A Bit Ticked Off!

Yeah, yeah, wonderful trek, blissful afternoon, great sharing experience.  Now let ME tell it like it really was Janice!

Janice didn't quite get that the trek was to be of short duration.  Apart from her well stocked handbag (where was she going to need all that make-up in her bag?), she had two, yes TWO cameras that she was snapping away on.

Now I'm not saying that Janice is a slow walker, but you can see the guide holding his head wondering if she was ever going to catch up!  The reason that the trek took so long, is that Janice just couldn't keep up with us (the guide and I being super fit of course).  Thank goodness that I am the kind person that I am, and so at several points I volunteered to bring up the rear so that she wouldn't get lost.

Inevitably she did get lost, which is why it took us so long to complete the trek (and has absolutely nothing to do with the 5 minutes it took for them to convince me to put just one foot on the ladder we climbed down).  I took this picture just after we found her.  We had searched for her for so long, our supplies were running out.  Dear God, I hadn't any Godiva chocolate left!!!

In a piece of exploration equalled in the annuls of geographic exploration only by the finding of the source of the Nile, I discovered a waterfall.

The guide, after first sating his thirst at the river, tried to drown himself in it, shouting I can't go on guiding that Janice any more!

Eventually I managed, using my wonderful diplomatic skills, to calm Khun Chiya down.  It then fell to ME to lead us all from the wilderness

I managed to swim across this river, but Janice and the guide were unable to do so, as it was too strong for them.

Luckily, I had my girl scout bridge building badge, and put it to good use building this makeshift bridge for the two of them to cross.

By now I was getting just a tad worried by how attached the two of them were becoming.

Finally we made it out of the forest and came upon this wonderful view of rice terraces.

This is the hut where Janice had to rest up.  Honestly, it was whine, whine whine all the way.  Okay, we did almost slide down a hill on our bottoms, but come on, if I could come out of it with a laugh on my lips, why couldn't she?

It is true that both of us were ill shod, wearing only sandals, and yes the ground had subsided somewhat on the hillside where we were walking, but so what?  I was the first to venture down the hill (well, if you exclude the guide!).  My feet just went ahead of me and I started sliding down the hill.  I tried to grab some bushes on the way down, but thankfully Khun Chiya managed to dig his boots in and brace himself (there is a joke there somewhere).  When I hit him, he grabbed a handful of my boob!  Thankfully he quickly let it go again.  We slid on some more until he grabbed a bush and held on.  By the time I got to the bottom JANICE found it hilarious.  Well, you all know the old saying 'she who laughs last'.  Yes!  Down she went too, sliding away with a camera in both hands!  So Janice, who was screaming then?!

One last bridge for me to build, and we were into the village.

Now I'm not saying that Janice is a hard task master, but she made this poor woman weave all night, so that she could have just the right length of fabric.

However, Janice was made most welcome by at least one person in the village.  He was so taken by her fair skin, he rushed out of his hut carrying a dowery of three kilos of rice!  I sold her off to him, but 5 minutes later he came and asked for his rice back, saying she was too much of a feminist for his liking, having refused to muck out his pigs!

This is his rice shed and the machine he uses for husking the rice.  Er, does one husk rice?

Here is the rice with the husk on.

And here is the finished product.

Anyway, the good news is that we all made the trek DESPITE Janice.  Oh, and this was what I made her ride out from the village on, as a punishment for all her whining! 

Finally, if anyone had anything to complain about on that journey it was me.  Janice emerged without a bite on her.  I however, two weeks later, am still itching like mad with all the tic bites on my legs!!!

And that, as they say, is a true and honest account of our trek.