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three kilometres upstream and the guide would need plenty of time to reach it. The jungle alongside the stream was rather dense. In some parts he might have to walk in the water or swim across to the other bank to find an easier path to walk.We spent the time cooking break- fast and we had just finished eating when the boat with the provisions came down from the mouth of the Kum stream, along with the guide we had sent after it. Apart from that there was also a villager’s boat we had rented for the return trip. He had come and spent the night nearby and must have seen our flashlights and guessed we had lost our way around here and when it was light had come to have a look.We left the camping spot some time past ten, cut across towards the bank below the Heo Phong rapids, but the spot where we wanted to set camp anew was still a little underwater, so we had to use the boats to transport men and material further downstream. As for walking to that spot, we gave up the idea because the bank was overgrown and steep.Before noon our new camp had taken shape.To tell the truth, this is where wehad meant to stay for the second night. It was a wide bend around a stretch of land at the foot of the mountain and it faced small rapids which were the southernmost of the Heo Phong rapids. As soon as we were there we all worked together to clear the grounds and set up many tents. I wanted to sleep in the hammock as I had the night before but by the water was not a single tree to hang it in. In the end I chose to sleep in a tent together with Ooan and Tong, which was a tent the PWCM unit had kindly put in the boat for us.In any case, not finding a way to put up a hammock wasn’t just a matter of external factors: another side was my limited ability. In this case Somphoat showed that he was the miracle man among us, because besides the food for two meals he had lugged for us as if he had guessed what would happen, he was also able to hang hammocks on a treeless beach. He managed it by going up the nearby hill to cut wood he then tied to form a structure resembling a hut with pillars and beams sufficiently stable to take the weight of hammocks for up to four people.Everything seemed to fall into place, everything was fine, and fromthat moment we should have enjoyed our life in the jungle.But then again, life really went as Osho-san claimed: even though the various conditions seemed stable, each passing minute brought the unexpected, each passing moment was a journey to an unfamiliar land- scape that often had painful lessons for those who didn’t want to learn.Regarding this journey to the Lang Suan watershed, it was my third, not counting the times I had roamed around various minor streams feeding that watercourse. Deeply impressed in me were the facts that the jungle around here was evergreen and beau- tiful but at the same time crawling with bloodsucking leeches, as was always the case with rich jungles teeming with wildlife.For this reason I watched for leeches with every step I took every time I visited the Lang Suan jungle, and for the same reason it never crossed my mind that the Phato jungle would have ticks that were even worse than the leeches.I had never thought that I would have to pay a heavy price for going by the book.That afternoon...After setting up the new camp, I felt I should give myself a good scrubbing, so what was easier than jumping into the water and coming back to change clothes? I had worn the same outfit since the morning of the day before and had never taken it out although it was soaked through from the time we had been tramping about on the ridge. Last night I had sleptinitanditwasinitthatIhad walked to set up the new camp.All that time I didn’t have the mind to think that those tiny creatures called ticks might have hidden them- selves in my shirt and trousers by the hundreds.When I changed into a T-shirt and62 Elite+