For the last few days of our epic journey we wanted somewhere quiet and peaceful, a true Thai island. Koh Mak, a tiny hidden gem of an island 6 hours from Bangkok, did not disappoint. The speed boat ride there was perhaps a little hair-raising, especially as we had to literally jump off the pier wearing our rucksacks to even get onto the boat, but it was well worth it.

We stayed in a little bungalow in the small resort of Ban ChaiLay, which is run by possibly the nicest lady in SE Asia, Memii. She even gave us a lift part of the way from Bangkok, kindly rescuing us from the hands of the tourist touts after we were rudely thrown off our bus 30 miles from the pier! She went out of her way for our whole stay on the island to make sure we were having a good time. As it is the off season at the moment, the beach was littered with coconut shells and debri blown in from the sea...she even raked the beach for us to make sure it was perfect! Thanks Memii! It was a slight negative that her restaurant was run by a harmless German alcoholic (and his very patient Thai wife), but it didnt have any impact on our amazing stay.

We spent 3 lazy days on our little stretch of the beach, reading, swimming, sipping cocktails...! Ben had a lot of fun (too much fun for a 24 year old some might say!) playing on his green lilo in the sea :p The whole island was practically deserted, we must have seen about 8 other tourists the whole time we were there. Lots of people close their resorts in the wet season so there weren't even very many locals around. It felt a bit like 'Lost', lots of deserted buildings you could pretty much just wander into if you wanted!

We had moments of sadness that our trip was nearing the end, but Koh Mak was everything we wanted for our last few days. Absolutely stunning.