Mud Bath (8.17.12)

Today, we went on an orientation tour to Grand Etang. It was a morning hike that we heard could be pretty muddy so we tried to wear the appropriate clothing of what we had. It hadn't rained too hard the few days before so we were hoping that it wasn't awful...

We were definitely wrong! The first few minutes up the hike, I found little patches that I could pretty much avoid the mud to keep my shoes relatively clean. Then we got to the "swamp"- there was absolutely no way around it. It was so bad that when I stepped into it, my shoe almost got stuck in it when I tried to take my next step. So, Ash and I went for it and our pretty clean shoes were now brown and about an inch thicker than usual. At that point, we didn't have a care in the world about the mud that we were stepping in. We had been told that once we got to the top of the hike the view would be incredible- so that was our motivation to keep going! It took us about 45-60 minutes to get up trying to keep our feet on the ground and our shoes on our feet- it was a challenge! And then we got to the top...unfortunately it was a tiny patch of space to overlook a very green, lush area of the rainforest. Yes, it was a pretty view but I think our high expectations were unfulfilled...and we could only look at it for about 5 seconds then had to keep moving because other people were coming up behind us. Then we had to go down- that should be easier right?? Not exactly. First of all, with people still coming up the mountain, it cut the trail in half. Second of all, the steepness of the hill going up with the mud just created more of a challenge. Our method: Surf and Slide. Basically, Ashkon would start sliding, grab my hand and then I would slide right behind him. If one of us lost our balance, we both were going down. Luckily, I only fell once and just got a little scrape on my knee. Ashkon stood strong the whole way down! 

The view

After making it down, there were only a few other "survivors" who had completed the hike. We found a little hose to try to wash off a little before we had to get back on the bus. While we were hanging out waiting for the rest of the group, I realized that almost 3 hours had past and we hadn't been able to drink water on the hike because we were constantly going. Not feeling too good, I drank all my water and ate a snack. It helped a little bit but then we got back on the non-air conditioned bus and it got worse. I quickly drank the rest of Ashkon's water which probably wasn't a good idea. As soon as we got to our next location to see the waterfall, I threw up...Yes, this was my fourth time being sick in the less than 2 months we had been married. Ashkon is the best doctor though already always taking care of me when I get sick! We still got to see the waterfall though! I somewhat miserably walked down to the water with Ashkon- we watched some of group cliff jump and continued to wash our shoes from the hike. The drive home felt like forever. We finally made, washed more of the mud off of ourselves and gave our shoes a good 2 rounds in the wash before they looked clean as new. Ashkon left for another orientation meeting and I relaxed at home. Remember how I said Ashkon is the best doctor - well he showed up after his meeting with a sprite and crackers and took care of me the rest of the night! He is the best!!