Day 90

Kayak Trip 1

The day started like any other, a beautifully cooked breakfast. Today, however, I went for a beautiful Arabic Shakshuka with some fresh bread which absolutely hit the spot as, like yesterday, was something different for breakfast which was really nice. I, of course, grabbed a final smoothie from the usual spot to drink with breakfast and then Michelle and I checked out and headed to the tour office to begin the tour. We said sometime between 8 and half 8 to meet, as we wanted to leave at 9 but the boys ended up being a little bit late. We paid, stored our big bags and sorted our stuff into dry bags before meeting our guide for the next 2 days: David. David wasn't his real name but his nickname he chose to go by for Westerners. He introduced himself as "David like David Beckham" so we naturally called him David Beckham for the next 2 days.

We went down the bank and boarded our kayaks. Michelle and I were sharing a larger kayak as it would be easier but Kasper and Rasmus decided to paddle solo - as well as David who didn't really have a choice to paddle solo. At first, it was lovely, we were kayaking along the river crusuing past the beautiful mountains and landscapes before we were told we were going too fast by David. We thought maybe he was struggling but he said we weren't taking in the landscape so we slowed right down and chilled. Then, he said we were going too slowly so we had to try and find a happy medium.

Apparently David hadn't done a kayaking tour in 4 months as he was more of a trekking guide so I think that he was struggling a little to begin with and that's why we had to slow down for him which was quite funny considering he was our guide. His English was really good and apparently he watches alot of YouTube and TikTok and that's where he's learnt a lot of English from as they didn't really teach it in schools.

We stopped at this small bank for a little brake where we all went for a swim to cool off and have a small snack. We got going again and asked "how far until lunch" and the answer we got was "not that far". This statement was infact a lie. It was very far - or atleast felt like it. David hadn't been back to his home village for a couple months so we were going a little bit further so we could go to his village for lunch and he could see his friends and family for a little bit. What he didn't mention is that it would be so far away.

We asked again how much longer - "just around the corner" - then again "just in the distance" - then again "you can see the white house in my village!". By this point trust was gone. My neck and shoulders were in alot of pain and it hurt to keep paddling but I had to keep going. I couldn't wait just to lie down and stretch my neck out as it hurt so bad. The white house he kept saying we could see at first was nothing, then a tiny speck I wasn't sure was a building, it slowly got bigger until eventually we had arrived. From the first time David said "not that far" we had been paddling for over an hour until we got to his village and we were all so relieved.

We parked up on the shore and we walked through the village to David's parent's house. All of the children of the village probably hadn't seen foreigners for months and were all fascinated by us. Usually we're greeted by lots of waving and hellos but this time they were all just following and staring at us. We got to his house and sat on some cushions on the floor whilst kids poked their heads through every single window in the house to stand and stare at us. After a little lie down, we all sat on the floor round a small table and enjoyed some fried rice wrapped in banana leaves that had been prepared for us that morning. After lunch, we all shared some Beerlao with David and his friends- whilst the Danish boys had some happy water which I chose to decline after the Ha Giang incident.

After some more rest, we got going again kayaking. We weren't sure how far it was going to be so we were all dreading what was to come. On the way we went past a cliff where there were pictures of villages and cattle painted on the rock, made from climbing up trees and the locals dippings their hands or fingers in red paint. By now, the trees had fallen but it meant there were these ancient looking hand paintings of simple village life high up on the cliff wall which looked pretty awesome. As we paddled we got some of the best views we had gotten the whole journey so far, with some beautiful mountains and cliffs rising up right by the river. Unfortunately I didn't take alot of pictures as it meant I had to stop kayaking and undo my dry bag but I made sure to stop for this.

Fortunately, we actually weren't that far from our homestay village which begged the question why we went so far before lunch and not far after. It made sense as David got to see his family but God I wish he lived closer to Nong Khiaw. I think we kayaked a total of 24km on day 1 and 18km were in the first stint which absolutely killed. When we arrived and docked it was also revealed that Rasmus' kayak was half filled with water as he was almost sinking and it took a few minutes for all of the water to pour out. Apparently he told David this and David said it was fine and Rasmus ended up struggling with the lack of bouyancy the rest of the way.

We rocked up to our homestay and this really was a homestay. The upstairs area was designated for us and when we arrived there was only 1 bed in a small room that Michelle was designated. The rest of us only had the floor and a small mattress to sit and lie on. They would bring up more mattresses later but it was quite funny looking at a big empty wooden floor and a small folding mattress and thinking the 3 of us boys were sharing.

We got invited by the homestay dude to go on a walk which we much obliged by and went to a small streak where it seemed all the locals where bathing and filling up their water bottles which was a little awkward as they were all in only towels. We followed a bit further along the trail through the jungle to go and see the spring which was quite important to the village as its where they went to get their water. Michelle and Kasper decided the walk was too off road for them and they didn't want to get tics so they turned back but Ramus and I powered on the next 10 meters to see the very underwhelming springs. We turned around back the way we came and went for a quick wash in the stream to freshen up.

We walked back and met the others in our room upstairs. This was where Ramus decided to check for a thorn he thought he thought he got in his foot, and it turned out to be a LEACH. A bit freaked out I decided to check my feet even though I didn't feel anything and turns out I had a leach twice the size wedged inbetween my toes. Honestly, I started panicking, I wasn't sure if leaches gave diseases but I knew sure as hell I didn't want it sucking my blood either way. We weren't really sure what to do so I started calling for David to come save us but he ended up being in the shower. I tried to pull it off myself but it seemed to have a good hold of me. The homestay owner came upstairs, looked what was happening, then quickly hurried back downstairs. He grabbed some paper and slid the sheet under the leech to unhook it, then crushed the bastard.

We were both now leach free but our feet kept bleeding nomatter how many times we tried to stop it, blood kept coming. It turns out when leaches bite you they thin your blood so that they can drink it and that's why it looks like there was so much blood. Also, apparently they don't carry disease which was a big relief and I was nowhere near a hospital, and didn't fancy kayaking to one. David came up and grabbed his first aid kit and gave us some cotton wool and a cleaning solution which stopped the bleeding, and gave us some plasters. We were left shocked and with a pile of bloody tissues but we had survived the fearsome attack.

After the commotion we all sat down for dinner where we were treated to some fresh sticky rice, bamboo soup, and this egg / veg mix which was all really nice. The sticky rice is really fun to eat with as you tear off a chunk, roll it up into a nice ball then dip it in a sauce to eat. We were given chili sauce which was too hot to enjoy properly so I dipped it in my soup instead. We then didn't have a choice but to indulge in having a shot of happy water 1 by 1 and when it was my turn I felt like I was going to vomit and decided I did not want another one.

When we finished we all chilled for a bit, with Kasper and I chilling on the floor on some cushions with the 2 kids of the house, and Kasper let them play some games on his phone. When we went up to bed they set up a lovely couple mattresses with pillows, blankets and bug nets which was really nice of them as I needed a good sleep after the abuse my neck and shoulders had been through.Read more