Here I am in Southern Thailand, and it's mind blowing. I keep thinking, "how did I get here, is this real life, am I really on the opposite side of the WORLD?" I guess some of it is the jet lag, but it's also simply that beautiful, and truly surreal.
I landed in Koh Samui after 36 hours of travel, and hopped on a boat to Koh Tao with my friend Kelly who I met during our yoga training in Bali. We decided the little Turtle Island would be a great place to pamper ourselves and relax on the beach for a few days while we recovered, and it was. After checking into our lovely 3rd story room ($12/night with beautiful ocean views), we crashed... at 7pm! And once we woke the next morning, after 12 hours of sleep, we were ready to explore the island by motorbike!
(By far the best way to get around Southeast Asia).
We were faced with overwhelming amounts of lush greenery, flowers and white sandy beaches, just as you'd imagine. And not a single stop sign! Tiny Koh Tao is a special place, the kind of place where cool people from around the world gather for outdoor adventure. In fact, one of them that I know quite well happened to be sitting several feet away from me in a little cafe! Here we are, a couple of yoga pals from Athens Ohio, enjoying breakfast in Mae Haad Bay!
So, once we'd gotten our fill of fresh coconut, Thai massages and spontaneous run-ins with friends from around the world, it was time for the next - Koh Phangan, a neighboring island where we got to visit MORE gorgeous beaches, do some yoga, enjoy spectacular sunsets and catch up with our treasured friend Roni over dinner at Macrobiotic World.
Some would say we should have done more sight seeing, day trips to famous attractions, hopping around to other islands, but for a couple of coconut girls, just enjoying the beautiful ocean views, salty breeze, delicious Thai food and even a little snorkeling right off the beach was just perfect.
