Before I begin the story of the mopeds on Koh Tao, I'm happy to say that I made it here with no hiccups after paying such a small amount in travel expenses. I got to my pick up point in Bangkok on Thursday evening to find the travel agency closed. Luckily there was another rider there as well and we were quickly picked up by a small Thai man and wisked down a dark alley and out onto a main road where he held up his hand meaning either to stop, or that he would be back in five minutes...neither of us knew which. After twenty minutes of not really knowing what was happening (and still no sign of our disappearing tour guide) a bus with a magical horse and image of Popeye showed up and we knew our problems were solved. We were on our way to Chumporn.
I got to know my new Danish friend on the bus ride down in between trying to sleep and shivering in the freezing bus (they apparently love their air conditioning here too). We arrived at the dock at 3:30am to wait for our boat that would leave at 7. We really couldn't figure out why the buses were scheduled this way, but we took it for what it was and were glad to be there anyway. When a beer was sat down in front of me a half hour after our arrival, I didn't complain. Sleeping was not an option and my schedule was all thrown off from the overnight bus anyway. I passed the time meeting new people and trying to figure out where I was going. I was able to catch the most beautiful sunrise over the water just before our boat started boarding.
The three hour ride was good. Everyone just relaxed on the deck and was eager to see our new home in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand. There were two dive operators on the boat advertising their programs and I chose where I wanted to go from their information. Instead of the large western beach, I would be taking the free taxi ride down to the south for a more chilled out stay on the island. As we approached Koh Tao, I found that my Danish friend and an Aussie that I had met would be doing the same.
After a quick ride in the back of a pickup truck, I found myself at the beach. I chose Sunshine Divers as my new accommodation and even got a bungalow near people that I had met on the boat. I plan to stay on the island for a week or two, so I actually unpacked and put things in drawers. I must be going through some sort of nesting phase because it feels great to be settled for the moment.
My room is cozy, although I seem to be sharing it with a family of creatures that I guess I'll just need to get used to. The geckos don't bother me much anymore, but the three inch cockroach that taunted me while showering yesterday morning was getting to me a little. I was quite happy when I saw him scurry from the bathroom out onto the porch in the afternoon. I quickly screamed for one of my friends next door and we chased him away with a broom after quite the scene. I was laughed at by a few Swedish guys in the area at that point, but I think I can call the "girl" card on that one. These things are just gross. The geckos, on the other hand, are pretty neat (especially considering they eat mosquitos). I came home to a huge one last night which I just wanted to keep as a pet. Between the bugs, lizards and choirs of birds in the trees of the garden, I feel like I'm in wild kingdom.
So on to the story of the motorbikes... I've grown up seeing my dad ride my whole life and although I've never really tried the whole two wheeled thing, I figured it couldn't be all that hard. That's basically all there are on this island, just mopeds and motorcycles with a few pickup trucks just to shake things up a bit. While walking around on the first day, we found out just how cheap these things are to rent and thought we'd give it a go.
Yesterday morning, we picked up our new rides and proceeded to terrorize the island. We drove to the center to have some lunch and a swim and then started to make our way to some of the more remote beaches around us. Much to our dismay, the bikes were crap. They looked good, but with balding tires and little power for the steep hills, we got ourselves into trouble quickly. The two guys I was with were pretty experienced, and although I was starting to feel more comfortable, I was still shaky. After a couple hours of riding, I had my first wipe out at the top of a hill. There was sand on the concrete and the tires wouldn't grip. I was going slow so had no damage to my person, but the bike got a few scratches. After this first one, I was a little more careful for the rest of the day.
Even with extra caution, my lack of motor skills hurt me in the end. About ten minutes later, I found myself pulling out on the main road from a gas station, causing a tiny bit of carnage in the process. I attempted to turn left and was gripping tightly to overcompensate for the shotty brakes when I somehow managed to turn the throttle and aim my bike directly into another, which then hit a pickup truck coming from the other direction. This all happened in slow motion and the next thing you know I was being pulled out of the road. The other bike didn't fall over and he was gone before I realized what happened. The owner of the truck just stood there and laughed as I shook and was glad to have two friends there to comfort me. The pickup had a nice crack in the front bumper, but no one came to talk to me. The next thing I knew, all of the parties involved were gone without a word and I was at a bike shop getting the brake that I broke off fixed. I managed to get through all of this without a scratch. I'm not really into motorbikes anymore... at least not in Thailand.
After all of this mayhem, we actually continued on and went to another beach to relax. Of course, with my luck, I jumped into the crystal clear water for just long enough to realize I was being stung by tiny jellyfish, and then promptly got out. It was a beautiful day and it would've been nice for a swim, but it just wasn't in the cards for any of us.
Last night was an early one after all the chaos of the day. So this morning I awoke and felt productive. I cleaned my room, did some washing and started reading some of my advanced diving manual all before 7:30. Ryan came around about 8 and told me he was taking the bike for a ride before breakfast and I happily sent him on his way alone. He came back an hour later with a bike more scratched up than my own. He'd had a spin out as well on the crappy roads of Koh Tao.
We had breakfast and contimplated how to deal with the situation. We decided we'd take them in at that moment rather than delaying the inevitable. We brought the bikes back with our eyes looking downward and hoped they'd miss something, which of course, they didn't. They attempted to charge him almost $450 and me $300 and we asked to speak to the boss. The bikes weren't worth much more than that and the thought of so much wasted money just made us sick.
So to try and forget it all for a moment, three of us went kayaking out to Shark Beach this afternoon (yes, there are sharks there...no, I didn't see any...and yes, I swam). The day was hot and the water was beautiful, so it worked at the time. When we got back this afternoon, I ended up having to pay two thirds of what they wanted and it was the same for Ryan. It was a bum deal that we got, but it needed to be settled. I was at least able to rationalize it in the fact that my accident was real and I could've ended up spending money fixing a Ford F150 as well.
So that's it. I've decided not to take anymore risks of that magnitude. I knew what I was doing and am glad that it was only monetary damage involved. Besides some of the drama, life on Koh Tao has been fantastic. It is beautiful here and I've made some friends that are keeping me company. I've chosen a dive school and have my first two dives tomorrow. I think I'll be settling here for the next week or two, so we'll see if I can keep myself out of trouble until then.
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