I woke up this morning at 6am and saw a beautiful sunrise on the ocean as we got closer to the coast of Koh Tao! It was definitely interesting waking up on a boat! But I honestly had a lovely time and would do it again!

I went back to sleep for another hour and then we arrived to Koh Tao!

My hostel was a 30 min walk from the pier and since I had been on the ferry all night, I decided to take the trek and stretch my legs! I’m very glad I did because there were some beautiful views I would’ve missed otherwise!

I dropped my things at the hostel and took a rinse off in the shower that was available to me! After that I ventured out to find a restaurant that was open… this actually ended up being quite difficult since it was still very early in the morning! But eventually I found a spot!

I got a mango smoothie and Thai Cashew Chicken! it was very good and a nice meal to start my morning. I then went and rented my first bike since Pai! I’ve really missed riding so this was very exciting!

After renting my scooter I had my first unfortunate event happen… my zipper of my trusty Fanny pack broke! Luckily I have a bag to put it in but it’s definitely an inconvenience. Thankfully it happened near the end of my trip!

I then decided to go hang on the beach since I couldn’t check into my hostel yet! The beach actually was very close to my hostel but I still rode my bike over just for fun (and because I thought it was further haha).

I ended up sitting at the beach for 3 hours! It was so lovely just sitting in the shade and sitting in the ocean! The water is actually super warm too and crystal clear! I’m already so in love with this island and I haven’t even been here a day!

I then got hungry again and decided to wander to find more food! I ended up finding a duck restaurant which was a fun find! I haven’t had a duck dish since being in Thailand and it didn’t disappoint!

Next up on the day was something I’ve been looking forward to this entire trip! I have been wanting to get another tattoo for a while and I decided Thailand would be a great place to get one! Lola suggested a tattoo shop in Koh Tao and they specialize in Bamboo tattoos! It’s basically like a stick and poke with a bamboo and needle.

My all time favorite quote is “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” this is what this tattoo represents and it represents one of the biggest parts of this trip/learning experience for me! So many things in life happen and you can be stuck in a rut because of it, or you can learn to roll with the punches and make the most of life! So many things on this trip were in the unknown or changed last minute and it’s important to learn from it and enjoy it!

I’m very happy with how the tattoo turned out and also that I got to experience a Thai Bamboo Tattoo!

After my tattoo, I ended up sitting at my hostel for a bit and ran into a guy from Switzerland, Loris, who I met on the night ferry! He had been snorkeling in the morning with a girl from Germany, her name is Venice, and we three started chatting! We then made plans to go to the beach later and hang out for the rest of the day!

It was absolutely gorgeous out and we spent a few hours reading on the beach and in the ocean! This leads us to our second unfortunate thing of the day! I put my ring in my teeshirt rather than my bag (because my bag broke) and I forgot… and lost my ring 😢 I was pretty sad because the ring had a lot of wonderful connotations to it, but you can’t stop the waves so I had to roll with the punches! I’ll find some more that I like eventually!

We all split ways to shower and eat and had plans to meet back up to scooter to watch the sunset!

I got a garlic chicken with rice for 90 Baht! Definitely not the biggest serving but it still was tasty! This restaurant was right next to my hostel which was very convenient!

We then scootered to a view point bar about 8 min away from our hostel! This place did NOT disappoint!

By the time we got back to the hostel it was dark and time to figure out our plans for the night! We ended up wandering around the lively streets of Koh Tao while we figured out our plan!

We found out a Cabaret show was being put on and decided to go! It was a fun and goofy time and made for a fun cheap thing to do for the night!

After the cabaret we went to a couple bars and hung out! Eventually I got tired and decided to wander back to the hostel! It was a very lovely and jam packed day here on Koh Tao! The weather has been so nice and it’s only drizzled once since getting here!

Looking forward to spending another day here and exploring more of the island!

– Elie