The day started rather slowly.  Patrick and Stephanie were to meet us at our bungalow at 8:00am for breakfast.  Our guide, Jon, was also our chef.  Since he was cooking in his hut, it was taking a while… Fortunately the man must have had foresight, and brought us coffee and hot water to start with while breakfast was cooking.

The sun had already risen, and the heat was beating down on us as we ate breakfast… It was with a bit of reluctance (more from Patrick and Stephanie) that we commenced our hike for the day at about 10:00am.  This time, the trek was real.  We were hiking through bamboo country, with the trail only as wide as our feet, and a nasty drop down to the waterfall if you missed your footing.  The good part was that it was in the shade.  It was still hot and humid, but not as severe as the previous day where we had been exposed to the sun.

We had the choice of an easy trek, or a longer, harder trek, before stopping for lunch.  I was surprised when everyone requested the long trek (and a little grateful as this is the sort of trek I was expecting).  We headed off, climbing the steep track, crossing small river systems by walking over bamboo logs (our balance was severely tested with this one.) and finally started descending our hill.  At the start of this days trek we had accumulated a second guide, who had gone off when we started the long trek, to start preparing a fire for lunch.  The first part of our hike was not too difficult and it seemed like we had only just started, before we were stopping for the lunch break.

Watching our guides prepare lunch, however, was fascinating.  Armed with machetes they cut down large bamboo poles and whittled them into temporary eating bowls, cooking tubes, and chop sticks.  Banana leaves were used as a temporary ‘pot’ to steep the noodles in.  It took over an hour to cook, but the wait was worth it and the meal fantastic. After lunch we continued our descent down to one of the local villages.  I would like to describe to you what I saw, but the track was so narrow and our descent so rapid, that the only thing I was looking at was my feet.  Instead of my calf muscles protesting, now my knees were being hammered, and any misstep would result in a twisted ankle or knee, or worse, send you sliding down the side of the hill towards the water fall that we could hear somewhere below us…  It was only because I was still looking at my feet, that I noticed the snake sitting on a leaf not far from where we had stopped.  We watched for a short while until he slowly moved off and… climbed a tree… Damn… what was I meant to watch now?  The trees for snakes that could drop down onto you (and yes, they were poisonous) or my feet to save me from a misstep?  I chose to watch my feet.  If there were more snakes, they could fend for themselves and get out of my way.

When we reached the village, we again parted company with Patrick and Stephanie, who opted to rent a couple of motorbikes to take them to the hot spring, our reward for the days hike.  Cathy and I continued on at a more leisurely pace before coming to the national park.  Here a taxi was waiting for us (pre booked by Jon) to take us to the hot springs.  We eagerly climbed into the van and just as eagerly sunk into a tub full of hot water, smelling of sulphur from the springs.  Reluctantly we dragged ourselves out after about 40 minutes and completed our journey by van back to the River Guest House.

Dinner was consumed, and I sunk into my bed at 8:00pm…