Scootering

Wednesday started out normally enough, though by the end of the day we both looked back on it as one of the great ones. For some reason we had gotten it into our heads that I would be able to figure out how to operate a scooter safely enough to transport us around the island. Silly, but we were convinced.

At 9am we rented the scooter and when I told the rental agent I had never driven one, he gave me about thirty seconds of instruction and then told me to go figure it out. I suppose that's probably the best way. I took about 10 minutes doing laps up and down the resort driveway, something that had the gate attendants doubled over in laughter. For the most part I was comfortable but I could tell that turning the scooter around and heading in the other direction was going to be a problem. I firmly planned on keeping it pointed in the same direction for most of the day.

Confident we were good to go, Jas hopped on the back and we headed south along the island's coast. About 8km south of our hotel is Chaweng beach, the most populous area on the island. We didn't quite know what to expect but were pretty sure the most populous area on the island would be able to provide us with breakfast. What we found there was a clone of any Mexican spring break town you've ever been to: millions of t shirt shops, lots of open air bars, and the general air of debauchery. We didn't spend a whole lot of time there and quickly got back on the road south.

The weather was beautiful and so were our spirits. We had a map to consult but for the most part took lefts whenever presented with a choice so as to stay along the coast. There wasn't a whole lot of traffic which helped me get comfortable at speed and we spent about an hour exploring the coastal roads of the southern part of the island.

Around lunchtime we started looking for a place to eat and found it at a resort on the southwestern tip of the island. It appeared to be a place that had once been the very pinnacle of luxury but has been easily eclipsed by the modern behemoths going up around the island. We had the beach to ourselves and were served delicious drinks and food. We enjoyed everything at a very leisurely pace, totally content and exactly where we wanted to be.

At this point we had gone halfway around the island and decided to keep going and drive all the way around. With no plans, we ambled up the western coast taking in the views and enjoying the day. A little past the midway point we saw a sign pointing towards a waterfall and naturally deviated to check it out. Though we had made a pact to exert no energy whatsoever on this trip, the waterfall turned out to be at the end of a 1.5km hike that had us sweaty and excited for a dip in the promised swimming hole.

We were not disappointed. The water at the base of the falls was refreshingly cool and we spent the better part of half an hour simply swimming around and cooling off. The hike back wasn't nearly as bad as the hike in and we were back to the scooter in no time. As we hopped on and started it up we were greeted by a tremendous thunderclap from just off the coast.

What did we do? We extended our middle fingers to the sky and continued down the road. We were summarily punished for our insolence. The storm hit us just south of the northwest tip of the island. If you've ever seen Karate Kid II then you've seen the storm that hit us ("You are a coward Miyage!"). I was in swim trunks and a T-shirt and Jas was wearing a sun dress over her bikini. You could say we were prepared to ride a scooter through a rainstorm. The wind was blowing palm fronds everywhere and we were instantly soaked to the bone. It was absolutely amazing. We rounded the NW corner and found some shelter in a little restaurant to wait out the worst of it. We were soaked, cold, and elated.

After 20 minutes it didn't show any signs of letting up so we went back into the teeth of the storm and gritted out the remaining 20km to our hotel. We managed to get lost a few times, ruin our map in the rain, make two death defying right hand turns across traffic, and ultimately found our hotel in the storm. After the best hot showers of our lives, we relaxed over an excellent dinner at the hotel and retired early, completely satisfied with one of the most adventurous days of the trip so far.