wow such a long week

well let me first say that it has been a long and exhausting week of car travel follwed by hours of hiking or riding in a raft. with that said i will begin to explain. sunday was pretty boring we got up and moving pretty laet and then bill took us into town to get some groceries at my favorite lunch spot. we bought some necessary things and after i had paid and was puttign my things in my backpack chris and bill had accidently left me which was no real big deal other than the fact that i dtill didnt know where the #8 bus was to get home. so i walked the streets for a while until i realized taht all the truck/buses take the same route out of the city stopping at the non air conditioned bus station so i simply jumped on the first one i could find and then got of at the station and jumped on a #8 home. i got to the main road of KKU campus and walked the rest of the way. because it was the weekend, all the students were out doing activities. basketbal, soccer, rugby, a type of soccer volleyball, there are even free like jazzercize things on the street that you can just jump in and start doing. but i stopped at a basketball court on the way home and watched a small sided game of soccer. it was a 7 v7 type game with old tired as the goals. you didnt have to make the ball go through the tire just touch it. it was the first to 1 and then your team would switch out with the team that was sitting. one of the players sitting noticed me and walked right up to introduce himself and invite me to play. i dont know how to spell his name but he indroduced himself as "f", the two friends sitting next to him were "chuan" and "f". so two "f"s and chuan were the first i would meet that evening. i played one game and went back to my aparment to change into my running shorts and a lighter shirt since i was still in my clothes from that day. i was about to run back to by apartment when the "who had introduced himself first offered me a ride on his scooter. we made quick time of the half mile of the walk i would have had. i ran inside quickly changing and running back out to jump back on the bije. back at the court our team had been split up since some of the players i had seen before seemed to have already left. we waited for the game to end and took the field... or basketball court. the ball they played with was the size a younger age ball like size 3 but it weighed a ton. for anyone who doesnt play soccer this means it was really small but weighed too much. my team stayed on for three games and i scored both of the goals to win untill the last game when we lost. by the time the last game was over it was hard to see the ball because the sun had gone down so much. so with that game ending the night was done for futbol. "f" and his friends invited me to dinner later and i said yes immidiately. . they gave me a ride back the apartment and from tehre told me they would be back in 30 minutes. i rushed into the apartment telling chris i had met some students and the we were going to dinner with them. I got my after soccer shower and he got dressed and we sat around watching discovery channel waiting for them to show up. i was so hungry i started to eat my ritz crackers that i had bought. buying a jor of peanut butter and a box of ritz probably was the best idea for power food. Chris and i waited watching our new favorite show on discovery channel called 5th gear. which is an all about cars show and makes me wish i was rich and had an aston martin. "f" arrived on his motor bike and at this point Chris and i had our first 3 people on a motor scooter experience.. it was cramped to say the least. but we arrived safely at a restuarant where our new friends began to order copious amounts of food. rice and chicken pork and some kind of omlette. after we had finished the first large rounde a second was delivered. i had no room to put any of the new food but i watched the thai students make all of the food that was in front of me dissapear in a matter of minutes. by the time the dinner was over and the news theat they had made new foreign friends had spread through their phone contacts list, there were many new faces sitting at the table. there were teh originals the two "f"s and chuan and with that we had the captain, mr mr, om, sin, and tat. all of which were very friendly and welcoming. we talked for a good two hours before deciding it was time to return to the room. before we were given rides home we had to promise to return to see them next saturday and to our knowledge we would be here then so we did. we were returned to our apartment and we said our goodbyes as a good number of our new friends has followed our rides to simply say goodbye. we said our goodbyes and with that went to bed. we woke up the next morning at around 8 and from there packed our bags to go to a place called chaing rai that Lek had promised to take us to. we were picked up that morning to make the drive to chian rai. we got in the car and started the drive only to find out the whole reason Lek was taking us to Chiang rai to complete some buisness, but the night before the client said she didnt need to come and that the deal would be fine the way it was. so now Lek was purely taking us to take us and show us the city. i really dont know how far away chaing rai was but aparently it was a two day trip by car. so on the