We took the route less traveled. It was at the guidance of our hotel owner, though she mostly just pointed up the hill saying “yes viewpoint, yes town”. There was a fork in the path and a sign contradicting the previous directions with “30 min” written in paint next to an arrow. Unfortunately we already had been walking for 45 minutes and were unsure that the previous sign stating “20 min” was pointing in any logical direction at all. We forged on, to find a ticket agent wanting 40 Baht so we could climb a set of rickety stairs only to find a motley crew of European tourists skyping with their mates and longing around. They had taken the paved sidewalk path up the other side of the island. Well, at least we felt more adventurous and had also found the quieter, free viewpoint with hammocks and no coffee shop on our journey. Of course we continued down “their” side of the hill to town where we’d find cheap beer and noodle soup. It was a perfect hike by our standards.

Then the rain started coming down in a tropical drenching while we slurped soup. Only stopping as we caught a cheap boat ride back to the beach bungalows on the other half of the island we rented for 3 nights. And by boat I mean a lawn mower engine attached to a wooden oar protruding from a wooden vessel the Vikings would be proud of.