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Ok Guys, because we didn't have any net access in the middle of a lake we waited until we got to the jungle to recount our travel tales so far. Pictures to follow later!!!
10th December 2010: Day 1
We're here!!
After two years of planning and 26 hours of travelling we finally made it. The punishing journey went like this....car, coach, plane, plane, minibus, boat. Proper planes, trains and automobiles stuff.....wasn't that based at Christmas?
After arrival we were supposed to go on a guided canoe trip, the problem is we were shattered and promptly passed out in our hut. Our guide, you, was really understanding and left us to rest before dinner. At dinner we could barely stay awake not helped by Chang (Thai beer) so we went straight to bed.....we were snoring by 8:30pm!!
11th December 2010: Day 2
We started our day bright and early with a wildlife spotting tour on longtail boat at 7am. We saw some monkeys and some great Hornbils (These were MASSIVE!). It was such an awesome way to start the day. After getting back we tucked in to brekkie before heading out on our all day Jungle trek. It was a 45 minute longtail boat ride followed by an hour and a half each way . We don't do walking ....it was a challenge and an amazing experience. At the end of the first hour and a half we got to a big cave and whilst relaxing we noticed we had some hitchhikers. We named the Larry, Lenny and Liana (the Leeches). Lenny took a liking to Ians toes....god knows why whereas Larry enjoyed my foot. Liana didn't manage to sucker on before I tricked her into getting off. Larry and Lenny drank their fill and then fell off dutifully. In the meantime our guide and our boat driver were busy preparing lunch using a fire they had just built and some bamboo cut to purpose. They used the bamboo to boil water and they wrapped rice in leaves and stuffed them deep inside to cook. After a while lunch was ready and our driver had set us two places to eat with our plates, bowls and cups freshly carved from bamboo....incredible. After lunch we headed in to the cave with only one head torch. The cave was huge and housed a massive number of bats and spiders the size of your face, spiders that could put computer game spiders to shame. These beautiful but a little scary creatures were called Leopard spiders. They were gret until we moved focus from them and you could feel things hitting your legs (mostly crickets). After our escape from the cave it was time to trek the remaining one and a half hours back to the boat. It was muddy (or bloody muddy as our guide put it) and slippery (or slipperys). Our guide was brilliant, really funny and loved pulling our legs! In hindsight three hours of trekking in flip flops was not sensible!!
12th December 2010: Day 3
Firstly we started our morning with wildlife spotting again. We didn't see a lot because the heavens opened so he headed back for brekkie. Thai rain is not like British rain, it's warm and actually pretty pleasant. Once we had devoured brekkie we headed out for our 'easy' trek. Easy my arse!
The guide was laughing at us I'm sure, yes it was shorter but it was the steepest climb you ever saw. Any steeper and we would have been rock climbing. If we didn't have enough to contend with it was humid, 39 degree and very slippery. There were a few comical moments where Ian and I nearly ended up falling over. At one point we had a really steep bit to descend which was very muddy and had a huge termite hill at the bottom....nice!
After our gruelling trek we finally reached the summit and it was incredible, worth every painful, sweaty, muscle ripping minute. Wow, just wow! Our guide picked us fresh Kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and incredible basils which smelt devine (nothing like how it is when we get it!). We headed back for lunch only slowing down to look for jelly fish. During lunch we met a new arrival, plucky Aussie Kate who was incredibly friendly and tons of fun. As her tour group was a group of one and we thought she was cool we invited her to join us on our activities etc. We then headed off for downtime....swimming or more like drowning was our main activity!
After dinner that evening we stayed in the bar drinking beer with Kate and we found out it was our guides birthday so we bought him drinks and he got steadily drunker. Later on that evening his friends joined us and tried to teach Ian how to roll a cigarette using bamboo rather than Rizlas whilst Ian showed them the mastery of using Rizla's....it was actually very funny and in an odd kind of way quite touching.
After the lights went out we headed back to our hut to sleep off the beer (some had more sleep than others....didn't they Ian!! lol)
13th December 2010: Day 4
Our anniversary!!! Well if there is ever a place to spend your anniversary this is it! So beautiful and quiet. Just lovely, don't get me wrong it wasn't a romantic, mushy day of Mills and Boon books but it was a great day!
Again the day started with wildlife spotting, this time with our new friend Kate. We saw incredible Gibbons this time munching on the leaves and more grest Hornbills (These things are so huge that even so high up you could hear their wings beating!). We also saw two otters swimming together and an amazing monitor lizard high up on a tree stump.
After our return and inevitably delicious brekkie we headed off for another trek (aren't you proud of us!!). This time we went to the much smaller Coral cave. This trek would have been the easiest apart from the fact it was the hottest day so far. The cave was wonderful, glistening and shimmering in the light which was sported by our guide and consisted of a car battery in a makeshift back pack and a flourescent strip light!!
After the trek we had our lunch and freetime. After a bit of swimming I collapsed with my book and fell asleep till 5:30pm!!
........Still to come......what we did yesterday and today's Elephant Trek!!
- comments
sophie hi smug b*****s sounds wonderful even with the rain and hitchhiker pets, swap places with you? Are you missing your car yet, i'm sure i saw it going up the A 40 yesterday........ No really!!! Enjoy yourselves think of us in the snow.xxxxx
The Adventurous Laffords!!! Hey Soph!! Nah we won't swap, Grace is a terror ;) only kidding! Not missing the car yet, Clair is on car watch so unless she's drifting the beast I guess its not ours you saw...lol Do you have snow there? Oooooh we saw flying lizards yesterday....they rocked!!! xxxx