Wow what an amazing 4 weeks! It's going to be hard to put into words everything we saw and experienced however I will try. I have also included a video that might show you in a little more detail. I'm sorry it's taken a while to update our blog, we have had a crazy week since leaving the island.  The island now seems a distant memory, something however I will never forget.

Our transfer to the island was plain sailing, I had prepared myself for the worse after hearing all the stories from Ed and Nathan. However when we arrived at the ferry we managed to secure ourselves a cabin with air con, tv and beds with no need to share with any locals. The ferry took 12 hours to get to siberut where we then had to do our food shopping for the next couple of weeks. It was a little crazy but good fun trying to work out the different vegetables etc. From siberut we transferred to a small boat made out of a coconut tree. You had to sit in the middle of the boat and not move otherwise you could cause it to capsize. Trust me this does happen as we witness several local boats do exactly this! It took another 3 hours to finally arrive at our designation nyang nyang. 

At first sight it was paradise! 

On arrival we were welcomed by many locals that knew Nathan from the previous years. They were all so friendly I knew that we were going to have a great time.

For our first week we stayed at Nathan's friends surf camp, it was ok however Ed and I were in a dorm room on bunk beds. It was very basic just a wooden hut which faced straight out onto the sea. You could hear the waves breaking when you woke every morning. We had decided that after a week we wanted to move accommodation. We had found a room with a local family who Nathan knew well. A double room, the mama of the family cooked everyday for us and we would sample the true  side of nyang nyang island however the downfall (not so much of a downfall) there was no shower facilities so we would have to wash in the stream. We were definitely going back to basics! The room was just a wooden hut with a wooden bed and a small bit of foam to sleep on (3cm thick) we had a mozzy net and a window that looked straight over the beach. At night once the sun had set we would be reduced to touch light as our accommodation had no power, this could be a little tricky when navigating to the toilet.

The family were wonderful, there was mama, papa, nana, julpin(son) and pir (son) After a few days Ed and I were picking up the local language as they couldn't speak any English. There was a lot of pointing and acting out however this made it even more fun.

 I spent many of my days with mama and nana, dancing, cooking, killing crabs and experiencing the locals way of doing things. On one particular day I got all my jewellery out so that I could start making a shell bracelet. Nana's eyes lit up and mama was soon back from her morning activities to join in. They soon had my earrings in and rings on, they were checking themselves out in my mirror. We didn't stop laughing all afternoon, I gave them a pair of earring each to keep  and also took apart an old bracelet that had little charms on it which nana has made into a necklace.(if you look in the photos you might be able to see it.) we then danced around the deck whilst they jingled there jewellery.  It wasn't long before they were walking round with my nail varnish on.

 Our daily food consisted of pancakes for breakfast and then for dinner we would eat, rice and boiled veg with either a boiled egg or fish (if Nathan had caught some spear fishing). One night we were very lucky as the family had been given some pork by some of their extended family. The family often shared there food so that everyone received a little bit of luxury every now and again. It makes you realise how lucky we are back home with food. Apart from the rice everything they ate they would have to sauce them selves on the island. 
They would fine the odd pineapple growing in the jungle and some mornings we would wake up to find bananas. 

The family would take it in turns to go out crabbing at night, the crab was delicious even though it was very awkward to eat. They would collect the crabs alive and them keep them in a crab house until they were ready to eat them. They would then bash them with a stick and rip their legs off.  This act didn't bother me it was when I saw the uncle kill a chicken.... it nearly turned me into a vegetarian! 

When we weren't with the family we would spend our time reading on the beach with not a single person in sight or watching the surfers at the local surf spot eBay. On some days there could be a crowd of 15 people sat at the point cheering on the surfers. It was a great place to be, we met a lot of people from all over the world. 

On a few occasions we went for walks over to other surf spots and beaches. This would mean trekking through the jungle with no clear paths, which was a little risky I found out due to the deadly pit vipers that could sometimes be seen!  If you were bitten by one then you would maybe have 6 hours to get to a hospital. This would be impossible considering the time it would take to get back to Padang, so our walks became few and far between due to my fear of snakes. We also took other precautions.... A snake stick whacking the ground in front of where we were walking!  The snakes were just a few of the creatures we were living with on the island, most things I could deal with apart from the hugh spiders. One day I think the whole village heard me scream because I saw a spider, this was a regular thing and the family thought it was hilarious. I came running out of the toilet one night as there was a hugh spider next to my foot, mama came in squashed it with her hand and then waited outside until I had been to the toilet.

Most mornings we would be awoken by the sound of chickens outside our room, on one occasion I was so tired I got up and grabbed my beautiful shell collection and started trying to hit the chickens... They soon got the hint!

We had soon been on the island 3 weeks and we were due to leave however Ed and I both felt that we weren't ready to go so we decided to stay for another week. In the last week our want for food increased and we had daily conversations about cheese sandwiches with the other westerners. We met some great friends on the islands and spent many nights playing cards and chatting about travelling and other experiences. We had a couple of nights when the vodka was cracked open and we sat up until late drinking and laughing. 

Our last adventure was leaving the island, we again hired a coconut boat to transfer us to the ferry. We were told that due to hide tide we would travel through the mangroves. When we arrived at the mangroves the tide had turned and was now low tide which meant our boat got stuck on the bottom. The boys got out of the boat and pushed us to deeper water, there was no way I was getting out ;0)

We had so many experiences and we loved the 4 weeks we spent on the island. I could sit and write so much about our adventures however the sun is out and I'm off to enjoy a drink by the pool :0) until my next update take care everyone, we miss you all lots. Love Hayley and Ed