Rebecca popped in to school today after a tip off that it would be prudent.
In reception was huge a bouquet (bunch in man speak) of flowers, and a note from the Gilbert's saying thanks for a fantastic holiday for our daughter!
Such a kind kind gesture and especially as hazel is more like a Duracell bunny with sooo much energy, enthusiasm and friendliness it really is our pleasure to travel with her.
Gushing over.
I have changed the front page as displaying all of the posts with what now are a lot of pictures, videos, bells and whistles, takes a long time to load.
It is now limited to 10 posts only, so please use the side menu to pick through the various posts, which we are gradually updating.
Many thanks.
Over 1000 hits now and the red dots are growing !
but still only 15 comments ! it only takes a minute :)
Friday, 27 July 2007
Thursday, 26 July 2007
Visitor Map
If you scroll down a little you will see a map of locations of hits on this website. Click on the map and it enlarges.
I can identify some of the strange locations,
Us in Teesside
Us in Thailand
Miss Wolfe from New York
Peter's father in upstate New York
Peter cousin in Southern Australia
but I cannot work out some of the others, in Norway, France, Korea, India, Southern USA, Canada, Israel, Russia (I think) and some bits of Europe I can't identify. We can't get any more details from the map system but if anyone knows of anyone else who may be viewing the site from strange places let me know, I like to put a name to the dots!!
And if anyone knows anyone in Africa or South America, get them to look us up, I'd like to spread my dots about!
I can identify some of the strange locations,
Us in Teesside
Us in Thailand
Miss Wolfe from New York
Peter's father in upstate New York
Peter cousin in Southern Australia
but I cannot work out some of the others, in Norway, France, Korea, India, Southern USA, Canada, Israel, Russia (I think) and some bits of Europe I can't identify. We can't get any more details from the map system but if anyone knows of anyone else who may be viewing the site from strange places let me know, I like to put a name to the dots!!
And if anyone knows anyone in Africa or South America, get them to look us up, I'd like to spread my dots about!
Wednesday, 25 July 2007
The Joy of Computers
Pete has pottered off to work, and taken his laptop with him, so I am trying to use the other computer (the sort that’s not a lap top) to update the blog. But after an hour spent looking at items left in the next sale I seem to have killed the computer, I assume that Pete has set up a clever anti-shopping protection system! So blog updates just aren’t happening. Headed into school to use their machines but obviously I picked the day when the whole lot is shut down for a massive re-boot of the master network mother-ship sort of thing. So have popped round to a friends house to top this up.
Did manage to pass on some of the pictures to Eve Wilson the school’s admin guru, and after a good while chortling she has picked a few to put on next term’s term card. The efficiency is amazing!
Did manage to pass on some of the pictures to Eve Wilson the school’s admin guru, and after a good while chortling she has picked a few to put on next term’s term card. The efficiency is amazing!
The Morning After
After a bacon sandwich, as Pete’s birthday dinner, I was asleep by 8.30pm last night. I blame the comfort of a real bed, duvet and pillow. Then we were both up bright and early at 6am this morning. I resisted the urge to wander round my neighbours and give them all a morning wake up call.
It was strange to arrive back at school, it’s lovely to reunite the girls with their friends and families, and fabulous to hand them over to someone else so that we are finally “off duty” but after 3 weeks of travel it’s sad to say goodbye. The girls were such wonderful travelling companions, making the most of every opportunity, approaching every challenge with enthusiasm and accepting the restrictions of travelling in a large group on a school trip without a grumble, I could not have asked for more.
Thankyou for all of the kind words from parents, yes this is a big thing to organise and run but we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t enjoy it, dragging 14 girls away on holiday certainly enhances the experience!
I shall now try to backdate the blog, but it’s hard to remember everything that we did and I’m sure that I’ll miss out loads of little things, though Miss Turnbull’s “Baywatch run” impression on the beach will remain burned in my memory for years to come!
It was strange to arrive back at school, it’s lovely to reunite the girls with their friends and families, and fabulous to hand them over to someone else so that we are finally “off duty” but after 3 weeks of travel it’s sad to say goodbye. The girls were such wonderful travelling companions, making the most of every opportunity, approaching every challenge with enthusiasm and accepting the restrictions of travelling in a large group on a school trip without a grumble, I could not have asked for more.
Thankyou for all of the kind words from parents, yes this is a big thing to organise and run but we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t enjoy it, dragging 14 girls away on holiday certainly enhances the experience!
I shall now try to backdate the blog, but it’s hard to remember everything that we did and I’m sure that I’ll miss out loads of little things, though Miss Turnbull’s “Baywatch run” impression on the beach will remain burned in my memory for years to come!
Touchdown - Safe and Sound
Touchdown in Blighty.
All returned safe and sound, baggage intact, including amazingly Ms Stephens broken "designer" bag, which utilised the last 8m of my 50m roll of Gaffa tape !
Thanks to everyone involved, Explore, Essential Travel, Emirates, Pok, Guides, drivers, porters, public transport, the staff and of course the girls. The trip went perfectly well with no major incidents, which is a testament to good planning and organisation !
Arrived back to THS at around 4pm, we got home around 5, washing started at 5:05.
Assume for all parents that this was similar.
Our last travelling day was my birthday, thanks to the girls I got a card and gift and many good wishes, including the Captain on the flight wishing me a happy birthday on the intercom. Just the thing to lift me after 19days travelling and 15hrs in a cramped chair. Thankyou all.
We pushed on through till 8pm and crashed to our lovely soft bed, pillows and our unloved cat.
Unlike the girls and staff who have 2 months break, I am straight back to work today.
I will update and backdate the blog over the coming days
If any of the girls/parents/staff who have much more time than I want to post, then please do.
I maintained during the trip, it was the last one (we have year off next year for sure) however, the girls are very persuasive and we shall have to see what we can do for 2009. Watch this space.
All the best and have a great summer.
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
Day 20 - Journey Home
Friday, 20 July 2007
Day 16 - All Alive and Well
Firstly humble apologies for a lack of posts.
Time has flown, and it has been non-stop, I really have not had a minute to do anything.
