visit our school during the long holiday weekend. I love to travel on the weekends, but I’m pretty limited as to how far I can go because of my work schedule. So when I found out that we had Friday and Monday off due to a holiday, I planned a trip to visit the Islands in the South of Thailand. Little did I know that weekend, the princess would visit. Unfortunately I didn’t get to meet her because I was away, but I had a completely different adventure instead.

The longtail boat we had to take to get
to Haad Yuan. 

Haad Yuan Beach (if you look all the way on the rocks
to the right-- that is where we stayed)

Making the trek to where would stay

We headed out on Thursday night after school to Bangkok and caught a bus down to Koh Phangahn. Before the trip, a friend drew me a map of the island and told me all the cool, more remote and beautiful spots to visit (kind of like the movie the beach). With map in hand, I found my seat on the bus to be next to this other traveler from Germany. He started telling me tales of this beautiful beach on the island where he spent one month and that he was on his way back there. He showed me on my little map where it was and I decided to follow him to this “paradise.” After a long overnight bus ride, a boat and another longtail boat, we finally made it to Hadd Yuan. This beach was more closed off and inaccessible by car and was absolutely beautiful. We climbed up the rocks towards the jungle and found the place where we would spend the next few days overlooking the most beautiful beach. We rented a simple bungalow up in the jungle (we literally had to hike up to get to it), and I soon found out that I seriously prefer hammocks over beds! We spent the next few days at this beach and trekked through the jungle to some smaller beaches as well. It was beautiful.

We climbed part of those stairs than scaled the rocks
to get to our humble abode. 

One of the many hammocks I lounged in over the weekend!

Party in the jungle!

Our last night we decided to head over to the more touristy beach (Haad Rin) and check out the full moon. After all, this was the reason we came down to this island in the first place. The full moon party was impressive in the sense that it was a huuuuuge party on the beach, and I liked the concept of the celebrating the moon. It was cool to see so many people come out and celebrate. I even bought some glow paint and started painting away on my friends and myself. After a few hours we headed up the island and crashed at a hotel near the pier so we could be up bright and early to catch our 8 a.m. bus/boat back.

Napping on the rocks at Haad Tien
(If you look far out-- there's a dock in the water with a hammock you can swim out to and lay on!)

Climbing down to Haad Tien.. a smaller beach next
to Haad Yuan

Glow paint at full moon party!

The view from our bungalow in the jungle

I love my job and my city but it was really nice to get away and see some parts of Thailand I haven’t seen yet. Without a doubt this was the most beautiful beach I have ever been to, and I definitely plan on going back.