way we stopped at a town to spend the night where one of chelumchai's brothers lived. i believe there are three brothers in total but i am not sure. but this one took us out to dinner with his family and showed us around town for the rest of the night. our original plan was to go to chiang rai and then return but sicne we now had no specific time to be there Lek planned a few day trip in the mountains with a travel company while we stayed in the town that night. to get to where we would be staying we would have to wake up at 4 in the morning and be ready to go by 5. we got to sleep as early as we could and then before we knew it we were piled in the car. the company that we traveled with provided a driver for our car since the roads we would travel were very curvy. the total drive time through the mountains was 5 hours. the drive itself was miserable if i had eaten before we got into the car i would have definitely gotten car sick but after a couple hours of sleep and alot of ipod jamz we finally arrived. we got out of the car and walked around what appeared to be a camp with counsellors for adults. the camp was called you and me(in thai of course), and was very simple and beautiful. our cabin type deals we like stand alone apartment rooms that had been done in wood furnishing all around. even the bathrooms were done in the whole nature idea. the sink stand was a tree stump and the shower had the appearance of a mountain stream with river rocks and everything all over the floor. after exploring our rooms and the surrounding we went to what would have been the camp cafeteria and were served a late breakfast early lunch. which had eggs toast vegetables and fruit. from there we were told to pack our bags to go on an over night trip they also told us we should pack light since we would be hiking 5 miles. they gave us plastic bags to put our things in before we put our stuff in our packs. this was to protect our belongings from rain if it did indeed come. after we had finished packing we were told to wait out at the front of the small complex and our ride would pick us up. our ride was a pickup truck that had dashed off down the road with a white water raft 5 minutes before. it returned with no raft and we jumped in the bed of the truck and rode to the river where they had large water tight buckets for our things. we hopped in our boat thinking we would have to paddle to the path that would take us to the path that would start our long walk. to my suprize 3 men jumped in our boat and began to paddle us to our destination. we didnt do anythign but take pictures the whole ride. it was probably a two hour ride but the whole ride was very serene and peaceful. halfway through the ride we stopped at a point where i thouhgt we would be spending the night. bamboo shacks were the scenery and i was as happy as ever to see hammocks on the front porch of each of the buildings. but we had merely stopped to enjoy a natural hotspring. the hotspint looked like a simple ditch with some water coming out of a mud wall but unlike the rest of the river the water was crystal clear. Bill was the first to get in and after he had told us that is was fine i lost my shirt and jumped straight off the bamboo bridge that was above the shallow pool. the water felt likea hot tub(minus that wierd chemical smell you get somtimes). the bottom of the pool had been lined with smooth river stones so after i had gotten in and felt comfortable enough to lay down in it i even took my shoes off and just floated for a while. the pool itself was probably no more than two feet deep. we spent about a half an hour there and moved back to the boat to continue our journey. i was wrong we would not be staying at the houses with the hammocks, or the wonderful hotspring for that matter. we got back in the boat took more pictures and simply floated down the river on our raft. we arrived at our starting point which was no more than a section of muddy beach on the river. before we started our walk they passed out our lunch which was simply rice and some vegetables. and after that we began our long hike from the dock point to the campsite. the guide said that the complete walk would take about 3 hours. we walked for about and hr and it began to rain. luckily i had packed my rain jacket and didnt get wet at all. chris, a guide, and I led the way with both Bill and Lek no where in site. the rain stopped about 2 hours into the trip and at 2 hours and 45 minutes we had arrived at a camp site which had the look of a childrens summer camp with cabins and what looked to be a mess hall and surrounding hiking trails. by the time we had reached the camp site it was about 6 or so. Bill and Lek rolled in a good 45 minutes behind us. but for Lek this was a great victory. she is very small with very short legs and was tired after the first 30 minutes of the hike. but she made it the whole way without have to take the motor scooter help up the mountain. by the time we were all located at the campsite tehre really was nothing to do because the rest of the trip would continue tomorrow. so we sat around patiently doing nothing of any real importance while our guides set up a tent for each of us to use. After the tents had been fully set up i picked a red one and put all mythings in it as quicly as i could. the place where we had set up camp was miserably