The Last 8 Days of Thailand weren’t really spent in Thailand but mostly in Indonesia on the island of Bali. So, since this is late but I feel I need to finish what I started here is a record of my last days in Asia:
Day 8: We arrived in Bangkok the late the night before and then spent the night in the airport to catch our 6 am flight to Bali. It was fun traveling to a new country and to exploring a new place. Our hotel wouldn’t be considered 5 stars… but it had a great little pool, breakfast and was a short walk to the beach. The highlight of this day was eating a $3 buffet at the hotel next door and being serenaded by an Indonesian 3 piece band.
Day 7:This was our first full day of sun… amen. We basically got on the beach at 1:00 and stayed until the sun set. What is funny about this picture is that I have been journaling since I was 16, and just picked this journal up at the Sunday market a few days before. It wasn’t until I pulled it out at the beach that I realized that it camouflaged perfectly with my swimsuit.
Day 6: This day was so unexpectedly special. The week prior, one of my student’s dads had e-mailed me telling how sad his daughter Lea had been since school had been out. He said that she had mentioned that I was going to be in Bali the same time they were. He invited me to spend the day with their family out at their resort if we were interested. We took a $5 taxi ride out to their 5 star resort and had such a blessed afternoon. They have 3 daughters 17,12 and 9 and the younger two, Kelly and I spent the afternoon playing in their pool, and then collecting starfish as the sun was setting.
It was so fun to be reminded how children respond to the simple things of life. Their dad is French and their mom is Thai – so the conversation between this family flowed from French, to English to Thai, it was so fun to hear. They treated us to this AMAZING French buffet at the Novotel down the beach which was incredible. It was fun eating it was a French family. They then drove us home and there was terrible traffic and we got lost – but the entire time they had a joyful heart and were so great to us. It was a fabulous day.
Day 5: Today was another beach day and it was so fun to watch all of the surfers on the beach. The waves were huge, the sky was blue and it was just such a great day spent on the sand.
Day 4: We took a break from the beach today and took an hour taxi ride into the center of the island to visit a quaint little town called Ubud. It was just shop after shop filled with artwork and quaint guesthouses. What was neat about the little town was that you could look down the allies and then discover beautiful, bright green rice fields with a background of a perfect blue sky. Another really neat part about the city is that at the bottom of one of the hills they have a protected monkey jungle. I thought that it would be some big hoax, however when we walked past there were about 5 monkeys just chillin’ on the entrance gate eating bananas and picking things off each other. There were no cages, just a little jungle where these monkeys called home. It was $1.50 to walk through the jungle – and it was one of the coolest things I have seen. There were literally hundreds of monkeys that just were walking along the path and living in the forest. There were daddy monkeys, grandpa monkeys, momma monkeys and babies… it was so neat to watch them up close and not be separated by bars – also a little scary too. It was a great day.
Day 3: This day was dedicated to Kelly and I working on “operation suntan.” We were successful. The waves were so huge on our last day there that no one was allowed to surf. They had out caution flags, and we even watched the life guards pull in some stupid swimmers that got swept out a little too far. But the sunsets were absolutely beautiful, and it made for a great day.
Day 2: We flew home today which was really fun. The week was a perfect way for Kelly and I to say goodbye to one another. We had lots of laughter and great conversations over the entire week. She is such a special friend in my life and it was a perfect way to spend my last week in Asia.
Day 1: I timed my trip in a way that left me with one full day before I left Thailand, which worked out perfectly. I basically spent the entire day visiting all of my favorite places and with my favorite people. I had a great last workout at the gym and then decided to stop by smoothie blues to pick up some muffins to take home to Kelly and Katie. As I was saying bye to Som, who was the owner and knew us by name – she was such a blessing and gave me the muffins for free. It was super sweet. I then ran an errand at CMIS, and then read a book and got coffee at Mosaic coffee shop which was a favorite of mine since it was so close to school. Kelly met me at 20 baht Phad Thai guy for lunch, which was SO good. I stopped by and talked with my cousins for a bit and then took one last motorbike drive home. I of course got one last mani/pedi and my hair washed and blow dried Asian straight.
I met my bible study girls at Ginger for my favorite meal of “Gui-phad-met-ma-muang” and then we went and grabbed a drink and listened to music on the river. It was a perfect way to spend my last day in Thailand.
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