The day after the eighth lunar month, the Buddhist monks participate in Khao Phansa day. It marks the beginning of the Buddhist lent period for monks where they stay in their temples for the three month rainy season. I did quite the opposite. I traveled far, along with Andrea, Ashley, Holly, and Ryleigh, to the beautiful beaches in southern Thailand.
The first bus ride of our trip took us to Chiang Mai where we boarded a plane for Phuket. We arrived in Phuket just after midnight and arrived at our hostel at around 1AM where we quickly went to sleep. The next morning, we wandered for a while and saw some cool Wats, a neat bridge, a watch tower, and a little of the city before we went to catch our ferry to Ko Phi Phi. I enjoyed the gorgeous ferry ride which I spent partly at the bow of the boat, we arrived at the paradise of Ko Phi Phi.
The waters were crystal turquoise, the sandy beach was a soft white, and the cliffs were filled with incredible forests. The first day we mostly laid around the beach until the evening when Andrea got this incredible elephant tattooed on her arm with bamboo. We woke up early the next morning to go snorkeling! We went to Maya Bay and some of the surrounding islands where we saw some fascinating fish and beautiful beaches. There was even a Monkey Island!
The next day we headed to the east side to Ko Phangan where we relaxed on its rocky beaches with the gorgeous sunsets. We, then, travelled to Krabi where we went hiking in the mountains of the national park. There were supposedly tigers in the mountains, but luckily a few monkeys were the limit to our excitement.
We headed back to Phuket to watch the sunrise at the Big Buddha in the morning. It was well worth the lack of sleep. It was a breathtaking view of the island and the sunrise was clear and colorful. A monk who served at the Wat at Big Buddha blessed us all and told us-- "happy, happy, happy and good luck!" It was a perfect end to a wonderful trip.
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