in the jungle..

the 3 day 2 night trek was phenomenal. i wasn't sure what my expectations were to begin, but regardless, they were exceeded! our tour guide (we called him j.j.) was the most animated person i have ever met in my life, a fantastic cook (we ate like kings), and the most in-shape chain smoker of life..

the first day was especially gruelling. we hiked for about 3-4 hours, the majority of it straight uphill.. and by hill, i mean mountain.. it was rainy which made the paths especially muddy and i was very happy for our bamboo walking sticks.. the little ledges could be pretty slick. as challenging as it was, j.j. kept us motivated and was really good for stopping after an especially tough stretch to rest (while he smoked and sang at the top of his lungs.. i swear, the guy is incapable of being winded). the first night we reached camp, showered, and hung out with everyone on the deck of our little hut which was made entirely of bamboo. we stayed in a little village at the top of the mountain. all around was valleys and mountains and green tree tops peaking up out of the clouds.. breathtaking.

the second day trek was much more relaxed. we split into 2 groups (there was 13 of us all together) and us girls opted for the shorter trek which allowed us more time to swim at the waterfall! we had a private camp that night with a little hut and a long dinner table where we all hung out late into the night..

on the third day we hiked for about two hours before reaching the river where we put on life jackets and flourescent helmets to do some white water rafting. i've never been so terrified and thrilled at the same time! stacy and i almost got tossed out after a particularly big drop off, but my cat-like reflexes kicked in and there was no way i was getting thrown out of that raft.. we had some chanting going on, a little bit of competition between the 4 rafts.. a really good time had by all. we all bailed ship at one stretch where there were no rocks, and just floated for a bit. the current was much stronger than anticipated and we had trouble getting back to our rafts, but with the help of chris (who single-handedly held christine, jess and myself against the water) we got back on.. and from there, we got on a long bamboo raft which brought us back to the truck and our packs, and we headed back into chiang mai.