At 7.30am Susan and I were woken up to the sound of "Sabidee", which was the lovely lady bringing us our breakfast. Sitting on our deck of our bungalow, looking out onto the lush green gardens of the resort, we couldn't of asked for a better way to wake up and Susan & I really didn't want to leave where we were as we had a 4hr hike ahead of us.

At 8am our guide who will be taking us to the Kuang Sii Falls met us. Marc, Susan, Marie, Eoin, Di, Graham and I headed off in the tuk tuks to a village where we would begin our hike. The ride there was very scenic as we saw a lot of the country side and some of the villages, where the children would come running out to say hello as you drove past.

What were also amazing to see were the kids playing outside and playing with anything they could to have fun. We saw two young boys playing with thongs (flip flops), to see who could throw them the furtherest. Most kids back home are either inside glued to the TV or computer or their parents are so worried that their poor babies will get hurt and don't allow their kids to play outside.

We arrived at our starting point and were met by more village children who were so happy to see us and allowed us to take pictures of them. These kids just melted your heart. Even me who is not really a kid kind of person but these kids were so happy, unspoilt, friendly kids which was so refreshing to see. Western kids could learn a lot from the village children. After a while of playing with the kids our guide had to tear us away so we could start the hike.

With the temperature already rising I was hoping the hike was going to be easy but soon found out that that was not going to be the case. With the sun beating down on us and the track not really the best, I knew I was going to have a hard time, oh that and Id stopped going to the gym 3 months before my trip. We walked a fair distance before getting to the first climb of the trip. Being at the back of the group I was beginning to feel the pain in my knees (dam dodgy 80 yr old knees) and was then feeling a little embarrassed when the villagers started to pass me carrying bags of rice.

Finally I made it too the top of the hill and then began to make my way down. Slowly but surely I navigated my way down the slippery and rocky path. Glad to be over the first climb I wasn't looking forward to the next one.

After about another half hour of walking I started to feel really sick. I was sweating buckets and felt like I was going to throw up. Having to stop constantly Di thought I could have heat exhaustion and that I should put my head between my knees and take deep breaths. Feeling somewhat better I continued on but soon started feeling sick again. Not wanting to go on Marie went to inform the guide.

Feeling so sick and stupid Marc came running down the hill to check on me, which was nice, then the guide and Susan soon followed and made sure I was ok. After drinking lots of water I started to feel ok and slowly made my way up another steep hill. With the assurance from the guide that the hike is now pretty easy we continued on down the other side of the hill. Walking on this hike we came across some beautiful scenery and many interesting insects which some of them were ones that like to bite so we had to try and steer clear of them.

The track eventually became pretty bad as it got really, really muddy and not matter how much mud we scrapped off our boots they were eventually covered again. With all of us sliding around on the muddy paths there were many close calls, but eventually Susan and Di both fell into the mud and if the mud was bad enough soon we came across leaches which were getting stuck in our boots under our socks. So with the heat exhaustion, mud and now leaches it was turning into a very adventurous hike. After about 3 hours of hiking we arrived to a pool, which was pretty much the beginning of the waterfall. Desperately wanting to go in for a swim to cool off and clean our boots we were all disappointed to see the No Bathing signs. Standing on a rock at the waters edge taking pictures, I turned around to walk back to the group, only I loose my footing and half fall into the water.

Gripping on to the rock with dear life as I had my camera in my hand, the group once again came to my aid and rescued my camera with me to follow. Now that I had cooled off and cleaned my boots we were on our way again. After about another hour we arrived at the top of the waterfall. Wading through the water we were surprised that the water current was not strong which enabled us to stand right at the edge and look over at the falls. After a few photos and many videos we now had to head down to the bottom of the falls. Climbing down the side of the mountain we came to the side of the waterfall and some wooden steps which made the hike down a lot easier.

We then joined the rest of the group who didn't go on the hike at the swimming hole and we were greeted with shocked looks as we were covered from head to toe in mud, scratches and bleeding from all the leaches. Enjoying a nice swim in the water we eventually left and went and had some lunch at one of the local places at the falls.

Later that night we had a BBQ dinner in the gardens of the hotel. With all the fairy lights and candles it was a nice setting after a hard days hiking. After dining on BBQ Chicken or Fish, mash potatoes, green salads, crinkle fries and many Beer Laos; we began the trivia and riddles. Many more Beer Laos were had and we actually drunk the hotel dry so a few of the boys decided to go into to town and get some more. With the table now covered in bottles of Beer Lao it was time to hit the sack.