Kayaking down the Namtha River.

8^th Novemeber

Today I woke up to the sound of animals – literally, the village is full of chickens and cockerels who do what they do best, crow! We got ready pretty quickly and after leaving the village headed to town where I got a cheeky breakfast of French toast and bacon! Despite my best efforts to back out, Rory and I had decided to join another couple on an overnight adventure. Basically the cafe we ate at offers trips into the local jungle and we decided to do a combination with a day of kayaking, an overnight in the jungle and a day of trekking. I'm not much of a trekker and I was told in no uncertain terms that the trek would be difficult so it was with great reluctance that I packed my day sack.

It wasn't long before we met our guides – one English speaking guide and one local guide who is basically King of the Jungle and knows all the trails and tricks of the trade! We stopped at the market to buy our food for the next two days and it wasn't long before we were sitting in our kayaks and paddling down river. We were in two person kayaks which while practical, isn't something I'll be doing again, at least not with Rory. We weren't exactly in sync and when we went the wrong way I blamed him and he blamed me (even though it was clearly his fault). Despite the poor communication we had a really nice day. The scenery was amazing – we were literally surrounded by the kind of jungle you see on t.v!

We stopped at the side of the river for some lunch and as I gracefully stepped out of the kayak the water got suddenly deeper and I ended up chest deep in the water! Luckily my camera was in a special waterproof case and I'm happy to say it has survived to snap another day! After that little tumble we had lunch which was presented in and on banana leaf! It was a really cool experience being given a little banana leaf parcel of rice!

As we headed down the river we saw some nice wildlife, lots of birds, including an eagle and... a snake! It just came scooting across the water, almost fully submerged but with its red face sticking out! I wasn't so keen for a swim after that but we did press on and thankfully survived all the rapids we encountered (that's not to say we didn't crash every five minutes but still). We took a short break at a local village where the kids are pretty used to westerners and so while excited to see us, they were a lot more relaxed. They were really keen to show us their diving and backflips into the water and they even grabbed on to the kayaks as we paddled away!

After a few hours we stopped at our accommodation for the night – a bamboo hut on the riverbank. It was like something from a movie, paddling around the corner and seeing this hut, right in the middle of the jungle, completely surrounded by trees and only accessible by boat. The hut, while similar to the houses on our homestay, had no electricity and only had one room meaning all the cooking and cleaning would have to be done outside.

That wasn't a problem as our guides were super efficient and had the fire going within minutes of us arriving. We all had a quick swim and wash in the river and just sat by the fire, waiting for our dinner which was quite similar to last night. The food here is pretty nice and you feel healthy eating it because they use so many vegetables but I started feeling pretty sick as the meal went on and subsequently spend the evening subtly throwing up liquids. I got a little burnt while kayaking and while I drank plenty of water it looks like I had heat stroke but it was pretty manageable and we just had an early night so I could sleep it off. 

The kayaking was a lot of fun; it wasn't too difficult but you still got to see some really beautiful scenery and some nice wildlife (we also saw lots of little pigs running around). Arriving at the hut was the icing on the cake. Our bedding wasn't the cleanest and it is pretty basic (think squat toilet) but that's definitely the best way to experience the jungle! Plus, you're so tired that you'll fall asleep and completely forget that you have to trek through the jungle the next day!