The long way round

So after picking up the last essentials and breakfast we set of on our journey to Mr Charts house. We put the address in Google maps and half an hour in we are directed into the national park. The guard tells us we're unable to go through that way with the vehicle so we call Mr Chart and after much deliberation we are told we need to drive to chiang dao which is about 2 hours away and Mr Chart will meet us at the 7/11 by the petrol station. To be fair we ring him and he's there waiting for us. We stock up on goodies and then Aaron and I jump in with him and within a few minutes he's stopped to get a beer and Aaron buys the biggest bunch of banana . Mr Chart explains that when we go through the checkpoint we are doing a homestay not a trek otherwise we'll have to pay. As we drive the windiest roads yet he swings round them randomly beeping as if that's going to help. As we scale the mountain the sun is setting and its one of the beeest sunsets yet. When we arrive at the end of the evening we are greeted by the family and dinner is served tom kei like a chicken broth with vegetables and rice served with whisky which is white and has some kind of plant in it. All the same it goes down well. The place is lit by fairy lights and after dinner he lights the fires and discusses our plans for tomorrow bur he talks about eating frogs on the bbq and sleeping in a cave with bats. I try not to think about it too much or I'll be having nightmares. Our beds for tonight are on the floor of a wooden shack covered by a mosquito net and as I lay my head to rest Mr Charts departing words are "follow my butt open your mind and empty your stomach..... I'm so looking forward to tomorrow 🤣🤣🤣Read more