January 29,

             Happy Kansas Day to those back in Kansas!!

We awoke and set about to our Javas and breakfast of toast and PB/Nutella. At 1000, we went out & about. We were scooting up to a waterfall and came to a high almost 360 degree view. The roads had become sketchy and rough going through water troughs when the road became dirt. But WOW! It was breathtaking, and great views… Worthy!! 😃 We weren't able to capture the views, unfortunately due to haziness.

We found the Tan Rua Waterfalls. A zip line company, Tree Bridge Zipline, had set business up here. There was a cruise ship in the harbor today – so the zip line was busy. We found the trail and started the free hike up to the waterfall. Immediately and only once we had to dodge zip-liners! A bit into the trail, we came to a fork. There were two paths two waterfalls – we chose waterfall # two first. We were rewarded. The waterfall was stretched over a boulder and rocky, descending landscape. It was beautiful in an natural and “un”manicured way. We stayed a bit, then hiked back, taking in the other fork and smaller waterfall area. I love waterfalls – all of them. The sound of rushing splashing water… the best!

Anyway, we left here and loaded onto to our scooter. As we were coming back down the mountain – a different way – we noticed trees that were being drained of sap. We stopped and found out it was rubber! Cool!🤗 That was so neat!! The stuff in the bowl was springy – just how rubber is! Imagine that.🙄 We neither one remembered ever seeing this rubber process in the open before.

Now we came back to the main road and stopped at Homemade Burgers and Sandwiches for lunch. We shared a Chicken Bacon Cheeseburger and Fries; a Grilled Fish Fillet with Roasted Potatoes and a Salad. I had a Red Smoothie, which was watermelon, berries, banana, almond milk, and yogurt – it was presented very beautifully with a white flower. Jeff had a very tart Lemon Shake. Lunch cost us 740 Baht ($21.92).

When we finished we went to a couple of grocery stores (the first did not have all we needed); next, to the Artisanal Bread store; and lastly our local veggie place. Then we arrived back home and unloaded. Did our resistance bands and a cool down in the pool. Siesta time, baby. Then we had a very light supper of cheese and crackers. We went the few feet to watch the sunset from our wall over the beach. It was glorious and a great day!

      January 30,

We both awoke around six-thirty and went for a walk on the beach. The high tide was coming in but was not until noon. So we hit water – shin high – at one crossing in front a building that has taken over the beach. Still amazes us that they allow this. Anyway, we noticed a lot more shells – broken bits and whole ones – on the beach, maybe from the stormy weather a couple of days ago?? Questions?… as always. There were not too many people out. It was nice. On our way back we had a couple of the “Soi” dogs of Koh Samui follow us, right up to the door of our place.

We cleaned up and had our Javas and breakfast of Muesli, yogurt, and milk. We watched some YouTube and decided to go to another waterfall. There was not a cruise ship here today, so we may have less crowds.

1040 we set out. We arrived at Hin Lad Waterfall at the Samnaksong Hin Lad Temple. It was a pretty meandering waterfall. There was a hike to go up to another, Hin Lat Waterfall. So we set out and went up. It was a bit rugged with a path of roots and stones to scramble over. Somewhere along the path, one root had been worn to accommodate a foot as a step. That was fascinating.

We made to a marker labeling Wang Born Fall and then in 230 meters was Wang Fang. (Nothing mentioned of Hin Lat.) But we could not see this fall as the stream was obscured from the pathway by the thick-treed forest. We decided to continue anyway. We arrived at the Wang Fang Fall area. We were able to see this waterfall a tiny bit more in a small view area, but there was another sign for yet another Wang…something-or-another fall. Still nothing about the Hin Lat Waterfall. So Jeff looked up the Hin Lat Waterfall reviews. They were not great, so we decided at this point, to call it and went back down. We did stop at one of the cafes we had past at the start of the hike. We split a coconut drink right out of the coconut. It hit the spot as we were all hot and sweaty.

Now we went to our grilled-no-name local place for take away. We got a grilled chicken, a grilled pork and sticky rice order with a papaya – little bit spiced – salad. We made it back to our place and ate heartily. Then I blogged and Jeff read. We also told the owner about the bathroom sink not draining and a worker came and fixed it, kinda. The sink now drains but it drips big time under the counter from the pipes. Around 1630 walked again on the beach. The shells have all disappeared. Big Questions surround this⁉️🤔🤔

For sunset, we went on the scooter to the overlook that we found our first venture day with the scooter. When we arrived there were half a dozen people close by, but we were able to find a spot and enjoyed the view. The sun was setting over the five islands that we toured on our Jet Ski adventure. It was a good one. We went back to our place and had last of leftover chicken as sandwiches. It was a second great day!!