In the jungle, the mighty jungle

I don't really look genuinely
happy, do I?

Sagada adventure #2 didn't quite top the cave connection (that set the bar pretty high), but it was still a fantastic (and fantastically long) day. I don't even know what the name of the mountains that we went up and over were. All I know is that we walked from 7:30 until 5:30. Terrain wise, it wasn't a difficult hike– there were a few steep parts but generally speaking it was rolly. What made it so gosh darn hard was the condition of the trail. And the obstacles in the trail.

First, there were the holes. I don't even know how it is possible, but there are just these huge holes all around the trail. Christin was a big fan of them and fell pretty far down one– our guide kind of freaked out and after that he was so scared every time he heard one of us stumble. Besides the holes along the trail, the trail itself sometimes just disappeared like in this here picture:

Yeah, that is a pretty steep drop off. I don't really know what would have happened if we fell.

Okay, so after the holes there were the leeches. Yup, leeches. The blood sucking annelid worm. How lovely. Christin had never heard of a leech before and she was freaking out when we explained what they were. Again, our guide thought this was hilarious. We literally had to check Christin for leeches every minute. Thankfully, she only got one leech. And by that point we were all pretty tired so she didn't even freak out and just let me pick it off her. Kathleen got six leeches. And guess how many I got? Just guess. Eleven. What does that tell you? Americans are the sweetest. It is all that good old American pie I guess.

That is my leg. With a leech. Those scratches... well keep
on reading for the dirty deets on those.

Besides the leeches attacking us, we had to worry about the plants. I have never seen so many thorny plants in my life. It looks like I got in a fight with a baby tiger. My legs are so scratched up. Even my arms. All of our legs look terrible– we got a couple comments on them in the following days. Battle wounds. 

Okay, some more complaining: The trail was really slippery because we were in the jungle and it tends to hold water. Making our way down was seemingly impossible to do without ending up on our butts a few times. I don't think I have ever used my butt that much while hiking. Christin and I were pretty goofy at some points and just couldn't stop laughing every time we fell.

We used the trees to help us out. Here, Christin
was a little reluctant to let go. Literally, we pulled
them as far as they could stretch before reaching
for a new one.

Finally, at hour number seven of eight it started to downpour. We were all tired at that point. I was ready to be done with the hike. It wasn't like I wasn't enjoying it, I was, but I just wouldn't have minded if right at that moment a helicopter came and landed next to me and offered to airlift me back to the hostel. I probably would have accepted that. I know I am complaining right now, but I was probably the most upbeat during the hike. I used the wonderful line, "We'll get there when we get there," many a times when someone asked how much longer. I also sang that song from some Christmas movie, the one that goes put one foot in front of the other. falala. Some ice wizard sings it I think. But what do I know since I haven't had a real Christmas since December 2010.

SO: these little obstacles aside it was truly a marvelous day. The views were amazing and the flora along the way was well worth a few scratches and leeches.

Literally in the jungle.