Trekking!

The week before last, we had the amazing opportunity to go on a 3-day trekk. We thought that it was to be a 3-day elephant trekk, but it ended up being more like a 3-day backpacking trip with about 2 hours of an elephant ride. We started out on a boat going down the river between Thailand and Burma. (Ying & I getting to our boat)

The trail was quite intense the first day. We didn't realize we would be hiking 5-6 hours, so we had lots of stuff! Thankfully I had my chacos, (sandals) otherwise, I would have died in flipflops! We went up one hill that went up 1,000 meters, or about 3,000 feet! It doesn't seem that much, but it sure did then. :D We crossed over many bridges (and many bamboo sticks across the river). This was one of the nice bridges!

We saw a poisonous snake about 30 minutes into our trekk. It was so different than backpacking in the USA, because we would be hiking through the jungle, and then come out on someone's rice field!

We spent the first night in a small Karen village. We were able to do some health teaching and some hydrotherapy there as well. The next morning we left on our elephants. We only had 2 elephants for 5 of us! So, 3 of us rode on the big one.

I actually got to ride on its neck! Very prickly hair, though.

We spent the 2nd night in another Karen village, right next to a beautiful stream! This was the last picture taken with my camera before it went swimming! Thankfully it works now. :D

We visited a little school, and hopefully will get to go back and teach there. They are open to having us, especially as foreigners, go and teach health & English. (we could also teach about the Christianity, too;) This was an adorable little girl at the school!

The next morning, we left and headed out walking across many streams. After that, all of us with chacos got great big blisters! Lol, oh well. We made it back safe and sound.

The most lasting part about the trip were the friendships we made, especially with our guide. Before we left, we had been praying especially for the Buddhists. This young man is Buddhist, and had a bitter taste about Christianity from an ex-girlfriend. We had prayer before leaving, before eating, etc. and that left a deep impression on him. Just in little things that have happened since the trekk, God has opened the doors for us to meet up with him again. We rented some motorcycles from him and after we were finished, the guys forgot to leave the keys (so he had to come get them); we've been able to go out to eat with him, and he suggested that we pray (before we mentioned it). He seems to be opening up and trusting us! I pray that God will continue to use us to reach him. He said that we were a special group. It is awesome to watch God working on his heart. God had a purpose for us on this trekk, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, our prayer is that our guide will get to know Him through our friendship. (Our group that went. Our guide is the one beside me, and the one in blue was a guide in training to this forest. The man in red in the back was from Belgium.)