infested with mosquitoes and i stayed in my tent as long as i could. i spent the next hour writing in my journal and litening to my ipod. i have made it my complete task of listening to every song on my ipod all the way through at least once while i am on this trip. For those of you who dont know i dont download individual songs only full albums to the ipod so as of right now i have 4684 songs, all of which have come from albums either i own, my friends own, or my father has given me. it is an 80 gb ipod with no movies on it so i simply put music on it whenever i can, and as of now i finally get to listen to all of it and decide whether the things i havent listen you yet are any good. but with that said i was in my tent writing about the past days experience when our guides brought us out our dinner which consisted of rice, mixed vegetables and pork, a fish cooked whole, fruit, and some kind of soup. all of which was good but i must say that i have had enough fresh water fish from thailand. i have been here for a short time and i am tired of picking fish bones out of what i am eating. that being said the whole meal was delicious minus the fish which i didnt believe was worth the hassle of fightign with. after the dinner was over the guitar brought us out cups that he had made for us out of bamboo shoots behind his cabin. since bamboo has the natural sections he simply used a machete to cut the bamboo in the correct places and viola you have a cup. these were to be our water cups while we were here and we could also use them to make hot tea or cofee when he brought out the hot water. with the cups he had made for us he also made bamboo stirs in the shapes of raft paddles which was as far as im concerned a sweet added bonus since we were alloweed to keep them. the rest of the night i spent my time taking a shower in the sink of the mens room since there was no hot water. i simply washed my face and that was pretty much it. i went back to my tent and spent the rest of my evening writing untill the lights in the structure that i had been using to write to shut off. when the lights in the building went out i used the only light source i had to write which was my digital camera screen but i soon realized that is was a huge waste of my camera battery and my patience. i closed my journal and turned off the camera rolling over in my supplied sleeping back and tried to sleep. the only problem with this was that the company did not supply pillows. the only thing that i could even use as a pillow was my backpack so i put all the thinks i had packed into it and tried once more to sleep. my sleep that night was very very light as i woke up many times trying to get comfortable. but morning finally came and with that another well prepared breakfast from our guides. eggs, fruit, vegetables, and toast with strawberry jelly. it was a small breakfast but it was nonetheless filling. after breakfast had concluded we were told that we would go visit the waterfall on the trip and it was then that i learned that this is from what the guide told me the 6th most beautiful waterfall in the world. after doing some research it didnt even show up in the top 10 but i must say i dont have any idea what could have beaten it. it was a 20 minute walk to the waterfall on a cement path that the park it was in had paid for. the path started out with open trees and grass and by the time we got to the waterfall the surrounding greenery had become that of what you would see in a jungle edition of a natural geographic. we heard the waterfall long before we could see it but upon seeing it, it towered over us with beautiful cascading white water and foam that could only be described as incredible. after we had taken many pictures of the waterfall from a safe distance the guide said it was alright that we walk around the railing and play in the smaller waterfalls nearby, and that we could also play in the lowest pool of the largest part of the waterfall. i immidiately jumped out of my shirt and left my socks off putting back on my shoes that i had gotten specifically for hiking and luckily their second purpose was water shoes. i spent the better part of two hours climbing up and down crashing waterfalls and playing in their wake. many pictures were taken of us in the waterfalls themselves, and with us near and the mighty forces of nature in the back ground. the last hour was spent playing in the lowest pool which was suprisingly very safe. the current was strong next to where the water crashed but if you got tired you could simply let the water carry you to a large rock where you could grab on, climb up, and rest until you jumped back in again. even though we were in the lowest of the large waterfall's crash pool. right below where we were there were many smaller waterfalls of ten feetor so right in a row. Leaving the place was the saddest i have been since i arrived. I was happy simply enjoying the nature that was an escape from the concrete jungles we had been spending most of our time in. But with all good things coming to an end we return ed to the area where we had camped and the guide who had not gone to the waterfall with us, had stayed behind to prepare lunch so when we returned lunch was served. it was a combination of rice, soup, pork, and chicken. the soup today was bomboo soup which i could speak well about but