Day 189- We were picked up at 10.30am for our transfer to the pier, our mode of transport was pick-up truck. Since there was no space left in the front me and Eve had to jump in the back with all the bags and feel the wind through our hair. Once at the ferry terminal an agent managed to get us to book a night at a resort, we agreed mainly because we didn't have anything else booked plus it was cheap and offered us a free long tail boat to the island from the drop-off point. The ferry journey was quite rough and took around an hour before we were greeted by a convey of long tail boats (these are long narrow boats that are common all over S.E.Asia). We picked out ours and off we went around the island to the Southern most tip where the main fishing village was. This was the main reason for us choosing this island as it was still largely inhabited by local Muslim villagers who had been living here years before tourism arrived. From the village we were taken by motorcycle to the resort which was situated pretty much in the middle of the island on the West coast. It was a nice little resort with a private beach set off the main road. However we seemed to have been mis-sold our accommodation as it was in actual fact a windowless room and not a bungalow like we agreed. A girl who arrived with us also had the same problem but the room was cheaper than the bungalows and it was sold to us at the right price so we didn't complain too much. In fact we were so hungry we just got on with it as there was nothing we could do and the room was OK so we settled down to dinner and watched the waves crash in. We then went for a little walk down the island in search for something a bit better for the next two nights and we came across Golden Pearl resort which agreed to give us a bungalow for a really good price. Happy with our reconnaissance we walked back and read our books on the beach and enjoyed the sunset.

Day 190- As we were moving hotels we checked out early and moved down the road to our little bungalow stopping for breakfast on the way. Our little bamboo bungalow was basic but had a private bathroom and was a bargain at 7 pound. There wasn't much around the area apart from more resorts so we took a long walk back to the village for a look around. It was a long and sweaty 40 minutes but it was nice to take the time to see the real island and watch the locals cycle by. The village was only small and hardly affected by tourism, although it was only half 11 we had worked up an appetite so picked a lovely little cafe and ordered king prawn Thai green curry and rice to share. It was the most amazing thai curry we had ever tasted and the owners were lovely too, after saying bye we started to walk back. We spotted a woman on the side of the road selling ice-cream and we couldn't resist. The rest of the day was spent lounging around on the beach catching some sun and swimming in the beautifully clear sea. It got too hot around 3ish so we sought shelter under a bamboo hut on the beach and before long it started to rain. We happily lay there watching the waves crashing in and the rain drizzle on and off with a few very heavy showers. Once it stopped raining we went for a walk along the beach and found a really cool bar perched on the rocks over the sea but it was completely abandoned and didn't look like it had seen business in a while so we walked back. We ate tea at the resort and since we were on an island went for baked barracuda fish with vegetables in oyster sauce and rice. It was really good and the fish was caught by the family who owned the resort that day, very satisfied we had an early night.

Day 191- To avoid the midday heat we woke up early and enjoyed breakfast on the beach and then simply lay on the loungers reading our books. We were quite happy doing absolutely nothing so did exactly that. After a couple of dips in the sea and several rotations on the sun lounger we went in the shade to write up some of the blog and research Burma. After yet more relaxation and swimming we had a little jaunt along the road to see what the locals were up and to buy a pineapple and some water. On the menu tonight was a sizzling hot plate of seafood with rice. Delightful. We even shared a cheeky beer and that night watched Peter Kay and then the film Due Date in our bungalow.