testmeat photoblog

in my last post i talked about attempting to trek on the fenrui historical trail only to find that the route was blocked by fallen bamboo and having to retreat to a hut when it started to rain. it was coming down heavy, so i ate my lunch inside and waited for the rain to pass. after an hour of waiting there was no let up in the rain so i decided to bite the bullet and make my descent. i didn't really fancy going back the way that i came, not least because it was a long route and i knew from experience that it would involve negotiating a lot of bamboo hazards. so instead i opted for a different path, it was far more direct which is another way of saying steep, and essentially went through the undergrowth. this warning sign which posted directly outside of the hut made me particularly nervous, but fortunately i didn't encounter either of those animals on the way down. by the time i made it back to my hotel i was completely drenched, and when i stripped off my soaking clothes i discovered that there was a third animal which i didn't account for - leeches. they were really small, that it took me a while to realise what they were, but i soon understood when i found that they couldn't easily be flicked off my skin. incidentally when i first saw the warning sign i was instantly reminded of something i was told a few weeks earlier. i was in a different part of the island and talking to a local about river tracing. this is when you trek uphill, or more accurately upstream, by wading in a river and clambering over rocks - in my case to reach a waterfall. the weather was far more pleasant and it sounded like a lot of fun, that was until i sent on my way by the nine most terrifying words i could possibly imagine: just be careful of the snakes and giant hornets

i've posted a few more images from this trek on my instagram - you can also see a little video of walking the bamboo scattered trail before the rain arrived