I step out of the song-tow (a pickup truck with seats in the bed that seconds as a "taxi") and I immediately feel the difference in the air quality. In Bangkok it is so smoggy that you could jump up and disappear, here the air is filled with the salty tang from the ocean and an overall "clearer" atmosphere. I walk into a wall of heat and instantly cannot wait to jump in the water, which I end up doing at the first restaurant we sit down at. The island has a pretty relaxed vibe plus the busyness of a popular beach. Lonely beach boasts the best strip on the island; famous for the parties, western food, and being the "backpackers hub" of the island. Needless to say, we crash here. I enjoy my time by collecting seashells, bothering monkeys, befriending stray dogs, and swimming endlessly. The beach makes me feel at peace and I absorb every ounce of sunshine while I lazily float on my back in the gulf of Thailand. The scenery is breathtaking with mountains and rainforest right next to the water. I immensely adore gazing at the mountains from the water, and relish in the fact that I have never been anywhere quite like this.
After a couple days of relaxed fun in the sun with nothing but beaches and beer, we decide to pick an activity to take part in. Now, I have read numerous times not to rent motorbikes or jetskis because it can be a scam.... but the group decided that the cheapest thing to do would be to rent the motorbikes for a day.. So we rent the bikes and take off to explore the island with nothing but smiles and our cameras.
Ten minutes later one bike is somewhere in the bushes and the other is rolling down a hill. Yup. That happened. In a panic I chase down my bike and yell to the other girls, asking if they are ok. A Thai man leaps out of his truck and rushes over to make sure we are ok and to help us pick up these god forsaken, million pound-death traps. Nobody is seriously injured, and the first thing I do is hop back on the motorbike to "defeat" this stupid hill that made us crash. I ride up and down a few times and once I feel confident again, I park next to the other girls. They all refuse to drive so I end up bringing one bike back to the hotel, catching a ride back to them, then driving the other one while other girls caught a taxi. I ended up cruising on the bike solo for the rest of the day, exploring the jungle and enjoying the warm air in my hair. Luckily no more crashes.
So after careful deliberation we decide to fix the bikes up the best we can and return them the next day like we originally intended. Right? Wrong. We return the bikes with nervous smiles and an attempted normalcy, but they immediately notice the scratches, broken headlight, cracked frame, and dislodged brake. oops. Before returning the bikes, we asked the Danish man who owned our bungalows how much it would cost to repair what we damaged. He told us no more than 400-500 Baht, which is equivalent to about 15 or 16 dollars. This seemed acceptable and we were more than happy to pay this amount if they requested it.
After careful inspection of the bikes, the Thai man declared that we owed him a whopping 3000 baht. A hundred dollars that none of us could really afford.
Hours of phone calls to the boss, tourist police, extreme bargaining, and we still got no where. 3000 baht was the only and final asking price for our damage. We coughed up the dough and chalked it up to another learning experience in the land of Thai... I knew we should of went snorkeling.
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