Day 5

Thirty minutes after we left yesterday the guides stop. They are pointing up to a bees nest in the crack of a tree 15 feet up. The older guide (not quite sure of his name) starts to make a bundle of sliced bamboo. He then lashes it to a long bamboo pole. A torch. They tell me we have found lunch. Naturally I think of the honey. They torch the bees nest and take it down. They open it up and point to the bee larva: “lunch”.

For the 1st time on this trip I found something I did not want to eat. I spent the rest of the morning trying to put it out of my mind with varied success. Luckily when lunch came around there was another plate of food. I got lucky


We camped at a water fall and swam with all the kinds playing in the river. I have been thinking a lot about when I go back to NY. I am getting excited to be there for the summer and fall. I have missed the change of seasons living in the tropics. I have lots of ideas for what I’m going to do for work. After this 3-4 month vacation traveling around I will be ready to work hard until at the least January when the cold weather comes. At that point I’ll probably head to Latin America for a few months. I miss speaking Spanish and the Latin culture.

Well that’s about it. We are going to trek out today and then I fly back to Bangkok tonight. I have 1 day to get ready and then it is off to Nepal for 10 days. I should be able to take some amazing pictures there.

Waiting for the truck to take me back to Chiang Mai. All I can think about is how good it is going to feel to sink into my bathtub and soak. One of my favorite things about hiking or working out is getting clean, watching the mud and dirt run off me and down the drain.

2:40 PM

It is the beginning of the Thai New Year. This week they have a huge festival everywhere in Thailand. Usually it is the hottest week of the year and because of that water is very popular. So popular that they throw it by the bucket loads on everyone and there is nothing you can do about it. Riding in the back of the pick up truck we were doused all along the highway. No napping on that trip.