TREKKING DAY ONE

I had so much fun doing the cookery course I decided to sign up for something else. A two day trekk into the mountains. Staying overnight in one of the mountain villages.

We set off early, stopped at a market to buy food for the trip, then headed off by truck to the Doi Inthanon National Park. we trekked through woodland to the Mae Wang waterfalls.

we had lunch here and chilled out, but noone actually took the plunge to swim, except the guide.We then walked for a while to meet up with another guide who took us by truck a lot further up the mountain. We stopped off at an old temple.There was the most enourmous Buddha statue perched right at the top of the mountain.


The views were amazing.


I sat there for about fifteen minutes just taking in the beauty of it.It would have been Jonathan's birthday and all day I had this sadness inside of me thinking about him and this gave me time to reflect on things. (He was my eldest brother who died from lung cancer last June)
We then drove on for another fifteen minutes. Then it was time to start walking again for about two and a half hours in the blazing sun though a wonderful evergreen jungle landscape,through bamboo forest, lianas, rhododendrons and lots of other vegitation. There were also lots of beautiful birds along the way. We eventually ended up at a Karen Hill tribe village, our overnight stop.

They came out with lots of trinkets to sell to us and they were all so friendly.


There life style is a million miles away from mine. They have pigs, cows and chickens under their houses. They have open fires going in the wooden huts to cook on. They have piles of chopped wood for everyone to use. We are allowed to wander around the village and see just how they all live. The women are married from the age of 14 or 15. If they are not married by the time they are 25 they stay single for the rest of their lives.
And from what we could see it seemed to be the women who did most of the work around the place. They weaved lovely scarves on looms under their houses.

We were to sleep in a big hut.

the flooring was made from strips of bamboo. It took me a while before I really belived that it could take all our weight. And there was no privacy we were packed in like sardines.

The guides made a campfire for us and they also cooked a lovely meal. We sat around drinking and singing songs until really late. The stars were amazing. I was still thinking a lot about Jonathan when one of the guides started playing 'Wish you were here' by Pink Floyde! this was one of Jonathan's favourite songs. I just could not believe the co-incidence. It made me cry a little, but it also made me happy I felt that I had connnected with him on his birthday. I know it sounds corny but it it truely how I felt and it gave me a good feeling.