February 5,

I awoke at 0630 and Jeff was awake, saying he had been since 0430. It would be nice to stop this alternating bad sleeping nights… second thought just have them be eliminated altogether! Anyway, we had our Javas – mine in the new cup we bought – nice and big! Breakfast was a new Muesli with milk. It was a berry blend, and pretty good. We got out and about. First we stopped at Pumski Travel, a scooter rental place. We rented a Black Honda Click – 125cc. It cost us 250 Baht ($7.45) for a days rental. Had two helmets that fit us and we took off.

Jeff had devised a route the pretty much took us around this small island. It was basically a 22 mile venture. We stopped first at temple right close to us. It was a tall, one. The temple, Wat Koahcharoen Santithum, was glistening and glowing in the morning light (around 0930). Just did a photo op as it was closed up, and listed that non-Buddhists are not allowed inside anyway. We loaded back up on our scooter “Night Rider.”😂

We next went down a side road to parking area and hiked down to Dusit Buncha Resort, to gander at three islands linked by two “paths” of sand. It would have been walk-able to go back and forth on the three islands, once you got out there. We could’ve rented a kayak, or a hired a boat ride. We decided not to, as it looked to be an Instagram thing. We hiked back up and got on Night Rider. This is as far north as we could go on the west side. So we left and went back to town.

We needed to get gas as it was low when we were given the keys. We found a gas station and Jeff had a 50 Baht put in. One liter costs just over 46 Baht ($1.37). One liter is about a ¼ of gallon, which makes gas around $5/gallon. Anyway we then stopped at a 7-Eleven for water and found new fingernail clippers. Now we scoot on our island venture.

We went east a bit to the center of Koh Tao, basically. We turned north and went mostly up with some down on steep dirt roads to Mango View Point, but ended up at Summit Viewpoint instead. It is supposedly the highest on Koh Tao. We stopped at an entrepreneur families place. They charged 100 Baht each entrance fee, but gave a free drink. We both had a very cold Sprite. But the draw was the great views. Pretty amazing, but a bit hazy – don’t know if it was from the height or something else. Google said we were 741 feet in elevation. The family was nice and had a bunch of animals- cats, dogs, and chickens. I got a bit of pet therapy in.😁

Now we back tracked back to town, stopping at two grocery stores, finding yogurt, a big water, beer for Jeff and drinks for me. So we had to go back to our place to unload, stocking our refrigerator. We will not be able to cook at all here. Anyway, we now head out again on our self driving island venture.

Next we go the other way from town, south. Right at the edge of the town, we head east and came to a modern windmill, up on a ridge area, but it was not working. We followed the road and came to the bay area of Ao Tanote Beach. We walked the beach a little and sat at a cafe, (maybe Crave Corner), under an umbrella, drinking a mango and a pineapple shake, and listening to the surf. It was great. There were quite a few snorkelers here, but it was still peaceful. We finished our shakes and load back on Night Rider.

Now, we scooted to the south and down to Sai Daeng Resort, we found Uncle Soon’s Restaurant. We had two appetizers – Nachos with Mango Salsa; and a Thai Sampler: Fried chicken wings, grilled pork, sticky rice, slaw-like salad and two dipping sauces (a sweet & sour and a mild spiced fish sauce). Good food.😋  We had a water. There was a write up and a photo of Uncle Soon in the menu – he built the resort and this restaurant. He looks like he would be fun to know. We paid the bill, 410 Baht ($12.20), and loaded back up on our scooter.

Next, we went to the furthermost south we could go without paying more. It was the John-Suwan parking area. The viewpoint did not seem to be worth the cost. We could see the Buddha rock and the beautiful water. So now, we drove back north and went to the most western area – Sai Nuan Beach. Pretty much just went to the end of the road and then back to town.

We stopped at the dive shop and showed our PADI cards. Then back to our place for a siesta.

We had basically started at 0930 and stopped at 1430, so we were hot and tired. Around 1730 we went out for supper. We chose Centrico Cafe & Mexican Restaurant.🪇 Glad we did. We had Fish Ceviche- avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, and lime served with homemade tortilla chips; and Mix 3 Tacos- one of Grilled Fish with slaw and an avocado-cilantro sauce, one of Carne Asada Beef with red onion, cilantro, mild peppers, and avocado-cilantro sauce; and one of Chicken with slaw and a pico de gallo and sour cream. Food was super great!😋🪇😋  Jeff had a Thai milk tea, iced; I had a Pepino Chamonada- cucumber, lime, mint, chamoy sauce, tajin, and tamarind. My shake/drink was the most unusual thing I think I have drank. It was minimally sweet and sour. Very interesting in a good way. The total bill was 970 Baht – Jeff gave 1020 Baht ($30.36). WOWZA – worth every penny.

Back to our place and I blogged, Jeff read. What an awesome day venturing Koh Tao!