8th 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!
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