Rewards

I went on an adventure. An extraordinary adventure; and when I describe this particular trip as magical, I actually mean it with no exaggeration. It was a fun and exciting adventure, but  serious in nature. When I say serious in nature I mean it every way possible. I went trekking, hardcore hiking. The group and I conquered a challenging but oh so rewarding journey through the Northern Thailand mountains. With sweat dripping from our chins, and continuous bite attacks from mosquitoes we walked, jumped, and climbed through dirt, rocks, and bushes. Along the way we were introduced to several plants with unique and interesting characteristics. In this land that felt both refreshing and in some ways uncomfortable, there were leaves that you can blow bubbles from, leaves that produced red dye if your rub it between palms, leaves that  if delicately touched by a single finger slumped over as if they were depressed, leaves that made a bubble-wrap popping noise if you slam your hands against it, and trees of some of my favorite Asian fruits. With this being said, I hope you now can not only imagine the beauty of what I’ve experienced but also understand that when I say that it was magical, I really mean it.

Before I get carried away, I must remind you; This journey was nothing close to easy. It took determination, and hard work. It took motivation, physical and mental. We had to get down and dirty, there was indeed blood, sweat, and tears. Nonetheless, it was completely worth it.

balancing on who knows how stable bridges, jumping from rocks to rocks, we hiked our way up to  small village hut home. On our way up we met tiny black piglets, a couple of water buffaloes,and some stray dogs. The residence of that village cooked us a huge vegetarian meal while we rested. To start, we had fresh cut pineapple and mango, an abundance of it, so fresh, so ripe, and so delicious. I am convinced that  I will never have  a better mango. It melted in my mouth like butter. For our main course we had rice, and two veggie dishes. After a long rest, we hiked some more.
We hiked to a waterfall. Most of us got right in, some of us were hesitant. Although the water wasn’t the clearest it was a pleasant temperature. Fish were nibbling on our toes, a weird experience for others, but I’ve had a fish pedicure before so it wasn’t too surprising, just wasn’t my favorite feeling. We enjoyed some time in the water, dried off, then continued the adventure. We hiked back to the vehicles that dropped us off, inevitably smelling and sweating like cavemen. It was tough but it was rewarding.