fineto

the last day of my journey was on Monday (Jan 5).  hard to believe i was still in Thailand a few days ago.  i spent that morning slowly getting the rest of my things together, eating some breakfast, and then taking my last walk through Chiang Mai.  i ended up in the massage parlor where i had started my time in Thailand and got a 2 hour thai massage (i first asked for one hour and my masseuse asked 'don't you want 2 hours?')... at about $10, how could i say no?  what ensued was a combination of massage, physical therapy, acrobatics, and yoga.  Unlike typical massages i have had, you wear some light pants and a top for most of the time while the masseuse gets underneath and on top of you to work out all your muscles and to stretch them.  the only time my skin was bared was when she worked on my back. definitely the best massage i have ever had... left me hoping that i can find somewhere around here that does thai massage, although i'm not sure i'll find it.

my 36 hours of travel was not the best time i have ever spent, nor was it the worst.  After 5 flights (including one that had to be rebooked mid-travel because i had originally booked it for the wrong day - don't ask), i made it back into DC. it was really nice to have ben come get me from the airport... we picked up my mail from the post office (including my package sent from Hoi An that i was not sure would find its way here) and then went to grab some dinner at Dogfishhead.  

As expected, it did not take me very long to fall asleep.  Unfortunately, i woke up at 2 am and did not fully fall asleep again after that.  Needless to say, i felt pretty awful on Wednesday with a migraine and only went into work for about 3 hours.  After 10 hours sleep that night, i rebounded back by the next day.  Don't get me wrong, i've felt a little wiped out, but nothing like i did the day after returning.  

I'm slowly getting back into things, but surely my head isn't quite there yet... hopefully by next week... Kaya is still readjusting to my return (and her return to the apartment) as well. she hasn't really eaten much since i brought her home, which is not like her... i'm hoping she's return to her peppy (albeit psychotic) self over the next few days.

i should probably continue cleaning my apartment since it looks like a bomb hit it... well, that and watch the playoffs.

bugs and more bugs

Since I knew I wasn't going to be climbing today, i decided to have a slow morning... i had breakfast and then spent some time getting this here blog up-to-date. At about noon, i headed out to my main destination of the day - the Museum of World Insects and Natural Wonders. It was kind of a far walk, but it was such a nice day that i didn't mind it... plus, not only did i not have much else on the agenda for the day, but it was my goal to not once hire a tuk-tuk or taxi (except to and from the airport) while in Chiang Mai so that I could actually feel like i was getting some physical activity again.

After about an hour, I saw a sign marking the museum. I realized rather quickly that this was not the brick and mortar museum i had envisioned, but a small museum out of a house. I rang the high tech doorbell (actually a string connected to a bell higher up) and this cute old man, in a t-shirt and pants with insect prints on them, came to the entryway. I paid the requisite 300 baht fee and entered the museum. The man, whose name i learned was Khun Manop, handed me a computer printed sheet of paper with numbers and descriptions to use as my guide through the museum. He and his wife are both entomologists - she still does research while he is the museum curator.

I started moving through at number one, beginning with some insect nests and wood carvings made by water erosion. After about 5 minutes, Mr. Manop came up to me and asked me to look at something. He brought me to a bell with the metal pull handle reading something like 'ring this bell to honor the nature's pure devotion'. He had just put the bell there and wanted to know if the description made sense. After he told me what he wanted the words to reflect, I helped him reword it a bit - 'ring this bell to honor nature's pure selflessness' (or something like that)... and then he let me be the first visitor to ring it. The next room contained different pieces of wood turned into artwork by termites. The third room described how the museum came to be and contained some butterfly and other insect specimens. Throughout the first three rooms there were many (and i mean many) little sayings and thoughts about the importance of protecting a nature, how insects aren't bad but it's the things we do that lead to harm, how nature was created by god, etc. The tour then lead me to the upper level, which contained 'his life's work' as he put it. There were 436 species of mosquitos, as well as butterflies, housed in glass cases. Who knew there were so many? And man, some of them surely don't look like the mosquitos that we know them to be... some are large as (or even larger than) beetles and have armor-like shells. I actually really enjoyed walking through there, not only because the bugs themselves were interesting, but knowing how much love, time and energy was put into not only collecting the insects but creating a museum for them. He asked me to write a blurb in his guest book and then sweetly thanked me again for helping him out and for coming to the museum.

