The Island

On Wednesday evening we decided that we would go island hopping the next day. On Thursday morning we managed to book the trip in just 20 minutes notice. We went to our hostels reception and asked is it still possible to go to the trip. The owner kindly called to the island hopping organizers and asked them to pick us up from our hostel. 15 minutes later a car arrived to pick us up. After squeezing to the small van we headed to the harbor. The trip took only about 10 minutes. After arriving to the shore we were guided to the boats. The weather was beautiful. The sun was shining and the clouds didn't bother us during that day. Our group climbed into a motorboat and so our journey began. Quickly we headed to the sea and towards our first location.

Island No.1

After 20 minute ride we arrived to the first island on the list. We had no idea what to expect. The driver told us that we had 1 hour until we would have to return to the boat. We followed the stairs into the jungle and eventually ended up seeing a giant fresh water lake inside the island. The place was inhabited by monkeys, swarming around the trail. We quickly wen't down to the lake to swim exhausted from the heat. The water was cool and refreshing. it was a really great experience. When the time was running out we headed back to the boat. On our trip back we witnessed some hostile actions by the monkeys. The tourists has been feeding the monkeys over the years which has made the monkeys to bother the people for any scraps of food. Before leaving Janne bought a snickers and one of the monkeys started to pull his shorts in order to get something to eat. Another monkey hanged on my towel which didn't bother me that much but some poor woman with candy got a monkey harassing her much more aggressively. After reaching our boat we would continue to the next location.

Eagles

We started to head out to the next place on the list, still no idea where we were going. After about a 15 minutes our boat arrived to this small water area surrounded by eagles. The sky was full of them. The drivers of the boats threw meat next to the boats so that we could get a closer look at those magnificent animals. After a while we continued to our last island.

Don't feed the monkeys!

Again unsure of our destination we continued our trip. This time it only took about 5 minutes for us to arrive to the next island. This place was the kind you see in postcards and movies. The beach contained palm trees and white sand. We headed a bit further from the other tourists and laid to the sand hoping to get a little tan. It didn't take long until we got company. A monkey came to sit next to Jussi. At first it seemed harmless and we just let it be. Soon it would start acting aggressively and trying to steal our and other tourists stuff from the bags. One lady had left her purse on her towel and the monkey wen't to steal something from it. Janne quickly reacted to the situation and managed to drive the monkey away. Soon another monkey came along. This one was even more aggressive. It was running around with it's teeth out harassing the little group of people we had around us. We moved closer to the other people and after a while we headed back to the boat and to the harbor.

After arriving to the harbor we got a lift back to our hostel. The trip was over all success. We really enjoyed our time and it was exciting to witness some wild life. If you are going to the island hopping trip we recommend you to pack as light as possible. Just put on your swimming gear and take a towel, hat and sunscreen with you.

Rocky

After showering all the sand away back at the hostel, we headed to the city to grab something to eat. We ended up to a sea restaurant were we all had something that we hadn't tried before on our trip. After a good meal we headed back to the hostel to get ourselves ready for the beach. We went to the hostels common room were we enjoyed a few beers and hanged out with a German couple that we had met the other day. They said that they would be happy to join us. Soon we began to leave and for our surprise one of the hostel owners dogs came with us to show the way. We quickly named him Rocky! The sun was slowly setting but the temperature was still high. Rocky walked in front of us the whole way to the beach and every once in a while he would check that everyone from the pack is still present. After reaching our destination we played a while with the dog and after that he would return to the hostel. We swam at the ocean and witnessed the sunset. It was quite astonishing.

We headed back to the hostel and after refreshing up we went out to eat to a Indian restaurant. We all agreed that the food there was amazing and one of the best we had eaten during our trip. After finishing our meals we wen't to walk to the main beach and hanged out for a bit just listening the sounds of ocean and thunder in the horizon.

Eero, Janne, Santeri