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| By Ianpassion, Picture credit: My Friend Philip |
I asked a friend “Bro, would you like to hike with me in the jungle and trek to the waterfall?”
“That’s cool. Which waterfall bro?” he replied.
“Wangthainan Waterfall, have you heard this waterfall before?” I asked.
My friend trying to figure out, he replied, “I don’t know, I have been to Wangsaithong waterfall and Daokrajai waterfall, but I never heard Wangthainan waterfall.”
Trying to provide the probable location for him, I said, “Bro, I think you know Tamphuphet cave, it is around that area.”
"Ok, got it" He responded.
Monday, last day of the Songkran festival (Thai New Year), we arrived at the base where a guard of the forest asked us to encode our personal information. When we finished then we started heading along the main road leading to the main entrance of the jungle.
The wooden gatepost erected at the entrance served as a sign of the trail. We went through and in few minutes we found ourselves sneaking into the forest. Following a narrow trail surrounded by wild plants and huge trees, made us think about whatever possibilities for our survival. But various species of birds and insects singing in the trees gave us an unwinding feeling, knowing that we were not alone in this journey.
“How long we should hike bro?” my friend asked.
I said, “It is going to be two hours, but we’ll make it just one hour. Our objective is to hike directly towards the waterfall, then on our way back we will drop by at the enchanted river.”
“Sounds great!” a friend responded.
One thing that made this hiking trip more exciting was when we started trekking on the saddle terrain alongside the raging rivers. It was at that time we could not hear other noise except the sound of rapid streams and its currents as bumped on rocks popping.
As we kept moving, a huge log of a fallen tree barricaded our way. We could not cross over it so we had to make a new trail that it ended we were finally stepping into the cold river.
A friend behind asked me, “Bro are we still on the right track?"
I said, “Bro as long we will follow this stream we will never get lost, but to make our journey fast we need to go back to the main trail.” We trimmed our way and swayed thorny vines until we were finally back on the main trail.
As kept moving forward, a friend signaled, “Bro, please stop!”
So we stopped.
We got leeches sucking our blood. Their bites were painless so we did not notice them immediately. They are tiny worms but they grow like the size of thumb once they already sipped lots of blood. Not dangerous but they look very disgusting.
As we kept moving, a huge log of a fallen tree barricaded our way. We could not cross over it so we had to make a new trail that it ended we were finally stepping into the cold river.
A friend behind asked me, “Bro are we still on the right track?"
I said, “Bro as long we will follow this stream we will never get lost, but to make our journey fast we need to go back to the main trail.” We trimmed our way and swayed thorny vines until we were finally back on the main trail.
As kept moving forward, a friend signaled, “Bro, please stop!”
So we stopped.
We got leeches sucking our blood. Their bites were painless so we did not notice them immediately. They are tiny worms but they grow like the size of thumb once they already sipped lots of blood. Not dangerous but they look very disgusting.
Our journey could be more fun without these leeches. However, they are included in the creation. It made me think that like these leeches sucking our blood, what is anchored in our individual life journey are challenges that cannot be avoided. We only need to face them and get over.
The scripture mentioned, “Narrow is the gate the leads to life, but wide is the way that leads to destruction.” (Mathew 7:14)
The scripture mentioned, “Narrow is the gate the leads to life, but wide is the way that leads to destruction.” (Mathew 7:14)
No risk, no adventure. No pain, no glory. No cross, no life.
In a few more minutes, we finally arrived at the forefront of the Wangthainan waterfall. We hiked up more on the boulder nearby the massive drops of the waters for a closer view and place to settle. The waters flow over gigantic rocks from the great heights. By just looking up the infinite pouring of its waters and listening to its fizzing sound our souls were already filled with awe.
We arrived past noon so were already so hungry. I told my friends, “Bro, take your time while I am preparing our lunch.”
While I was preparing our lunch, my friends were enjoying the cold waters, splashing and taking shower on the strongest currents. When finished I called them.
The frontal view of the waterfall during our meal and coffee time gave us good affectivity of the supernatural creation of our heavenly Father.
After we finished our meal, I told my friends if they would like to climb with me at the peak. One of them asked, “Where is the way up bro?”
I replied, “Bro we will go on the side of the boulder, it is climbable even we don’t have a rope because of no rain, not wet, and so it not slippery.”
So we climbed and in a few minutes later, we were already at the peak. The way up was not that easy as we expected. A fallen tree blocked our way. For someone who had no experience could be dangerous. Good that one of us decided to stay to look after our things.
At the peak, we discovered that there was another waterfall. It was a little bit shorter than the former. However, this waterfall is very raw, unmolested, and very beautiful. It was also at the peak we could have a perfect overview of the rapid rivers, rainforest, and mountain ranges. Very refreshing. I found that whenever hikers arrived at Wangthainan waterfall, they do not usually climb here.
When we start keeping our things to leave, I told my friends that we should not miss the enchanted river. (by the way, I named this part of the river enchanted because I don't know its original name in Thai)
“That’s cool,” my friend replied.
As we were approaching, we walked on the huge fallen log as our bridge descending towards the river. On our arrival, a white sandbar on the side of the river served as our base and picnic area.
The pool right in front of us was so enticing. I could feel its wildness. We took off our sandals, shirts, and dive into its cold waters. Awesome. We swam towards the strongest rapids of its waters where we had our overwhelming shower and therapeutic back massage through its current.
We arrived past noon so were already so hungry. I told my friends, “Bro, take your time while I am preparing our lunch.”
While I was preparing our lunch, my friends were enjoying the cold waters, splashing and taking shower on the strongest currents. When finished I called them.
The frontal view of the waterfall during our meal and coffee time gave us good affectivity of the supernatural creation of our heavenly Father.
After we finished our meal, I told my friends if they would like to climb with me at the peak. One of them asked, “Where is the way up bro?”
I replied, “Bro we will go on the side of the boulder, it is climbable even we don’t have a rope because of no rain, not wet, and so it not slippery.”
So we climbed and in a few minutes later, we were already at the peak. The way up was not that easy as we expected. A fallen tree blocked our way. For someone who had no experience could be dangerous. Good that one of us decided to stay to look after our things.
At the peak, we discovered that there was another waterfall. It was a little bit shorter than the former. However, this waterfall is very raw, unmolested, and very beautiful. It was also at the peak we could have a perfect overview of the rapid rivers, rainforest, and mountain ranges. Very refreshing. I found that whenever hikers arrived at Wangthainan waterfall, they do not usually climb here.
When we start keeping our things to leave, I told my friends that we should not miss the enchanted river. (by the way, I named this part of the river enchanted because I don't know its original name in Thai)
“That’s cool,” my friend replied.
As we were approaching, we walked on the huge fallen log as our bridge descending towards the river. On our arrival, a white sandbar on the side of the river served as our base and picnic area.
The pool right in front of us was so enticing. I could feel its wildness. We took off our sandals, shirts, and dive into its cold waters. Awesome. We swam towards the strongest rapids of its waters where we had our overwhelming shower and therapeutic back massage through its current.
On our way back home, the hymn “This Is My Father’s World” kept echoing in my heart:
Surely, I will come back here again.
This is my Father's world
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres
This is my Father's world
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas
His hand the wonders wrought
His hand the wonders wrought
Surely, I will come back here again.
