THE BACKPACKER - DAY 2
Camp 1, Somewhere in Northern Thailand
The day started off badly. I swatted a large creepy-crawly off Thijs’s head but knocked him unconscious in the process. It was compounded by the fact he was still sleeping when I did it. It was still dark inside the truck, and purely by reflex, I attacked the insect by using a wheel brace that just happened to be beside me. I feel terrible about the incident – as indeed, does Thijs. It turns out we have an excellent first aid kit with us.
It was mid-morning before we managed to set off. The ground is very muddy underfoot and no doubt it is going to slow us up considerably. Morag is nearest to me and chats incessantly – fortunately, for the most part, I can’t understand her. For some strange reason she keeps referring to me as ‘Ken’. We trek for almost two hours before stopping. With the exception of our guides, we are completely knackered – especially Thijs – although this may be concussion. We have a cup of tea and some food and take a well-earned rest. I say food, it was chapattis filled with a curried ‘meat’. Maria is a vegetarian so she has a tin of peaches. I think I will be a vegetarian until I get home.
Matt and Phil have a light-hearted (I think) argument about football. Matt’s a Chelsea supporter and Phil supports Cambridge United. Maria listens to her Ipod with her eyes closed and Thijs is reading a book called the ‘Nostradamus & the Extra-Terrestrial Code of the Holy Grail’. Morag is comparing hunting knives with Hy and Lo.
Not wishing to end up with trench foot, I took off my boots and socks to dry my feet a bit, only to find I had left my towel back at the hotel. I had to use my Radiohead t-shirt to do the drying – Hail to the Thief! After an hour’s rest we set off again. We seem to be going uphill although it’s hard to tell looking at Maria – she’s a really fit girl (I must ask her if she is single).
There are some beautiful and interesting plants here but I’m told most of them are variously poisonous, carnivorous, or disintegrate when you touch them. I’ve taken quite a few photos of one that apparently only blooms for one day each year – what timing – it was beautiful, too.
Hy and Lo’s smoking is getting a bit annoying. They smoke unfiltered triple-strength Chinese cigarettes, constantly. Granted the smoke keeps a lot of the insects at bay, but cancer through passive smoking is too high a price to pay in my books. Although no one else seems to be bothered about it, I’m going to have a word with them tomorrow.
Disaster strikes. It looks like I’m the first one who needs to go to the loo. It was those bloody chapattis. I made my excuses and wandered slightly off route to undertake the necessary. As I squatted down, I noticed a little alien body attached to my privates. I let out such a high-pitched scream I even surprised myself. Lo came running and found me distraught. When I showed him the cause, he burst out laughing and then burnt off what turned out to be a leech, from my testicles. I’m sure the sound of his laughter (and Hy’s, who he just naturally had to tell immediately) will haunt me for the rest of my life.
I felt compelled to tell everyone at the campfire that night, and the ones that were listening were quite sympathetic – except Morag. She asked “Did ye shit yersel’ afore or efter ye came across the wee leach on yer heehaws?” Ha, bloody, ha, monkeywoman.
It’s our first night under canvas. The tents we have are easy to erect and hold two comfortably. Tonight I’m sharing with Phil. We put up our tube-framed hammocks, jump in, then pull over our mosquito nets. We’re both so tired after the first part of the trek, we crash out without much conversation. Looking forward to hopefully a good night’s sleep as tomorrow’s trek is up a mountain.
The day started off badly. I swatted a large creepy-crawly off Thijs’s head but knocked him unconscious in the process. It was compounded by the fact he was still sleeping when I did it. It was still dark inside the truck, and purely by reflex, I attacked the insect by using a wheel brace that just happened to be beside me. I feel terrible about the incident – as indeed, does Thijs. It turns out we have an excellent first aid kit with us.
It was mid-morning before we managed to set off. The ground is very muddy underfoot and no doubt it is going to slow us up considerably. Morag is nearest to me and chats incessantly – fortunately, for the most part, I can’t understand her. For some strange reason she keeps referring to me as ‘Ken’. We trek for almost two hours before stopping. With the exception of our guides, we are completely knackered – especially Thijs – although this may be concussion. We have a cup of tea and some food and take a well-earned rest. I say food, it was chapattis filled with a curried ‘meat’. Maria is a vegetarian so she has a tin of peaches. I think I will be a vegetarian until I get home.
Matt and Phil have a light-hearted (I think) argument about football. Matt’s a Chelsea supporter and Phil supports Cambridge United. Maria listens to her Ipod with her eyes closed and Thijs is reading a book called the ‘Nostradamus & the Extra-Terrestrial Code of the Holy Grail’. Morag is comparing hunting knives with Hy and Lo.
Not wishing to end up with trench foot, I took off my boots and socks to dry my feet a bit, only to find I had left my towel back at the hotel. I had to use my Radiohead t-shirt to do the drying – Hail to the Thief! After an hour’s rest we set off again. We seem to be going uphill although it’s hard to tell looking at Maria – she’s a really fit girl (I must ask her if she is single).
There are some beautiful and interesting plants here but I’m told most of them are variously poisonous, carnivorous, or disintegrate when you touch them. I’ve taken quite a few photos of one that apparently only blooms for one day each year – what timing – it was beautiful, too.
Hy and Lo’s smoking is getting a bit annoying. They smoke unfiltered triple-strength Chinese cigarettes, constantly. Granted the smoke keeps a lot of the insects at bay, but cancer through passive smoking is too high a price to pay in my books. Although no one else seems to be bothered about it, I’m going to have a word with them tomorrow.
Disaster strikes. It looks like I’m the first one who needs to go to the loo. It was those bloody chapattis. I made my excuses and wandered slightly off route to undertake the necessary. As I squatted down, I noticed a little alien body attached to my privates. I let out such a high-pitched scream I even surprised myself. Lo came running and found me distraught. When I showed him the cause, he burst out laughing and then burnt off what turned out to be a leech, from my testicles. I’m sure the sound of his laughter (and Hy’s, who he just naturally had to tell immediately) will haunt me for the rest of my life.
I felt compelled to tell everyone at the campfire that night, and the ones that were listening were quite sympathetic – except Morag. She asked “Did ye shit yersel’ afore or efter ye came across the wee leach on yer heehaws?” Ha, bloody, ha, monkeywoman.
It’s our first night under canvas. The tents we have are easy to erect and hold two comfortably. Tonight I’m sharing with Phil. We put up our tube-framed hammocks, jump in, then pull over our mosquito nets. We’re both so tired after the first part of the trek, we crash out without much conversation. Looking forward to hopefully a good night’s sleep as tomorrow’s trek is up a mountain.
posted by wardperfect at 5:00 am
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