I just had an absolutely wonderful weekend!

We had last Friday off school because it was a Buddhist Holiday (the anniversary of the days that Buddha was born, achieved enlightenment, and died). So with a three day weekend ahead of us, I left with three other friends after work on Thursday to head south to the ocean, the beach, and the islands. We went to Koh Samet (the nicest, close-ish island, I believe) and the journey there was a bit of an adventure, but somehow every part of it worked out. We took a taxi to the bus station in Bangkok. The ride that should have taken about 45 minutes took over two hours so we missed the bus we'd been hoping for, but instead were approached by a man with a van and a plan to take us down to Ban Phi in less time than the bus and for only a little more money. The van was quick and easy and air-conditioned and he took us right to the pier where we chartered a speedboat to take the four of us across (we made it long after the last ferry, so again, the speeboat was faster, more expensive, and our only option). We got a little lost upon reaching the island a bit after midnight, but miraculously made it to the guesthouse we'd rented. All in all, it seemed incredible that every little bit of transportation logistics fell into place so I could wake up friday morning, walk out the door and have a cup of coffee on the beach.

Friday morning was glorious and I had my feet in the ocean with minutes of being out of bed. The afternoon was actually a little dreary, It rained but we made the best of it. After all, there was ocean and there was sand and there we were, not in Bangkok anymore. We learned that we could replace pina coladas and margaritas with irish coffee, and that makes a perfect beach cocktail on a rainy day. More friends made it down as the day went by, so by the mid-afternoon we had a whole crowd of holidayers. The weather cleared up in the evening so we went swimming and had dinner on the beach. We ate and drank sitting on beanbag chairs with the water lapping up at our toes. People shot off fireworks and we watched some immensely talented Thai guys juggle fire and jump through a flaming hoop. As the evening went on we were roped into a (flaming) limbo and a (flaming) tug-of-war and then an epic Thai and tourist dance party that stretched from club to club and all across the beach. We danced for hours that night. The sky let loose again at the end of the night, meaning my walk back home got me utterly drenched. But still, it was an almost perfect day.

On Saturday the weather was pretty much glorious the entire day. I woke up early and had my breakfast and my banana pancakes on the beach by our guesthouse and went for a walk while I waited for my traveling companions to rouse themselves. I then went with the girls to a more secluded beach than the party beach we'd been on the night before to spend the day swimming, tanning, eating, drinking, and getting the ride of our lives on a massive inflatable banana boat. It was basically another perfect day. The sky was bright blue. The water was shimmering turquoise. There were people who walked past selling snacks and fresh fruit out of baskets, we happily obliged. After many hours of sand, I walked home, showered, napped and then went out again for a quieter but still entirely lovely evening on the beach.

The next day was sadly our last. It was probably the prettiest day we'd had yet, so of course it was sad to know we would be heading back home and back toward work in another couple hours. But I again got to have a solo walk on the beach, a lovely breakfast and tasty lunch (so many fresh fruit smoothies!!) and an afternoon rest in a hammock before we had to catch the ferry to make the van to get a taxi back home to our apartments.

Altogether it was a splendid weekend. It came at the end of a long and semi-stressful first month of work, so it really felt like a well-deserved, relaxing holiday. I had the chance to meet some new people, see a new place, eat a lot of good food, and simply relax. It felt awesome to be out of Bangkok, away from the highway that is my home, to see some trees, to breathe some fresh air. And right now, I'm back at work, halfway through Monday, and it is going ok. The break helped. A lot. And knowing that there will be more breaks, more adventures, and that there are simply so many more places to go, is what will help me get through the tedium of the letter D.