Finally we saw the sky this morning - a lovely sunny day! We went in the minibus to a speed boat (I'd thought "oh well a boat with a motor then! But it really was a speed boat). First we went into the mangroves where we saw kingfishers and quite a few snakes - adder, green and yellow viper, mangrove snake - but luckily they were curled up fairly high - not, as Series told us was usual - hanging from the trees like creepers!
We then went very fast to the Burmese Junk where we got into open double canoes and paddled into some mangroves - you know, that place where all the snakes live! The paddling was hard work going in as we went against the current, but easy coming back as you just let the current take you and do the occasional steering stroke. The canoes were a bit less stable than kayaks as they were open and had holes in the bottom - a bit worrying at first but actually good for drainage. We had lunch on the boat then went on to a very nice secluded beach for an hour and had fun chasing the speedy ghost crabs and trying to find hermit crabs. Justin had a swim, and the staff had some sort of party going on the boat! We then went back on the speed boat, stopping to see how the tide had gone out around the mangroves, so you'd no longer be able to canoe around them. We also got a quick look at some monkeys who scampered into the trees, a fish that walked, and more birds. The other couple with us then went back to camp as it was their last day but Series took us to the local market. It was interesting and smelly - lots of fruit, fish, cooked food. We even saw our speed boat driver again! Then we went to a waterfall where some people were washing, and met the two Aussies (Ron and Sandy) from the camp, and their guide Ay. We teamed up with them, then went to a temple where there are lots of long tailed macaques. They were in our land rover as soon as we were out! There was a holy cave for some local spirits, buddha and a holy monk. Then we came back to the camp and there were only 10 people there for the night! Most of the staff had the entire or later part of the night off. So we had some cocktails, chatted, shopped, then went to bed. The cicadase were REALLY loud - they sounded like car alarms - very annoying! No fireflies tonight either, and it's raining so our trek tomorrow will be muddy. |
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