Adventures in South East Asia

18 ~ Water falls (and so do I)

Our last day at the farm, we all embarked on a dodgy jeep ride to the top of the mountain. Luckily, we made it around the tight corners and through the bumpy patches. A hazy view from the top obscured much of the valley and village below. We had the intention of redoing the grass roof on a building up there.

Som-o turned on one of the taps to get a drink and then discovered there was no running water. He decided that our meddling gang was up for the challenge of finding the culprit. We drove down another loosely termed 'road' until the path would no longer carry a vehicle and then began an hour and a half hike to the waterline.

The first part required descending into a swampy area. I grimaced as I tried to avoid stepping in the suction inducing mud piles. Eventually, I slipped enough times that I decided to forgo caution and go with the muck. Even though I had been hiking I injured it, I was conscious of the ankle that I managed to sprain while working in Thailand. It had put me out of commission for nearly a month and I wasn’t about to do it again.

Eight months ago, I had been exploring a tiered waterfall in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. My coworkers and I had hiked all the way to the seventh tier before we headed back down. Our guide had told us that people used the falls at the fourth tier as a waterslide, so naturally we stopped there. He had pointed out that we had to slide off to the side a little, unless we wanted to go back in an ambulance. His roaring laugh hadn't inspired much confidence. The Thai sense of humour was sometimes lost on us.

A group of young Thai men goofed around at the top of the falls, doing back flips and sliding down. The slide’s path had appeared clearly defined to us from below. However, we had still been nervous because we weren’t Thai and would probably make fools of ourselves.

When we saw an overweight, middle-aged Russian man sliding down in his Speedo, we figured we could give it a whirl too. We walked up the side of the falls, using tree roots as hand holds. The Thai guys smiled at us and offered us a turn on the slide. My friends went down before I did since I was terrified when it came to heights. I pushed away that sinking feeling in my gut, sat down in the falls and let the water push me down. The quick drop at the end hardly lasted three seconds before I plunged into the deep cerulean waters.

I surfaced with an enormous smile, laughing. That was positively exhilarating so we climbed up again. I was determined to go first with adrenalin pumping through my veins.

The Thai guys teased us, splashing large amounts of water in our direction. They shouted Thai phrases we didn’t have a chance of comprehending. I enjoyed the rush of falls flowing by and excited voices echoing, so I waded through the waters with a big smile plastered on my face. They kept cheering me on. The water moved pretty fast as I moved toward the area where I was supposed to start my slide.

I began to feel uneasy as the excess rushing water pushed me in the wrong direction, disconnecting my feet’s grip on the rock. I had seen the Thai guys run and navigate this rock easily enough, so I still had some hope that I could pull out of this slip and be alright. I tried my best to get as far left away from the ‘dangerous’ section as I could while simultaneously slipping down towards the pool.

Tumbling and twirling head first, I was thrown into the deep pool once more, much less gently. Something felt a little off as I plunged down, further and further. When I came to my senses, I was relieved at the lack of pain in my head as my biggest concern was a spinal injury.

I kicked my body toward the surface as soon as I orientated myself again. When I broke the surface, I looked up at the large rock/waterfall area, searching for my friends. They wore wide eyes and straight faces alongside the no-longer-jovial Thais. They all stared in my direction. It took me a second to realize that my bikini top was no longer doing its job on one side. I fixed it, waved up to them and called out, “I’m okay,” giving them a thumbs-up.