Thoughts during a Trip to Trang

Trang is a coastal city in southern Thailand (not near the terrorism. Don't worry!). There are many unbelievably beautiful islands right offshore in the Andaman Sea. Seven of us farang (foreign) teachers went. We didn't see many other farang around. Thais know about its beauty, but it hasn't gotten too touristy yet. On the first day we went snorkeling. It was wonderful! I saw many different kinds of fish such as parrot fish. However, the water got too rough and we could not see the Emerald Cave. It's a beach that is hidden inside a rocky island. The only way to get there is to swim underwater, but it was too risky to try it at the time. Our second day plans were canceled by rain, so it was a lazy day. We napped and read books all day. I borrowed Zach's gear and went snorkeling by the Ko Hai (or Ko Ngai), the island we stayed on. It was difficult to get into the water, because I went out during low tide. I had to step around sea urchins and walk over coral before I could swim. I saw some creature that had teeth that could blend in with the rock when it closed its mouth. Most of the pictures I took looked like postcards. Some of them looked like paintings. It makes me look like a good photographer, but it really is just the beauty of the scenery. Seeing the beauty of the beaches made me feel awe for God, the creator of nature.

I thought, God doesn't need any man-made altars. He already makes wonderful islands, mountains, oceans and streams that glorify his name. How can we glorify Him any better?

Obviously, we should glorify God. We should sing and pray and do good deeds. Church buildings and cathedrals are nice too, but God glorifies Himself better than we will ever be able to do it.

On the third day we had some excitement, and it was not welcome. One of the girls crashed her motor bike, but she only broke a sandal. She was almost completely stopped when she lost control. Then we had some trouble communicating with some Thais. We rented motorbikes from a Thai family, and they said they would provide transportation to the airport. So we thought we would get a truck and go straight to the airport. We thought. They got a minibus, a van that picks people up, to take us. The minibus kept stopping and picking up people, but they didn't have any luggage. We asked ourselves: Do Thai people fly without luggage? They don't. They weren't going to the airport. We crammed in 15 people. Then we finally stopped and the driver asked us, where do you go? Uh oh! We thought he knew we needed to go to the airport. I told him we needed to go to the airport, and we needed to now! He demanded that we pay him 600 baht on the spot. We gave it to him. We had no choice. We were afraid of getting stranded. So I said "Okay." Then he dropped off the other passengers and started to drive like a maniac. We made it 30 minutes before the flight was scheduled. But the plane was about 40 minutes late.

Here are some things I'll remember:
I viewed the moon peaking through the clouds while riding the train to Trang.
I saw clouds forming like islands in the sky during a storm.
The sea turned three colors with different shades of blue and green. I could have drawn lines dividing the colors into sections.
After a storm part of the beach crumbled into the sea dumping dozens of coconuts and debris into the water. Zach and I jumped across the gap and then watched it double in size in half an hour.
At night blue and purple silhouettes of the islands were obscured by mist.
I also had some wonderful coconut soup for dinner and for breakfast I ate pineapple pancakes.