Before Mr Cook and Little Cook came back for the kids, Neep and Amie went on ahead and I was left piggy backing Alex. We took a moment and stopped to listen to the jungle. A big black monkey was in the tree canopy above, we could see it's head peaking out through the leaves. It started to circle us, leaping from branch to branch - Alex was fascinated.
Mr Cook and Little cook shot off and Neep and I followed - after all that piggy backing my legs were complaining. It turned out Amie walked most of the way - and Alex fell asleep on Katni who had also come back up.
I turned up at base camp one to a really happy scene, Kir had staying behind and made camp, the tents were up, coffee was made and they had strung up a swing for the children. Kir had climbed a tree and thrown ropes over it. They then used their big mountain blankets as a seat. The kids were delighted and everyone had a lot of fun pushing each other. Tea was chicken and chips - I was pleased. It was hard to keep the kids carbs up and they had lost some wait so watching them tuck in was good. The camp was in the thick jungle forest, you could hear all sorts of sounds, monkeys, exotic birds, civet cats (yes the wild poo cats), and, of course, the omnipresent dogs.
It was a great camp fire - Alex is now very proficient at fire lighting in the jungle and also learnt to use a mountain knife to shape his walking stick. We turned in early, again totally and completely filthy, no storm though, which was a bonus. I don't think I have ever been so dirty, not in the army, not trekking through the Himalayas from Pakistan, the deserts in India or the salt plains of Bolivia, never that dirty!
That night poor Amie had the makings of an ear infection and also had something caught in her eye. I loaded her with painkillers and we kept getting up to wash her eye out, we told more fairy Mary stories. The next morning Alex woke up early again, we both sat with Neep and Mr Cook by the fire - they have this amazing ability to keep on log burning all night. Kir was still asleep - the porters don't make tents in the jungle, they just kip on the tarpaulin. Alex was amazed how quickly dawn broke.
Breakfast was a happy affair - more pancakes on Amie's request. She was a little brighter, which was good. We then packed up after our last night on the mountain. The children gave each of the porters and Neep a tip - they were really happy, and because Mr Kir was the boss and had taken such great care of Alex, I took off my new windsheeter and Alex gave it too him. He was really chuffed.
We then made our way down, this time the porters all stayed with us. Katni mentioned mountain motorbikes can Alex lit up like a christmas tree.... Mum can we, can we, can we.. pleeease... can we.
We had seen these guys on the way up. The ride the mud trails up to the country park start on off rode bikes - they are amazing, climbing steep and tricky trails day-in-day-out. I was pretty confident that they knew what they were doing so said yes. Alex and Amie high fived their way down the rest of the mountain. We took a break at the country park start while we waited for the bikes. Amie went to the loo. It was a few sacks strung up around a slab of stone which people just washed down with a pot....The children now have a loo ranking..ones you can use, ones you can use but touch nothing (not even to wash your hands - because your germs are better for you than those that maybe lurking) ...ones you stand on and ones where you stand on the seat (on old Chinese trick for a dirty western toilet!).
The bikes arrived and Alex and Amie shot off - they were having the time of their lives. The porters all hung out chilling and Katni and I started down. On the way she taught me about all the local plants and flowers - really interesting, they use a poinsettia to tell the seasons - it turns red when you need to pick the rice. At the bottom, I sat briefly while she talked to a warang owner and then Kir arrived on a bike to give me a lift. We raced down the roads to Katni's sister's little warang where the children were waiting - shouting ..mummy you are on a bike !!
It was then I realised I had lost the camera...there are no words... It was either when I sat for those two minutes at the warand (likely), feel out of my bag on the bike (possible?) or I dropped it ((maybe?). Within five minutes Katni had bikes going up and down the mountain but it was gone. We think someone swiped it in those few minutes. She feed the kids and they played with her little boy. eventually we had to give up. If it was still on the mountain she would fined it - she knows everyone. If not - then it was gone.
I have been known to leave the odd take out coffee on the car roof - but never lost a trip camera - passports, money, tickets, camera..it's basic. I wonder if I was just so shattered after those five days.
We headed down to Senggigi and arrived at the Kila Beach Hotel. It was a tad of a culture shock - a bit like butlins with palm trees and full of whities. It was surrounded by a big fence, we were not sure whether this was to keep the whities in or the locals out - senggigi being a bit of a one horse town.
That night we were all exhausted. Poor Alex lost it in the shower and Amie's ear was bad. I managed to sort them both out and left them clean (ish) and tucked up in bed watching American TV and eating exorbitantly priced mini bar chocolate. I then whizzed out to get medicine and food. When I say whizzed, it was more a crawl as my legs had totally seized up and were really hurting. I pushed on and found the only Apotek in town. After some consultation we agreed on antibiotic drops with painkiller and an eyebath for Amie. I then found a super market and stocked up on treats and snacks. The kids had a great time troughing on everything they are not allowed to eat at home.
The next day we were all good. We swam, played chess and relaxed. We also found Mr Jelly, an amazing trekking guide. He was taking a group of Germans up the mountain the next day, so I returned with a note and beer money for the Germans hoping they would email me some pictures.
Why didn't you say you wanted pictures said Mr Jelly. He went home and got his camera and let us borrow his memory cards. We went to a cafe and downloaded his pictures. How great was that ! So the pictures in the next post are courtesy of the kind Mr Jelly. They are everything we did and saw.
