The smell of saltwater. The bright sunny skies. The children running through the surf. The resort full of travelers from all over the world. That's what I was expecting from our trip to the beach. But what we had was so much different. It was better.
The resort where our rooms were was inland. Springside Golf and Spa. It smelled like fresh air and trees, quite a change from being in the cities. We took the shuttle to Springside @ Sea (gotta love how they made that name creative). There, it smelled like fish. And saltwater. But mostly fish. I took a walk up the beach a bit and crawled up on one of the fishing boats. I watched the Thai stand in the shallow waves with their nets catching their food for the day. It was almost like stepping back in time.
We stretched out on the lounge chairs on the sand, felt the breeze in our hair, and the sun on our faces. The sun wasn't always there... in the afternoon, it was often overcast. It is rainy season, so every afternoon, we got a refreshing shower. But in all reality, if it was sunny the whole time, I would be a roasted tomato from all day on the beach. And compared to the 98 degrees Chiang Mai was, the 85 degrees beach was perfect!
We were at the resort during the week for the most part. And apparently, no one in Asia goes to the beach or golf resorts during the week, except for a few Japanese and European golfers. Needless to say, we had the place to ourselves. The pools. The restaurants. The beach. When the weekend came, we had to share the resorts with the Japanese, Thai, and Indian families that joined us. On the day we left, a meditation conference came it... all dressed in white. We didn't mind leaving before they began their meetings.
After being home for a while, we were out at dinner remembering parts of the trip. It's not the big things we remember most. It's the little things that make times like these most memorable. The flies that you have to constantly swat to keep off your breakfast. The frogs that hid in the rocks at the edge of the pool. The janky bikes we borrowed to ride along the beach. Getting to know Mam, our waitress, and Kittithat, the restaurant manager. Getting a full body massage on the top of the mountain with the ocean in the background and the rain falling softly on the palm trees. I could have stayed her for quite a few more days.
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| Springfield Golf and Spa |
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| Springfield @ Sea |
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| Mam and Kittithat |
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| Spa clothes. Pretty good lookin if you ask me! |
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| Just imaging the rain falling right outside while in complete relaxation. |
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