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Published: March 16th 2008
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This week 8 of us went off to do 'trekking' for the week, I use this term as lightly as possible as in the end we only actually walked anywhere for 2 days of the week. On Monday we spent most of the day travelling to Suphanburi to the Phutoei National park 'base camp' where we set up our tents for the first night. We met some of the national park staff including Joe who was to be our guide for the next few days. That evening we sat round with the staff who gave us some of their whiskey and the boys in our group played guitar while the rest of us sang (attempted to sing).
Tuesday was our first day of 'trekking' we left in a truck to take us to the beginning of our route. Oliver didn't come with us, so it was just us and our guide Joe, wielding a huge knife. At base camp we saw the shotguns - used to fend off such animals as tigers that are found in the park - but to be honest, this didn't really seem to worry me too much as Joe was like crocodile dundee and we
all felt safe with him. The trek was hard in places but we saw some amazing things - a huge swarm of butterflys had us all frozen to the spot with amazement and we came across a couple of waterfalls, the second of which we stopped to eat our lunch. Whilst we were sat eating our lunch we looked around to guess which path we may be moving on from the base of the waterfall....there was only the path we came from, so it started to become apparant that maybe we would be walking up the waterfall....indeed we were, and did, with our hearts in our mouths! At that point I did think 'oh my god if my mum could see this' and was trying to concentrate on where my feet were going and not look down!! But when we got to the top it was worth it! The trek continued walking along streams and up and down hills and we suddenly had a couple of dogs following us - a mother and it's puppy which was quite cute. As we went up one hill (which was very hard work) we came out from under the trees where we had
been all day and saw some amazing views. I thought it was a great photo opportunity so I started snapping away and then realised that I had been left behind and couldn't see the group. In my panic I started jogging to try and catch up and fell over and gashed my leg open!! Luckily I had trousers on else it would have been a lot worse. Wiz came back for me and between her and Joe they patched me up as best they could. Moral of the story - don't stop to take pictures if you're likely to be left behind!! Luckily we were only about half an hour away from our next campsite for the night and everyone was exhausted after 5 hours of walking. We set up our tents again and the campsite was set on a hill with amazing views of the other hills surrounding the area. The dogs were still with us so we guessed they must have been stray - of course they got the left overs of our dinner that evening! After dinner we collected firewood and danced and sang around the campfire for the evening!!! Oliver went and got some banana leaves
and dressed people up which was quite funny.
Wednesday was our second day of walking. In the morning we went and found 3 caves which were amazing and luckily not as small and narrow as I had feared (I was worried I would feel claustrophobic). We were certainly glad of our headtorches at this point but they had also come in handy at the campsites as there was no electricity. After lunch we went to another waterfall - this one was one of the biggest in the park and we were able to climb up underneath it and wash (we hadn't washed for 3 days) I also washed my hair - it felt so nice to be clean for a few hours at least!! Our evening was pretty much repeated from the previous one, although there was no dressing up with leaves this time.
On the Thursday we packed up camp again and flattened our tents again! and left for the dam which is also in the national park. They call it a dam, but to me it looked like a lake as it seemed more natural in the surroundings. We set up camp by the water and
then got our swimming gear on and all got in the water with rubber rngs. There was a little shack where we set up Wiz'z ipod and played music and there were hammocks to chill out on - very relaxing.
On the Friday we woke up and all sat in the shack watching the sunrise over the water - it was one of those 'moments' that you know you'll remember. We packed up our tents for the last time that week and left the National park to go to Suphanburi town and checked into a Hotel with air con and a bath!!! we hadn't seen these for weeks, it was bliss...That eveing we were taken to a restaurant with a band playing but by 7.30 we had all asked if we could be taken back to the hotel as we were shattered and we wanted to chill in the luxurious (for this weeks standards) rooms. We all went to the shop and bought popcorn and munchies and went back to one of the rooms and all watched a film together.
On reflection this week was my best so far, it was actually quite nice being out in the
elements - we watched the sunrise and set nearly everyday and we have some fantastic memories too.
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Mum
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Beautiful photos!
Bet you're so pleased with the new camera, photos are amazing. Have also spotted how to access extra ones, so that's been a bonus as I can go back to previous blog entries.....am a slow learner, but I get there in the end. No wonder you enjoyed the beach in all that warmth - snow is forecast here for Easter! Love and hugs, Mum xx