To escape dirty and crowded Patong Beach, we decided to rent mopeds and ride along the coast of the island to see what we might find.
I had several reasons to be afraid of driving a scooter... I had never driven one before, I'd have to drive on the wrong side of the road (in comparison to the US), if I got hurt I had no idea what we would do (go home?), there's insane traffic in Patong, there are a lot of crazy drivers in Thailand, and I was wearing a dress. Nonetheless, I did it. Partly because Yuriy believes in me so much, and partly because I saw a lot of Thai girls riding scooters (often 3 girls to 1 scooter) and I knew if they could do it, I could do it.
It was an incredibly beautiful drive. The road was a curvy ribbon that wound through the hills along the coast and offered some amazing views of the ocean below on the right.
We pulled over at a nice secluded beach with not many hotels, called Nai Harn. We did some sunbathing, reading, and watched the sun pull closer to the water on the horizon.
The soft light and warm air blowing in my face on the ride back felt unreal. I felt more confident on the scooter and could go a little faster, so Yuriy and I had fun passing each other and riding side by side. We didn't go long before pulling over at a little restaurant on a cliff and had dinner as the sun finished setting and light disappeared. Then a nighttime ride back to our place. What a beautiful day.
- Julia
