At 2pm laxman (the father in the host family) collected us from the hotel to go to his home. Weleft the hotel at 3 to catch the bus 9we thought he was bringing his car - wrong!) and then we were told that the bus leaves at 5pm so we sat outside a local shop chatting to his brother. they gave us a cuppa and I bought a large carrier bag to carry the odds and ends I'd planned to put in the boot of the car -it turned out to be the best buy ever as you'll find out from this story.
The bus set off - the road was a dirty, rocky and muddy track up the side of the mountain, we got possibly half way and stopped 3 times as the bus got stuck in the mud. The locals got off and pushed the bus and we travelled a littl further and got stuck again, they then weighted the back of the bus with rocks to give it some grip and again we moved a little further. Finally we were informed that 'the bus isn't going any further!' and we'll have to walk the rest of the way. first of all we thought they were joking but NO - so with rucksacks, my new bag and all off we set for the long walk to the house. It was starting to get dark too and we had to walk through the wet jungle up the steep hill. Luckily people seem to consider me a frail old woman who needs help carrying her rucksack and who am I to disillusion them, so Laxman carried my rucksack for me. Niamh was wearing a sarong and flipflops and all 3 of us were so unfit but after an hour or so we reached the gates of the village and sighed with relief. Then to add insult to injury we had to walk another 2km to Laxman's house by which time it was really dark. We were dead by the time we got there - it had been so difficult to see where our footing had to go and the paths were rocky and muddy. At one point we had to stand on the edge of a wall (sheer drop) to let the buffalo pass -- Mad mad mad! - I coudn't have made this up if I'd tried.
Anyway we got there and after daal/Baht for tea I went to my room which was above the buffalo shed and got my mosquito net well in place. I had a restless night as the bed was wooden and the mattress was less than a quarter of an inch thick, then the rain, thunder and lightening descended - monsoon season after all so what could I expect. They say humour = tragedy plus time and they are right as you'll see as you read on.
I'm going to write up all of my days on the mountain and hopefully I'll bring you all up to date. Sue x
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1 comment:
The pics of this trip I just have to see! After all you did, it would have been nice to have had a comfy bed!! Never mind Sue, sounds like a true adventure walking through the jungle...at night, in mud!! hehe. xxxx
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