Day 203, Hill Tribe Village hike, Thailand

First stop on the track

Such are the delights of sleeping in one big room with all the others; one girl was a snorer....We had great fun trying to turn her over and stop her snoring, but she was quite persistent. One fortunate thing is that she is not coming on the hike with us, so won't keep us awake for the next couple of nights, although we will miss her as she's a real laugh.

Phew

We had a drive first so didn't start the hike until 11.15. Pack was heavier than anticipated, probably about 8 kilos, but off course we're carrying water as well. So the track we're doing is through the hill tribe villages, staying in the simplest villages and houses. The track started steep, straight up pretty much. Sad had told us 'two baby hills' today. Well, if they were baby hills, I hate to see the mummy hill tomorrow. The heat was intense, so within minutes the sweat was literally pouring off us all. We had Sar with us as well two porters to help us; we negotiated the stream at least 20 times. We had a packed lunch with us from the guesthouse, packed in huge banana leaves was a beautiful stir fry. We carried on in the heat, I must have lost a couple of kilos just sweating! The terrain was rough going, and it wasn't just me who thought this. But at the same time it was pretty too and as we got nearer to the village we could tell the signs of cultivation; pineapples planted and vegetables too

After 4 hours we arrived at the village, Akha. Our accommodation is as basic as it comes, this is The Bamboo Hilton for sure! One large hut for all of us, thin mattresses on the bamboo floor. 

The bathroom consists of two toilets, squat style, one of them has a pipe from the ceiling with an on-off valve for cold water showers. But it was so refreshing anyway!

Toilet & shower

After a cold beer (yes, a fridge on our 'deck', stocked with cold beers and water) we went for a walk around 'the village', which was very small, but the people were all so pleasant and welcoming and some of the group played soccer with the kids. We played cards with the kids and after dinner an early night!