Hiking hiking hiking

09.01.2017

Today was a big day for hiking. We had some ramen for breakfast and set off, walking straight up nearly the whole day. Two made us cups out of bamboo and I drank a lot of sweet powdered coffee out of that thing.

After a few hours, I realized I had left my socks at the campsite. Oh no, only three left now. Sopani and Two actually packed fresh eggs, so they made us a big omelet for lunch. They were even disappointed they cracked one of them, I was amazed any of them survived.

When we got to the top of the mountain range we had to tromp through some grassland, but it was the most difficult part. The grass grows in uneven clumps and my ankle was twisted in all directions by the end of it. The sun was beating down and the air was still as I stumbled along.

Then Sopani picked up a furry piece of what he said was tiger poop.

"Is it fresh?" "Maybe two days," he replied.

Oh good lord.

I almost forgot this exchange until later that evening.

The view from the top of the mountain was really breathtaking, and our camp was not far. It was full of leeches and tigers, but not far. I had already ripped a leech off of my ankle, he was hiding in my sock. I didn't want to see any more.

I wasn't tired or hungry, but I choked down some more rice and sausage and went to bed early again. I guess that tiger was still in my subconscious brain because I woke up at midnight to what I thought was the sound of a large animal in the bushes. I swear I also heard the sound of a large cat growling or snuffling, but that remains unproven and undocumented. I woke Norbert up and he heard the animal too. Sopani said it was a deer and that I shouldn't talk about tigers, or they would surely arrive. I asked to switch hammocks, so I could sleep closer to him. He didn't have a gun or anything to defend us, except for a large machete, but I figured it was better than what Norbert had.

"Maybe you can just not worry" was Sopani's tip for falling asleep deep in the jungle. And eventually I did.

Bamboo cup