day 3: koh phangan to koh tao

thong nai pan faces east so michael rolled out of bed early to grab that amazing shot of sunrise and then quickly fell back asleep.  it was a travel day for us though so we didnt laze around too long there.  we did make time for one last swim in the sea before packing up though and headed over the many hills back to town to return our bike.  we grabbed a taxi truck to go back to the pyramid and grab my many bags and leave the land for good.  it was a bit sad to think of leaving the island for good but i was ready to explore the rest of thailand with michael.  we were able to get tickets for a boat to koh tao and i even had time to mail a box of stuff home and grab one last batch of mango sticky rice (my favorite thing!).  we decided to stay on the quieter beach of chalok ban kao instead of the party central sairee beach which was a good call for us.  i had all my stuff so michael was a doll and did the researching for rooms while i sat on my pile o' stuff on the sand.  he found a really nice place with a beautiful tiled deck overlooking the sea.  we dropped our stuff and went exploring around the bay.  we found this funky little cement walkway over and through the big boulders that koh tao is known for that lead to a smaller bay around the corner.  it was so cute with only one little bar and just a few sunbathers.  we went out for a snorkel to check out the reef that koh tao is known for also.  of course beautiful as always once you get out to it.  we headed back to get cleaned up for dinner and decided to check out the other end of the bay.  found a nice place right over the water where we could even watch some fire twirlers in the distance.