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Last night was filled with jungle sounds. The cicadas were in full force and there was a rather constant fear of large insects creeping into the mosquito net. Getting up to go to the bathroom is a huge ordeal here because 1. it's pitch black 2. there are creepy crawlers that enjoy our bathroom area 3. getting out of the tucked in mosquito net means getting back in the mosquito net and being fearful that bugs entered while you were away. I'd say I woke up every hour or so BUT despite the lack of restful sleep, we awoke to the stunning Mae Wang countryside.
We woke up completely covered from the legs down in little red dots with white heads...ALL OVER our legs. It looked like we had chicken pox...Apparently this is what they call Elephant Rash. Not everybody gets it and I've been getting mixed opinions on what the cause is and whether or not it is contagious...According to some of the people here, it's from the dirty area behind the elephant's ear but it's unclear to me whether it's from a plant or perhaps some sort of mite. It doesn't really hurt, it just looks
pretty terrible.
Breakfast is served at 8am sharp, and one of the workers came knocking on our door around 7:50am. We wandered up to the communal area (a few huts on bamboo stilts over a man-made pond of catfish) where we had friend rice, a scrambled egg dish and some of the freshest pineapple I've ever eaten--Straight from the organic garden !
Trekking through the jungle to a local waterfall was on today's agenda. Samart said it would be about 3 hours. We assumed this would be 3 hours total...little did we know it would be a full day trek. He said pants would be too hot so we should wear shorts and of course a bathing suite.We left right after breakfast--It was already in the mid 80's with the bright sun beating down on us. We walked down the red dirt road and through a few villages nearby. We got off the road and started walking through houses and villages, towards the rice patties. It was beautiful!
There were workers in the patties planting rice for the upcoming season (the rice is harvested in November) and Samart asked a group
of them if we could help plant. They terrace the land in such a way so that one farm has many rice patties filled with mud and water. Around each pool of water is a clay wall that is thick enough for you to step on. The workers handed us each a few handfuls of the rice plant. What you do is stick the roots of the plant deep into the mud. It's a quick movement in and out of the mud so that the plant sticks. If you try to move it around too much in the mud, it will just float back up to the surface of the water.
It was much more difficult than I was expecting ! My rice plants kept coming out of the mud and floating to the top. You see the professionals doing it and it's one swift movement that looks so easy.
They will probably have to replant all of the rice we attempted to help with...
After this we walked from rice patty farm to rice patty farm, not really on a path. We climbed a few steep hills and reached the
top where we had a beautiful view of a few villages.
From here it was a steep downhill descent. When I say steep, I mean almost completely down a cliff. And in the mud! At one point one of our guides stopped right in his tracks and started waving his hands. Samart jumped back too -- There was a bright green snake perched on a branch reaching over the path. Apparently this is one is very poisonous. It was so well camouflaged that I would have never, ever noticed it.
We watched as the snake slithered up into a near tree. He was quite long, probably 4 feet or so.
After about 3 hours of intense hiking in the heat we made it to the waterfall. It was beautiful. A wall of water with a cave behind it and a huge pool to cool off in. We lounged around and were the only people there except a few locals selling waters and soft drinks.
It's been so great having Samart with us. He knows everyone and the whole lay of the land. This is a truly amazing and
authentic Thai jungle experience.
As we were lounging with our new Berkeley friend Pricilla, Samart was preparing our lunch. He only used bamboo tools to cook the meal. Sticky rice was cooked over an open flame in a bamboo shoot, a red fish curry cooked in palm leaves, and a vegetable dish with Ramen noodles. He gave us each some instant coffee to drink out of bamboo cups (we decided these bamboo cups iwll soon be sold in the United States at like Cost Plus for probably $25 each...) to perk up for the 2nd leg of our journey.
Samart warned us that it's 2 hours back to Spicy and ALL uphill. Right after we started walking, Samart came up and said "Emily...I have something for you!!" I could tell he was holding something in his hand behind his back and had a feeling it was some sort of large creature. Sure enough, it was THE largest spider I've ever seen. A beautiful green and yellow color, but about the size of my face!!! He just plucked it off of its web and carried it over to us...I'm guessing he knew it was not
poisonous !
Pricilla has knee issues, and the steep downhill was really bad on her joints. We were thinking uphill would be easier, but we would just need to take it very very slowly.
It was a long but beautiful trek back. We strolled though a local school where we learned that one of the princesses has put a lot of effort into supporting this school. Everything is painted purple, which is the princess' color, to show the locals' support!
It was an a 2 hour, purely uphill climb in the heat of day (probably around 90 degrees, but with humidity it felt even hotter)
When we could see the spicy villas we knew we were close. We traipsed through some local organic gardens, Samart pointing out which crops were which. They grew the greenest lettuce I have ever seen !
Once we got back to the hut we were exhausted. Cold shower time in our "shower" aka pipe with water spewing out. By this time it was almost dinner and we lounged around until we heard our names being called.
Another
candle-lit, home-made meal of various curries, rice and noodle dishes, each one mouth-watering with just enough spice.
Tonight we saw a few fireflies flying around after dinner! Such a magical sight that I've never experienced before !
After dinner we wandered down to the pool table, lit by one flickering florescent light to keep mosquitos away. Samart taught us a few games they play in Thailand and then we were off to bed. Our spider still guarding our door, by this time we were comfortable enough with him to fall straight asleep.
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