It was 2 km jungle trekking at a beach resort at 3 p.m. The weather was fine with clear blue sky and the hot afternoon sea breeze. I had forgotten my hiking shoes. But I presumed my jogging shoes might worked fine. Besides, it had been quite a long while since I did my last mountain climb.
My beloved wife was ready; she was excited about the whole thing. As a village lady, jungle trekking was a common thing for her. But after moving to town, we seldom went to the jungle except occasionally chopping down some bamboo to make bamboo rice.
We walked out of the entrance. It was a steep climb up the sloping road but was indeed a good exercise. We walked, talked, smiled and joked at one another, as we looked around for the entrance of the site.
Just then two young men walked toward us. They looked exhausted and sweat-drenched, panting and breathing fast. They could be after the mountain climb; I looked knowingly at my wife and smiled.
We greeted and talked to one another; our guess was correct. But we were on the exit way; the entrance was on the far end.
We continued our journey and found the exit. We looked at the sign board. It was the trek route illustrating the various stations and the visible signs. We were to follow the blue paint marks if we were to do jungle trekking and the red paint marks if we were interested in doing mountain climbing.
We had a little rest. Climbing up the mountain would be impossible at this time; we were told it would take 6 hour climb. We opted for jungle trekking; it might be late in the afternoon when we completed our climbing exercise.
The opposite route proved to be much tougher. The climb was more difficult with steeper slopes, and less trees and planted to hold to. The trek was narrow and winding, but it was clear and dry, and definitely not slippery.
Doing a long and winding climb up a steep mountain slope was really tiring. It could be dangerous when we got exhausted; a difficult route could be energy and emotionally draining. Besides, we could get careless too; had a fall or lost our way.
It was half an hour later when we reached the highest spot of the route. There were many tall trees around and the place was cooling and nice. We really sweated, pale-faced, and breathing was difficult. It couldn't be that tough, we told ourselves. Nevertheless, we had done our best, but our age was catching up.
Going down was not easy too. We had used the opposite route, and thus far it was a difficult climb indeed. We walked with slow deliberation and was quiet most of the time. It was better to be more observant, and very careful or we might have a terrible fall.
We heard the sound of a waterfall. The place was getting much cooler now. It was very inviting to dip the body into the mountain stream. The water must be very clear and cold.
It was exciting when we went down the bridge and washed our face and body with the cold water. I was tempted to drink the cold water too.
But down the slope further I was met with the heaps of rubbish around. It was an unpleasant site that I very much wanted to avoid. But it was okay; it didn't spoiled my day.
Reaching home, we were exhausted and ready to collapse. The body was aching all over. Nonetheless, it was the best climb that we had after quite a long while. But it would be some time before we would try it again.
Oh! Jungle trekking and mountain climbing...
Maybe the next time I should go for jungle camping too!
My beloved wife was ready; she was excited about the whole thing. As a village lady, jungle trekking was a common thing for her. But after moving to town, we seldom went to the jungle except occasionally chopping down some bamboo to make bamboo rice.
We walked out of the entrance. It was a steep climb up the sloping road but was indeed a good exercise. We walked, talked, smiled and joked at one another, as we looked around for the entrance of the site.
Just then two young men walked toward us. They looked exhausted and sweat-drenched, panting and breathing fast. They could be after the mountain climb; I looked knowingly at my wife and smiled.
We greeted and talked to one another; our guess was correct. But we were on the exit way; the entrance was on the far end.
We continued our journey and found the exit. We looked at the sign board. It was the trek route illustrating the various stations and the visible signs. We were to follow the blue paint marks if we were to do jungle trekking and the red paint marks if we were interested in doing mountain climbing.
We had a little rest. Climbing up the mountain would be impossible at this time; we were told it would take 6 hour climb. We opted for jungle trekking; it might be late in the afternoon when we completed our climbing exercise.
The opposite route proved to be much tougher. The climb was more difficult with steeper slopes, and less trees and planted to hold to. The trek was narrow and winding, but it was clear and dry, and definitely not slippery.
Doing a long and winding climb up a steep mountain slope was really tiring. It could be dangerous when we got exhausted; a difficult route could be energy and emotionally draining. Besides, we could get careless too; had a fall or lost our way.
It was half an hour later when we reached the highest spot of the route. There were many tall trees around and the place was cooling and nice. We really sweated, pale-faced, and breathing was difficult. It couldn't be that tough, we told ourselves. Nevertheless, we had done our best, but our age was catching up.
Going down was not easy too. We had used the opposite route, and thus far it was a difficult climb indeed. We walked with slow deliberation and was quiet most of the time. It was better to be more observant, and very careful or we might have a terrible fall.
We heard the sound of a waterfall. The place was getting much cooler now. It was very inviting to dip the body into the mountain stream. The water must be very clear and cold.
It was exciting when we went down the bridge and washed our face and body with the cold water. I was tempted to drink the cold water too.
But down the slope further I was met with the heaps of rubbish around. It was an unpleasant site that I very much wanted to avoid. But it was okay; it didn't spoiled my day.
Reaching home, we were exhausted and ready to collapse. The body was aching all over. Nonetheless, it was the best climb that we had after quite a long while. But it would be some time before we would try it again.
Oh! Jungle trekking and mountain climbing...
Maybe the next time I should go for jungle camping too!
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