Day 1 of our trek! We were collected at 9am by minibus and then collected the other 11 people who would be trekking with us. We then set off with our tour guide, Toon, on board to the tourist police station so that they could confirm who was trekking and all the details! It was then on to a market to buy all the food for cooking our meals. It was about 30mins away and full of other trekking groups also stocking up. For us it was a chance to eat ice cream and chat to our fellow trekkers. Considering we were told the group were all from England, in total there were 4 of us and then 3 Swedes, 1 Italian, 3 Canadian and 2 Kiwi's. There were only 4 girlies!
From the market we drove another 30mins into the Do Inthanon national park (the highest point in Thailand) and to the elephant camp. The elephants were beautiful and there were a few babies who were following their mums on the treks! Very cute!! We were a bit late so had missed our slot for trekking and were told that we would do it tomorrow instead! From there we drove a little further to a camp where we had some lunch. There were two other couples who were the English and the Kiwis and we all got on quite well together. Our tour guide had more of a Thai lunch than our fried rice, consisting of sticky rice, fish and spices which he ate with his hands! We also met our second tour guide, Sook!
Once we were sorted we walked around 5mins to a waterfall where we could splash around! The water was lovely and clear but icy cold!! After chilling for a bit we set off with both guides into the jungle!! The first part was pretty tough! It was very steep and seemed never ending and it didn't help that we had just had a very filling lunch! The guides were really friendly and kept stopping for short breaks which was handy! When we finally reached the top of one of the mountains, instead of a cool breeze, we were greeted by a fire which really didn't help with reducing the sweat! Toon had made a hat from leaves which he gave to Mark and it suited him! While having a break the guides made us all walking sticks from bamboo. They are able to make the simplest of things from barely anything!
We stopped at a camp for some water but the family who lived there weren't home so we waited around for a while. In the meantime one of the Swedes begun playing his guitar and we had a sing song!!
We then had another mountain to climb!! It was very hot and steep again but not as bad as the first!! The surrounding scenery was so varied, one minute we were in the woods the next open rice fields.
We made our way to a Karon village. The people don't speak English or Thai, only tribal which the guides could speak as they are from a Karon village. The village itself was like a farm with pigs, lots of piglets, dogs and chickens freely roaming around! The buildings are bamboo huts and the family kindly fed us....frogs!! Mark tried one but I passed!! The family hardly have any money but they were so happy to see us and the children were happy playing together. Toon showed us how they make bubbles from a plant, a leave and a stick! He made the leaf into a bowl shape and then the plant juice sat in it. From the stick he made a bubble stick by making it thinner and twisting it around for the circle shape. Then you could blow bubbles...and it actually worked!! impressive!!
We carried on from the village through more jungle and down to the river where our camp was. We knew we were staying near to a waterfall but we hadn't estimated just how close we were! We were really surprised at the camp as we thought we would all be sleeping in one big bamboo hut together, but in fact we had our own hut with a double bed! We were a few steps from the river itself and just a few more to the waterfall! And the real gem?! A western toilet!! We were surprised to see one at all, let alone a western one!!
Once we had been assigned a hut we grabbed our swimping things and went down to the waterfall for a play! The water was freezing cold and the surrounding rocks were very slippy and there were many accidents, Mark included!! As it was soon to get dark we made our way back and wrapped up warm ready for dinner. Toon had told us that it would get quite nippy over night and we regretted not bringing our fleeces! We had a lovely dinner of rice, vegetables and meat cooked in a casserole way. The guides kept emphasising that we were one big family because that is how the villagers live.
We then spent the evening chatting, playing games and the men got very merry, especially our tour guide Toon, on beer and home brewed whiskey! We had a brilliant night and it was very amusing playing the different games! They had a lit a bonfire to keep us warm which was very toasty and the only other light was from candles!
While in bed all we could hear was the waterfall and we kept thinking that it was raining! A tiring but very enjoyable day! We're very lucky with our group in that we all get on!