Sunday, March 21, 2010

TRANG

Our participation in the District 3330 Conference is completed and, for the first time in a month we enjoyed the luxury of being able to sleep late. Our final appearance at the Conference was at a farewell luncheon where each of us made a short "goodbye speach" to the many friends that we had made in Thailand who had reappeared at the Conference. We were asked what memories of Thailand we would bring with us upon our return to Virginia and we all agreed that they would include the beauty of the country, the incredible food and, most importantly, the unbelievable warmth and friendship that had been extended to us by the people of Thailand.

I told the crowd that we would not be saying "Goodbye" but rather "Until the next time that we meet", for I feel that each of us would love to return to this wonderful country and to the many friends that we had made there.

In the afternoon District 3330 GSE Chairman Quanchai took us sightseeing in Trang. Our first stop was a small creek where we boarded wooden boats, powered by paddlers fore and aft, and traveled past a jungle-like setting until we reached a sheer rock cliff that was penetrated by a cave. As we journeyed into the cave we had to continuously watch out for (and duck) stalactites that threatened to conk our heads. Further in the cave we got out of the boats and walked, sometimes crab-like through ever-diminishing passages before returning to the boats. Now began the most exciting part of the voyage. As the ceiling of the cave drew ever nearer to the boats, we actually had to lie backwards in the boats to avoid the stone projections. I had the sensation that I was William Wallace in "Braveheart" waiting to be disembowled since, laying on my back, my stomach was considerably higher than my head. After four glorious weeks, this certainly would have been an inglorious ending to my Thailand adventure!

Emerging unscathed from the cave we all decided that this would be a great time to go to the beach, and so Quanchai took us to the incredibly beautiful beach of Pak Meng, on the Andaman Sea, part of the Indian Ocean. The beach, a wide strip of sand and sea shells, is bordered by trees that tower over picnic tables and beach chairs. As you face the sea, you gasp at the incredible sea stack formations that abound in this calm sea. I have traveled in twenty-seven countries on five continents and this had to rate as one of the most magnificent spots to which I had ever been.

It is not surprising that we chose not to return to our hotel for dinner, but rather to enjoy the evening right where we were. Quanchai took care of ordering our food from one of the many restaurants that dotted the beach and soon we were feasting on the treasures of the sea: a variety of snail that is found only in this part of Thailand; enormous prawns (four filled an entire plate); baked whole fish in cashew nuts; fried sting ray (yes, it actually tastes very good) and plenty of cold beer. As much as I love my favorite Thai restaurant in Winchester, I'm afraid that there is very little similarity -- the freshness, variety, and sublime taste of our al fresco dinner cannot be surpassed.

After the sun had set, someone suggested that roti might be an excellent desert and so we set out for another outdoor spot for thess delectable Indian crepes, plain or filled with banana. By this time it was getting quite late, I was im maak (full), and we had an early morning flight scheduled Bangkok. Although some of the team decided that they could still go for a two-hour Thai massage, I decided to call it a day.