it really isnt that great. the rest of the food was simply prepared nothing really special. after lunch was over we had another 3 hour hike ahead of us and with this being the case Lek had to rent a motor bike to get to the checkpoint this time. she was sore from the past day and something i believe was hurting in one of her knees. but with this being said we lost one of our hiking companions on the way back to another section of the river where we would once again be picked up by the raft and taken to the home base which i described as a summer camp for adults. we departed from our campsite with our packs on our backs and our bamboo cups safe as well. the hike that ensued was much steeper, much more slippery, and the path was very over grown. so over grown infact we had to have a guide lead us today to cut through at points with his machete. the path was much more difficult and i must say that it was miserably hot that day and if we hadnt been in such a dense jungle it would have been 10 times more miserable. at one point we walked through a section that as owned by a elephant trainer or owner. but the land that he had his elephants on was dengerous to walk through because if you saw one you would have to freeze and make sure there was a trainer near by to control it. if there was no trainer however it was a wild elephant which sometimes did wander into that territory. I know some of you may be thinking if this jumgle is so dense how did the elephants get through it. well the answer is simple my freinds they left a huge wake of brokwen bamboo, giant foot prints, destroyed(or eaten) plants, and huge piles of poo. sadly we didnt run into any elephants that day although our guide was extremely relieved. with the last 40 meters of the hike being completely muddy at a terrible downhill slant it was tough going. but when we reached the river we found the raft safe and sound with Lek asleep in it. when she woke she told us that she had been there for at least two hours and the mad who had paddled the boat there had walked down stream to fish. the fisherman upon hearing us had returned with his catch that looked to be somekind of small catfish that of which he had about 9. Bill arrived shortly after this and began to tell us how he had slipped 6 times on the last muddy part which really isnt that suprising as i slipped once and caught myself on some bamboo at least 3 times. we takend for a short time and chris, washed the mudd from our shoes, our guides packed the bags in the water tight containers and we were off again. this section of the trip was very flat and very lazy. i did not take nearly as many pictures as the first section of the rafting. this second time through i really just laid back and watched everything just pass by. it was an amazing sight. we got to the end of our trip and exited the boat only to sit around and enjoy the scenery some more. walked 50 yards downstream to explore a very rickety bamboo bridge that crossed the river. from the ground it really looked like a good idea to cross is but i must stay when i got up there i realized this was a terrible idea. we had to have been 30ft up and nothing was stopping us from plummating into the river other than a few pieces of bamboo. we caustiously left the bridge and loaded into our ride back to grown up summer camp. we ended up back at summer camp and then before we could even get out of the truck they said that we had missed a stop while rafting because we didnt have enough time but it was alrigh to take us back to it now. the side was large cave which we explored for 30 minutes or so. the cave itself was very large and interesting but the coolest part of the cave was within the first 50 feet. there were hundreds of bats that were visibly moving when we shined our lights on them. the ceiling of the cave was very open and you could make out many features of each of the bats. it was very cool i only wish we had had some more powerful flashlights to get better pictures with. after we were done caving we went back to camp and took showers. we were separated with chris and i in one cabin bill in one and Lek in another. in our cabin i took the first shower and couldnt figure out how to get the hot water to come on. chris took the next one and figured it out but aparently took him a while to figure it out. we showered and sat in out rooms for a short time and then went to dinner in the open mess hall of the camp. once again the mosquitoes were great in number but the ones at dinner had to be twice the size of the ones we had seen the night before. dinner was delicious though consisting of fruit, rice, shika bobs, 2 kinds of soup, another whole fish, and chocolate chip ice cream. we ate our meal and had the ice cream surpise afterwards. aparently after Lek had finished her shower she got one of the campcounsellors to drive her into the small village nearby and get it. we started eating it but there was no need to save any cause we ate it in a matter of minutes. after dinner i had two cups of hot tea and went back to the room to get a hot shower. i got out and read for a while, i wrote very little simply cause i was too tired to recolect the day's events. i fell asleep quickly since i had not hada very good sleep the night before. i woke up pretty early and really didnt do anything other than read until chris got up. we walked