My trek started at 8:30 in the morning. I was told that I would be with a group of 14 other people but I got into a car with only 3 other people. Also, those three people were Frech. Since I have been traveling, I have noticed that, generally, French people dont take kindly to people who are not French. Even though they spoke English, it was a chore to pull more than 2 words out of them.
We first arrived at a a village that was similar to the mountainside village that I saw yesterday. Nothing special to see, an upsetting start to the trek.
After the village, I was shuttled over to meet with the rest of my group in a market. Unbenounced to me, that village was the village of the long neck people. These people are the ladies that wear the rings around their neck to elongate it to seem more appealing to men. While I did pay extra to see this, the driver did not tell me this was the village. When I asked him what this village was, he replied "you meet with group next." I later learned that the long neck people were in the way back of the village. My new tour guide assured me that he would take me back to the village after the full trek.
While I was in the market, I took the time to stock up on supplies for the next couple days. I also saw some interesting bugs that this old lady was selling. I have always wanted to try some weird bugs in a market. Someone must think they are good if they are for sale. The only bug I could identify was a cricket, the other two, I was unsure of. I can assure you that they were terrible! I bought some mango sticky rice to help get the terrible taste out of my mouth. Mango sticky rice is a type of dessert in Thailand. It is sticky rice with slices of mango on top of it doused in coconut sugar milk; very delicious and the perfect chaser to the bugs I just ate.
It was good getting to know the new group. There was a group of three Australians, two girls and one guy; a German guy; an American couple just out of med school; a young French couple; and a French family with three young kids.
Before we started off on the actual trek, we went to an elephant camp and got to ride some of them. We went on a twenty minute ride around the area. This is the first time that I have ever been on an elephant and I had had this on my list of things that I must do while I am out seeing the world. While on the elephants we went into a river and the elephants were a bathing themselves and playing in the water. It was so cool to be riding on such a large animal, witnessing their true strength as they rip small trees out of the ground for a snack like it was a small weed. Unfortunately, the elephant guides were quick to get us on and off the elephants, so I was unable to get a photo of me riding the elephant. After our ride, we all gathered for lunch, which consisted of a small plate of rice and veggies. Our guide asks, "big meal. Are you full?" This is what I would eat before my appetizer...
We took our truck to the starting point of our trek. When I purchased a three day trek I, nor anyone else in our group, had any idea half the day would be spent in the back of a truck. We started with the ascent up the mountain to our homestay. The hike was gruesome, making our Sapa trek in Vietnam look like a walk up an escalator. The paths were very hard and the French family struggled a lot. The young kid and the mother had to hire a car to take them to the campsite. Throughout the hike, we were constantly waiting on the father, who was carrying all the family's gear. I felt bad for him but was proud of him at the same time that he didn't give up.
Midway through our trek, we stopped off at a waterfall. When we actually got to the waterfall, some of us began to laugh; it looked like more water could come out of a firehose. Regardless, the water was cold and allowed us to instantly cool off. There was a tree hanging over the small pool of water that the waterfall created. No one wanted to jump off the tree, so I climbed up there to start it off. When I got up there, it was a little nerve wrecking. I gazed down upon a small hole, no bigger than a hot tub, with visible underwater rocks surrounding it. A deep gasp of breath and a second to gain my confidence later I found myself mid air falling into the pool of ice cold water. Once I made it successfully, others began to follow my lead and the rest just dipped in to cool off. We all cooled off and relaxed in preparation of the next leg of the trek.
After spending the next couple hours trekking up the mountain and getting to know the other young people, we finally arrived at the mountain village. There, we were able to take a break and grab some cold water to cool us off. On the walk over to our homestay, I got a piece of sand stuck in my eye. Usually, this would not bother me, but it was large and it wouldn't come out. The French girl poured my remaining water into my eye in an attempt to flush out the dirt with no success. The two med students told me to just wait until we got to the homestay and they would take a closer look at it. I had to keep my hand over my eye because every time I blinked it caused me much pain. I never thought a grain of dirt could bring a man to his knees.
Once we got to the homestay, I had the girl med student peel back my eyelash and look for the problem. She found a large piece of dirt stuck to my eye lid. After trying time and time again to flush it out, she got a pair of plastic tweezers, sanitized them, and had to scrape out the piece of dirt. Finally, I could see again. The high costs of med school in the US is worth it!
Once we got settled in, an army of Thai ladies came to give us all massages. The massage felt soo good; the best way to cap off a long trek!
That night, we all gathered for dinner. Like I said, this trek is way different than the one in Sapa. In Sapa, there was a TV, shower, somewhat of a bed, wifi, and a bar down the road. Here, there is nothing. We are sleeping on a bamboo floor in a bamboo shack on the side of the mountain with no electricity and a dribble of running water. However, this is what I wanted, leaving all the comforts of backpacking, what little there are, at the hostel, completely cut off from the world our in the wilderness.
