Thai Journal ‘23 - #6

 

This weekend we took a true vacation. We spent a full 24 hours on Koh Samed island. It is an 8-hour round trip by car to the pier on the mainland, and then a 15-minutes speedboat ride to the island. As always we were greeted at the pier by the famous Phra Aphai Mani seaorgress statue. It is a character in the epic, 48,700-line Thai poem, which took 20 years to compose (https://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Phra_Aphai_Mani). The team had a blast in the ocean; on the beach; in the lovely rooms at Sawadee Coco resort; eating more fantastic food than their stomach could hold; enjoying amazing fire shows; getting all kinds of massages; purchasing all kinds of stuff, and getting all kinds of art; etc. A

highlight is having our final meal at the famous Pad Thai restaurant. We have become good friends with the family. They even have a photo of last year’s group on the wall. The grandmother started the restaurant 50 years ago with her special pad thai recipe. And the three generations of the family continue to operate it.

On our return to campus, AIU was in the middle of their Welcome Back Party. Exciting fun!

As a reminder, if you wish to see more photos than those I post on Facebook, please visit my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143715478@N06/albums/72177720310727281