Joseph was the one who offered the lowest fare — he wasn’t trying to pull a fast one on the tourists. In the end my friend and I both benefited much more than originally expected.

He was our guide for the first night. He motorbiked us around. He showed us where to get housing when our choice fell through. And the next day after offering us breakfast at his home, he showed us where to rent motorbikes.

We stayed the first night at Tickety Boo, which was mostly disappointing and the bathroom smelled horrendous. While visiting Joseph’s small home, his non-running-water-bathroom was far better. I suppose not all luxuries work the way they are supposed to.

Now, when I say he offered us breakfast it got us thinking — without a doubt going to be rice. Definitely eggs. Maybe some kind of meat..they like their sausage here!

When we got to his place, he served us a very simple plate of bread and one coffee each. You know what? I’m not even a coffee drinker, but that was the best coffee I’ve had. Then we found out it was the simple 3-in-1 Nescafe you can buy in packets along any roadside stall.

It was a simple room with one bench for John and I to sit on while his family sat on the various other chairs and cribs nearby. One netted window provided the ventilation.

Joseph’s son enjoyed playing with my camera.

Several visitors were interested in the unusual guests.

Including Joseph’s older son.

Who, much to everyone’s amusement, jumped into the crib.

After the breakfast Joseph showed us our motorbikes and offered his home as a place to stay for the night. We knew we would only be there a short while as our boat left at four in the morning, so we agreed and embarked on our motorbikes.

That night we returned and I did manage to sleep a short while. Joseph provided a small fan for the both of us. I slept on the wooden bench with a blanket underneath while John slept on a small mat on the floor.

Then the mosquitoes came through the netted window. Several bites on my leg later, I ended up covering myself in the blanket. It was hot, but no skin was vulnerable.

At four we woke up and Joseph showed us where to get some very good fresh bread. He waited until John and I secured tickets and paid our terminal fee to get to the boat — this was the first ferry leaving since the typhoon rolled through.