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27 May

We packed our bags for the trek and left the rest at reception and headed down for breakfast at the hotel. We both opted for a full English breakfast having a long day ahead of us. The guides drove us per "sanwa" to a market where we bought some water and they bought the foodsupplies for the day's trek before going on the bamboo rafting. We all put on our swimming gear having been told "there's a 150% chance of getting wet" and headed to the river where the rafts were waiting for us. The rafts consist of bamboo poles about 5 m long, all weaved into each other using ropes. In front the guide directs the raft where he wants it to go, two others then stand on the raft while the forth keeps the rear in line with the front, I was that guy.

We headed down the river which in all respects was not the fastest flowing in all of Asia, but offered a unique experience none the less. After gently cruising down the river we met some rapids which we navigated with precision if I may say so. We were all told to sit down at the last rapid where there was a drop in level and one could easily fall to the sides. There we did get wet ! In total the rafting was not longer than 40 minutes and at the end we watched the guides disassemble the rafts and load them on a 4x4 to take them back the 3 km for a new group.

From here we headed to a Karen village where we walked around for about 30 minutes before returning for lunch, the guide had forgotten to buy chicken so it was a vegetarian lunch. Two things we noticed of all the houses in this village was that each had at least one or two pigs and a couple of chickens to call its own. Another strange thing we encountered in this village was a satellite dish! We headed out after lunch for the 2 &frac12; hour trek to the bungalows where we would stay the night. About half way we had a water stop by the side of a waterfall before continuing the last hour or so. Along the way the dog accompanying us found a green snake about 1 &frac12; maybe 2 m long which immediately headed for the nearest tree, climbing up into the tallest branches, where the guides tried to shoot it with a catapult. According to them the snake was extremely poisoness. Upon our arrival every one dressed and headed for the waterfall were we swam, this was the only option for anyone who wanted a shower.

An hour later another group of 4 arrived coming from the other side, they were all from England. Two of the group were busy doing our planned route and had already completed Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and now Thailand before heading to Australia and South America. I spent much of the evening speaking to him about their travels and other plans. He had worked in London as an accountant and had been given the option to take a package or continue working with the possibility of being retrenched, he had opted for the latter and decided to go traveling for a year before starting work again, similar to me except I received no package!

We spent most of the evening chatting with different people and enjoying a new found favorite, Chang Beer. Later the evening the two Dutch guys convinced the guide to bring out a stash of Thailand natural weed, which they enjoyed in a home made bamboo bong. Having a 4 &frac12; hour trek the next morning we hit the sack which in all honesty was a lot softer than sleeping in the cave on a car sun cover in Malaysia but still on the hard side.