I had my fill of Phuket’s  hectic energy, so I chartered a tuk tuk to take me to one of the more local beaches.  (A great hint for traveling is always ask your cab or tuk tuk driver for the best beach and also the best food!)   And local it was, me being one of the few tourists (thank God!). I traveled up hills and through jungles, past elephant camps and finally arrived to the incredible beauty of a jade colored lagoon which spilled into the ocean, turquoise in color, warm waters, pounding waves…hardly a soul in sight.  I was grateful for the lagoon as the waves seemed a little dangerous to me, only being navigated by surfers and boogie boarders. I played in the lagoon with the local children, one of who knew English, and she interpreted my answers to her questions to the rest of the children. Then they all started diving to the bottom of the lagoon and bringing up shells for me.  It seemed a contest to see who could give me the most. I asked if she was having fun, which she didn’t understand, but then I used the word “Happy?”  “Yes, very”, she shook her head giving me an award-winning smile. I had to revel in this moment, me the blond foreigner, playing with these beautiful brown children. I then went back to my chair to sleep in the sun where I fell into a deep sleep where I dreamed of an Island man telling me that I was in a sacred place and the people of old were mourning because so much of Phuket was no longer sacred. He then gave some kind of a yell which startled me awake, and I lay there stunned because I felt all of this was true. And so with a mixture of happiness and sadness I made it back to the beach near my hotel where I watched a beautiful sunset, the full moon rising at the same time, and not only was I  having fun, I really was very happy….