These are a few of my favorite things

When I signed up for the 2 day trek I didn't really know what to expect but it is fair to say having made it back in one piece I am far from disappointed. It was an amazing experience - one of the highlights so far for sure!

Our group consisted of a Brazillian couple, a Holland couple, two Holland gals, two Koreans, a Canadian fellow, and Michelle and I. After making it to the mountain region where we would set off from on our first day trek our tour guide 'Tony' cooked up some lunch for us and we set off.

The first day was the toughest for sure - hiking up the mountain some 1200 meters in scorching heat. I was sweating in parts of my body I didn't know I could sweat! It took us a little under four hours to make it to tribe base but once we got there, there was a general sense of accomplishment! Our 'village' consisted of about three small families who apparently hosted tourists like us on a frequent basis- needless to say, we set up quarters in our 'guest hut.' The views from our hut were something else - it really was amazing and so far removed from everywhere.

With some cold beers in hand (which were sold by the lady who owned the hut we were staying in), we had a chance to all sit around and shoot the breeze. It was great hearing all the other travel stories and it's already got me antsy for another trip (haven't decided where yet, but I'm thinking South America would be pretty amazing!).

Another thing Michelle and I noticed is that: 1. Americans rarely travel to Asia-I imagine many people are apprehensive because it's not as 'comfortable' and well-known as Europe or just that maybe it's just too far away (It did take me 25 hours to get here) and 2. Americans never take much 'time' for travel. We have met boatloads of travelers during our trip and it seems that our month long trip is absurdly short for most people. The travelers we've met are taking 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and sometimes even longer to travel Asia and the rest of the world. Some have taken leave from work, some have just graduated from college, and many we've met were actually fired from their jobs and are planning to travel until their severance package runs out...(I couldn't do it, but cheers to them!) If you think about...why not?? Of course you always have to think about money and savings, but many of us who are young will have the rest of our lives to make money and continue the work/eat/sleep cycle...am I right? Anyways, back to our trekking adventure...

It didn't take long for the sun to go down and the temperature to start dropping. Our guide, Tony, made an absolutely delicious chicken and sweet potato curry we all ate around the fire. Although it turned out to be a great evening, some s'mores really would have been the cherry on top! All was going perfectly...that is, until bedtime. With sweaters, long pants and socks on, we all made our way to the large hut to get some sleep. Have any of you ever slept on concrete floors with no padding? That would be a small step up from our huts that were lined with uneven bamboo logs (which by the way, are VERY hard) and a straw map to cover them. We tried to sleep, but to no avail woke up shivering from the cold with cricks in our backs and in dire need to use the bathrom...and that was at 2am!

Michelle and I couldn't fall back asleep again so we were just whispering and laughing at the whole situation (a little bit of dilerium had set in). It reminded me of being at camp when, once the lights would go out and the counselor would fall asleep, a few of us would jump into another friend's bunk and stay up whispering about the days events. So...we contemplated making a run to the 'outhouse' (a designated hole in the dirt) but decided we would settle for a little spot behind the hut. Of course, something had to go wrong...let's just say I haven't mastered the art of 'squatting.' It doesn't help that we were snickering and being goofballs, but as soon as I stood up from peeing I realized I had totally wet half of my left leg while relieving myelf. We couldn't hold it in anymore- we were DYING. It's amazing how once we get started on the stupidest thing, our laugh eggs each other on and we're unstopbable. We continue to hypervenilate for another ten minutes while trying to regain some composure before going back into the hut. What was so funny...looking back, I can't figure it out!?

We try to sleep till at least the sun came up, but we were RUDELY interruped by the roosters! No, this was not at 6am as one may thing- it was at a quarter past four. There were two of these insomniac villians and I wanted to throw my shoe at them. Either that, or cook them for breakfast. They went back and forth for two hours! Little sleep was had by anyone that night.

Thankfully when we pulled ourselves out of the huts into the cold, crisp morning air there was toast, fruit, and hot tea waiting for us. The second day of the trip was a lot less hard work as we were working our way downhill to a camp that housed the elephants we would be riding. Even though it was well trodden tracks that we were hiking on, it really didn't feel like there were many others around and you had the general feeling that you were totally removed from everything - it is very well organized and you really see how the native villagers live and we are just passing through.

Once we walked for about an hour we made it to the elephant camp and were treated to an elephant ride which was a great experience - the setting definitely made it. Then we moved to a calming float down the river in bamboo rafts, but not before we stuffed faces on a traditional Thai buffet (pad thai, curry, cabbage, spring rolls and stir fry vegetables). After that we made our way to some waterfalls where most people jumped into the freezing cold water and some even made their way to the top of waterfall and slid down (don't worry mom and dad, it wasn't too high up!). As soon as we were all about dried off we made our way to the white water rafting drop off. Little did we know that we would get DRENCHED! Michelle and I were with the Dutch girls and we tried to race the other boat, but apparently 2 American girls+2 Dutch girls < (is less than) 1Dutch man+1Dutch she-woman +1 Canadian guy + 1 German girl (we lost).

As much as I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the trip, I was never so glad to see a shower and a proper bed in all my life. You see I consider myself to be a part time back packer....after a few days of roughing it I like my home comforts!