don't tell ben...

...but i spent almost 50 bucks at boneys today... i couldn't help it.. all the veggies looked so good.. so i bought them all.. they don't have the same vegetable/fruit variety in thailand.. so today i bought avocados, apples, plums, apricots, zucchini, corn, bell peppers, lettuce, asparagus, and so much more.. so tonight for dinner a big salad.. and no rice!!!

...and i realized that ben's been dominating the blog with his thoughts lately.. so here are some of my toughts on chang dao:
mosquito's
mud
no showers
scary lighting/thunder
4 am rooster wake up calls...
hiking up hill, in the mud.. all day long..

i should first point out that i don't even like camping in my nice REI tent, with my down comforter, air mattress, normal food, and showers... and i hate hiking..just not a big fan of nature in general.. so this trek was so far out of my comfort zone...

so we brought lots of anti-mosquito stuff for our chang dao trip.. the mosquito's in phuket weren't too bad.. and i had been bit a couple of times in phi phi.. but i really wanted to be prepared for chang dao.. the mosquito's in chang dao do not know that they aren't supposed to bite you once you spray the anti-mosquito stuff all over you.. i put on layer after layer, and i still got bit.. many many times.. first i put on the "all natural" lemongrass and citranilla grass spray.. that wasn't working.. then the 20% deet spray... no such luck.. then the dangerous 'only put on exposed skin, not any on any skin under clothes because the skin needs to breath.. otherwise the skin might fall off' spray..and again.. this wasn't working.. finally a combination of the three applied every 20 minutes or so seemed to slow the nasty little bugs down.. but even then i looked like i suffered some sort of pox outbreak.. and ben somehow by sheer willpower avoided being bit for the most part.. Apparently the mossies find me quite tasty.
then there was mud everywhere.. thick, and plenty yuck.. and it didn't come off.. and even if it did come off, there were no showers to take it off.. mud all over my shoes, and legs, and arms, and clothes, and everywhere.. this made me particularly unhappy because in my normal life i like to shower about three times a day.. so i was muddy and itchy, and super unhappy..

so coming from southern california i am not a big fan of storms.. we don't really have a lot of storms here.. it's rains every once and a while.. but that's about it..
so when i hear thunder and lightning i think the end of the world is near.. the first night it rained and poured, and there was thunder and lightning all night long.. like i've never heard before.. i was pretty sure the end was near, and that we weren't going to make it...
but we did.. we made it.. i have trekked through the rain forest of thailand, and survived, and i never have to do it again..
ben, ryan, and holly are trying to talk me hiking whitney this fall.. but i think i'm retiring my hiking shoes...