The trip has been wonderful, a huge huge array of activities, villages, mud, squatty toilets, rafting, elephants, mud, mosquitos, temples, buses, mud, rice, thai DVD's, stupars, mud, burma, crocodile temple, monkeys, leeches, mud, birds, beetles, rain, sun, mud, popeye burger, rambo and did I mention mud !
I will endeavour to try and back date posts with pictures as we are now all sat at the beach, which is not my thing, so I will blow the budget at 3p a minute on the internet.
Suffice to say all staff and girls are in fine form, granted bitten scratched and battle hardened from a hard but rewarding trip.
More later, sawadee kap
Time has flown, and it has been non-stop, I really have not had a minute to do anything.
The trip has been wonderful, a huge huge array of activities, villages, mud, squatty toilets, rafting, elephants, mud, mosquitos, temples, buses, mud, rice, thai DVD's, stupars, mud, burma, crocodile temple, monkeys, leeches, mud, birds, beetles, rain, sun, mud, popeye burger, rambo and did I mention mud !
I will endeavour to try and back date posts with pictures as we are now all sat at the beach, which is not my thing, so I will blow the budget at 3p a minute on the internet.
Suffice to say all staff and girls are in fine form, granted bitten scratched and battle hardened from a hard but rewarding trip.
More later, sawadee kap
Monday, 16 July 2007
Rafting
Those who arrived at the rafts first soon mucked in to help out pumping them up. Helen is a demon with a foot pump!
we basted insect bites, checked for leaches and generally recovered.
We lunched on cold noodles and chicken, these had the added flavour, texture and nutrition provided by ants. These were well mixed in with the food and by this point we were beyond caring, we munched through regardless!!
Once Pok had bounced on all the boats and tested the ropes we had our safety briefing, tuck your feet under the seat in front and hold on!
We scrambled elegantly into our boats and prepared ourselves to head downstream.
we basted insect bites, checked for leaches and generally recovered.
We lunched on cold noodles and chicken, these had the added flavour, texture and nutrition provided by ants. These were well mixed in with the food and by this point we were beyond caring, we munched through regardless!!
Once Pok had bounced on all the boats and tested the ropes we had our safety briefing, tuck your feet under the seat in front and hold on!
We scrambled elegantly into our boats and prepared ourselves to head downstream.
Day 12 Trek to the Rafting
Awoke at 5am to the sound of the worst cockrel yet, it was a real cock a doodle squak! Lay thinking of ways to kill a cockrel until wandering in to wake the girls at 6am.
Each day Pok gave us the times for breakfast, and vacating our rooms, after 12 days my head was a scramble of 7ams, 7.30ams and so on, so I had not the faintest idea what the timings were for today, so 6am seemed as good a time to start as any!!
The girls were now proficient at getting up, dressed and packed whilst still officially asleep so we trundled down to the porters hut for breakfast probably rather early. Where a German chap and his two female Thai companions who had been staying in the village were also breakfasting.
After breakfast our bags were loaded into the trucks to go stright back to the resort and we prpared for our day of trekking and rafting. We were kitted out with life jackets and hard hats. We were also given a new walkin stick. This set Pete off bemaoning the loss of his origional walking stick, only a matter of time before he started on about his beloved thermometer.
As we were dressing ourselves our elephants arrived. The resort manager had some though an provided 4 elephants, 2 to carry the boats and 2 for us. The Thai ladies also got an elephant, they weren't really dressed for trekking, silk shirts, legging and flip flops are not jungle attire. The first Thai lady climbed on the elephant fine, the second got one foot up, grabbed hold of the basket whilst the porters gave her a bunk up, and then the elephant decided to stand. Instead of letting go she held on, hanging from the wooden basket by her hands whilst her german companion and the porters tried to support her legs and shouted for her to let go. But she held fast, the elephant kicked away her helpers and tried to shake her off using his leg and her trunk. We sttod and watched, somewhat aghast, bemused as to why she didn't just let go, we were of course experts in all matters elephant by now! She eventually dropped down, none the worse.
When our lot jumped aboard their elephants they did so with nervous speed and agility!!
So the elephant people set off up stream, quite litterally, and the rest of us headed through the village for our trek. It was a sunny but not too warm day and the walking was easy, until we hit the first style. Thai fences are made from bamboo, and the styles are a variety of constructions, non of which look strong enough to support anyones weight, but we scrambled over only to be confronted by a steep slope to slip and slide down. We headed off, sometimes through jungle sometimes through fields of sweetcorn. Every now and then a fence to cross but all was well with the world.
And then came our first river crossing, over a bridge. The bridge spanned the river in two parts as their was a little central "island" It was a bamboo construction with three poles of bamboo to walk on and one to hold, all about 5 foot above the river. We all clung to the river bank as the group edged across one by one. The porters took our walking poles and laughed as we nervously edged across like a complete bunch of jessies!
Two of the proters tired of waiting for us to dither across and so waded over the river. Shikha and Rachel, who were at the end of the "queue" asked if they could do the same (as both have a healthy fear of high things) the proters waited to assist as Shikha, Rachel and I waded through the waist high waters. Pete who was behind us called us wimps and headed over the bridge with the last few proters behind him. As he got half way over the bridge collapsed and gave way, dropping 3 porters into the water and giving Pete a bit of a scare. The porters were all fine, it was only a short drop and they just got a bit wet. So I thank Rachel and Shikha for wanting to wade, as if they hadn't we would have gone in the water. I do hope that the bridge was easy to fix!
We carried on walking along the river but every now and then the trail crossed the river and as there were no more bridges we had to wade! The porters strung a rope across the river and stood along the rope holding it steady and we walked and stumbled across holding onto the rope, the rest of the porters stood downstream ready to catch us if we took a tumble. Most of the time the river was fairly placid so the porters and girls spent most of the tme splahing each other. Dryness was now a distant memory!
As we got further up the river the crossing got trickier. But soon it was time for the elephant swap over. Miss Stephens and her gaggle had spent their time luxuriating n the elephants and now it was their turn to get wet.
Pete and I then got on the elephants, with some f the girs and lurched the rest of the way up the river. After an hour we were a little "saddle sore" and pleased to scramble down at the rafting spot, damp, sore, bitten and hungry.