After dinner, we all listened while one of the guides played the guitar. I threw out a couple songs to try to play, he didnt know any of them; all he wanted to play was Hotel California.
Once we finished a couple songs, we packed it in for an early start tomorrow.
We first arrived at a a village that was similar to the mountainside village that I saw yesterday. Nothing special to see, an upsetting start to the trek.
After the village, I was shuttled over to meet with the rest of my group in a market. Unbenounced to me, that village was the village of the long neck people. These people are the ladies that wear the rings around their neck to elongate it to seem more appealing to men. While I did pay extra to see this, the driver did not tell me this was the village. When I asked him what this village was, he replied "you meet with group next." I later learned that the long neck people were in the way back of the village. My new tour guide assured me that he would take me back to the village after the full trek.
While I was in the market, I took the time to stock up on supplies for the next couple days. I also saw some interesting bugs that this old lady was selling. I have always wanted to try some weird bugs in a market. Someone must think they are good if they are for sale. The only bug I could identify was a cricket, the other two, I was unsure of. I can assure you that they were terrible! I bought some mango sticky rice to help get the terrible taste out of my mouth. Mango sticky rice is a type of dessert in Thailand. It is sticky rice with slices of mango on top of it doused in coconut sugar milk; very delicious and the perfect chaser to the bugs I just ate.
It was good getting to know the new group. There was a group of three Australians, two girls and one guy; a German guy; an American couple just out of med school; a young French couple; and a French family with three young kids.
Before we started off on the actual trek, we went to an elephant camp and got to ride some of them. We went on a twenty minute ride around the area. This is the first time that I have ever been on an elephant and I had had this on my list of things that I must do while I am out seeing the world. While on the elephants we went into a river and the elephants were a bathing themselves and playing in the water. It was so cool to be riding on such a large animal, witnessing their true strength as they rip small trees out of the ground for a snack like it was a small weed. Unfortunately, the elephant guides were quick to get us on and off the elephants, so I was unable to get a photo of me riding the elephant. After our ride, we all gathered for lunch, which consisted of a small plate of rice and veggies. Our guide asks, "big meal. Are you full?" This is what I would eat before my appetizer...
We took our truck to the starting point of our trek. When I purchased a three day trek I, nor anyone else in our group, had any idea half the day would be spent in the back of a truck. We started with the ascent up the mountain to our homestay. The hike was gruesome, making our Sapa trek in Vietnam look like a walk up an escalator. The paths were very hard and the French family struggled a lot. The young kid and the mother had to hire a car to take them to the campsite. Throughout the hike, we were constantly waiting on the father, who was carrying all the family's gear. I felt bad for him but was proud of him at the same time that he didn't give up.
Midway through our trek, we stopped off at a waterfall. When we actually got to the waterfall, some of us began to laugh; it looked like more water could come out of a firehose. Regardless, the water was cold and allowed us to instantly cool off. There was a tree hanging over the small pool of water that the waterfall created. No one wanted to jump off the tree, so I climbed up there to start it off. When I got up there, it was a little nerve wrecking. I gazed down upon a small hole, no bigger than a hot tub, with visible underwater rocks surrounding it. A deep gasp of breath and a second to gain my confidence later I found myself mid air falling into the pool of ice cold water. Once I made it successfully, others began to follow my lead and the rest just dipped in to cool off. We all cooled off and relaxed in preparation of the next leg of the trek.
After spending the next couple hours trekking up the mountain and getting to know the other young people, we finally arrived at the mountain village. There, we were able to take a break and grab some cold water to cool us off. On the walk over to our homestay, I got a piece of sand stuck in my eye. Usually, this would not bother me, but it was large and it wouldn't come out. The French girl poured my remaining water into my eye in an attempt to flush out the dirt with no success. The two med students told me to just wait until we got to the homestay and they would take a closer look at it. I had to keep my hand over my eye because every time I blinked it caused me much pain. I never thought a grain of dirt could bring a man to his knees.
Once we got to the homestay, I had the girl med student peel back my eyelash and look for the problem. She found a large piece of dirt stuck to my eye lid. After trying time and time again to flush it out, she got a pair of plastic tweezers, sanitized them, and had to scrape out the piece of dirt. Finally, I could see again. The high costs of med school in the US is worth it!
Once we got settled in, an army of Thai ladies came to give us all massages. The massage felt soo good; the best way to cap off a long trek!
That night, we all gathered for dinner. Like I said, this trek is way different than the one in Sapa. In Sapa, there was a TV, shower, somewhat of a bed, wifi, and a bar down the road. Here, there is nothing. We are sleeping on a bamboo floor in a bamboo shack on the side of the mountain with no electricity and a dribble of running water. However, this is what I wanted, leaving all the comforts of backpacking, what little there are, at the hostel, completely cut off from the world our in the wilderness.
After dinner, we all listened while one of the guides played the guitar. I threw out a couple songs to try to play, he didnt know any of them; all he wanted to play was Hotel California.
Once we finished a couple songs, we packed it in for an early start tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment