It was a very early start for a Saturday morning. There were only two of us going on the trek, myself and a lady named Clare from England, who had just spent the last few months doing community work in Borneo, Malaysia. Instead of taking the normal truck to the start of the trekking route, we took the local bus with our guide, Ray, to the small town of Sappong. Here Ray bought some food and supplies from the market. We then jumped onto three motorbike taxis to take us to the start of the walking trail.The trekking itself was very nice. Unlike my trek from Chiang Mai, all three of us were very fit, and so managed to keep up a good pace, with only a few short water breaks. It was deathly hot though, and very shortly my whole shirt was dripping wet with sweat, and due to the humidity it never evaporates off you, leaving you constantly wet. It is in the middle of the hottest part of the year here, which is the reason it is low season, and no one else is out trekking. Although we did meet a small work group of men who were building a bamboo hut. It was pretty amazing to watch them work, they make everything out of bamboo, and about the only tool they use are machetes.
At lunchtime we stopped and Ray produced some bags of fried rice, biscuits and snacks which we tucked into with great gusto. There were even some orange type fruits, very similar to a mandarin, but with a green skin and pips. Ray then showed us how to make tea in the jungle. Using his machete he chopped down a section of bamboo, and then chipped a hole in the end, with a long pouring spout. The ridges along a piece of bamboo are actually internal walls, and so we had a waterproof cylinder with a hole in the top. This was filled with river water, and then placed on a small fire made of bamboo. Even though the outside of this bamboo kettle blackened, it never caught alight, and after half an hour or so, the water inside was boiling away. Using some leaves as oven gloves, it was removed from the fire, and some Jasmine tea added to it. Small tumblers were carved out of bamboo as well, and just like that we were drinking tea jungle style!
Another short walk after lunch, through more amazing countryside brought us to a small village of about 30 families. The people were of the Lahu Hill-tribe, with their own language (Lahu) and customs different from the Thai culture. We were staying with a family, and very similar to my Chiang Mai trek from a few days ago, we were staying in a large bamboo hut, with several beds arranged on the floor. Even though we had just finished lunch a few hours before, snacks and drinks were brought out, and I tried some of the local moonshine whiskey, which I was only able to finish after mixing it with some coke.Shortly after arriving and sitting down in our bamboo house for the night, the skies opened up and a great torrential rain came down. The dirt walkways of the village quickly turned to mud and even all the pigs, chickens and dogs went looking for cover. We thought we had timed things pretty well! An hour or so later it stopped raining, and we went for a short explore of the village, a process which resulted in our sandals being completely covered in mud. The kind of thick sticky red mud that clings to everything and congeals in huge globs around your feet and shoes.
Dinner followed shortly, and once again there was no lack of food. Clare and I did our best to eat as much of it as possible, but there was easily enough food for five people. Like always, it was fantastic, and included a few dishes made in the Lahu style. After dinner a small group of local school girls put on a little show for us. They were dressed in traditional costume, and sang a few songs for us, accompanied by some dancing. Afterwards we had to teach them a few songs ourselves, and so stuck to the classic nursery rhymes, of which they already knew the chorus to 'Old Macdonald'. We spent the rest of the quiet evening relaxing in our hut and chatting to our guide, before collapsing into bed. I fell asleep listening to the pigs, chickens and dogs, with the occasional cow and water buffalo throwing their voice into the melody. I woke up to the sound of the roosters, then fell back asleep to them, to be woken by them again, to fall back asleep again. I guess that is the nature of roosters.
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