Haven’t updated in a while and with due reason. Went on my three day trek and had the best time ever. EXCEPT for one thing. I lost all my money in the river!

The trek started with a visit to a really beautiful waterfall and a swim in its river. We then went to the Geyser (?) i.e. hot spring but it was 120 degrees Celsius so we could not swim in it or bath in it. We then trekked through the jungle for a few hours spotting the wildlife along the way.

Our first stop was in a little White Karen tribe village with a population of only 40. We rested and spoke with the villagers for a while and then another 2 hour trek uphill to our final destination that day.

We arrived in the second Karen tribe village just as the sun was setting. We walked around the village and met all the locals. They are VERY VERY primitive. Everything they did from their washing to their cooking was done in rivers and on fires. ALL light was provided by candlelight which gave it a really romantic feel.

We had a wash IN the river and came back for dinner with the tribe. We watched (And IIIII helped!) them making dinner and the group I was with all sat around and had our MASSIVE meal. We then had a campfire and drank beer and played music, did magic and learned some Thai songs and dances. I even learned to Thai Box! (I kicked lumps into my instructor) 😉

When everyone went to bed, me, So-San and Steve went out around the pitch village (So-San was our guide) and he tried to wake some of the tribes people our age, (I think he just wanted bag) but to no avail.

We ended up going back to the fire with the dogs and we smoked local …. emmm whatever it was for a few hours. Nice.

Next day we went Elephant (Chang) riding. Was a bit boring. When we got back, we started working on the craft for the highlight of the trek. The bamboo rafting!

This was LOTS of fun. HOWEVER, about half way down our raft was going over some white water rapids and we hit some rocks (Because of the two gay french guys on our raft who couldn’t steer…only mince around). As the rapids battered our boat it started to crack and finally it broke in half and we were all swept down river. I had my camera and my money in my pockets and they bubbled out and all my money was washed away. Camera is OK but the card reader is gone too. (Hence the lack of photos). The lack of money is a factor in why I have not had an update.

Anyway, next day, we trekked for a bit and hung around the water village for a while. Then we went home.

That night our group all went out together for some beers and dinner. Had a deadly time. As everyone drifted off, it ended up me and so-san left. We went to a club where I was like the ONLY white person there. He introduced me to his friends and I had a DEADLY time. REALLY nice people. It was so nice to get away from the tourist parts. Anyway, I stayed in a couples house that night. Free of charge. Gotta love the people!