over to breakfast at the open mess hall and luckily most of the mosquitoes had vanished from the area. we ate breakfast quickly and returned to our rooms to pack our bags and begin the long 5 hour trip out of the mountains. i made the great mistake of eating alot before we got into the car and because of this i was sick the whole was out of the mountains. i never fully got sick but i my head was spinning as i tried to lay on my makeshift pillow in the packed Bmw that was our ride. we made it back to the business of the trval company and dropped off the driver there. after that point we had another few hours to go. the plan from there changed from going to chaing rai to going back to Khon kaen. Another one of Leks business friends would be in Khon Kaen and needed ehr there or wanted to see her or somthign like that. so from where we were we jumped to a town a few hours away to where Lek's family lived. we met them for dinner and then stayed in a very nice hotel while she stayed with her family. we woke the next morning to return to Khon kaen but made some interesting side trips along the way. we stopped at a aquarium. the aquarium was in the shape of a great ark and the inside was just as fun. while we were there a whole section of an elementary school was visiting for a field trip so many of the kids were more interested in the white kids than the fish. after we left the aquarium we stopped at a little place that basically had little sideshow oddities. the first show we attended was a monkey show. they had the monkeys dress up, use props, do cammands, and jump through flaming hoops. by the time itw as over i had understood none of it since it was all in thai but had enjoyed it thuroughly. then we attended a crocodile show where the performer did many feats with the crocodile which was 10 yrs old and had to have weighed at least 250lbs i even got to go in the crocodile ring and sit right on the croc. it was a wild experience. quite a rush for the system. after that we jumped back in the car and headed home. it as still pretty early by the time we got back but we really did not end up doing anything at all. and now on to today which i have finally caught up on once again. today we were all traveled out but we managed to get into Khon Kaen to find some things that we would bring back to the U.S. with us. those things being flags and books and things of that nature. after we were done i walked around one of the more popular places for people in KHon Kaen to shop and spend time. it was the same thing as a mall with all the smae features. stores, food, movie theatre, arcade. after i had thuroughly walked around fairy plaza(the name of that mall type place). i made my way back to the outer bus station to catch a #8 home. i stopped at the computer use place to use some high speed for a short while and then i left back to the apartment. Chris was already back having not stayed with me at fairy plaza. when i got back he told me that bill still wanted to try to put all 3 of us on the scooter and go somewhere. so we gathered ourselves for a while and then wen tover to bill room to ask him where he wanted to go for dinner. he decided that the all you can eat buffet would be a good choice and with that we took off down the street all 3 of us on a 2 person motor scooter. we got pretty far about a mile and a half and were about to get on the main highway to the restuarant when our back tire blew out. we fish tailed and we really almost bit the pavement hard but bill managed to keep us up and slowly moved us over to the shoulder of the road. with that we had to walk the rest of the way to the restuarant which was a mile and a half or so. but bill parked the scooted close to the main highway saying that he would ride it home from that point upon returning. so we took off walking down the highway to the restuarant. it really wasnt a bed walk. but by the time we had gotten there we were ready to eat. we ate plate after plate of food and after we were done with real food we moved on to ice cream which was included in the all you can eat. upon finishing our meal we began the much more difficult return journey back to the KKu main street. when we got to the main road of KKU (for everyone who doesnt know KKU - Khon Kaen university) i decided that i was gonna try and ride on that back of the scooted with bill back but chris said he would play it safe and walk. i must say that i was still very scared to get on the back with it sliding occasisonally but we made it home with no problems and from there i have been in the room just kinda doing nothing since. but now i will explain what will happen the next few days. you all wont hear from me because once again we are taking off on another adventure. this time Bill has decided to take us to laos untill thursday or so i believe. but the way our journeys have turned out so far we may be gone for a day or tow more than that. we will be departing from the train staion of Khon Kaen to the border at 9am tomorrow which in knoxville would be 10pm for anyone who is wondering. i really dont know what we are going to be doing overall but right now i know bill has a plan in his head..... somewhere. until my next post i hope you all are safe and having a good summer. and i willt ry to add more pictures early tomorrow before i leave. whew i can finally sleep...........