I managed get up at 05:30 to watch the sunrise which was a tranquil experience. Even though it was overcast, the view was beautiful. annoyingly, I can’t post my photo of it- explained later.

My 2 roommates left today which I’m quite happy about since I won’t have to tip toe around if one is asleep or be woken up by someone coming in late. I’m looking forward to watching a film tonight without using earphones..

Three of us hired scooters to explore the island. However, after that morning’s intensive abs yoga workout a few hours before, we wanted some relaxation and headed straight for Pasai Beach. Turns out, I’m a PRO mo-ped rider!

Ian taught me to ride a scooter in Vietnam. Always sitting on the back to direct and guide me. I found it extremely difficult to turn and balance but never considered my 11 stone counterweight on the back as a handicap! On my own, I could do about turns, scoot my bum from side to side to miss potholes, lean down low(ish) round corners – great fun!

We stopped for lunch at a beautiful sea side restaurant before heading back for the afternoon’s yoga session. More troops had arrived and I gained a roommate from Holland named Renee (more about her later).

After yoga, 8 of us headed out on 4 scooters, racing to the East side of the island to watch the sun set. Unfortunately, it was overcast, so we decided to head to a restaurant for dinner. This is where it got fun…

Tropical storm, a flat tyre and a broken phone

It was getting a little dark so we stopped at the next restaurant (rather than the Italian we were heading for) and had a great dinner with lots of fun conversation and no alcohol (although, I didn’t eat again- not sure what’s happening to my diet at the moment). Half way through, a tropical storm hit so we planned to make a break for it in the next lull period.

Half a mile down the road and one of the guys get a flat tyre and have to head back to the restaurant to leave the bike. The girl, Kat jumped on my bike making for three and the guy, Matan walked the bike to the restaurant followed by one of the other pairs on a bike.

Having ridden a scooter less than 5 times, riding in the pitch black, in a tropical storm and having three people on the back was no easy feat. I had to keep up a speed of about 30-40 km/h just to keep stable which petrified Renee. Unlike solo scootering, with three people, when you go to lean into a corner, the other two people lean the opposite way, trying to keep themselves upright making it incredibly difficult to steer.

My roommate Renee took my phone to navigate and I let her know that it’s cracked and very un-waterproof then left her to it whilst I concentrated on the road, trying to see through the water daggers in my eyes. I don’t think she knew how to use Google maps because we missed a few turnings and had to make a U-turn (which isn’t easy with 3) or she would tell me to turn ON the junction. When I pulled over, she hadn’t zoomed in, so was looking at a view of the WHOLE island rather than following the blue dot closely… I now feel Ian’s pain form when I was navigator…

10 minutes in, Kat (on the very back) realised she had a helmet with a cap so leaned over Renee to put it on my head. She mis-judged and rested the cap on my nose, so I had to tilt my head completely back just to see through the gap by my lip- stressful. Once I got the balance to take a hand off the handle bars and adjust, it was wonderful- no more water daggers!

After about 20 minutes of riding, we arrived at the resort safe and sound. My phone however wasn’t so lucky. I was concentrating on driving so it slipped my mind to ask Renee to keep my phone as dry as she possibly could. To be honest, I assumed she would want to keep any technology dry… When we pulled up, it was half poking out of her bra, completely exposed to the rain. Safe to say, the screen wouldn’t turn on and it’s likely broken. When I told her the situation, she just said “oh, that’s too bad. Hopefully it will dry out over night”. She was the kind of girl who squealed every time the lightning hit and grabbed my shoulders and was always asking me to slow down even though it meant me going off-balance. Using my scoring system explained in my previous blog, she scores a 1/10.