Chiangmai Trek Day 2

We all got up around 7am after no sleep and Tri had breakfast on the table for us which consisted of toast and fruit, not the traditional Thai breakfast I had expected but very welcome just the same.

We were told that we had 4 hours worth of trekking in the morning followed by 2 hours in the afternoon. I thought this would be fine, but I wasn't prepared for how tough it would be. We had 2 guides with us (2 Thai men with machettes - to cut down trees that got in our way!!) and they were so amazingly fit. I guess they do this trekking for a living. The first hour was fine but then we started climbing hills. Not just climbing hills, but practically running up the sides of mountains! I thought I was a fast walker but compared to these guys, I am slow! It didn't help that we were walking in the heat of the Thai sun, around about 33 degrees C!! We had around 3 of these hills to climb in the morning and I was shattered by the third! Myself and Kat appeared to be the only ones struggling! Beth zoomed on up the mountainsides!

We stopped for lunch (but first a shower was needed - another stream with a drip of water but it was so good to have cold water after the amount of walking we'd just done!) which Tri had made in the morning. We had noodles wrapped in banana leaves - yum! We then watched Tri and the other guide make sticky rice over a fire. They added rice, sugar and milk into a bamboo shoot and cooked over the fire. The rice was amazing!! It was so good to try all these new foods!

We bagan walking again and walked for several more hours. I spent most of the time chatting to Kat, we kept each other company at the back of the group and thought of 101 excuses as to why we were so bad at trekking! We continued to walk for 2 hours straight which normally would be fine but the terrain was awful! We started off in the shade of the jungle which was amazing but the trek ended on the most enormous hill! I didn't think I would physically be able to make it up the hill! I have never been so exhausted in all my life, and we weren't even allowed to stop for a break! My feet were killing and I was not enjoying myself by this point (I sound like I'm moaning, but it was really only the last hour of the journey that I didn't enjoy!). Kat and I kept each other going and I could tell we were feeling the same. Even though the last stretch was down hill it wasn't any better! Our legs turned to jelly and we had to walk down the side of a mountain with no proper footholds! I cannot tell you how pleased I was to see the bamboo huts at the bottom of the hill! And the river that was stretched out before it! I think we were all grateful for the rest!

We stayed in another makeshift bamboo hut and froze again! We were all a bit more prepared the second night though! Tri entertained us around the fire before we went to bed. He has some great sayings, and is really clued up on the Brits!

We all figured we'd slept a bit better this night as we could all remember having dreams!