Each day Pok gave us the times for breakfast, and vacating our rooms, after 12 days my head was a scramble of 7ams, 7.30ams and so on, so I had not the faintest idea what the timings were for today, so 6am seemed as good a time to start as any!!
The girls were now proficient at getting up, dressed and packed whilst still officially asleep so we trundled down to the porters hut for breakfast probably rather early. Where a German chap and his two female Thai companions who had been staying in the village were also breakfasting.
After breakfast our bags were loaded into the trucks to go stright back to the resort and we prpared for our day of trekking and rafting. We were kitted out with life jackets and hard hats. We were also given a new walkin stick. This set Pete off bemaoning the loss of his origional walking stick, only a matter of time before he started on about his beloved thermometer.
As we were dressing ourselves our elephants arrived. The resort manager had some though an provided 4 elephants, 2 to carry the boats and 2 for us. The Thai ladies also got an elephant, they weren't really dressed for trekking, silk shirts, legging and flip flops are not jungle attire. The first Thai lady climbed on the elephant fine, the second got one foot up, grabbed hold of the basket whilst the porters gave her a bunk up, and then the elephant decided to stand. Instead of letting go she held on, hanging from the wooden basket by her hands whilst her german companion and the porters tried to support her legs and shouted for her to let go. But she held fast, the elephant kicked away her helpers and tried to shake her off using his leg and her trunk. We sttod and watched, somewhat aghast, bemused as to why she didn't just let go, we were of course experts in all matters elephant by now! She eventually dropped down, none the worse.
When our lot jumped aboard their elephants they did so with nervous speed and agility!!
So the elephant people set off up stream, quite litterally, and the rest of us headed through the village for our trek. It was a sunny but not too warm day and the walking was easy, until we hit the first style. Thai fences are made from bamboo, and the styles are a variety of constructions, non of which look strong enough to support anyones weight, but we scrambled over only to be confronted by a steep slope to slip and slide down. We headed off, sometimes through jungle sometimes through fields of sweetcorn. Every now and then a fence to cross but all was well with the world.
And then came our first river crossing, over a bridge. The bridge spanned the river in two parts as their was a little central "island" It was a bamboo construction with three poles of bamboo to walk on and one to hold, all about 5 foot above the river. We all clung to the river bank as the group edged across one by one. The porters took our walking poles and laughed as we nervously edged across like a complete bunch of jessies!
Two of the proters tired of waiting for us to dither across and so waded over the river. Shikha and Rachel, who were at the end of the "queue" asked if they could do the same (as both have a healthy fear of high things) the proters waited to assist as Shikha, Rachel and I waded through the waist high waters. Pete who was behind us called us wimps and headed over the bridge with the last few proters behind him. As he got half way over the bridge collapsed and gave way, dropping 3 porters into the water and giving Pete a bit of a scare. The porters were all fine, it was only a short drop and they just got a bit wet. So I thank Rachel and Shikha for wanting to wade, as if they hadn't we would have gone in the water. I do hope that the bridge was easy to fix!
We carried on walking along the river but every now and then the trail crossed the river and as there were no more bridges we had to wade! The porters strung a rope across the river and stood along the rope holding it steady and we walked and stumbled across holding onto the rope, the rest of the porters stood downstream ready to catch us if we took a tumble. Most of the time the river was fairly placid so the porters and girls spent most of the tme splahing each other. Dryness was now a distant memory!
As we got further up the river the crossing got trickier. But soon it was time for the elephant swap over. Miss Stephens and her gaggle had spent their time luxuriating n the elephants and now it was their turn to get wet.
Pete and I then got on the elephants, with some f the girs and lurched the rest of the way up the river. After an hour we were a little "saddle sore" and pleased to scramble down at the rafting spot, damp, sore, bitten and hungry.
Sunday, 15 July 2007
Day 11 After the elephants - hut in a village
After our brief stop to refresh we piled back into the trucks, one of the usual pick ups and the resort owners shiny new truck which was more comfortable, except perhaps for those perched in the back!
We set off through "town" and then out into the countryside, along boggy dirt roads. Our smiley drive offered us sweets and put on a Dolly Parton cd. He pointed out many of the houses, waved at everyone and stopped to chat to a women carrying a new baby, he was obviously a bit of a head honcho!
After about an hour on some very dubious tracks we reached a village next to a river. We piled out next to hut very similar to our previous night's accommodation, but at it wasn't raining and it was right next to a picturesque river to us it seemed glorious. Then the porters unloaded our rucksacks and led us into the village proper to our actual accommodation. A large solid wooden building, with steps up to a balcony and a large room with nets and bedding already set out. You'd have thought we'd been presented with the Ritz, we were so excited. Even the squat toilet in a hut near the pig pen didn't phase us. The excess of chickens and cockerels even made it feel more homely.
We divvied up the beds, Stephens, Turnbull and Rose taking the net nearest the door and Peter and I taking the net outside on the back balcony, standard precaution to protect the girls from viking style marauders!! As we were harassed all night by dogs, cats and lots of creepy crawlies I wish I'd left Pete out their alone!!
We spent a pleasant afternoon sat chatting, playing cards, paddling in the river, dealing with our bites and scratches and generally just chilling out.
At dusk we were called over to the porters hut for dinner. They had laid out the mats with candles and food. We were in good spirits and were now used to the rice, omelet and tomato ketchup combo (most of us ignored the carefully prepared chicken dishes).
Supper was completed with lashing of Ovaltine lovingly prepared by Steph, now qualifying for an advanced hostess Brownie badge.
We had had far too much good luck, so the rain started as we were due to head back to our house. We were now proficient at walking in the rain, mud or dark so all three posed no problems.
We settled in to our luxury accommodation; 2mm mattress on a wooden floor, in a windowless room with no air conditioning or fans, with animals scrabbling under the floorboards, bugs everywhere, it was pure heaven!
Day 11 - Mourning a Loss
Enough Day 11 reports now.
All that's left to say is that, after 3 days and miles of trekking, my trusty friend "Mr Stick"is lost, abandoned in Umphang province.