I had decided to next go the the Art Museum. After another 30 minute walk, I got to the museum... it was actually the Chiang Mai University Art Center/Museum. Still, i thought it would be interesting to go in. Turns out, however, that they are between exhibits and the next one doesn't come in until Jan 9th... so there wasn't anything for me to see.

After that, I headed back towards my hotel's part of town. I hung out there for about an hour and then headed to the Sunday Market, which luckily was right outside the hotel doors. I had thought last night's market was big, but this one took the cake. Again, it was a pleasurable strolling and shopping experience at the beginning, but became less so as the crowds moved in. There are few times that i do not like shopping: 1) when i need to find something specific, 2) when i don't really have the money and just end up tagging along with other people, and 3) when it involves huge mobs of people stepping on the backs of my flip flops and creating barricades across the spots i want to get to. Somehow in all of it, i managed to by another bag full of stuff (i said that i didn't like to shop in this situation, but not that i couldn't). Also, since it was my last day here before leaving, i felt like i should try some of the street food i had seen but not yet tried - grilled calamari (the whole squid grilled, sliced, put in a bag, and drenched with spicy sauce - my mouth was en fuego), strawberries laced with sugar and salt (the Vietnamese and Thais are huge fans of mixing sweet and salty, and sometimes spicy), these mini fried eggs that they had me put salt, pepper, and soy sauce on, and a waffle folded in half with banana slices in it. Although it was my dinner and i ate it over the 4 hrs of walking around, i still ended up pretty full - i guess it is a lot of food, but at least most of it wasn't too unhealthy. Like Huy had said before, i didn't want to leave wishing i had tried something that i couldn't try at home - and Thai street food is one of those things.

So, now i'm back at the hotel, getting ready to pack up my stuff. And yes, i did buy an additional bag to help me bring back the goods i got here. Luckily I also sent some stuff from the first half of my trip back home via post when i was in Hoi An (although i'm still not convinced it will make it to Gaithersburg). Off to get packing and have my last slumber in SE Asia... well, at least for now :)

Chiang Mai

The next morning, I used wifi at a coffeeshop across the street to see and email from the place where i had booked a room - there were directions and a note to make sure that my taxi driver did not take me to the OTHER Garden Guesthouse... i was really wishing i had seen that email before getting to Chiang Mai... i emailed him back and said that i would arrive today if it was possible, but also did some more looking online (thanks iPhone)... at this point, i decided that after 3 weeks of living in $2-$12 places, i was maybe going to treat myself at the end of my trip to a nicer place. So before heading to the place i had booked, i stopped at another that got good reviews online. It's a charming place called the 3 Sis (sisters) B&B and Lodge. For $40 a night, i feel like i am living in luxury - it has teak every where and the air of Morocco to it... a proper shower, proper toilet, toilet paper, and no bugs (oh, and this morning i discovered the hairdryer)... love it... and it's in a great location in the center of the city...

I spent the morning of my first day walking around to see a few Wats (temples) - one of them is across the street from my hotel - and to see a bit of the area. I found a cute natural bath product shop that i bought some goodies in and then headed back towards the hotel to a massage place i had spotten on my way... it was finally time for me get one since i had yet to in SE Asia... i ended up booking a foot massage (didn't want full body yet because of sunburn), clay body mask (i was told it would help my sunburn heal quicker), and a mani/pedi. The 45 min foot massage ended up being about 30 min on my legs and feet and the rest of the time on my neck, shoulders, arms and back. I then spent about an hour doing the body mask before getting my mani/pedi - it was so nice to finally get all the dirt out from under my nails... i ended up being at the place from 4:30 until 9pm... closing them down... the awesome thing is that everything together cost 920 baht, which is about $26.50... insane...

After that I was not in the mood to hit the touristy Night Bazaar, so just came back to chill at my hotel... didn't even make it to dinner, which is fine since i have been eating enough for two people over this trip. I emailed a woman about taking a Thai cooking class the next morning before getting to bed (well trying to, but i ended up awake until like 2am).

