Nov. 29 Saturday
It is Sunday morning our time as we headed out for our two day trek. The open air pickup truck came to fetch us at our hotel and carried with it our two trekking buddies, one of whom was maybe still drunk. They ended up being great guys to hike around with and I have to say, I'm warming up to meeting new people traveling around. Everyone has got a story and place on where they're going and where they have been. This area has been a real hub for backpackers. Anyhow, feeling worse than Pat or I, the trek seemed easy for them than Pat or I. hahaha. Damn 20yr olds recover so fast! But not alot better than us I have to say.
We started off with an elephant ride around the mountainside and Pat and I had an unruly beast named something like Kujo. Not at all fitting this slow, ambling mound of an animal. We fed him a few bushels of sugarcane and bananas and he still didn't want to mind the mahout, his master, when he decided he would much rather go up the hillside to tear away at some bush or unfortunate tree. If I understood right, he eats about 1100kg of food every day! Anyway, that was great fun and they are graceful creatures as they go lumbering about with us on their backsides. The guide hopped off to take pics of us and Alexi and Robert, our trekking mates. I've gotta say I didn't like that and it was a verry vulnerable feeling to me to be left alone with this guy. Pat just laughed and laughed at me. Bastard.
After that, we trekked for a couple hours, upwards, took a couple breaks along a waterfall and whatnot to rest. Ending up in a Karen village, we stayed with a family that had a son and daughter, ages 8 and 5. We had our own hut on stilts for our home for the night. Pat and I took a walk to check out the village. The huts and homes for these people dotted the hillside of this mountain and the scenery was stunning, growing their own crops and just being so high up amongst all the greenery. Amazing. We found their school, a small institution with all the hallmarks of an elementary school in the states. Cafeteria, theirs' outdoors, classrooms, playground for recess, and a group of elementary and middle-school aged kids playing volleyball. They invited us to play, so we did!
The night was uneventful, but a really grubbing dinner, campfire, and bed. the amazing-ness I was speaking of earlier dissipated somewhere in the middle of the night because it was bitterly cold. It was 14C, and I don't think any of us got much sleep. We had sleeping bags and all, but the huts were fashioned out of boards that were not fastened together without gaps. NO insulation whatsoever. Pat came down with a fever and some bug in his stomach we think he'd been fighting for a couple of days. So he felt like real shit. We trekked a couple more hours after our 'american' breakfast; hard boiled eggs and toast. I'm not complaining I had coffee and was pretty happy. We concluded our trip with a tranquil bamboo raft ride down a beautiful, picturesque river.
All in all, this has been my favorite thing we've done so far.
