always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere"
-Isabelle Ederhardt
My month long trip has come to an end and I'm home. Each and every place that I have had the opportunity to travel to has a special place in my heart. Thailand was no different. I shed physical tears of grief when I had to leave Koh Lao, the island that we had spent two weeks on. Take my word for it, go to Thailand. Not only is the country green and beautiful and the food (especially the fruit) delicious but the people are amazing.
The problem with having traveling to a place over a month ago is that so much can be said. So here is an overload of pictures. Words can do no justice for this amazing experience.
An unfortunate plane crash occurred at the San Francisco airport just the night before our morning flight. We get to San Francisco and the flights leaving were suspended until further notice. We got to spend the night there and do a mini-trip before our actual trip. I usually don't like most cities in California, the cities I have ever visited have been expensive and mediocre areas. Except for San Francisco. I've been twice and every single time I have enjoyed my stay. I'm thinking a visit in the near future...
We made it! After two days of flying and waiting and driving, we finally made it to Ranong, Thailand. This little city off of Phuket is beautiful. The forest was our backyard and the ocean was our front.
Everyday we clamored in our shuttle cars to drive the 30 minutes to the harbor only to get on a speedboat for a 30 minute water ride. It was a process, both ways. But it was worth it, the view was spectacular.
This is the island. The Thai government has gifted part of this island to the Moken people. As you can see, it was in possibly the worst living conditions. Right away we were shown our projects and set to work.
Just your average wild dog roaming the Thai forests...
These kids are old enough and have learned enough Thai to attend the local public school back on the mainland. They live at the Mercy Center during the weekday in order to attend school .
Don't mess with them. They will beat you at a game of tug of war on any day.
My little Lok-Moon. I couldn't put her down on my last day at the island.
Playing a traditional Thai game. A thin elastic band is set high up and the player must jump backwards catching the band with their toe and pulling it to the ground. The player that can catch the band at the highest point wins.
View from the island at high tide.
Sundays were our excursion days. We toured mostly temples and did some hiking and sampling of local street food.
Don't ask me what that is made of because I'm not so sure myself. It was spicy, as 90% of Thai food is. The small coconut crepes, however, were deliciously sweet and cheap! $1 USD gives you 30 Baht. Those crepes costs 2 Baht. You do the math.
A local guide took us to this Thai hot spring. The water is all natural and especially nice on a hot Thai afternoon. It took me a while to stop screaming whenever a fish came up to eat my dead skin though. That's right, the fish eat dead skin. It's really popular in Thailand and in parts of Central and Southern Asia. You could say it was exfoliating?
We ended our first Sunday of traveling with a painful but much needed Thai massage and a stop to the local street market. Everything was so good!
The kids were obsessed with stickers. And anytime anyone had stickers, they would sit quietly around you, waiting for you to hand one to them. They would then proceed to stick it right on their foreheads.
The kids were the best part of the trip. They were so intelligent and helpful and kind, qualities hard to find not only in children back at home but even in adults. The simplest and littlest things made them smile.
I'll be honest, when I signed up for the trip and even during the preparing months I wasn't sure exactly how much we were going to get done. It may not have helped that so many people back at home had such negative attitudes about this type of humanitarian work.
"Just a bunch of rich white people taking pictures with poor brown children"
That was often the response I received when I told them about my travel plans. But I will tell you now, we worked hard. Sure, we were only there for two weeks but we accomplished a lot for how little resource the island had and how much of a language barrier there was.
In the two weeks we were there, we took down two trees with our bare hands. No shovels, no bulldozer, no axes. Just scooping dirt and tilting the tree. We leveled an area about the size of a half court, once again with just a ho and a bucket and mixed and poured concrete by hand to create a basketball court for the kids to play on. We laid the pipes down for a water tower to supply the island with fresh water. We installed a water filter. We built a small pavilion for the water filters and generator to be held at. We built a first aid/medical supply area. We brought shoes and clothes for every single person on the island. We supplied them with toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and feminine hygiene products. We taught the children how to sing the ABCs and to brush their teeth. We taught the elders of the island how to create a budget system and start saving money.
The condition that these people are in can not be solved overnight. But the two weeks we spent there and the two weeks that other people will be spending there for the next several years will help. So to all the non-believers, I dare you to volunteer for something as hard as this for just two weeks and see how it turns out.
Some of the leaders of Ranong held a going-away ceremony for us. It was a wonderful dinner filled with lots of singing and dancing. The group of ladies pictured with me are some of the best people I will ever have the pleasure of knowing. The women to my right is Kun Poh. She heads and directs the entire operation on and off the island in helping these kids get an education and the islanders to get on their feet. She is native Thai and speaks the Moken dialect. The amount of love and sacrifice that she has is amazing. The other ladies are close to my age and have taken time out of their lives to help with this project.
The day before we left we ended up touring another temple. It was said that when you release a fish into the water, make a wish and it will come true.
So here goes!
An elephant. Another item off my bucket list.
Like I said, I cried when I left this island for the last time. In such a short period of time, I grew so close to the Moken people. I'm already planning to make a return trip in the next couple of years, any one want to join?!
Since we were already in Asia, it only seemed to make sense that we stop by Hong Kong for a bit. I love just about everything in this city. July was a trying time of the year to go, but we had a good trip and I know I'll be back before soon.