We had a good relationship, at times it saved me from hazardous falls, braced me against slopes, and in full "light saber mode" repelled any spikey bitey plants, bamboo shoots or shrubs which chose to attack us on our journey.
The depth of my loss was and is hard to bear, and if your reading this Mr Stick, it was not me who left you by the river.
After a wash in the river, the ice cold coke I think was the best I have ever had.
Feeling down after the lost of Mr Stick, it was good to have the return of my trusty rucksack.
On inspection and to compound my mood I found that during my rucksacks ride on the elephant, my lifeline that is my thermometer had disappeared.
I therefore dislike elephants.
In memorandum, the following images are my epitaph to Mr Stick and Thermometer
Ms Turnbull, Stephens and Crosby carving their names in sticks.
As you can see, Ms Stephens head torch is clearly an Ikea Desk Lamp.
Thermometer RIP :
All that's left to say is that, after 3 days and miles of trekking, my trusty friend "Mr Stick"is lost, abandoned in Umphang province.
We had a good relationship, at times it saved me from hazardous falls, braced me against slopes, and in full "light saber mode" repelled any spikey bitey plants, bamboo shoots or shrubs which chose to attack us on our journey.
The depth of my loss was and is hard to bear, and if your reading this Mr Stick, it was not me who left you by the river.
After a wash in the river, the ice cold coke I think was the best I have ever had.
Feeling down after the lost of Mr Stick, it was good to have the return of my trusty rucksack.
On inspection and to compound my mood I found that during my rucksacks ride on the elephant, my lifeline that is my thermometer had disappeared.
I therefore dislike elephants.
In memorandum, the following images are my epitaph to Mr Stick and Thermometer
Ms Turnbull, Stephens and Crosby carving their names in sticks.
As you can see, Ms Stephens head torch is clearly an Ikea Desk Lamp.
Thermometer RIP :
Day 11 - Elephant Trek - Downhill - On an Elephant - By Crosby
OK, I was nervous to say the least about the uphill trek as I had been informed that elephants tended to be introduced in to this section of the trek due to the incredibly difficult terrain! However, we soon found our pace and were constantly entertained by the mud sliding efforts of Steph, Hollie and Pok – who at one point looked like some kind of international ice-skater performing the most amazingly flexible manoeuvres just to stay upright – needless to say it didn’t work and he ended up on his back more than once!
After a few hours of hilarity, it was our turn to take a ride on the elephants. I had been building this up in my mind as some sort of luxury Disney ride with a wonderfully comfortable sofa like seat and maybe a G&T? Mrs Kirk’s description of actually getting on the elephant was absolutely right…..I don’t think I have ever felt less dignified! It’s always quite embarrassing when it takes twice as many porters to push you up into the ‘seat’ than anyone else! Anyway, Laura and I set off for a few hours of comfort after a hard morning.
I don’t think that I had actually engaged brain for long enough to consider what this would feel like. The ground was very soft due to the torrential rain and the elephants were slipping around all over the place. I had spent the morning working on my leg muscles and it became clear very quickly that the downward journey would balance out my morning workout with some focus on my core and upper body strength! This was not some twisted excuse to fit a workout into our trip (most of the girls would happily tell you that my priorities lay elsewhere!) but was actually essential to ensure that you didn’t fall out of the bamboo basket masquerading as a seat! It was a very steep descent and I started to feel very guilty about electing to walk up hill – it must have been nearly impossible to walk down this section without falling over every other step – in fact one of the smaller elephants did fall over and lost his mahout, leaving the girls to fend for themselves momentarily!
There were a few clearings during the descent and the views were beautiful – it was amazing to see how far up we had walked. The ride was much more exciting than I thought it was going to be but the only downfall was the mosquito’s – I was eaten alive this afternoon and they seemed particularly interested in my face!! After what felt like months and feeling horribly guilty that I was very ready to get off after looking forward to the ride, we arrived at the bottom and waited for the walkers to catch us up. We then caught our ‘dinky’ transfer to the van which would take us back to the ‘resort’……but not before a quick bath in the river! Another excellent day!
Day 11 - Elephant Trek - Downhill- On foot!
We set off in good spirits. Up hill initially and keeping pace with the elephants, stepping aside to let them pass and then scrambling along at a safe distance. It;s not easy to walk along an elephants track, they churn up the ground and create broad footprints full of water that can be deceptively deep!!
We reached the top of the hill before the elephants and stopped for a drink (of water though at this point gin would have been preferable) and let the others file past. We were all smiling and waving, until a family from the other group went past on their (stolen) elephant.
They waved and said "we should try riding an elephant",
we bit back the retorts!
We laughed and said "we liked to walk",
they responded "that they had already been walking for 2 days",
we bit back the response that "so had we and we managed the jungle trek on day 1 where they only managed to walk down the dirt road and that maybe they should get of OUR elephants and try a real trek instead" but bitterness aside I'm sure that they were very pleasant people.
So we set off down hill. Following the path at times and nipping through the jungle when the elephants were nearby or when the path was impassable. We were doing pretty well, the odd slip or slide but reasonably steady, we couldn't see why the others had got so muddy. Then the path got harder, no longer were there solid bits to walk on, it was sheer slippy mud or large boulders and rocks, and then the slipping started. Tumble Shikha had a few fabulous slips where she managed to right herself, but then a squeal signified the firs full slip. Hayley soon followed suit and then the ever elegant Helen managed to fall. By this point cleanliness was a negative trait and we were all soon caked. Kate was the most steady, a fair few "wahey" moments but she took sliding to new levels, never actually falling.
Then we reached the top of a long slope, with not a rock, tree root or stable surface in sight. Just the thought of it caused me to fall, Shikha did another tumble and landed firmly on her coccyx (sp, and me a biology teacher!) and then Kate fell over, we realised we were all doomed!
As we slid down the slope the porters, bless their little non existent socks, tried to us themselves as bracing points for us. But a porter offering you his foot to place yours against when he probably only weighed 8 stone soaking wet does not feel right, and when we tried it the porter (Happy time I think) slipped more than I did and we both ended up in the mud.
