We wanted to go for a hike while we were on Koh Samui, and we wanted to see a waterfall. So we set off to Na Mueng to see it. Only it wasn’t the right Na Mueng. It was the other Na Mueng that we wanted to get to, which led us on a bit of a longer journey than expected.

Getting around Koh Samui without a bike can be difficult. We had InDrive, which seemed to work here, but we’ve since found that you can usually negotiate a better price with the tuk tuks that drive around the island. We rode one to the Na Mueng Waterfall so we could begin our hike.

We were dropped in a visitors center right next to the waterfall. Only it wasn’t the right waterfall. Despite wandering around and following a path into the undergrowth nearby, we couldn’t figure out the route to the top.

We had been dropped at a place called Na Mueng Waterfall 1. We wanted Na Mueng Waterfall 2. They were along two separate roads stemming off of the main road, so we had to walk 2 kilometres back toward the road, and 2 kilometres back. Our route had just doubled in length.

Along the way we met another couple who had done exactly the same as us. They were also trying to make their way to waterfall number 2, so we made the journey together. Along the way we passed several dogs, some ignored us, a couple were aggressive (though they only barked), and one decided to follow us up to the waterfall.

We were already tired when we got to the start of the actual route, but we pressed on. According to Komoot this would an “easy” 2 hour hike, so we weren’t worried.

It was not an easy hike.

See, the thing about waterfalls, is they fall from somewhere. And we needed to climb up to that somewhere. Literally.

We were almost at the top when we were ready to give up. We knew it was the wrong season, so we wouldn’t see a big waterfall anyway. It also felt like it was going to rain soon, and coming back down on slippery rocks might be dangerous. But I didn’t want to give up. I pushed the others to continue and we were on our way again.

It was worth it. At the top we got a great view of Koh Samui and the islands nearby, with the mainland in the distance. We took our time to rest and enjoy the reward for our hard work. Of course, in the back of our minds we knew that we still had to make our way back down.