Day 8 - To Raft or Not To Raft...That Is The Question

After a long uninterrupted sleep, by uninterrupted I mean, a pack of wolves didn't try to savage me or a thousand mosquitoes didn't bite the legs off me, I woke, fairly refreshed.  I was really looking forward to getting onto a raft and floating back to civilisation.

It was the last day of the trek and I am not going to lie, I couldn't wait to get back to a soft hotel bed and sleep..I wanted to soak in a long bath and get locked drunk and put on clean socks and jocks and watch a crappy comedy on the hotels overpriced film list while sitting in a pool of left over take out boxes.

I still wasn't eating all that much, so when the guide handed me a piece of stale bread that was mouldy...and I mean mouldy...It was not far off that blue furry creature in Monsters Inc...I half expected it to talk to me, I just sighed and said I was grand.  I mean how can they serve this crap to people. I had to keep telling myself that this is my fault.  I paid to come on this "life changing experience"...well I defo got my monies worth, it was defo one of the most life changing experiences I had ever had.

I went back to my hut and packed my bag, put on my plastic shoes and walked straight to where we were supposed to be setting off.  When I got there one of the river guides was there speaking to another local in Thai..there was much pointing and throwing of leaves into the river.  I knew what was coming.

My pal ran down...."The river is too wild..we have to walk".. I didn't even look at her, I just asked "how far is the walk".."Six hours......Are you OK?" she asked.   "Grand" I said.."Not a Bother"...In my head I was just saying...OK 6 hours...I can do this..then we never have to do this again...

I felt real sorry for the German, who at every step cried a little bit more.  He was starting to slack off but I was arsed if I was going to hang out with him if his girlfriend couldn't be bothered...she was off with the English chap.  We stopped half way for some refreshments..a young Thai kid gave me a stick of vanilla...or sugar or something..it was so sweet..It was delicious, I sucked on it for ages, giving the little kid a bracelet I had on.  It was a fair trade.  The poor German dude only got about 5 minutes rest by the time he limped to the group.  I felt so bad for him.

After an eight and a half hour trek we arrived at this mountain restaurant.  It was an actual restaurant. It even had beer.  We were delighted. No body mentioned that it was supposed to be a six hour walk and not eight and a half.  The German was in agony.  He and his girlfriend had a massive row.  There was all kinds of language used..I wasn't sure what it was they were saying but I knew it wasn't good.

The gammy little truck arrived at the restaurant and we all sang songs and counted our bites on the journey down to the city.  I counted 32 on one leg....no lies....32 and some of them looked like saucers.  The German cried occasionally on the bus back and when he wasn't crying he was staring at his leg.  I was terrified for him, it was all swollen and red.

When we pulled in at the pick up point there was a huge cheer..We all promised to stay in touch and went our separate ways, knowing that we would never stay in touch.  We walked the short journey back to the hotel all laughs and smiles.  Already we were laughing about the landslide and me walking barefoot through the mountains.  When we reached our hotel room I ran to the bathroom and ran the shower.  I didn't even undress.  I stepped straight into it and watched the filth of the mountain run from my clothes and body.

I called my pal to look at the muck and dirt in the bath tray...we were laughing again.  That night we ordered a heap of beer to the room, had mountains of food ordered...I still couldn't eat but I tried a little.  I think I ordered it because I could.  I was starting to worry about the fact that my stomach still felt closed.  We put on a film...couldn't tell you what it was now and fell asleep on a soft fluffy pillow only waking when I realised I had spilled the beer I had in my hand all over me.  I drifted off again and was out for the count.

Day 6 - No Shoes,a crazy snake and a pack of wolves!

I woke on day six terrified of the day ahead! I was surprised I slept but really I had been suffering from shock and exhaustion from the previous days excursions so it was no wonder I had went out for the count!

The sun was shining so I decided that optimism was probably the best way to go! My feet were in ribbons, there were wounds, well if you could call gaping holes wounds, in my legs and feet, the soles were raw and I had a couple of cuts that I had obviously missed during last nights examination.

I hobbled down to the table and sat with my pal! Everyone gave me a big welcome and all were very concerned about my feet! That made me feel a little better! We were fed scrambled eggs on stale bread! My stomach wasn't the best but I managed half of it, only because I was terrified we wouldn't be fed until God knows what hour that night.

My pal had collected big leaves and one of the Germans gave me a pair of socks to make a pair of shoes! So I started stuffing the leaves into the bottom of the sock and placed them on my feet! They were very slidey!! I felt like with every step I took I was sliding around so I took them off and put the sock on then tied the leaves on with some torn bamboo! I was very McGiver like indeed. This worked a bit better!

We set off and all was fine for a couple of hours, that was until we reached another valley that we had to climb out of. There was a steep slope that was all rocks and trees! The rocks werent nice smooth ones, no, they were sharpe spiky ones that cut into your skin. The leaves had fallen off and now I was just climbing up the slope in just the socks! They were now wet and torn. With every step I could feel all the optimism that I had that morning being sucked out of me! I couldn't even cry.

After a three hour climb we stopped at the top for some more stale bread but I was feeling really sick and no amount of cajoling me would help! I think I was in shock because I couldn't even speak! When the trek guide said we were off I just stood up and started walking! I didn't even moan, what was the point.

Another hour or so later, I think I had slipped into a walking coma because I had no conception of time or distance but there was a big commotion to my left! I was marching along and out of nowhere the trek guide came up with a huge machete! He took a swung near my head, swoosh I heard, I barley looked up from my feet. But I looked up enough to see the head of a snake fall directly at my left foot.

My pal who came running up to me said 'wow, did ya see that, ya nearly walked Into the snake .... You could have died!'. I replied with "there are still three more days of this, I'm sure I be dead before the end of it" and over the snake I stepped! The way I figured it, the faster I walked the sooner this trip would be over. The day continued on pretty much like that! I would have random conversations with random people at various times but I think I was in a trance! I hadn't really eaten in two days! I wasn't drinking enough water because my stomach felt like it was closed and I was totally unclean. It was horrendous!

When we reached our next stop it was night! We could see very little but I figured it was much like the previous nights hut. We all split up in our couples, covered ourselves in muslin to keep out the Mosquitos and used our respective companions for heat!

About two or three in the morning I awoke to the sounds of snarling.... At first I thought it was the Germans having a domestic! Then I
Heard a snap and what sounded like scuffling. With that I routed around for the flashlight one of the lads had given my pal.. I turned it on, it wasn't great but just as soon as I turned it I I wished I hadn't!

A pack of wild dogs had made their way into the hut. There was about five of them! Totally oblivious of our presence and looking like they were going to tear seven shades of shite out of each other! My pal woke up and looked at where my light was shining, I
Could feel her body stiffen! "I think we may be about to die now" I whispered.

I could hear someone whimpering from across the room! The dogs were still growling at each other, I was waiting for the attack I knew it was coming, they were circling each other! One of the dogs leapt at another and all hell broke loose.. They were all over the hut, tearing lumps out of each other !!! It was the most terrifying moment of my life! One of the other women was hysterical! She was screaming and her partner was screaming at her through gritted teeth to calm down!

Myself and my pal clung to each other, I don't even think we were breathing! One of the dogs jumped on another and they both fell out of the hut! The remaining ones followed down the steps... I could hear them savaging each other outside!

Everyone knocked on their torches and the room lit up! We were still clinging to each other and you could tell everyone was shook! One of the guys was asking everyone were they all right! We eventually all settled down again into our couples and the torches were turned off! No one slept that night, myself and my pal hung onto each other tightly for the rest of the night until the sun crept in the following morning!