We reached the top of the hill before the elephants and stopped for a drink (of water though at this point gin would have been preferable) and let the others file past. We were all smiling and waving, until a family from the other group went past on their (stolen) elephant.
They waved and said "we should try riding an elephant",
we bit back the retorts!
We laughed and said "we liked to walk",
they responded "that they had already been walking for 2 days",
we bit back the response that "so had we and we managed the jungle trek on day 1 where they only managed to walk down the dirt road and that maybe they should get of OUR elephants and try a real trek instead" but bitterness aside I'm sure that they were very pleasant people.
So we set off down hill. Following the path at times and nipping through the jungle when the elephants were nearby or when the path was impassable. We were doing pretty well, the odd slip or slide but reasonably steady, we couldn't see why the others had got so muddy. Then the path got harder, no longer were there solid bits to walk on, it was sheer slippy mud or large boulders and rocks, and then the slipping started. Tumble Shikha had a few fabulous slips where she managed to right herself, but then a squeal signified the firs full slip. Hayley soon followed suit and then the ever elegant Helen managed to fall. By this point cleanliness was a negative trait and we were all soon caked. Kate was the most steady, a fair few "wahey" moments but she took sliding to new levels, never actually falling.
Then we reached the top of a long slope, with not a rock, tree root or stable surface in sight. Just the thought of it caused me to fall, Shikha did another tumble and landed firmly on her coccyx (sp, and me a biology teacher!) and then Kate fell over, we realised we were all doomed!
As we slid down the slope the porters, bless their little non existent socks, tried to us themselves as bracing points for us. But a porter offering you his foot to place yours against when he probably only weighed 8 stone soaking wet does not feel right, and when we tried it the porter (Happy time I think) slipped more than I did and we both ended up in the mud.
Rachel decided the only way down was on her bottom. So sat and slid her way down that hill, it worked perfectly until she hit the wetter sloppier mud at the bottom, and suddenly she had a large amount of runny mud up her shorts. Rachel as ever was very vocal in her "joy" at this experience but in true Rachel style took it in her stride and just laughed, a lot!
At the base of the hill we were all shattered, and spirits hit rock bottom when Pok told us we had another hour to go. We had been struggling along for and hour and a half and had had enough. Luckily the rest was fairly flat but we walked on autopilot. This time resorting to the alphabet game of favourite foods to keep us going, though this soon became a list of foods we craved!
I must give credit to the porters and Pok who walked the whole way, kept our spirits up, kept us safe (the porters that is as Pok was as unsteady as we were) and to Pete, who gallantly walked the whole way, refusing the chance of an elephant so that all the girls had the opportunity to ride an elephant. If anyone ever wonders why a teacher's husband come on a trip like this, that's one of the reasons why, he'll do anything for those darn girls!
Eventually we arrived at a river, to see two of the porters attempting to paddle a dinky boat against the current to fetch us. We were well and truly exhausted. We piled in and took the short trip down stream to the other side, where the others were washing off the mud in the river. Steph said that it was the best wash she has ever had.
There were trucks waiting for us, with glasses of ice cold coke. I was not in the best of tempers and when I saw Pok berating the owner of the resort about the lack of elephants I had to walk away for fear of throttling him or crying. (we did not know the full story of the elephants so blamed the resort owner at this point)
When we returned to the resort he apologised profusely, and then explained what had actually happened, he was furious about the situation and felt terribly guilty, even though it wasn't his fault. As penance he had sent one of his chaps to get loads more Ovaltine for us (he had heard of our addiction) and promised to get us elephants to help us on the next days trek.
We then had the promise of quick showers before we moved onto our next camp, unfortunately one shower was running cold and the light exploded in the other, so we chose to stay dirty rather than risk dodgy electrics, though Irmina and a few others managed an ice cold bucket shower. We collected some clean clothes from our bags, popped to the "shop" to stock up on Oriios and jumped into the trucks to head to our next camp.
Day 11 - Elephant Trek - Uphill - By Foot
A PICTURE SPEAKS A THOUSAND WORDS
12K IN THESE CONDITIONS :
Having been forewarned about the elephant shortage, I and others where quite happy to have a potter in the jungle. My bamboo stick (with my name now carved in) was jungle hardened and could face any challenges.
The guides had warned us that conditions where tough and that as the rain was ON constantly, conditions underfoot for anything other than a mammoth would be testing. Thanks to Pok and the mahouts, to make walking easier our rucksacks where loaded on to the elephants, this made a massive difference to manoeuvrability.
Pok joined us for the first stint, and being ever mindful was constantly uttering "mind your step" as we slipped and slid up the "path". Elephants as you might imagine tend to leave quite big footprints, these in soft wet mud tended to be a tad deep, careful foot placement either side of the potholes was required.
Quite often this was in vane as my all terrain boots clearly were not 2-foot-deep-jungle-mud proof. However they did prove effective in scooping up mud thus giving me a footprint the size of an elephant but with zero grip. The girls equally took the 2 steps forward 1 step back method. Most of the time the 1 step back was uncontrolled and partnered with a wail, however progress was made.
Miss Stephens perfected some dance / gym moves with very balletic pirouettes spins and turns, she would claim these intentional but the facial expressions told me otherwise.
Regardless of the toil, it was fun, with laughter and singing punctuating the slopping and falling.
The guides in all this where invaluable helping out at every opportunity with support and hand holds, despite all our best efforts to collect them as we slid towards a boggy hole.
Pok was clearly a liability throwing himself valiantly around in the mud, at one point he did a cartoon like defying gravity move, where he was falling horizontal head first toward a foot hole. Somehow he got his legs under him and saved himself, I have no idea how he did it and I suspect he does to
Elephants are actually quite slow plodding up hill, so having set off before the riders we were quite a way ahead before the tiny patter of elephant feet could be heard. Trust me, when you are struggling to climb a muddy bank in the jungle the site of your wife on a 30ft elephant a foot behind you tends to give you a bit of a spurt.
We let them pass and judging by some of the groans and grimaces I was quite glad to be on terra-boggy.
We then slogged on to the top of the hill, where a change over awaited.
Video collection which I think illustrates the conditions for the walkers and the riders.
