was it just a dream?

I am relaxing in my ever-so-comfortable queen-sized feather bed, wondering how I made it back here.. or if I ever really left! Did my 5-week adventure really end? ALREADY? Hard to believe... but looking through the pictures remind me that I was there, that it did happen, and that I had the experience of a lifetime. But, reality has set in and I am happy to be home. Yes, a bit overwhelmed with the next challenge -- moving to Baltimore and starting school at Johns Hopkins -- but it's nice to feel connected to reality again. Before I really shift my mentality back to this life, though, I wanted to bring a little closure to my travel blog, so let me bring you back to Thailand and my last few days in paradise...

Our last days in Krabi were ever-so busy. After our day of rock climbing, we made plans to go kayaking and snorkeling with another expedition group to the island of Koh Hong. It was quite windy, so the trip out on our longtail boat took quite a while, but it was worth the trip. The beach at Koh Hong was by far my favorite beach, out of all the beaches we had traveled too. Exquisite. Kayaking proved to be a bit challenging, as we were forced to paddle into the wind, but it was a welcome workout. We made our way to the Hong Lagoon, a serene emerald-green cove that fills the center of the island. It was beautiful, of course. After returning to the beach, we were able to relax and enjoy a couple more hours on the sand before heading to another island for a bit of snorkeling. All in all, a long and exhausting but enjoyable day trip. That night, our last in Krabi, we made our routine trip to the night market for delectable (and cheap) food, and treated ourselves to some home-made ice cream -- coconut and chocolate. Incredible.

Our last day in Krabi, we decided to visit the Tiger Cave Temple, the main temple in the city of Krabi. We read a bit about the temple, and learned that there was a hike to the top of the mountain, where they had built a buddha shrine. We thought it would be fun to get away from the beach for a day and explore this temple, but had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We reached the temple and explored the cave (not anything what we were expecting) and had the opportunity to be blessed by a female monk, which was pretty unique. We appreciated that experience. We then made our way to the stairs at the bottom of the mountain... and were greeted by a sign that read: "1237 steps to top of mountain" -- what had we signed up for? haha. But we were not going to turn back, so we made our way up the endless flights of stairs... ENDLESS. There was a stair count the entire way up, and I can remember looking out about half-way and thinking that we were already up pretty high. The hike up was well worth the efforts though-- the views of the surrounding area were breathtaking. We took some time to take in the sights and the images (and let our feet recooperate) before heading back down, and felt quite honored to be there.

After returning to our guesthouse, we collected our things and then it was on to the ferry to Koh Phi Phi, our final destination for the trip. We were excited to continue on, but knew that this would be our last place to explore in Thailand... hard to fathom that our trip was coming to an end. We landed on Koh Phi Phi and intended on walking around to find one of the cheapest guesthouses, but we were exhausted and our bags were heavy, so we opted to stay at a more convenient and slightly more expensive place. The lady, Miss Lee, was so sweet and the place was clean, so we couldn't argue.

Koh Phi Phi was hit pretty hard by the tsunami 4 years ago, and they are still rebuilding many areas of the small town, but it has bounced back and the tourism is thriving. We found a small restaurant run by a man (Mr. Samee) who was rescued from underneath 4m of rubble, and who has found a passion for cooking and serving those guests he feels priveleged to have in his shop. The food was amazing, and we went there a couple times, making sure to tip him (not common in Thailand) and were warmly thanked by a gracious smile and bow. It was so sweet. Our time on Koh Phi Phi was spent trying to soak up as much sun as we could, but unfortunately the sun felt like hiding behind the clouds... we were determined to enjoy the beach though, so we layed out and read our books for hours. Aside from beach trips, we loved the backpacking community that we were again surrounded by (reminded us of Koh Tao) and enjoyed walking around and shopping in the various boutiques that bordered the narrow streets. We also treated ourselves to one last Thai massage (much needed after our 1237-stair climb) and another hike to the island viewpoint, which overlooks the narrow strip of sand where the town resides. We had planned on walking up there to watch our last sunset, but as I mentioned before, the sun decided to stay hidden behind clouds so no sunset for us. I was a tad bit disappointed. Not so much to ask for, right? haha. I guess I can't really complain though :) We did love our time on Koh Phi Phi, just relaxing and enjoying our last precious days in Thailand.

And then it finally happened... our trip had to come to an end.... and so, at 2pm on Sunday afternoon (after spending the entire morning at the beach), we left for the Phuket airport. Our flight did not leave Phuket until 10 that night, but we had to catch the last ferry from Phi Phi, so we were forced to sit at the airport for 4 hours. Thank goodness for iPods! haha. Then on to Bangkok, for a 5-hr flight to Seoul, S.Korea. We arrived in Seoul at 8:30 am, and had a 12-hr layover, so we decided to go out and explore the city. We took the subway in, and immediately felt out of place... we were dressed like backpackers in Thailand, not like the professionals of Seoul -- not to mention the fact that it was 50 degrees! and raining at one point... it was not a comfortable day. We did enjoy seeing a small side of another Asian country though. Then it was back to the airport... our flight left Seoul at 8:30 pm on Monday night, and we arrived in Los Angeles at 3:30 pm -- explain that one to me! We are a bit turned around on that one. haha. But it was a relatively painless flight, and then it was back to Salt Lake! We made it home at about 10 pm.... so, if my calculations are correct, that was about 45 hours of travel? Somewhere around there. So it's been a rough couple days... the jet lag is killing me! Hence why it is 1:30 am and I am still awake... argh. Hopefully this will correct itself in the next couple days! So much to do... I probably should try to get to bed so that I can get up tomorrow and be somewhat productive :)

With all that said, I guess this brings me to the end of this travel blog! So for those who were following along, I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures :) I'll be back to continue in a few weeks, when my next adventure begins in the city of Baltimore! So, until then, korp khun kha!