Els van Wijlen is currently staying with her husband 'de Kuuk' on Koh Phangan. Her son Robin has opened a coffee cafe on the island.
Today I'm going to the waterfall, that suits me better than all that swimming in the sea. It is also nice and cool. I feel like half an hour of climbing burns a million calories and I become more flexible and stronger.
It does feel a bit awkward, because I'm wearing shorts for the first time in a long time. Horribly ugly shorts with elastic in the waist, the only kind that fit me here on the island, the rest are children's sizes…. If you had said 10 years ago that I would go down the street in these pants, I would have thought you crazy.
But yes, times change, so do the body and mind.
So I get on the scooter and ride in my wrong shorts, sneakers, and shirt to the Phang waterfall. There I get off and quickly seek the shelter of the jungle. I occasionally look down and have to get used to my bare legs…..they are quite fleshy and whitish… Don't meow and keep walking, if I do this more often, they will naturally become more muscular and brown.
Fortunately it's quiet today, I don't meet anyone. The higher I climb, the more I feel like I'm all alone in the world. Delicious.
I rest in a very nice place, near a shallow pool near the waterfall. Waaaaaaa, delicious! I am all alone, feel one with nature. With my eyes closed I enjoy the sounds and smells and then I think that I would be even more at one with nature if I took some clothes off.
I open my eyes, look down again and see my fleshy white legs and doubt…but not for too long….
What do I care anyway, I'm here on my own and I'm just doing it. I take off what I don't want to wear anymore, put everything in my backpack. I step into my "private pool" and enjoy the clear cool water. DIVINE!!!
After a while I am rested and ready to climb further up. Still in perfect harmony with nature, I grab the backpack and carefully make my way through the rocks into the waterfall. The fast-flowing water clatters down over the rocks, slowly I climb higher and higher.
Then I unexpectedly see a few sports enthusiasts walking along the path along the waterfall. They look a little strange when they see me standing on all fours in the middle of that waterfall. But I don't care.
Of course I am extra careful because I also understand that I am quite vulnerable without it….
When I can go no further, I rest again before I start the return journey. After a slippery descent through the water and the last part on the path, I get to the point where the stuff from the bag has to be put back on. It's been nice. While I take the damp socks and sports shoes out of the backpack, I am a satisfied person.
It was a beautiful experience!
I highly recommend walking barefoot through the jungle and climbing a waterfall!
Els, nice in that cool water, pure nature and enjoyment. Enjoy reading your bits.
Maybe 1 comment, if you do that kind of thing alone, watch out twice, those stones in the water can be slippery and disaster can come from outside.
Nico B
White legs are beautiful in Thailand, so don't be ashamed next time Els!