[Soundtrack is for the benefit of Hilly, Steph, Hayley and others - who sang the first line of this song for hours]
12K IN THESE CONDITIONS :
Having been forewarned about the elephant shortage, I and others where quite happy to have a potter in the jungle. My bamboo stick (with my name now carved in) was jungle hardened and could face any challenges.
The guides had warned us that conditions where tough and that as the rain was ON constantly, conditions underfoot for anything other than a mammoth would be testing. Thanks to Pok and the mahouts, to make walking easier our rucksacks where loaded on to the elephants, this made a massive difference to manoeuvrability.
Pok joined us for the first stint, and being ever mindful was constantly uttering "mind your step" as we slipped and slid up the "path". Elephants as you might imagine tend to leave quite big footprints, these in soft wet mud tended to be a tad deep, careful foot placement either side of the potholes was required.
Quite often this was in vane as my all terrain boots clearly were not 2-foot-deep-jungle-mud proof. However they did prove effective in scooping up mud thus giving me a footprint the size of an elephant but with zero grip. The girls equally took the 2 steps forward 1 step back method. Most of the time the 1 step back was uncontrolled and partnered with a wail, however progress was made.
Miss Stephens perfected some dance / gym moves with very balletic pirouettes spins and turns, she would claim these intentional but the facial expressions told me otherwise.
Regardless of the toil, it was fun, with laughter and singing punctuating the slopping and falling.
The guides in all this where invaluable helping out at every opportunity with support and hand holds, despite all our best efforts to collect them as we slid towards a boggy hole.
Pok was clearly a liability throwing himself valiantly around in the mud, at one point he did a cartoon like defying gravity move, where he was falling horizontal head first toward a foot hole. Somehow he got his legs under him and saved himself, I have no idea how he did it and I suspect he does to
Elephants are actually quite slow plodding up hill, so having set off before the riders we were quite a way ahead before the tiny patter of elephant feet could be heard. Trust me, when you are struggling to climb a muddy bank in the jungle the site of your wife on a 30ft elephant a foot behind you tends to give you a bit of a spurt.
We let them pass and judging by some of the groans and grimaces I was quite glad to be on terra-boggy.
We then slogged on to the top of the hill, where a change over awaited.
Video collection which I think illustrates the conditions for the walkers and the riders.
[Soundtrack is for the benefit of Hilly, Steph, Hayley and others - who sang the first line of this song for hours]
Day 11 - Elephant Trek - Uphill - By Elephant
This is where the experience varies depending on which section you walked or rode. I shall tell my version, Pete can tell his and Crosby, Stephens or Turnbull (or one of the girls) can tell their bit.
We arrived at the end of the bridge to meet our trusty steeds. A few elephants met us and they started loading our rucksack on. After a lot of jostling between porters, mahout and elephants the bags were strapped down and we were ready to load us!
We arrived at the end of the bridge to meet our trusty steeds. A few elephants met us and they started loading our rucksack on. After a lot of jostling between porters, mahout and elephants the bags were strapped down and we were ready to load us!
The elephants knelt, and we were warned that their patience was limited so to climb up quick! The knack was to place your right foot on the elephants front leg, then your left foot on it's flank and then haul yourself into the wooden contraption on its back, ably aided my the mahout pulling you from above and the porters pushing you from behind. Not exactly dignified, and nothing like the cartoon versions where the elephant helps you up with its trunk!
The minute you were sat the elephants stood up, in a rather lurching manor! Now I have a healthy and completely rational fear of elephants, they are big, moody and have every right to be annoyed as you scramble onto them, so clearly the elephants allocated to Rachel and myself where about 200 feet tall, so a big stroppy male elephant a few miles off the ground, perfect. Rachel also shares my fearful respect of elephants and my equally healthy fear of heights!
We are not irrational, elephants can stomp on you and hurt you and falling from any height isn't exactly good for the constitution. The second our bottoms landed onto the "seat" our 80 foot giant stood up and headed off into the jungle, so I am presuming that the other girls got on their steeds ok (Pete, Stephens, Crosby and Turnbull were supervising the others whilst Rachel and I laughed in that close to hysteria way!)
The other elephants soon fell in behind and we set off along the "path." Having the tallest elephant meant that we were the ones to encounter every spiky bit of foliage along the way, though our mahout cheerfully machete-ed his way through much of it. As he was right handed it tended to be a one sided clearance, I was continually impressed by Hayley's ducking ability.
As we lumbered along on the relative comfort of our beasts the others set off to walk. We caught glimpses of them through the trees as they tried to find a less boggy path. Occasionally they got ahead of us and stood waiting in a clearing. It was a long trek up a big hill, and we all felt bad that they had volunteered for the tough upward leg. You could not help but be impressed by the power and agility of the elephants, they climbed over some tricky obstacles, moved trees out of the way and never lost their footing.
The deal was to get to the top and then swap over so the walkers got to ride and the riders got to walk. In a rocky clearing we scrambled, with true elegance, down to Terra firma and awaited the walkers. A little chaos ensued in installing the now tired and muddy walkers on the elephants and then they set off. We cheerfully waved good bye and then set off up the hill!
Day 11 - Jungle awakening
We awoke the next morning to the now standard chorus of cockrels!
I noticed that Lizzie, Rachel and Kate had chosen to sleep around the edges of their bedding area, in a strange horseshoe shape. Then I notinced the wet patch in the middle!!! According to them the roof had leaked in the night, and rather than make a fuss in the early hours they had just rearranged themselves.
We breakfasted in bed, well the porters brought breakfast to our hut so we had no choice really. Standard fair of eggs and toast, and Steph prepared coffee for us all, I'm sure that in the Brownies there's a badge for that!
We donned our still wet clothing and boots and set off for our rendevous with the elephants and what was to be that hardest and most comical trekking day yet.
