Sunshine and Fresh Air

There's no doubt that I'm a city girl. But it's always nice to have a change of speed once in a while.

For me, that usually means going to a different town or city, and getting lost amongst buildings, random markets & museums.

So, imagine my trepidation at having to go on a more nature-y trip. For the entire week preceding this trip, I was whining about not wanting to go. But that's as far as my wet blanket tendencies go. 

So I went along.

Below, the continuation of my whining, laced with omgthisplaceissoprettywhydoesithavetobesohardtogetto?

1. Waking up at 5am so we can take a two hour bus ride and be dropped off at the side of the road? Gahhh... Okay I'm exaggerating. This is the beautiful spot where we got off the bus to continue on by lorry. Yes, by lorry  - which was both terrifying, and awesome.

2. OMG it's a winding road with loads of sharp bends. The kind you have to blast your horn as you approach because it's a blind corner on the side of the hill, with a huge drop off the side of the road. At one point, there was a huge, oil palm filled lorry coming from the other direction and we had to pull over to let it pass. And most of us city folk did what everyone tends to do when someone says "ooh...pretty" - go over to the side of the lorry that offered the better look. That would be the side that was on the edge of the cliff, of course. And of course, yours truly was the one who was in the opposite corner going "Whoah people...back on the safer side of the lorry, please!"

Otherwise, there was lots of clinging to the lorry, and being too worried about losing my phone over the cliff to take any photos. Until we arrived, of course.

3. But the place is so pretty! I don't really get the decor. But it's a nice place!

Gosh...gosh why do hotels always do this? I hate it when they have creepy paintings in the room.

4. More importantly, the food was uh-mayyyy-zinggg. Again, I probably exaggerate. But I've definitely had worse in fancier places. Definite thumbs up on the meals. And here are a couple of highlights that I bothered to take while we weren't too busy digging in. 

5. And now, my favourite bit - the slightly less terrifying lorry rides to and from some of the activities. 

Note the bangku in the corner - for those of us who can't figure out how to get on and off the lorry without one. 

This is one of my favourite shots from the trip.

6. Outdoor activities?! *cue frightening montage in my head of the thousand and one ways I could get injured* So while the rest went white water rafting, me and a couple of others stayed behind to chill out.

I can't help but hear the soundtrack from the Lord of the Rings play in my head while they head downstream. 

I'm a nerd sometimes. I know.

So it wasn't so bad after all. It was great just getting out of the city and soaking in some fresh air and sunshine.