To the Batcaves and Beyond

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Had a terrible night's sleep on the floor on Tuesday night and it was absolutely freezing in the hills compared to the usual Thailand humidity! Woke up hearing a banging noise and was convinced that a rat was rustling about right next to my head! Discovered later that the banging was Chiara hitting her torch on the floor every ten minutes as she was sure there were multiple rats by her bed! She had a mozzie net though so she was OK!

We couldn't go on the longer trek on Wednesday because of the bad weather (probably a good job as my muscles were hurting from the trek - or was it sleeping on the floor?), so we went on a short walk to Taperngkee Waterfall. Getting in in our bikinis was so refreshing! Nice mid-morning dip - or should I say drench, the water was so powerful! We headed back via the hill tribe village where there were some very cute babies for Laura and I to play with. After lunch most of us went to the batcaves! (Christian Bale wasn't there though, unfortunately!) The first wasn't too eventful with just a bit of clambering to do - although Joe hid under the rocks to scare some of the others which was quite amusing. The second cave had stalagtites which were very cool, and a tiny exit route where we had to crawl through on our hands and knees! Never been in such a small space for that length of time - definitely a make-or-break situation for anyone who had claustrophobia! Walked through huge corn fields (like something out of 'Signs') to the final cave, where we squeezed through some small spaces, saw one bat and people SAID there were jumping spiders in there but I didn't see anything!

Another luxury shower via the pump when we got back to camp and played a bit of cards after dinner. Must have been really tired because I ended up falling asleep even though people were drinking and singing right outside the room! Laura had lent me her travel pillow to go on top of my makeshift pillow of towel, pack of clothes and wet jacket! Set off midmorning to walk to the spot in the jungle where we were dropped off on Tuesday. Should have taken the three bottles of water I took with me to the jungle on the first day (which I didn't need!) as we didn't realise it would be a long hot slog! Followed the route of the road so it wasn't a very stimulating walk. It was trecherous in places because of the hundreds of potholes and uneven surfaces, plus the mud from the trucks made it heavy going! We were glad to reach the meeting place a couple of hours later and tuck into our bag of rice. We waited for the trucks... and waited... and waited! For some reason the trucks didn't turn up. Eventually half of the group got on another truck that was being pulled by a... wait for it.. tractor! The rest of us waited and had a bit of a sunbathe until our pickup turned up two hours later!

Eventually we arrived at Lumtaphern Dam which was so peaceful and had absolutely stunning views of the surrounding misty hills. We got straight into the water (well, into the rubber rings where the feeling of seaweed brushing against your bum was unusual, let's say!) and stayed in there until the sun went down. Ended up missing dinner as we were in the queue for the only shower between all forty of us(!) but managed to grab a bowlful for myself and Laura. We set up our 'beds' - this time on a marble floor for all of us to share, where the number of insects crawling around was slightly scary! Thankfully most of them had gone by the time we went to bed. Handed in our boots and trousers to be cleaned - could not believe how clean they came up! We then spent the evening on the pier having a few drinks and the party really got going when James started to DJ over the top of the Thai karaoke music! People were jumping up and down so hard on the bamboo pier that I thought it would definitely break! But I had to have a go!

More bread and jam for breakfast, which I wouldn't have minded except there was a toaster there to tempt us - but it was broken! Then we set off for the resort, shiny boots in tow! SO HAPPY to see a real bed, shower and toilet - just like the monastery experience all over again! We were so tired that Laura and I went straight into the pool and fell asleep on the sun loungers. Had a lovely hot shower and went out for dinner where a really good band were playing. Had a lush cocktail (don't think I've ever described anything as 'lush' but it fits well) of strawberry, vodka and malibu over crushed ice. We went back to the hotel to check out the club next door, but it was very quiet so we went down the road to find another bar. All we found was a guy randomly walking an elephant down the main road, being fed by the locals! (Prompting my joke 'I bet he's being paid peanuts' - which no-one got!!) So back to the club which turned out to be a Thai version of 'Britain's Got Talent'! So random. Barely-clad ladies singing, with what looked like the Mickey Mouse club as the campest backing dancers... lots of ladyboys in the audience and the locals were loving the compere person who had the best (or should I say worst) mullet I've ever seen!

On Saturday we checked out and went for the Best. Pizza. Ever. Well, it probably wouldn't win awards, but after such a boring diet this week we thoroughly enjoyed it. My stomach must have thought 'What is this new food? SALAD?' Back to the Twin ecohouse, which felt a bit weird to be back after five days away. I'd really missed my roommates! Was desperate to do some washing as I'd had two dirty outfits to wear all week, so did some hand washing and hoped they'd dry before we went to Ko Samet on Sunday! Caught up with the girls who had stayed at the ecohouse to do the teaching week, sounded like they'd had fun. We enjoyed our last ever night at the ecohouse playing cards after packing our bags for tomorrow. Feel like our three weeks there went so fast!

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