Chiling Waterfall

Today we went a bit off the beaten path. Two teachers invited us on a trip, which we gladly accepted. We had to wake up relatively early (at least for a Saturday) because it was a longer drive. We drove for about 1.5 hours by car, as the place couldn't be reached in any other way. After the drive, we started the hiking tour (after finally finding a parking spot). First, we went to a camping/picnic area where there was also a registration desk. After registering, we started right away. We crossed a bridge (river crossing number 1) and entered the jungle. There, we followed a winding path for about half an hour. Some parts of the path were flat, some were flooded, and some involved climbing over branches (or in this case, roots) and stones. And the whole time, everything was green, with palm trees, aerial roots, large ferns, and even bigger trees that I probably couldn't name 1% of. There were dragonflies and butterflies too. It was just beautiful. After half an hour, the path led into the river. Fortunately, there was a rope stretched across, which apparently wasn't there last year. So we walked across the rocks and into the refreshing cool water. There were a lot of fish in the river, and one fish even nibbled on me, which surprisingly hurt quite a bit and startled me. But at least I didn't slip! After crossing the river, we continued through the jungle, around a bend, and there we were, the next crossing (number 3). We kept going like this, and the path between the crossings somehow became increasingly difficult, until we had crossed the river six times (once on a bridge and five times by walking through). In the end, I was already wet above my knees. Then we walked a short distance through the jungle, and there we were: at the Chiling Waterfall (named after the Chiling River). The first impression was amazing, such a beautiful natural spectacle. Unfortunately, there were quite a lot of people too. A pool had formed in front of the waterfall, where people could swim, and many did. But at least it was mostly free of trash, so the place was still very beautiful. We ate something on a larger stone, and then we went into the water. Our bright white skin stood out quite a bit, as we were the only white people there. But no one minded. After some time in the water, we tried swimming up to the waterfall and letting ourselves drift away, but it started to get a bit chilly, so we didn't stay in for too long. We dried off and started the return journey, getting wet again in the process. After all the hiking, we had a picnic, and then we went back to the teachers' house. Since we hadn't had enough water yet, we went into the pool there before finishing the day with a delicious meal together. We all sat at a round table, each with a plate of rice, and there was meat and vegetables in the middle for everyone. It was really delicious, too bad it's not really close to where I live, otherwise I would probably go there more often. After dinner, we went back home, and now I'm going to fall into bed, very tired. It was just a fantastic and wonderful day, and I'm so incredibly happy that we were invited!