This morning we packed and left for the jungle of Chiang Mai. We had to pack light packs for hiking, and Brittney and I were without appropriate small packs for the next 3 days. We borrowed these cloth beige and green packs from the company, and these bags seemed to have been produced for and survived the Vietnam War. The tying buckles at the bottom of the bag are metal and rusted and it’s amazing to me that something this seemingly archaic has survived in this miserable humidity. Either way, it’s a pretty funny laugh we get to have at each other, and a weird side story we get to share.
The second elephant ride proved to be our favorite because of the lush scenery of the north and the sweet disposition of these new elephants. They loooove bananas and love to use their trunks to hold your hand. It was truly an amazing elephant trek because the trail hilled up and down, and being set up so much higher than the ground, it was a wild ride and made for viewing amazing scenery on the back of an elephant.
We also saw a waterfall …
Then we started trekking. Our guide informed us that the first set of trekking would take 2.5 hours, and mostly uphill. Never in my life have I hiked like I did today (and I’ve done a fair share of hiking!) and never have I been more internally miserable. There came a point where as long as I was able to scramble in the sore decision of my sanuk footwear through Thai mountains that I decided I wouldn’t mind if I caught a case of malaria because I was convinced fighting that disease would not be as demanding as this uphill trek. It was just miserable quick successions of large uphill movements, large vertical steps for a short legged girl, very little in the way of progressive uphill travelling. There were many psychological techniques that I tried out, and God as my witness the one that helped me continue was the one that remembered how badly I wanted to be home with the boy I love and that each step is one step closer to home, the exact place I want to be when I feel unsafe, threatened or in this case, unable and exhausted…
I never want to hike that again. Mount Everest, is RULED OUT.
Tonight we are all sleeping in a wooden stick hut, with a leaf thatched roof situated alongside a loud rolling river. We have small individual beds with hanging mosquito nets. I think this is beautiful, and I am thrilled to sleep under a mosquito net… its 7:10pm and I am closing little red for a long night of sleep, preparing my body for the 5 hour LEVEL hike we have tomorrow to the hill tribe we are visiting.
Goodnight.
Goodnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment