Rent a Quad...Always

Motorbike take 1 Friday, July 19th
Koh Tao, Thailand

Marisa and I started our day with a Kashi bar and some peanut butter to prepare for a run. We hadn't been exercising much since we were trying to survive in Thailand and were very excited to lace up our running sneakers and hit the island roads. We mapped out a course and told Dickie and Jasmine, we'd meet them in the hotel lobby after around 10:15.
We stuck to the main road and which turned out to be infested with hills. These hills felt like the Palisades half marathon all over again except in the jungle and on an island, I thought to myself. Despite the hilly terrain and thick air, it felt great to be running again. We spotted a yoga studio, checked the schedule, and decided to take a 2-hour class tomorrow. After about 15 minutes, we started to take walking breaks. Marisa had a cramp and I welcomed the chance to slow my pace to a brisk walk. To the left, you could see the ocean through the bungalows scattered about and to the right were homes of the local Thai people, businesses, and piles of garbage. One particular location was a heap of cans and bottles which I coined the recycling center even though I was positive the trash had been sitting there for a really long time.

As we moved along, we spotted a pumpless "gas station" which was shelves sitting near the road holding glass bottles filled with gasoline. The Thai are very simple people.


Once 20 minutes had passed we approached the part of the road where garbage dumps seemed to line either side of the road and it smelled a little like Bangkok, so we decided to turn around. We continued to run/walk back to our hotel, sweat soaking our shirts. l looked forward to a shower.

Dickie and Jasmine had already rented a scooter to explore other parts of the island including Tanote Bay, who my friend Patty recommended for cliff jumping. Marisa agreed to drive the scooter since I was terrified of being on a motorbike and especially terrified of being the driver of one. Thailand is like England where they drive on the opposite side of the road than us.

From the hotel, Jasmine and I walked the beach route while Dickie and Marisa rode the motorbike to the rental shop. My hands were shaking and I felt jittery from the workout and lack of food in my stomach. The 1/2 Kashi bar and 1/2 pod of Jiff had expired long ago and I needed calories, immediately! Across from the rental shop was a small stand outside of a 7 11 where a woman was selling pancakes (crepes) and sandwiches. The egg and cheese caught my eye and Jasmine and I ordered 2. I was super excited to eat!
CRASH! "Ooohh!" a chorus of Thai taxi drivers and tourists sang out. They were all staring uphill toward the street. Jasmine and I turned our heads and saw a girl in the middle of the road pulling a twisted motorbike off the ground. As I  looked more closely, I recognized the light blue shorts. "Oh-no! It's Marisa!" we chanted in unison. I mashed my money into Jasmine's hand and quickly scurried up the hill knowing that I should be heading in the opposite direction toward the 7 11 for medical supplies. I had seen pretty bad scratches on her knees and could only imagine what other injuries had occurred. When I finally reached Marisa and Rich, she was bleeding from the knees and I asked if she was okay.
She seemed to be a little shaken up, so I went back down the hill determined to try my best at identifying medical supplies in the convenience store as fast as possible. Every bottle and box was labeled in Thai! Uh-oh. A large bottle of water, band-aids, gauze wrap, tape, and alcohol were the items I scrounged up.
Marisa was standing opposite the desk of the store owner with a waterfall of blood dripping down one leg into her Birkenstocks and a very serious look on her face. My first thought was to whip out my Canon and take a photo, but I thought she might punch me. Instead, I knelt down & decided to take out the items I picked up. "He's going to charge me a lot of money," Marisa claimed regretfully. She had tried to start the bike on a hill and turn in the opposite direction at the same time. Oops.

Marisa's knee days later... 

For the next ten minutes, Rich helped Marisa talk the owner down from 8,700 Baht to about 6,000 Baht ($180) as payment for damages and she cleaned out her cuts. 
We rented a quad instead and I drove it behind Rich and Jasmine on a scooter to Tanote Bay.
The very next day, on their last jaunt before returning their motorbike, Rich and Jasmine crashed their motorbike as well. Jasmine's foot folded up like a taco and Rich's knees and feet were scraped up. 

Jasmine's Dead Foot
  

Koh Tao took their money, skin, and the Mosquitoes feasted on all of us. We all escaped with our lives and looked forward to accident-free adventures in Koh Phangan.

Lesson learned: rent a quad...always.