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Best day so far I think!
We woke up early and walked to the nice restaurant where we had lunch yesterday for breakfast, as it was much cheaper than paying for breakfast at the hotel. I had pancakes and honey which was really nice. We have to leave our big bags and passports in a big store room and lockers while we are on the trek. We were loaded into the back of a truck thing and the guides stood on the back just holding on, even though we had a half an hour journey to the market and were traveling really fast - there seem to be no rules here! We got talking to the other people on the trek with us, they are all really nice. There are two Irish, two Welsh, five English, two Canadians and three Italians, the Italians are all over 50 so it is quite cool that they are here.
We stopped at a market to purchase supplies for the jungle, and then got back in the truck. A few of the guys sat
on the roof which was terrifying, I spent the whole time worrying they were going to fall off!
The first thing we did was an elephant trek through the jungle, we were asked to buy some bananas beforehand to feed them. Vicky and I sat on a plank/seat type thing attached to the elephant's back, and Vix had to sit on its head! It was much scarier than I thought because you are quite high up and on bumpy terrain so the elephant found it hard to walk. Ours was really naughty and kept putting his trunk up on his head to ask for a banana, and breathing really heavily onto us, his trunk looked like a little mouth. If we didn't give him one he slapped his trunk onto his head and sprayed skanky black elephant snot all over us! I am glad I did it but I don't think I would do it again!
We went for lunch in a little hut with hammocks, it was rice with veg and then fresh pineapple, it was really nice and healthy.
We got back on the truck and I decided to sit on the roof this time! It was really sunny and hot and the breeze was lovely - it was really fast and probably quite dangerous but the views were amazing as we wound up mountain passes and whizzed along the roads. It was probably my favourite moment of travelling so far.
When we got to the trek starting point we put on more suncream and mosquito repellent and starting walking. It was really hard work with lots of steep up and down hills and bumpy bits but I did enjoy it. After about 45 minutes we reached a waterfall. It was amazing to see a real one in a real jungle after the fake ones in Adventureland at Disney! Some people got changed and went under the waterfall, but I just paddled.
My camera ran out of battery at the waterfall which was really annoying, but we are all going to swap email addresses to send each other the photos of the rest of the trek.
Afterwards we headed off to trek some more, through thick jungle and rice fields, stopping at a hilltribe hut on the way. I bought a bracelet that a little girl had made - it seems amazing that they survive in a little hut on a mountain without civilisation around for miles. We also saw some more elephants on the way, they were chained around their ankles and neck which was so sad, but according to Rocky (one of our guides), it is so that the people can hear where they are, because they ride them to get places. Some Thai men had trained the elephants to bow to say thank you when you give them a banana. It was really clever but I don't like to think of the punishment they must've given them to get them to do it. They had also trained them to lift up one of their front legs to make a step for the men to climb onto their heads. We followed the elephants for a while, and they went through a river with the men on their heads which looked so cool.
We eventually made it to our camp at about 5.30pm. It is a hut on stilts with lots of thin mattresses on the floor and looks so cool, nothing like I've ever slept in before! It is next to a river and waterfall, so we had a 'shower'. I didn't make it any further than sitting on a rock with my legs in the water because it was so cold. Afterwards we got changed and an amazing Thai dinner had been cooked for us and was all laid out by candlelight, it looked and tasted so good! I spilt some of my vegetarian curry on my harem pants and now they have a big yellow patch which is annoying - I hope it comes out!
We have been sitting around a campfire under the stars, surrounded by jungle, and singing along to a guitar ever since. Some people are really drunk but we just had a little bit of Thai rum, I would hate to be hungover for the trekking in the heat tomorrow!
It is hard to describe how beautiful the scenery is and how amazing the experience is. It is strange to think I am so far from home and I miss Ed and my family a lot, but I am having such a great time so I am trying not to think about it too much.
I am really tired now but reluctant to leave the warm campfire to go to bed, as I have heard it is cold! There is a guitar playing and people singing and sitting around chatting, and four cute dogs sleeping next to the fire - it's like something from a film!
Hopefully I get a chance to write again tomorrow!
xxx
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Richar Taylor Sitting on the roof!