Pok had quielty warned Pete and I the night before that there may not be enough elephants for the day's trek. He had no idea how or why but he spent a frantic evening trying to resolve the problems with the locals. It later transpired that our tour company had "booked" sufficient elephants months ago, but another, less organised group had not, so decided to go straight to the elephant mahoots (handlers) and offer them more money, effectively stealing our elephants. We had forewarned the girls so that when Pok, having had no luck, came to break the bad news to the girls he was met with a chorus of "Don't worry Pok, we like walking" or "Don't worry Pok it'll be more of an adventure" and so on. It may have been a little over the top but I could not have been more proud of the girls, they accepted the situation and saw the positive side and then went out of the way to reassure Pok. He was truly moved by their attitude. Those darn girls have hearts of gold!
I noticed that Lizzie, Rachel and Kate had chosen to sleep around the edges of their bedding area, in a strange horseshoe shape. Then I notinced the wet patch in the middle!!! According to them the roof had leaked in the night, and rather than make a fuss in the early hours they had just rearranged themselves.
We breakfasted in bed, well the porters brought breakfast to our hut so we had no choice really. Standard fair of eggs and toast, and Steph prepared coffee for us all, I'm sure that in the Brownies there's a badge for that!
We donned our still wet clothing and boots and set off for our rendevous with the elephants and what was to be that hardest and most comical trekking day yet.
Pok had quielty warned Pete and I the night before that there may not be enough elephants for the day's trek. He had no idea how or why but he spent a frantic evening trying to resolve the problems with the locals. It later transpired that our tour company had "booked" sufficient elephants months ago, but another, less organised group had not, so decided to go straight to the elephant mahoots (handlers) and offer them more money, effectively stealing our elephants. We had forewarned the girls so that when Pok, having had no luck, came to break the bad news to the girls he was met with a chorus of "Don't worry Pok, we like walking" or "Don't worry Pok it'll be more of an adventure" and so on. It may have been a little over the top but I could not have been more proud of the girls, they accepted the situation and saw the positive side and then went out of the way to reassure Pok. He was truly moved by their attitude. Those darn girls have hearts of gold!
Saturday, 14 July 2007
Day 10 - More Trekking
In the afternoon we set off through the jungle once more. By this time little phased us and we attacked the hills, mud and foliage with gusto.
A new addition to our repertoire was river crossings. Bridges made of felled trees or bridges that some of us, me included, were complete jessies about crossing.
We trudged along for a few hours, playing various word games to keep us going, and occasionally breaking into song.
After bathing and powdering our bites and scratches we settled into our netted areas to sleep. Three to a net. Miss Turnbull got to bunk in with Hayley and Hilly, and Miss Stephens, Miss Rose and the kirks bunked together. Not exactly Pete's idea of fun but it was that or sleep under the hut with the dogs and chickens, in hind site that may have been preferable!
I have recollections of laughing a lot, mainly at Miss Turnbulls expense or at the desk lamp sized head torch that Miss Stephens wore.
Steph's made the classic comment that it was 5 past 9 on a saturday night and we were all tucked up in bed, in a hut, in the jungle! School trips are so glamorous!
Miss Turnbull used the phrase "I'm a teacher get me out of here" on more than one occasion as she was prodded and squashed by Hayley and Hilly.
We watched the comings and goings of the villagers and marvelled at a chap who went to visit our porters, he was clearly a little tipsy and carried a bottle of the local rocket fuel, he was wearing the traditional sarong but over this a crisp white lab coat!! Still perfectly white when he staggered out an hour later but this time with the sarong missing! We concluded from his attire that he was the village doctor, and vowed not to get ill! 
A new addition to our repertoire was river crossings. Bridges made of felled trees or bridges that some of us, me included, were complete jessies about crossing.
We trudged along for a few hours, playing various word games to keep us going, and occasionally breaking into song.
Late in the afternoon we arrived at a Karen village and our night's accommodation. We were caked in mud, wet and tired and what luxury awaited us!!
The hut was the most basic accommodation on our trip. A bamboo hut with 3 partial walls and a roof made of leaves, it was thankfully watertight. Our porters had already strung up 6 mosquito nets for us and the kettle was already on.
We peeled off our stinking clodded boots and settled into our new home. Washing facilities were somewhat basic, well non existent really, after a chat to Pok we found out that there was a nearby waterfall, so an intrepid few grabbed their eco friendly wash and headed off to wash away the mud!
Misses Stephens, Turnbull, Rose and Kirk, Steph, Hayley, Hazel and Hilly trudged through the village, the staff wearing boots and the girls in flip flops. The staff were sure footed in the mud, but not so Steph and Hilly. We hadn't taken a camera but we so wish we had. The comedy started almost instantly as they slipped and slid down the path. By the time we reached the edge of the village Hilly had spent more time on her bottom than her feet, we were all exhausted from laughing so hard and Steph and Holly were 10 times muddier than they had been before. For safety reasons we decided to return to our hut. The girls pleaded with Pete to capture the moment with a camera, but as they tried to stand and pose they fell over again.
The ignominy of it was compounded when we saw a young village girl run up the same path, barefoot, carrying a small baby.
We moved to the porters hut for dinner of rice and then very careful walked and slipped back to our hut to enjoy more ovaltine, this time in the bamboo cups our porters had made for us.
We peeled off our stinking clodded boots and settled into our new home. Washing facilities were somewhat basic, well non existent really, after a chat to Pok we found out that there was a nearby waterfall, so an intrepid few grabbed their eco friendly wash and headed off to wash away the mud!
Misses Stephens, Turnbull, Rose and Kirk, Steph, Hayley, Hazel and Hilly trudged through the village, the staff wearing boots and the girls in flip flops. The staff were sure footed in the mud, but not so Steph and Hilly. We hadn't taken a camera but we so wish we had. The comedy started almost instantly as they slipped and slid down the path. By the time we reached the edge of the village Hilly had spent more time on her bottom than her feet, we were all exhausted from laughing so hard and Steph and Holly were 10 times muddier than they had been before. For safety reasons we decided to return to our hut. The girls pleaded with Pete to capture the moment with a camera, but as they tried to stand and pose they fell over again.
The ignominy of it was compounded when we saw a young village girl run up the same path, barefoot, carrying a small baby.
We moved to the porters hut for dinner of rice and then very careful walked and slipped back to our hut to enjoy more ovaltine, this time in the bamboo cups our porters had made for us.
