Hornbill heaven

I wake this morning and the pain is so intense I can barely put a foot down. I struggle on and get a shower and walk over to the restaurant. Wawan turns up 10 minutes later and I enjoy the little hour when I can pretty much talk about anything because people have gone out trekking. Today's subject is drugs. I really want to dig a bit deeper. He explains how it only takes a few tries and your addicted. Very similar to crystal meth and during hard times how ex friends had fallen in the trap. Then I see Ayu the lady who was really sick the other night and she's back to work. The boys even spoke how they thought she wasn't going to make it through the night so to have her back so soon and climbing up from the village, the resilience of the people here never ceases to amaze me. He explains how during COVID people started to leave and there we're just a few who stayed loyal and at times he was here on his own. Can you even imagine that. Noone would come up and down the stairs here voluntarily and at that time noone was allowed to. The other aspect is how close would the monkeys come in especially if no one was trekking in the Jungle. I also ask about poaching and Wawan tells me that would never happen here as everyone in the village knows anything that's going on and they realise their lives depends on tourism so will do anything to protect it. In the afternoon Ayu brings me a plate of donuts that she has bought for all the staff. Within 10 minutes Dewi brings me a bowl of Kolak Pisang which is like a banana soaked in caramel. I'm on sugar overload. There are so many flying ants tonight that I feel I'm the dam in dambusters it's a sure sign it will rain tonight. I get myself comfortable for the football and bring out the biscuits that I bought for the trek. It's like a flashback when I bite into it it's like a lemon puff but with chocolate instead. They even have a football on the packet. It's so good being able to watch the football on a big screen and at a decent hour. Once again I go to bed exhausted.Läs mer