Day 259 - We were getting picked up at the Green house cafe so we had breakfast there again. We jumped in to the mini-bus with our new friend Katie we met at EVP and started the journey. Within 10 minutes we were picking up people, and more people and more people, then the boot door was left open and people were hanging out, luckily they stopped at 32 people...... 32 in a 16 seater mini-bus, not comfortable. Eventually and with no surprise there was a massive bang -one of the back tyres had blown but luckily we stopped right next to a garage who managed to fit a new tyre. After a very long, hot few hours we made it to Kratie. We were ushered to the next mini-bus where we asked what time we would leave, we were told 'when it is full, it could take a few hours', we were not happy to say the least so the man offered to take us around the corner to a big bus that was leaving, very kind! Finally we were on the way to Ban Lung. The bus took longer than expected but it had air-con which was a bonus, after breaking down twice we finally made it around 8pm. Thankfully even though the bus was so late, Parrot Tours who we were doing our jungle trek with was there to pick us up. We hopped on the back of their motorbikes and rode in to town, my guy was lovely and talked the whole way asking loads of questions. At Parrot Tours we booked up to leave the next day and went in search of a hotel. The guy pointed one out but when we turned up the music was blasting, apparently there was a massive student celebration on, it was so loud we would never be able to sleep. We walked round the corner though and found a basic place to rest our heads. We dropped our bags and walked in search of food. It was fab to see loads of people out eating on the streets, loads of choice. We settled for some noodles with fried egg and avocado shakes - lush, although we were slightly put off by the table next to us who were eating Balut eggs which are actually little chicks - yuk!

Day 260 - We were up early and walked along to Parrot Tours with Katie, here we met Mathijus and Michael. We drove in the back of a pick up truck with our guide Rity for about an hour to the river. Rity was lovely, he spoke perfect English and had the most infectious laugh. We hopped in to a tiny boat and we sailed up the river in to the jungle. We got off at a small village where we met our Jungle guide who knew everything there was to know about the jungle. We stopped at his house for half an hour to get a few things sorted before setting off, in which time Lloyd managed to spot a poisonous scorpion - aahhh. We starting trekking through some paddy fields and in to the jungle. The heat picked up pretty quickly but the walk was easy. It was devastating to see the deforestation that had taken place, but the further we got in the jungle the deeper it got and all sign of deforestation disappeared. We passed through a Bamboo forest which was extraordinary and the guide just knew his way, it was amazing. The guide pointed out an edible leaf, it lasted like sour apples, lovely, it was so fresh and fruity, we all grabbed a hand full and munched of them as we walked. We stopped to try a small apple looking fruit which was nice but a bit un-ripe. We stopped for lunch about 1pm under the shade of some bamboo, lunch was a lovely rice and veg dish. We powered on and made it to camp about 4ish, it was fantastic and overlooked a massive waterfall. Being an adventurous lot we decided to climb up the waterfall, it was extraordinary and the cold water was so nice. We wandered around at the top before scaling back down. The camp was a great set up and we tied our hammocks to the bamboo frame that was already built from the last time the tour trekked there. Rity and the Jungle guide started to cook the dinner. They filled bamboo with chicken and veg and cooked them over the bonfire, it was delicious and we were stuffed. We had rice wine in bamboo cups, it was so strong. The guide asked if we wanted to go on a night trek and we all agreed. We started trekking, it was pitch black but the guide knew his way. A lot of it was uphill and he was going so fast we could hardly keep up. We saw so many amazing insects and he some how managed to spot a snake in a tree. After an hour we headed back to camp and it wasn't long before we were all so tired. We all got in our hammocks and there was a massive crack and the whole bamboo frame collapsed, they found a knife mark and said they believed it was a local villager who had sabotaged the frame as they are jealous that the trek doesn't visit there village - crazy. We re-built the frame and went to sleep.

Day 261 -We woke up after a really comfortable night at about 8am. Breakfast was already on the go - rice, tofu and veg, it was really good. We packed up and started to trek back in the direction that we walked on the night trek. As we got going we quickly remembered how steep it was but this time it was day light and a lot hotter than before. We were sweating and me and Katie were at the back struggling to get to the top, it was really difficult. We stopped for a break and everyone was shattered apart from the two guides who hadn't broke a sweat, despite running and had now stopped for a cigarette break. We sat for as long as we could before we were told we had to keep going. We trekked for about two more hours and came across a gum tree. Out guide chiseled a hole in it and set it alight, the flames blew out like crazy it was mesmerising, the gum was extremely flammable, he put the fire out with a bunch of green leaves and it hadn't caused any damage to the tree, he did it again just to show us, it was pretty impressive. He pointed out a menthol tree which smelt of sarsaparilla and we all gathered round for a good sniff. We walked a bit further before we came across a tree we could drink water from, he cut off some branches and we all had a good drink. We were loving all the different plants and trees we were learning about, we saw some crazy spiders and mushrooms and we seemed to be walking around in circles but the guide knew exactly where he was going. The final hour was through a bamboo forest and it wasn't long before it was all over and we were back at the village. We had a lovely lunch inside the guide's house made by his family which was lovely. We walked back through the village where they were having a wedding and back to the boat. We sailed down the river a while until we came to a cemetery, the graves were crazy, all brightly coloured with carvings of the deceased. It took us about 45 minutes to make it back to Ban Lung Pier where we hopped off, said good bye to our jungle guide and got back in to the pick up truck. We had really really enjoyed our jungle trip! That night we all met up at the coconut shake bar but there was no coconut shakes left - let down, although the food was lovely.

Day 262 - We had arranged to meet Katie early but we decided to get up even earlier to catch up on the diary and photos as we were so far behind. Lloyd got up to go to the toilet and ended up locking himself in the bathroom, after many attempts I had to go to the reception for help. Needless to say we didn't get a thing done and it was time to meet Katie. We hired some mopeds and headed to the market to pick up some much needed iced coffee. I am pleased to say it was some of the best iced coffee we ever had. We found some steps to sit on and we picked up some baguettes. We were on our way to find a waterfall but without a map we were soon lost in the middle of nowhere. We rode about and after asking many locals we finally found the Chaa Ong waterfall which was stunning. It wasn't very wide but very high, you could walk behind it and underneath as it wasn't too heavy. We spent ages sitting in them and we were the only people there, it was so quiet and magical. We then decided to go to Boeng Yeak Laom (crater lake), we had to pass back through the village so we decided to stop for a coconut shake and luckily this time they had some - it was definitely worth the wait, so good! Once at the lake we understood the name as it was so perfectly round it could have possibly been created by a meteor. We walked half way round to a swimming deck which took ages - it was so big. Here loads of locals were swimming with life jackets on fully clothed. Not too feel rude I slipped Lloyd's top on over my bikini and we both jumped in. It was great, so clean and not too cold. We picked up a few followers and young Cambodians asking if they could swim with us which was nice. It was such a relief from the heat. We road back and dropped our bikes off in the town and found an Indian restaurant, It was nice but not amazing, nothing like the Indian food in Singapore! The thunder and lightening started so we decided to walk back to the hotel before the rain followed. We didn't have torches and there was no street lights but Lloyd somehow knew his way. The storm was crazy and every lightening bolt lit up the path. We made it back and Skyped home before an early night.