Day 185- We got up at 4:30am so that we could have some breakfast before our 5am bus. We ate our peanut butter sandwiches and waited. Finally the bus arrived a bit later than expected. We jumped on to the poshest mini-bus we have ever seen, a TV screen appeared from nowhere and although there wasn't a single Malaysian person on the bus a badly dubbed version of spider-man 2 began to play. We passed the Thai boarder with no problems and we were in Pak Bara by 11am for the 11:30am ferry. We knew the island had no cash points so before we went we had to find money, we tried a few cash point but our Halifax card refused to withdraw any money at all - nightmare, we managed to get some from our Caxton card but it wasn't loads, feeling deflated we got on the ferry and another hour later we landed on Koh Tarutao. Straight away we could see what an amazing place this was. It is a protected national park so there is no development. On the island is 1 convenience shop, 2 restaurants, a handful of bungalows and a reception, no resorts, hotels, bars, noise, nothing - heaven. We decided to hire a tent instead of a bungalow and we set it up on the beach under the shade of a tree. We lay on the beach and enjoyed the tranquillity and privacy. Just before sunset we walked to the top of a small mountain, it only took half an hour and we were the only two people there. We sat and watched the sun melt in to the sea before heading back down the jungle trail to where we were staying. The electricity had been turned on for a few hours so the restaurant was open. We had some tea and a shower and then headed back to our tent.

Day 186- We woke up to the sound of the waves crashing. It was about 8:30am and we were overwhelmed by the amazing view from our tent. We lay a while staring at the sea before getting ready and going for breakfast. By the time we were ready to do something it was 11am, we walked to the national park office to rent a bike but there were none left when we got there. We wanted to cycle to the other side of the island to see the abandoned prison which used to be the only building on the island. It was an 8 hour return walk so we didn't fancy that. There was only one other option - the island had 1 pick-up truck and you could pay to be taken and brought back from different parts of the island. Two young families were planning on hiring it to be taken to the other beach further down the coast. We agreed to join then and it cost us next to nothing for the lift. We knew of a waterfall we had seen on the map in reception about an hour and a half walk through the jungle. We decided to do the walk, about half an hour in we realised we really should have been wearing walking shoes and not flip-flops. The walk was amazing, right through the un-touched jungle and there were wild monkeys running around, massive insects and the most amazing trees. We finally made it to the waterfall and we were so hot we jumped in the cold clear water. It was magical. We swam for a while enjoying the total peace and sound of the forest. After a while we headed back to the beach. We were starving and luckily this beach was where the only other restaurant on the island was. We ordered some food, sunbathed and chased crabs as the beach covered by these mini sand crabs, it was amazing. The pick up truck came back for us and back at base we showered and had tea and watched the sunset from our tent.

Day 187- We got up really early, we wanted to go to the prison and we weren't going to miss out on the bikes again. We managed to get the last two but there were three French people thinking about going too. We spoke to them and they agreed to rent the pick up truck with us. This was so much better, they bike ride would have been hours and hours long with no food and it was unbearably hot. So after breakfast we headed off, a minute down the road 4 more people jumped in and lowered the cost even more. It took an hour to drive to the prison and once there we headed straight off on the trail. It was amazing, not like other prisons, it consisted of different huts here and there no prison walls, the island itself was the prison! Each point told you a little bit more about the prisoners and there lives. Once WWII began the prisoners and wardens were forgotten about and they ran out of food, many died of starvation or malaria. The prisoners and wardens became pirates capturing ships passing on the Malacca strait to steal food and supplies, soon the Malaysian government got involved and after much persuasion British soldiers were deployed and the prisoners taken back to the mainland. Once back we had a little walk along the jetty where there was a giant rock jutting out of the sea. We then jumped back on the truck and rode back. We had some peanut butter sandwiches and had a walk along the beach as far as we could. It was so hot so we just lay on the beach and in the sea. We booked our ticket to leave the island the next day and in the evening we just caught up with things over tea before an early night.