Be prepared: this is going to be a long one...
Firstly...HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF OUR OLDEST AND BEST FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!! CLAIREEEEE!!! We are thinking of you and hope you have a lovely day and a really good party (by the sounds of it it's going to be a good one!) Lots of love and kisses!
Ok...In the morning, Elodie had her last shower for what she thought would be at least three days. Then we were to pack only what we really needed into our small bags which meant minimal clothing and not much else (medical kit took up loads of room and so did the water). An hours journey in a truck was followed by a stop off at a market to buy supplies (i.e. food for our trek). Our group consisted of a beautiful young Dutch couple called Fernando (Ferry) and Kimberly (23 and 19), two German twin brothers Robert and David (20), a French girl Fay (21) and a German girl Sarah (20) who had met whilst working/travelling in Oz- and last and sort of least, the two Koreans who we do not know the names of or ages. Finally, we were led by our tour guide Lulu who was an eccentric and hilarious character who both made us laugh with his party tricks (Nick and Kevin you will love them we will have to show them to you at home) and jokes. Naturally, he also had priceless facts about the area. Our favourite moments of his were his outcries of not 'Oh my God' but 'Oh my Buddha!'. He wore both an Argentinian football shirt, not because of the team but because he 'liked the colours.' And on the second day, one that had the slogan 'No Money, no Honey,' to which he added 'no Baby' - hahahaha!!! First stop was the elephant camp, much more adventurous and fewer tourists than the previous one. Fortunately, we once again picked the rebel baby of the group who was not big enough for a mahout and this meant that we WERE the mahout (we took turns at 'driving' the elephant whilst sitting behind its ears). However, there were downsides to having the naughty baby, especially near the cliffs when the others were out of sight. We were pushed into huge branches, as it reached for bamboo leaves before a mahout took charge. The elephant growled with irritation (it was very hungry were told). It then charged on ahead downhill to the water where it sprayed us with mud and sand from the bottom of the river with its trunk with it kept lifting up to us for a stroke. We then trekked for more than 2 hours through the dense jungle to a waterfall. All the time, getting to know our brilliant group. We laughed and joked the whole way there - everyone spoke English as a common language so we could all talk and joke together. The Koreans (who did not speak much English) and had slept the whole way on the truck, raced ahead in front. However, after the first rest stop, they lagged behind at the back - no stamina! - whilst we charged ahead with Lulu - HA! We got to the waterfall which was not deep enough to swim in but we could stand under it and feel the force of the water which was so strong it nearly pushed Zack to the floor.
After a steep and very difficult trek, we arrived in the hilltribe village and were shown to our big hut that we would all be sleeping in on the floor together. The evening was the most enjoyable of our trip so far. This was due to a combination of things: the people, Lulu, the hearty meal and of course Lulu's BRILLIANT games. The Koreans however, decided to retire early to bed leaving only their torch for the trecherous walk to the toilet. We enjoyed listening to thehuge family in the single-roomed house next door play and talk around their fire after cooking us such a lovely meal. All of us, then retreated to our beds, absolutely exhausted from the days events. Even though there was only a thin sheet between us and the billions of bugs we slept like logs. Zack and Ferry stayed up to talk for a while (Elodie-gay (haha he doesn't know i've written this)) which apparently helped to send everyone to sleep. The next morning we were treated to a delicious breakfast of local frsh eggs (collected that morning) and little bananas picked from their trees with tea and coffee. We packed up our things and went to visit their little school which was lovely and they had lots of toys to play with. The little children were ADORABLE, especially at the nursery. Elodie LOVED it! We said our goodbyes to Ferry, Kimberly and the Koreans. We trekked to a much needed lunch break where we had delicious noodle soup and passed our free time listening to the ipod together and making spears out of bamboo (with your pen knife Dad (Kevin) which by the way we have been using LOADS as I have lost my torch so we used it as a torch in the jungle). The final trek of the day took us to our picturesque waterfall camp which consisted of five bamboo huts just for us in a secluded area by a Paddy Field. Lulu showed us the jumping rock which Elodie begged Zack not to jump off but he did it anyway and as a result has had a little bug for a day after swallowing some of the water but is now fine. Lulu also showed us these natural slides made out of rocks then we spent ages playing on. It was like natural rapids! We also got an unexpected opportunity for a shower which was so so nice as we were disgusting. The consisted of hole in the ground which stank so we tried to visit it as little as possible. Zack found it hilarious that the one time that Elodie needed the loo after holding it in all day trying to avoid going to the hole was at midnight in complete darkness with the noise of bugs and the waterfall DEAFENING! The only light we had was from a weak little torch on the end of the penknife. Lulu built us a campfire by the waterfall which we sat and talked by cooking the fish that we had caught in the river ealier with a bamboo rod. It tasted ok but very very fishy. The last day was the hardest of the entire trek, everyone was exhausted, sleep deprived and feeling a little ill. Two hours trekking was quite enough and fortunately we reached our lucnh stop where a truck was waiting to take us to our bamboo rafts down the river. Mental. The water was so rough and we finished absolutely soaking and terrified. The man steering it almost fell off! and there were huge rocks in the way! The thunderstorm the night before had swollen the river and the current was strong. We then returned weary and hungry to the hostel were it was lovely to see Kimberly and Ferrry sitting byt the pool with drinks and welcomed us with hugs and kisses, also laughing at our appearances. We made a quick trip to our old friend 'Mr Juicy' before getting back on the overnight bus back to Bangkok. A VERY uncomfortable night passed and we got back and had to go straight to the airport to catch our plane to Hanoi, Vietnam. We'll save that for next time!
We are safe and sound in our FANTASTIC room in Hanoi, typing on our personal computer with free internet!
Lots of looooooveeeee xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Zack - Dad I will send you an email tomorrow morning, bedtime now. I got your email and piccies, DICKS looked properly old-school in a good way - I am so glad it is back to its roots. Claire - we will try to send pictures soon, have a fantastic time! xxx
Elodie - It is nice to be clean again - Tessa and Claire you would have hated it! But had a really good time - strange that we are in Vietnam now.
