Turtle Island - But Yet to See a Single Turtle!

Having my late breakfast/early lunch at Flower Restaurant, South Sai Ree beach, Ko Tao, Thailand.
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Leaving Ko Phangan on the 12:30 ferry it was about an hour and a half trip to Ko Tao.  Dropped off Mae Haad there were plenty of taxis waiting to take you to wherever you wanted to go.  I had opted to stay at Sai Ree (Silver Sand) beach just a bit north of Mae Haad which is the beach that has the most going on.  I chose Silver Sand Beach resort as my first choice of places to stay, but after seeing the bungalow, I decided to continue onto my second choice, Sai Ree Cottages.  With no map in LP of Sai Ree beach, I wandered around until I found it (thankfully it wasn't too far).  Once there, the woman at the reception desk handed me the key to a bungalow and told me I could take a look at it.  I decided not to take off my pack, which was a big mistake, because I wandered around for about 10 minutes or so, not finding the bungalow.  I headed back to the reception and the woman seemed annoyed and told me it was to the right of P.  Now, I am not sure how C is so close to P, but I followed her directions.  Still no luck.  I asked a cleaning woman and she pointed in a direction, but that didn't help either.  Somewhat frustrated, I went back a third time.  The woman grudingly had the same cleaning woman I had found to actually show be the bungalow, it was no where near where she had told me.  Hot from walking around, I took the place, paid and went in search for food.

View from South Sai Ree beach, Ko Tao, Thailand.
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There is a main path that runs by the beach that is the main way to get around, as opposed to the real main road that is further back.  The path is only about 6 feet wide and motorbikes barrel down it (mostly the tourists), like they are on the autobahn, not really caring about pedestrians.  So, you really need to watch out when you exit a shop, restaurant or accommodation so that you don't get mowed down!

Heading back from lunch and back to my bungalow, only to find ants crawling around on my bed.  I went to the reception to see what they could do about it, but there were closed for two hours.  Knowing I wasn't going to stay there more than the first night, I went to find another place.  I started up north first, along the beach and found one place that was more expensive, but definitely better.  However, before I settled on that place, I decided to head south.  I found this crazy looking bungalow that was circular in shape, like a cement igloo.  It was large inside with a nice bed and a large bathroom with a separate shower stall.  The only strange thing about the bathroom were the windows that were just holes to the outside, no curtains, right above the toilet.  Usually it is fine, but during the day there are workers around, so you have to be a little careful.  The place at In Touch was twice as much as I was paying at 700Baht (approx $21.80) as the other place I was staying in, but I felt that it was definitely worth it as I knew I would be happy there.

View from South Sai Ree beach, Ko Tao, Thailand.
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Heading back, I went by the reception and asked for another room, but the woman basically ignored that request.  I stood there and finally she got someone to go spray my room, which when we got there, had no ants, thankfully.  Later that night, I opted for a place called Papa's Tapas.  It was strange to be eating Tapas in Thailand since most places only have Thai and Western food.  It was also a little strange that I was the only one in the place watching the girly boys across the way hand out flyers for their drag show that night.

Sunset at South Sai Ree beach, Ko Tao, Thailand.
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The next day I moved to my new place and had a very enjoyable late breakfast/early lunch at the Flower Restaurant, almost across from where I was staying.  It was absolute heaven to be able to spend a leisurely meal, watching the ocean just a few feet away.  Michele, you would have loved it because there was a smaller version of Roscoe who managed to get a hold of a couple's frisbee and wouldn't let go of it.  It took about 4 people to finally convince him to give it back.  Then he very happily wandered off into the ocean to hang out with some folks that were enjoying the water.  Quite a life!  Carolyn, you would have loved the restaurant because for the entire time I was there, all they played were Beatles songs!

South Sai Ree Beach, Ko Tao, Thailand
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Now, this was the island life I was looking for!