We checked out of our accommodation early and went in search of breakfast - rottees. We were at the tour company at 9am, the time we were told to be there - they were closed. Definitely the same clocks as Africans. They arrived a little later and one of the German girls realized she didn't have her phone on her and ran back to our accommodation to find it. Edd then realised that he'd left his bank card in the air con slot of our room, so I went back to fetch that while he paid for the trip.

We left at 10.15am and went to a local market for fruit. Our guide asked us to select some fruit and we chose 2 mangoes. He then insisted that we take 6 mangoes that ended up weighing 2.5 kg's; we wanted to know who would be carrying the heavy fruit, our bags were full and we'd rather go without than have to trek with fruit on our backs. He assured us that there were other guides joining us on the trip and they would be carrying all the food. He then asked us to select other fruit and we chose 2 dragon fruit; none of us fancied any apples or any of the other fruit on offer. He picked up 2 bunches of bananas and we all said that only 1 would be needed, so he put one back.

During this time, Edd went in search of an epipen, just in case he had another serious allergic reaction to something. None of the pharmacists spoke any English again, so he waited for our guide to return to take him with to the pharmacy to translate; they came back empty handed. He'd tried 3 that morning and decided to give up - when you ask a question and get a blank stare and a laugh as a response, you tend to cut your loses and just avoid known issues that may cause the need for an epipen administration.

We climbed back on the took took and headed for our trek; we picked up the other 2 guides along the way and were then dropped off at a river. We had to attach harnesses, helmets and sleeping bags (all provided) on to our backpacks as well as two 1.5L bottles of water. I had no idea how I was going to manage a 6-hour hike packed like a donkey. We then crossed the river on foot as it was the dry season and not too deep, it took Edd to about his knees, but even then found it quite tricky, as the current was very strong. We helped each other across and put our trainers on at the other side. We then hiked up a gravel road and back down the other side; it was already way over 30 degrees and we had to stop in the shade for a while to cool off. Our guide, Kel, pointed at a waterfall in the far distance at the top of a mountain saying that's where we were going; we all laughed and then realised he was being serious. Oh geez, what had we signed up for?!

We continued across what looked like farmland, where cows and calves were grazing and crossed long grasses. Stinging nettles caught Edd on his arm, so we consulted the medical bag for our 'After Bite' stick. (The whole bag came with; we weren't risking anything after the tuna incident). We hiked about 2km's to the base of the mountain and then started the ascent; about half an hour into it I collapsed from heat exhaustion. I thought I'd been drinking enough water, but as it turns out, Edd was right - I had to drink a lot more to keep my body fluids and blood pressure up. He attached my backpack to his, harness and all, and we met the rest of the group in a shaded area for lunch. (He was now carrying in excess of at least 14kg's on his back!) We had vegetarian baguettes and Edd sat with our guides as they had some meat they shared with him at their banana leaf table.

We then carried on hiking up, and I mean UP, for another 2 hours, with the temperature rising to 38 degrees. We stopped frequently in the shade for rests and then stopped to put our harnesses and helmets on. We had a quick briefing on how it all worked and started the rock climbing; rebar had been bent into the shape of stairs all the way up the rocks next to the waterfall. Edd says it's more for the rainy season when the waterfall is much bigger, he reckons you could climb up without the rebar in the dry season, I am not as convinced of this - I think it's quite dangerous with harnesses and helmets, nevermind without. Nevertheless, the rock climbing was an exhilarating experience and we enjoyed every minute of the 2 hour climb, which included rope bridges that were not designed for short legs.

We arrived at our camp, which was a bamboo hut 2km's up from the base of a mountain with a 70-80 degree slope, at 4.20pm and collapsed onto mattresses that they laid out on the balcony. There were 3 rooms that led out onto a large balcony that overlooked the landscape - a picturesque ending to the physically challenging day. The guides asked if we wanted to do the abseiling that afternoon, but we all declined the offer - we were far too tired. We had the option of doing it the next day, first thing in the morning, which we all thought was a much better idea - nice and refreshing before the climb back down.

We went and swam in the waterfall to cool off and then settled in for the night, our guides busied themselves under the 'kitchen' area, boiling water, chopping vegetables and meat and skewering chillies (the latter was not for us). We sat with them and watched while they concocted dinner in a simplistic, but effective manner. We were then asked to sit at the table, again laden with banana leaves, and played cards while they put the last finishing touches on dinner. Edd and the girls tried out some rice whisky, as well as diluted tiger whisky (for lady boys, as Kel put it), I passed on the offer - give me a G&T any day of the week, not neat shots of whisky thanks.

They presented a vegetable soup, vegetable stir-fry and sticky rice with 4 bowls, 4 soupspoons and 3 forks. (Edd and I had to share, ha ha!) We ate in haste as we were starving and were surprised at how tasty the meal was; I struggled to make anything beyond satisfying the basic need for food and here were these Laos men who had concocted a delicious 3 course meal in a bush with no electricity, stove, oven or any of the western 'normalities.'

It was only 8pm, but we were absolutely finished from the days hike and rock climbing, so settled onto our mattresses, underneath the stars. We all fell asleep almost immediately.

At 11.10pm, we woke up to the flickering of torches; we quickly figured out that it was actually, in fact, lightening. The German girls were up and taking all our clothes off the balcony railing; they were concerned that when it started raining, all our stuff would get soaked again. We got up and assisted in moving everything and shortly afterwards, it started to rain. We all moved our mattresses to underneath the roof and settled back in; we weren't there long and the German girls got up and moved their mattresses into the middle room. Edd and I were determined to sleep outside and rearranged our mattresses a few times, even stacking them on top of each other (we had 2 each), in an attempt to keep them dry; in the end, however, we had to move inside as the roof was leaking. Kel opened up the first room for us and started sweeping the floor; we assured him a little dust didn't bother us, but then quickly learned that he was in fact trying to move an ant's nest. Edd took one look at the nest and said: 'there's no way she's going to sleep in here with that,' we took our mattresses back out and asked the German girls if they could move up a bit for us, in the middle room, to put our mattresses next to theirs.

We all settled in, again, and listened to the thunder rip the sky open, shortly followed by enormous lightening bolts streaking across the sky and grounding on mountains not too far from us. We came to the conclusion that the entire roof had to be replaced: raindrops were dripping on our heads. We contorted our bodies in an attempt to stay dry and fell asleep in all manner of strange positions; Edd and I slept soundly and the German girls thought we were mad: they apparently spent the night listening to the thunder and lightening and could not get to sleep at all! It had sounded like the earth and sky were having it out in a lovers quarrel, and they made sure everyone knew about it.