Today started off nice and early! My new group of travelers – Emma, Maike, and Noah – wanted to go on a hike to bottle beach! I’ve heard of this hike and it was on the list of things I wanted to do so I was very game!

We started the morning off with breakfast at the hostel which was actually very good!

We then all got on our bikes and took a nice 20 min ride to the trail head! We actually ended up starting on the wrong trail (this is a national park with lots of trails).

But after, luckily, quickly realizing our mistake we turned around and walked to the correct trail head!

The bottle beach hike consists of about an hour hike through the mountainous jungle of the north of Koh Tao! This trail is windy, through thick foliage, and has some very steep inclines and descents! But each hike up the mountain lead to some amazing views!

We may be smiling in these pictures, but it was freaking HOT and a very intense hike! It was some great exercise for the morning but it was definitely tough! The reward of a beautiful beach was enough to keep pushing us forward though!

I actually ended up slipping and falling while we were walking. There’s a lot of loose gravel on this hike so make sure you’re careful and wearing good shoes! Luckily I only ended up scratching up my hand and nothing else! But many slips were had on this trail, luckily I was the only slip and fall!

After a little over an hour, we stopped a few times on the hike to take a breather; we finally made it to the beach!!

It was so rewarding to hike and get to such a beautiful beach! However, our hiking wasn’t done yet! There is a viewpoint at bottle beach that overlooks all of the beach and the surrounding ocean! We didn’t come this far to not do it so we decided to go check it out (Maike was very much over hiking so she stayed at the beach).

This hike was a very intense 27 min haul up a very steep mountain side. After doing an hour long hike, this hike just was exponentially harder. However, we knew if and when we made it to the top it’d be totally worth it!

These hikes are so rewarding. Seeing these breath taking views in person is just so amazing and every single one I’ve done on this trip has made my jaw drop! The pictures don’t do it justice! This definitely was one of the more precarious viewpoints I had done on this trip, but we made sure to be careful as we sat up on top of the world taking it all in!

Finally it was time to descend back down the viewpoint and go enjoy the beach!!

This beach was so lovely and such a nice reward post all the hiking! Lori ended up joining us on the beach, so the 5 of us ran into the water and floated around for a good amount of time!

It was eventually time to leave as Emma needed to check into her excursion for the next day. So instead of hiking back, we took a long boat taxi to coconut beach, which was around where our bikes were!

This boat ride was so nice in comparison to hiking! It took longer than I thought it would, but it was nice to enjoy the ocean and the spectacular views! We made it to coconut beach where we walked 5+ min to our bikes (up a steep hill, I guess we hadn’t done enough hiking)!

After attempting to help Emma check into her excursion (the guy apparently was taking a nap and never answered her haha), we made our way to get food! We were all so hungry after all the exercise and were very excited to eat!

I introduced them to a place I had already been which had very cheap smoothies and food! We ended up sitting here for a bit as they made our dishes one by one, but it was totally worth the wait

We then made our way back to our hostels to shower! It was my first of the day and felt incredible after such a long morning! I then ended up taking a quick nap and then received a text from Aaron saying he was hungry and I needed to get my butt into gear if we were going to hang out again haha!

So I ended up hopping on my bike and heading to his bungalow. While I was on my way I saw a beautiful sunset and I had to pull over to get a picture!

We started off our night with checking out what we thought was a night market in the forest. Turns out it was just an art installation, live music, and drinks. It looked very cool though! But we were on the hunt for food!

We then drove to the Thong Sala night market which was full of amazing food carts and fun vendors!

In total I spent 150 Baht for a ton of food and a lovely smoothie! Aaron and I ended up grabbing a few beers from 7-11 and wandered around the Koh Phangan port having a nice chill last night on the island!

It’s crazy to think my time in Thailand is coming to a close… but when I thought the night was ending I made my way back to my hostel where I met up with my friends from earlier and there was a karaoke night happening.

We decided to go hang on the beach first and then go join them after.

It was so wonderful sitting under the night sky! It was another night where I could finally see the stars which is just crazy to think that I’ve only seen them a few times since being in Thailand!

We then made our way back to our hostel where karaoke night was still going on. Just as we got to the singing, Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus came on and no one was willing to sing it. So Emma and I hopped on the mic and put on a show!

After listening to some more karaoke, we decided it was time for bed! It was such a lovely day and I can’t wait to see what my last day in Bangkok has in store for me!

– Elie