I had been kind of dreading the trek the whole holiday and definitely been quite anxious about it. I knew the accommodation was going to be basic and washing facilities pretty much non existent but had been trying to gear myself in the days before we left.
We were picked up from the hotel and taken by a converted pick up truck to a local market for a bite to eat and to get some water. The guides also bought all the food we’d be eating on the trek. Already we could tell this would be different as we’d been taken places before by private bus.
20 minutes further along the route we stopped at a waterfall and given the opportunity to have a swim. I had no desire to get wet and it was pretty cold in the shade but Leigh seemed up for it. It was only a short walk before we heard the waterfall. It was very pretty and quite high but still small enough to stand under. Leigh ventured in while the three of us watched. You could see how powerful it was when he tried to stand underneath it. The water nearly knocked him over but he went back in a few more times.
After he’d dried off we took a short trip up into the hills/mountains up some very scary roads. The driver also didn’t seem to have a concept of blind bends and overtaking, lanes or what was a safe speed to be driving with an incredibly long drop only a few feet away. It didn’t help we were not strapped in and hanging on for dear life in the back!
We stopped for a quick lunch and watched some of the local men playing cards. It seems that the men have a tendency to sit around quite a lot while the woman do most of the jobs and farming. Dong tried to teach us the rules but none of us could work it out so we gave up and headed out back to truck and further up into the hills.
The roads got bumpier and the turned into a dirt track. We then just stopped and were told this was the start. Now I had been expecting rural farms, with rice fields and dirt tracks with the odd hill (that’s what it said in the itinerary) so was shocked to see we were dropped in the hills in the jungle.
I was even more distraught to see that along all the paths and in the plants were hundreds of funnel web spiders webs. I jokingly asked Dong ‘where there any spiders’ praying he’d say just the funnel webs but my worst fears were confirmed when he said the jungle was full of tarantulas and black widows. I nearly cried. We had two days and two nights in the jungle! Ahead of us was a 3 hour trek to our first village. I tried to put on a brace face but after a couple of hours, my nerves were shot to pieces and I was shaking all over. Every time anything brushed past me I thought I had a spider on me and when Leigh walked in front of me he kept knocking the plants overhead. I was sure something would drop onto me. The terrain was also pretty scary, scrambling up and down very steep and slippery hills. I’d also got two huge blisters which were screaming at me.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so happy as when we finally arrived at the place we were staying for the night. It was a bamboo hut with platform out the front with a bench and then a campfire area and a small kitchen. The toilet block was also a bamboo hut and just around the corner.
Our bed for the night:
The bench out the front of our room and also the campfire in the background.
View from the hut with the stream passing by:
We got ourselves together and headed up to the local village.
On route Dong snapped the stem of a certain plant and blew bubbles from it!
The population is about 200 people and they are from the Karen tribe. They live in bamboo huts and live entirely off the land. They eat pretty much everything that moves. The village people were friendly but also very reserved. We were told this was more of a traditional village with a lot less access to the outside world than other villages.
I dazzled them with my skill –L:
The families all have their own plot of land and grow rice to feed themselves for the year. They don’t sell any of their produce. They grow vegetables and herbs as a supplement to their rice diet and catch mice and rats as well. They also eat a lot of chillies which are very hot and have them with every meal (including breakfast)
We were surprised that they do not eat the chickens or pigs regularly as each family seems to have one pigs and there are chickens and chicks everywhere. They also don’t eat the chickens eggs, but let them hatch. Apparently the meat is saved for special occasions such as marriages where they slaughter lots of them and have a feast. I bet they dread wedding season!
Here are a few pictures from around the village:
This lady below was standing up doubled over when we met her. If you imagine that when she straightens her legs, the top half of her stays in this position. She quickly adopted this seated position which has obviously been what she has done for most of her life. She was chewing leaves which made her teeth black which is apparently attractive to the men of these tribes.
She asked to see the photos we had taken and was highly amused! I suspect she was high on something, possibly opium. –L:
Dong talks with a local family who were very poor. He told us the girls didn’t have enough clothes to keep them warm.
One of the village houses with chickens running around.
I try my hand at rice milling. It needs to be pounded about 1,000 times before the husks are broken on a bucket of rive and then the rice and husks are separated by the woman in the background with the sieve. 
The kitchen of one of the houses.
Dog asleep in the remains of a fire.
After our trip round the village we headed back to our bamboo hut for dinner. Our local guide Boon had cooked us a feast which we tucked into. As usual there was way to much food but it didn’t go to waste as a few locals came to join us. We also got the opportunity to try what the guides were eating which was curried, flying squirrel (I told you they eat everything). Leigh had a bit and said it was quite bony so I gave it a miss. 
They lit the fire and we all sat round. One of the man from the village wanted to ask us questions about where we came from so Dong translated for both of us. It also gave us the opportunity to ask some questions about their culture.
We also got to sample the rice wine/whisky. Leigh and Jenny had a bit at lunch time so it was my first taste and boy did it have a kick. As you can see from the photos below, it wasn’t my favourite tipple!
We had a couple of shots and a few beers and enjoyed the opportunity to sit around the fire with only the sounds of the stream and jungle as a back drop. Then it was off to bed (sleeping bags on thin mattresses on the floor covered by a mosquito net). I also added my own extra net to cover my face just in case any of the spiders wandered in during the night!
