Tuesday 21 October – seeing the sites

Nathan being so eager was a good half hour early to pick us up, we got going just before 10am. We headed up a river that was just around the corner from us, it was pretty shallow which is why we wanted to go in Nathan’s boat. We went a couple of kilometres up and then walked the rest of the way. The first part of the walk was in the river and then onto a walkway. It was another kilometre to the blue river which was impressively blue. We jumped into swim, the water was deliciously cool, and incredibly clear. It was virtually impossible for me to swim upstream as the torrent was so strong. Rowan headed a little bit further and was soon called back by Nathan. It is a spiritual place and forbidden to go further up the stream. There were two shelters, Nathan told us one belonged to the military and the other to the police. We had finished our swim when a group of tourists arrived, we were so pleased to have had the place to ourselves for our swim. It wasn’t long and there was another couple of tourists. They are all staying at local Homestays. The first big group was from France, turns out an Indonesian lady married one of the french guys, they live in France and have come out on a big French family outing. Her English was perfect and she had lots of stories to tell us. One was that this place used to be a test for the military, new candidates had to spend 12 hours in the cold water and if they survived they could go to war.

We headed back to the boat and Nathan took us to another site with a waterfall, tumbling down steps of limestone rocks. It was also cool but not nearly as enticing as the blue river, so we didn’t swim here. He took us back to the village for a very refreshing coconut and gave us an extra two to take with us, which was very welcome. We are enjoying a glass of coconut water every day. Especially good for us replacing all the minerals we are sweating out!

Back to boat to avoid a few rain showers. We love the anchorage, with the birdsong providing the best noises. Actually depressingly there was a chain saw going all afternoon in the distance. We’ve seen some areas devastated by logging on some of the satellite maps. The tide sweeping in and out is mesmerising, as it swirls around, plenty of big logs come and do a circuit in here, looking suspiciously like crocodiles, which we have been told are definitely around. It is extremely peaceful and relaxing.