Silly tourist

I wanted to see the big lake, formed by a dam, so I signed up for a tour. It would have been nice to have a group of three or four people and arrange it independently. As it was I was a part of a group of 12 English and there was another group of 12 English behind us, so it was tourist central. The long boat ride was nice, though, since the lake is surrounded by dramatic mountains the likes of which I've never seen. I'm used to mountains being tall and jagged, but these were short and curvey, and even though they were sheer rock, trees covered their faces.

Then we had another jungle trek to a cave, which proved to be interesting. The guides warned us we'd have to swim, but said it was OK to bring cameras. I wish I had left mine, since I was worried about it the whole time. The cave was very dark and featured bats and huge spiders. There was much wading through waist-deep water with my flashlight in my mouth and my camera above my head. At one point we had to give our cameras to the guide and swim a short distance with one hand holding our flashlights out of the water. My camera still works, and I have some neat photos.

That night one of the resorts, run by a Thai guy called "Rambo," had a Western-style BBQ which some of us partook of. It would prove to be my undoing...