After bathing and powdering our bites and scratches we settled into our netted areas to sleep. Three to a net. Miss Turnbull got to bunk in with Hayley and Hilly, and Miss Stephens, Miss Rose and the kirks bunked together. Not exactly Pete's idea of fun but it was that or sleep under the hut with the dogs and chickens, in hind site that may have been preferable!
I have recollections of laughing a lot, mainly at Miss Turnbulls expense or at the desk lamp sized head torch that Miss Stephens wore.
Steph's made the classic comment that it was 5 past 9 on a saturday night and we were all tucked up in bed, in a hut, in the jungle! School trips are so glamorous!
Miss Turnbull used the phrase "I'm a teacher get me out of here" on more than one occasion as she was prodded and squashed by Hayley and Hilly.
We watched the comings and goings of the villagers and marvelled at a chap who went to visit our porters, he was clearly a little tipsy and carried a bottle of the local rocket fuel, he was wearing the traditional sarong but over this a crisp white lab coat!! Still perfectly white when he staggered out an hour later but this time with the sarong missing! We concluded from his attire that he was the village doctor, and vowed not to get ill!
Day 10 - The WaterFall
After a restful night's sleep, well as restful as can be on a concrete floor, in damp clothing, with thousands of courting amphibians serenading us, we had the usual breakfast of eggs and toast and headed off to a waterfall not far from the campsite. 
Ti Lor Su waterfall was quite stunning but none of us had the inclination to throw ourselves over in a barrel. We were supposed to be swimming but after a few days of rain the water current was a little strong.
It was here that Miss Stephens fell in love, with a lovely European chap who braved the falls in speedos, it was a sight that none of us will forget!
We headed back to camp for lunch before heading off on the next stage of our jungle trek.
Ti Lor Su waterfall was quite stunning but none of us had the inclination to throw ourselves over in a barrel. We were supposed to be swimming but after a few days of rain the water current was a little strong.
It was here that Miss Stephens fell in love, with a lovely European chap who braved the falls in speedos, it was a sight that none of us will forget!
We headed back to camp for lunch before heading off on the next stage of our jungle trek.
Friday, 13 July 2007
Day 9 Trekking - The Trek
We grabbed our things from the boats, which were all wrapped up in bin bags, changed into our walking boots and set off for the 4 hours of trekking. Pok had warned us that it would be one and a half hours up hill to start, so we were all dreading it.
As we set off the rain started, the jungle "path" was muddy and soon our boots had thick clods of mud stuck to them and our legs splattered. As we trudged up the first section the guides cut us bamboo walking sticks, very useful seeing as we were not very steady on our feet.
Considering this was the walk we dreaded it wasn't too bad (hindsight is a wonderful thing) It was hard going, the mud and hills making things tough, but we plodded on in good spirits.
After 4 hours we were told we still had an hour to go, then the rain really started, but we then reached a dirt road/track which made the going easier, until we hit the muddy bits. I got my foot stuck in a knee deep bit of mud, and almost hauled a bamboo bridge on Helen's head trying to pull myself out, Miss Turnbull was laughing so hard she lost her footing and did a perfect seat drop into the mud.
The joy of reaching the camp site was fabulous. We were soaked to the skin, cold and incredibly muddy. Unfortunately the camping areas were under water (those in England will be well aware of the idea of flooding!) so all of the tents had been pitched in a covered picnic area on a concrete floor. Our 10 tents and probably 15 more from other groups all crammed into a tiny space.
We were over the moon to discover that we were the only group who had managed to trek through the jungle,\all the other wimps had done the whole thing along the dirt track, Teesside High girls are quite simply the best!
We all managed to change into dry clothes, our only spare set, and pete strung up a washing line in a vain attempt to dry our sodden clothing. Any attempt to wash was difficult as the bathroom facilities were somewhat basic (Miss T has a photo of the "bathroom" shall attach it later)
As we set off the rain started, the jungle "path" was muddy and soon our boots had thick clods of mud stuck to them and our legs splattered. As we trudged up the first section the guides cut us bamboo walking sticks, very useful seeing as we were not very steady on our feet.
Considering this was the walk we dreaded it wasn't too bad (hindsight is a wonderful thing) It was hard going, the mud and hills making things tough, but we plodded on in good spirits.
After 4 hours we were told we still had an hour to go, then the rain really started, but we then reached a dirt road/track which made the going easier, until we hit the muddy bits. I got my foot stuck in a knee deep bit of mud, and almost hauled a bamboo bridge on Helen's head trying to pull myself out, Miss Turnbull was laughing so hard she lost her footing and did a perfect seat drop into the mud.
The joy of reaching the camp site was fabulous. We were soaked to the skin, cold and incredibly muddy. Unfortunately the camping areas were under water (those in England will be well aware of the idea of flooding!) so all of the tents had been pitched in a covered picnic area on a concrete floor. Our 10 tents and probably 15 more from other groups all crammed into a tiny space.
We were over the moon to discover that we were the only group who had managed to trek through the jungle,\all the other wimps had done the whole thing along the dirt track, Teesside High girls are quite simply the best!
We all managed to change into dry clothes, our only spare set, and pete strung up a washing line in a vain attempt to dry our sodden clothing. Any attempt to wash was difficult as the bathroom facilities were somewhat basic (Miss T has a photo of the "bathroom" shall attach it later)
The porters had boiled the kettle for us and the promise of hot chocolate raised all of our spirits. We were soon to discover that it was actually Ovaltine (something my grandmother used to drink) but blimey it was good, add a lot of sugar and some coffee mate and it's drinkable.
In the evening the porters cooked us an impressive meal, considering they'd carried all the food and were cooking on an open fire. Miss Rose and Miss Stephens sat engraving walking sticks as we had all become somewhat attached to them. And after an session inspecting, antisepticing and dressing various scratches, bits, bruises and random injuries, all credit to nurse Helen for her candlelit surgery on Shika's hand.
So then to bed in our little tents, on a concrete floor, in damp clothes whilst the midgy bites started to itch. So a really restful night!
The chorus of insects and frogs from the surrounding jungle was rather intense, and I'm sure that as the night wore on they got nearer and nearer, it felt like they were closing in!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
