Page 62 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL4

REFLECTIONS OF MY LIFEdestitute from the mountains were now doing well socially. Old acquaintances introduced new friends so that the circle kept enlarging, until I myself almost forgot that this tradition had started from the feeling of alienation of less than ten of us.On the other hand, the group of friends that went jungle trekking kept dwindling as time passed. Some died; others were getting too old and less dynamic, not to mention the many others who had to concentrate on earning a living. So much so that some years we had to give up the practice.And because in early December 1998 I used the time when I should have been trekking in the jungle facing a storm on Koh Lanta, trekking that year again was cancelled.In any event, even though the trip didn’t take place, it didn’t mean that everyone had forgotten about it. At the New Year party in my house that year, a few young women inquired about it because as dedicated readers of my writings they had read several accounts of such trips, so they wanted to have the opportunity to join in what they thought would be great fun.Hearing this I felt glad, as actually my group of jungle trekkers could do with new members. The circle of veterans busy getting tanked up were as glad as I was. They egged me on to arrange a jungle trek soon, and since it couldn’t be done in December, never mind if it took place in January.When I agreed to it, I didn’t know it would be one of the most trying60 Elite+jungle treks I had ever experienced. We left Bangkok on January 14 in the late afternoon, going by train to Lang Suan district in Chumphonprovince.We numbered eleven in all, ofwhom only two were newcomers. One was Wiroat, my latest disciple at the Faculty of Political Science at Thammasat University; the other was Nui, a young woman in the advertising business who had switched from being a reader to being sampler of our kind of life. She was one of the three young women who had asked me to set up the journey, but she was the only one to come because her friends had changed their minds just before catching the train.Don’t ask me why these two ladies changed their minds at the last minute, even though they had been the first ones to ask to come.For myself, I merely thought that some readers found more pleasure in reading what I wrote than being willing to share the kind of life I led. Maybe they didn’t understand that for me going into the jungle and out to sea were not pastimes when I had nothing else to do but a way of turning my back radically on city life, many aspects of which I didn’t like and didn’t enjoy.Said another way, it was a con- scious choice. Even though it meant giving up many other options or sacrificing some things I might have obtained had I used my time otherwise, I still had to go.I am often asked where I find thetime to spend my life with nature. Those who ask want to do the same but can’t. My answer is that all of us are granted the same twenty-four hours each day; the point is how you choose to use that time.Actually I know that this way of thinking goes against mainstream thinking, therefore I am particular in choosing my fellow travellers and I don’t crowd my way of life with outsiders. For those who go into the jungle and out to sea with me, if there are no deep personal relations of friendship involved, at least they have to share my belief in the value of such a life.For this reason, I was sorry that these two new friends said they couldn’t join the trip because they were otherwise busy.But on the other hand, I was delighted that, as soon as I announced there would be a jungle trek, almost all of the members of the old team turned up. No one claimed any work left unfinished, because they knew that this was for each of us to deal with.At Lang Suan, another six companions joined us, as well as two local guides, which put the total of our party at nineteen.Say what you will, this was not the first time, or even the second, that I was going into the jungle around there, but I had three good reasons to want to enter it again.First and foremost, I hold that the watershed of the Lang Suan, which is at the junction between Phato, Ranong and Surat Thani, is a beautiful model of watershed jungle, so I wanted my new friends to see it. Second, as we had friends in the area, arranging for transportation and the necessary gear would be fairly easy. And third, to be frank about it, I and many of my friends felt that we were getting on in years and by choosing to trek here, on the return trip we would sit in a boat