Well today started with a whirlwind of emotions. They say bad things happen in 3s… so after my Fanny pack broke and I lost my ring, I was waiting for a potential 3rd one.

When I got on my scooter yesterday I only had one mirror. Which I thought was odd but sometimes you get pretty beat up scooters from the rental places. But then I checked my video and photos of it and sure enough it had two! So I ran down to check around where I had parked my bike… and luckily it was just sitting on a ledge near where it was parked! Not sure what happened but I popped it back on (with the help of one of the hostel reps)!

I was very happy that I wouldn’t have to deal with returning a “broken” bike!

After dealing with my bike it was time to eat! I went to a restaurant nearby my hostel that I had been to before. I actually got a meal that I had never tried before! I got Rad Nah with chicken.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of this dish at first, but it grew on me! I’d definitely try it again but I can’t really describe how it tastes.

It was then time for my first viewpoint adventure of the day! I took my scooters on the streets of Koh Tao and made my way to Mango Viewpoint!

On entrance you have to purchase something from the shop or give the owner 20 Baht. I opted for the 20 Baht and the woman gave me a banana!

The climb was a bit steep to the viewpoint and the bike ride became basically off roading for a bit. But it was totally worth it for the view! And what a place to be eating a banana!

The viewpoint had a number of hammocks which made it a lovely spot to sit and enjoy the view! I honestly could’ve sat there all day but there were other things I wanted to do!

I actually hung out at the viewpoint for a bit and got pretty hungry! So I made my way back into town for lunch!

After lunch I tried to meet up with my friends that had a late start to their day! They told me they were at Shark Bay snorkeling so I went to explore!

This spot was on the opposite side of the island, which made for a fun bike ride! Koh Tao is very pretty and the ride and Shark Bay did not disappoint!

The climb down to Shark Bay was actually quite steep and where I entered the bay was only rocks. However the views were fantastic AND the water was insanely blue!

Unfortunately I couldn’t find my friends since they were out snorkeling. But I had a fun time floating around the water, enjoying the beautiful day, and catching glimpses of fish swimming around me!

I decided to leave after a little bit and head to my second viewpoint of the day! The John Suwan Viewpoint was very close to Shark Bay and I had heard great things about it!

It was a 50 Baht entrance fee and the hike was a lot steeper than I had anticipated!

I always find it interesting when the hike turns into a full on rock climb 😅 some of these viewpoints are actually fairly tough and sketchy to get to.

But each plateau lead to some beautiful views! But eventually I made it to the top! And woooowwwww what a view!

This has to be one of my favorite viewpoints I’ve been to! The water is just so blue and you can see multiple beaches and far out into the ocean on the other side! The wind was actually blowing fairly strong, but it was very welcome after a sweaty steep hike!

I ended up staying at the top for about 30 min just taking in the views and meditating a bit! It’s been amazing having such beautiful sceneries to be mindful and appreciate this amazing journey!

But eventually it was time to make the trek back down the viewpoint! I was very excited for the next part of the day because it was time to stop climbing and relax! Attached to the viewpoint (included in the entry fee) is Freedom Beach! It’s a nice small beach with a bunch of reclining beach chairs and of course beautiful blue water!

I ended up just floating around in the ocean for quite a while! Eventually I started to get a bit chilly so I switched to lounging on my beach chair. While I was hanging on the beach, a couple of my friends I’ve met in Koh Tao came and joined! They’re both from Switzerland, so there’s been a lot of explaining different US expressions 😅

After a bit of hanging with Loris and Jan I wanted to head back to the hostel, so I parted ways with them. One reason I wanted to leave was I needed to go pick up my laundry (my last laundry run of the trip)! But the other reason I wanted to go back was because the hostel was putting on a soccer (football to everyone else haha) match on the beach during sunset!

The soccer matches were a lot of fun and it was so pretty watching the sunset during the games too! We actually had a lot of people from the hostel come play and it was super goofy playing on the beach with sticks as goal posts. I didn’t score any goals but I did have a few assists and saves 🎉

During the soccer match I met a guy from my dorm who I hadn’t met yet and I ended up chatting with him and one other person in my dorm after the match! We decided to go get dinner all together! I didn’t get any pictures with them at dinner but their names were Jasper and Bri! Jasper was from England (I’ve been meeting so many people from the UK) and Bri was from Ohio.

We ended up going to a duck restaurant I had been at the day before. But I ended up getting a spicy noodle and duck soup with peanut sauce and it was incredible!

After this we had a few more people join us from our hostel! Two of them were from England and one was from Germany. And then even later my buddy Loris came and hung out with us too!

But we of course were craving something sweet after a spicy meal so we wandered to get some roti from a nearby stand!

Jasper, Bri, and I ended up wandering around the town a bit and ended up sitting on the beach enjoying the ocean breeze and watching a nearby fire show!

After the show it was time for some late night snacks! So of course I got my favorite cheese toasty from 7-11 and a molten lava cake again (which my friend Aicha told me about in Phi Phi)! I’m a big fan of the 7-11s in Thailand!

I ended up going to bed on the “early side,” it was still past midnight, because I had an early morning ahead of me!

I am heading to Koh Phangan tomorrow and I really contemplated skipping it and staying on Koh Tao for the remainder of my trip. I’ve really loved Koh Tao and hopefully will come back in the future and spend more time on this lovely island (maybe even get my diving certification 👀)!

But in the end I decided to stick with my plans to go to Koh Phangan! It’s been on my bucket list for quite some time and I’m very excited to explore the island before I head back home!

– Elie