Our 6 year wedding anniversary is on Monday, 19 October. We have never gone away on our anniversary and really have not done much celebrating due to work travel and unpacking as our first anniversary our movers showed up in San Diego with our boxes. So this year, we decided we were going away for it. So far this year we have gone to two beach resorts filled with tourists so we decided to go someplace local without tourists - Koh Tao.
You would not believe how we got here. We took a one hour plane ride to Suratthani and then met our driver - who had a beat up older car. He drove us to the ferry which was two hours away. Actually it is probably 3 hours away but he got us there in two hours. The speed limit was 80 km per hour and he was averaging about 135 km per hour. It was the bumpiest ride ever and I swear he almost got us killed several times. My eyes were shut the entire ride and Joe says that is a good thing. But we made it to the ferry departure by the skin of our teeth. He told us he was nervous about us making it and said that if he doesn't get his customers there on time then he doesn't charge them anything for the ride - well we had already paid for our ride because it was part of a package. Anyhow, then he mentions that the 1pm ferry ride is the last ferry ride of the day. So if we miss it we have to stay over night and I can assure you - that would have been one rustic overnight stay. I think we basically would have been camping.
We arrive and there is this unbelievably long pier out to the boat and it was very rickety. I think it could barely hold me as my first step I could feel the boards bending so I was walking in the middle where the beams were - only they weren't really beams they were more like tree limbs! We had to wheel our luggage all the way out too which sucked. I was completely disoriented by the time we were dropped off at the pier - I felt so sick from the car ride and my head was in a fog. When I was walking on the pier I saw the pier in three dimensional which was not good. I managed to get to the boat - then we learn it's a two hour ride but the boat was really big and nice - luckily I did not get sea sick but it took me a LONG time to recover from that car ride. We stopped at one really really small island - really looked like a little hill in the middle of the sea -- it was called Nangyuan Island and was just GORGEOUS - if you are into diving that is their speciality and I highly recommend googling it just to see the pictures. I wanted to get some but they would not have come out well as the windows on the ferry were dirty. After that stop, we were at Koh Tao in about 15 minutes.
Our driver was there waiting for us and took us to his pick up truck - I'm not kidding. He had a luggage rack that was over the drivers area and then the back of the truck is where we all sat - it brought back memories from my childhood of driving in the pickup truck only this was a very bumpy ride as there were no paved roads. The ride lasted approximately 15 minutes and then we were at Koh Tao Resort. The pictures on the internet really make it out to be very nice. It is nice but it is more rustic than what we are used to and you cannot tell that by the internet pics.
We are in a very small room with a double bed and a single bed. The double bed is the largest they have to offer as we already asked about changing rooms. We have mosquitos in our room and also a mosquito catcher but it doesn't seem to be working. Our bathroom is quite interesting but it at least has a western toilet - only you cannot flush the toilet paper down it - which is normal anywhere you go in Thailand. But this place takes it a step further - if you have a messy wipe then they have sanitary bags for you to put your toilet paper in before putting it in the trash can. There is no tub and the shower is part of the bathroom in that there is nothing separating it from the toilet and sink. Anyhow, like I said, it is a little rustic here! The pool is much smaller than it looks on the internet too. We do not have a phone in our room but are able to get internet. We have one outlet that is getting a lot of use - camera, laptops, cell phones, and an electric toothbrush all need recharging and I also use it for my hair dryer. We have A/C but it activates with your room key and they like you to turn it off during the day - we don't but when they clean your room they turn it off - so we go back in and turn it back on as we do not want to come back to a HOT room. It takes quite a while for it to get cool once you turn the A/C back on.
But the beach area is gorgeous and the water is like bath water and is completely clear. They have a restaurant here with a large selection of food - Thai, American and Italian - it is all quite good. We were hoping to take a fishing trip tomorrow but found out you need at least 4 people in your party so we cannot go. I was really bummed. We met a German group tonight that went today - caught two LARGE jack fish and a bunch of smaller fish. Apparently whatever you catch you can bring back to the resort and they'll prepare it for your dinner. They only prepared ONE Jack Fish tonight and they'll do the next tomorrow night. The one fish took up two large platters and was piled high. They cut it in half and one half was grilled and the other half was prepared Thai Style. Both were full of flavor and very very good. I am still disappointed we cannot go fishing tomorrow! Enjoy the pics!
But the beach area is gorgeous and the water is like bath water and is completely clear. They have a restaurant here with a large selection of food - Thai, American and Italian - it is all quite good. We were hoping to take a fishing trip tomorrow but found out you need at least 4 people in your party so we cannot go. I was really bummed. We met a German group tonight that went today - caught two LARGE jack fish and a bunch of smaller fish. Apparently whatever you catch you can bring back to the resort and they'll prepare it for your dinner. They only prepared ONE Jack Fish tonight and they'll do the next tomorrow night. The one fish took up two large platters and was piled high. They cut it in half and one half was grilled and the other half was prepared Thai Style. Both were full of flavor and very very good. I am still disappointed we cannot go fishing tomorrow! Enjoy the pics!
This is the ferry we rode in on......
This is taken from the ferry - if you see that small island/hill in the background - that is Nangyuan Resort - again google it - it is gorgeous!
A nice sunset picture taken yesterday.
Notice there is no separation between the shower and the rest of the bathroom. When you shower, the entire floor of the bathroom is wet, along with the toilet and the sink area. There is a drain in the floor just behind the toilet so it all eventually drains in there. There is barely any water pressure and it took forever to rinse my hair as a result.
A panoramic view taken by Joe of the beach area in front of the resort where we stayed.
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