the second day of trekking wasn’t as hard as the first. it was mostly downhill to another “halfway” bamboo camp where we had lunch. the camp, more like the family’s residence, had a huge amazing waterfall next to it. when we arrived, the water was bright white. the power of the water was extreme. you could feel the wind from it while standing a good distance away. while we waited for lunch, it began to lightly rain and, after a while, the waterfall started turning a brown color and increasing in size. our guide informed us that we would be crossing the river by walking through the water. there wasn’t a bamboo bridge or rocks to hop. we kept watching the waterfall as it looked bigger and darker, which increased our anxiety of the hike as we imagined holding our bags above our heads as we crossed.

the residence had a family with a boy and girl who were no older than 6 or 7. they both walked around naked and weren’t afraid of rubbing on the filthy dogs and playing in the dirt. i was shocked at how these kids could survive without proper hygiene. i guess us foreigners are overhygienic. the camp had numerous animals. a few dogs, a cat, chickens, pigs and my favorite roosters. the shower of the residence consisted of water pouring into a bucket. i didn’t dare venture into the bathroom. i did my business behind a bush.

we left the village to start hiking through the jungle to the camp where we would be staying the night. crossing the rivers was not as difficult as we imaged and we were soon in much better spirits. after crossing the last river, our guide explained we would be hiking uphill and then some downhill to the next camp. the uphill hike wasn’t as strenous as the first day but offered some interesting scenery. this side of the mountain had many landslides and we walked across several. here is the most extreme one.

we could see the root systems of the foliage and found the roots to be shallow. this picture is of a tree that stood where we were hiking in the previous picture.

another fun feature of trekking in the jungle is the amount of bugs around you. it is the reason why i title this one, the world is covered in ants. ants are everywhere!! i couldn’t believe how many ants i saw. besides ants, we saw a multitude of bugs i had never seen before. creepy things but still amazing.

we made it down to camp which had a kiosk where you could buy beer, soda, water, chips, and cookies. we are in the middle of the jungle, and we have a convenience store! the coolest thing about it is the store hours. they close when you go to bed! sweet!

we smelled and were very dirty so we headed to the shower. the shower was a constant flow of water from a tube into a bucket which has a ladle that you use to pour on yourself. needless to say, it was fah-fah-r-r-e-e-e-zing, but refreshing and you get use to the cold after a while. the shower had no ceiling and was above the camp so you can take a shower while viewing the whole camp.

after the shower, we sat around with the rest of the group and had dinner which was basically pad thai. noodles, veggies, chicken and rice, which was ok. at least the beer was good. as it grew darker, the hosts placed candles on our table. the candles quickly drew in the moths, which were committing suicide left and right. they flew around the flame and landed in the wax only to be stuck and covered in wax. the moths also provided entertainment as they started flying around marie and causing her to freak out which freaked dee out, who was sitting next to her.

since we had been walking in water today, our shoes were soaking wet, and i think sybille got the idea to stick them next to the campfire. so, we moved over to the benches around the campfire. when you were younger, you told ghost stories and tried to scare one another while sitting around a campfire. does that go away when you get older? it appeared so. we chatted away the night with no use of scaring the crap out of one another. oh well. i think knowing we were surrounded by a dark, dense jungle with a whole lot of things we have no idea about that lurked around us was enough to keep our wits about and provide enough anxiety without adding scary stories.

fortunately, this camp supplied mosquito nets for our beds. so, as we headed to bed, we secured our beds and nets and took some sleeping pills to help with the sleep since we were wide awake but needed to go to sleep. the beer had not done the job it was suppose to. we fell asleep immediately. i woke up around 2AM and could not fall back asleep. i wanted to put my pants and socks on to use the bathroom outside. i could imagine the bugs attacking me as soon as i walked outside. i think dee wanted to strangle me cause i was waking her up. it was interesting walking with a flashlight and not being able to see anything unless you used the flashlight.

ah, it was another beautiful morning of waking up to the chorus of the rooster. i think there was one right underneath the building and was really excited about the morning. i wanted to kill it.