9 June 2008 - the first and last day we hired a moped on koh tao!!

31st May

Today we decided to hire a moped so we could really explore the island. The place we we're staying offered moped rental so we got one from there, they also hired quads which would have been fun but of course they were more expensive. In hindsight (Dan and i's favorite word!!) they extra money would have been worth it!!

We decided we would go to the northern tip of the island first as there were supposed to be some good view points. Much to our dismay we got there to find a building site and not a lot else!!

Never mind, we got back on the bike and headed back south where we could turn off to go east. We had been riding for 5 Min's when the road went into a very uneven dirt track getting stepper and stepper, the road was dry as well so the soil was loose, so for safety reasons we decided to head back down to the main road.

We stopped at the main beach so we could enjoy a ice cold drink and book up some diving for the next day. Bans diving had been recommended to us so we went there as there was no competition between rivals price's here anyway.

We booked up two dives for the following morning and went on our way! This time we headed for a view point in the southern center of the island. This time the concrete road lasted longer but changed in to a dirt road none the less. We persevered although i cant say it was enjoyable as the moped was not built to ride on this terrain!! There were a few moments when the bike slipped but Dan kept good control of it, soon enough we had got to the other side of the island. The terrain got worse so i suggested we walked the rest of the way.

We reached the beach!! We dumped our stuff and headed straight for the sea to cool off!! After a swim we made up some sandwiches for lunch. We did not stay much longer after that as we wanted to get the drive back out of the way so we made our way back up the very step hill to the moped.

This was by far the worst part of the day...apart from the monitor lizard that scurried by us!! I got back on the bike and we headed up the hill, we slid all over the place, somehow Dan managed to keep control of it and we both stayed on the bike. I was not impressed and neither was Dan, it was hard enough to control the bike without having me tensing up and screaming on the back!!

Finally we got back onto a proper road, i could not wait to get off that bike!!