I opened my eyes the next morning to a beautiful sunrise just outside my window... it felt like heaven... after getting myself together, i contacted the woman from the cooking school and she said i would be picked up at my hotel. I spent from 9am-3pm at the cooking class... it was me and 3 other people at first (2 sisters from Canada and a guy friend of their's)... our teacher was this beautiful Thai woman who was down-to-earth and funny... we first took a trip to the nearby market for her to show us didn't kinds of veggies and herbs used in Thai cooking, some of which i had never seen before. Afterwards, we headed back and were met by the another guy from Ireland who had missed the pick up because we was sleeping. It turned out to be a good group and i had a lot of funning cooking and talking with them. We made soooo much food. I was told beforehand by friends that you are supposed to eat everything at these classes, but i couldn't do it... i alone had made pad thai, fresh spring rolls, tom yum prawn soup, hot basil stir-fry with tofu and veggies, green curry with tofu and veggies, and bananas in coconut milk... plus, we tasted each other's stuff since people chose some different things to learn for each of the 6 meal courses.

After the class, i stopped back at my hotel and then headed to a local climbing place to book a trip for the next day... i arrived at the place to discover (sadly) that they were closed for a couple of days, so i couldn't book something... i then decided to check out the Night Bazaar... using my map, which has incorrect street names and doesn't show some streets that actually do exist, i headed towards the Bazaar (or so i thought)... i eventually realized i was headed in the opposite direction that i had planned. Luckily, there was also a Saturday night market on this end of town. I had been told by a few locals that the Sat and especially Sun night markets are much better than the Bazaar - less touristy, more crafts, and better deals... when I arrived to the market, I soon realized how large it was - it seemed to go on forever. Gradually more and more people seemed to appear and after about an hour, it was starting to get packed. By the time I left about 3 hours later, it was so jam packed that it was difficult to get through the mass of people... at one point i even stopped trying to get to booths because it meant pushing through so many people. It was still cool, though... i got some gifts (for others and myself), but learned that if i am wavering on something that i think i will want to come back for, i should just buy it... there were these two pictures i liked but wasn't 100% sure about... stopped on my way back to get them and they were gone... i'm hoping they, or something similar, will reappear at the Sunday market tonight, which is serendipitously outside the doors of my hotel.

Day 8 (our final day): Can Tho back to Ho Chi Minh City and then to Chang Mai

Vanessa and I were the only ones actually awake for our set 5am meeting time... after realizing this, we got back into bed (me fully clothed since i had packed up all my stuff) and slept for another hour (well, i tried to). About an hour and half later, we all headed in our sleepwalking state towards the water to board a boat. We rode for about 20 minutes before coming upon all the boats with people selling all their stuff (watermelon, pineapple, etc.) at the Floating Market. Smaller boats even came up to us to sell us drinks and other food - felt like the era of waitresses on roller skates coming to your car. After riding slowly through the market, we hopped from our boat to another for Huy to buy us some pineapple, which we ate standing on the boat we bought it from. After this, i dozed in and out of sleep reclining on the boat as we headed back to shore.

Immediately upon getting to the hotel, Chin said we had to go... I was supposed to have breakfast with the ladies, but since we had gotten a late start he wanted to get going... my stuff was already loaded on to his bike, ready to go. The other ladies were heading to the border that day so that they could go into Cambodia, but I decided to head into Thailand for my last few days. So, Chin was driving me back to Saigon (HCMC) to catch my plane. After about an hour he asked if i was hungry and we stopped for me to grab a sandwich (our fall-back staple of bread, laughing cow cheese and cucumber)... i had to eat it as we continued driving, so there were bread pieces flying everywhere - it was probably comedic for passerbys who saw me. Luckily, today was the one day i rode where there wasn't a drop of rain - it was actually really warm and i ended up adding some sunburn to my already red-tainted skin.

After 4 hours, we got to the airport - that was quite a racket because they wouldn't let the motorbike take me up to International Departures... Chin had to drop me off and then i had to pay a taxi 50,000 dong to take me 1 minute up the ramp.

I was at the airport almost 5 hours before my flight was set to depart and the ticketing desks didn't open until 2 hours before flight time, so i camped out on some chairs in the ticketing area, falling in and out of sleep, until i could get to check in. After listening to many people in line getting upset because the the baggage weight limit had gone down and they had to pay $15 per extra kilo, i got through (luckily without having to pay anything extra) , went through Immigration and then went to catch my plane. After a two hour flight, i arrived in Bangkok. Air Asia only has terminal flights so I couldn't check my bag all the way through - so i spent the typical 45 min getting my bag and then walking back to Domestic Check-In. I headed to the Thai Airlines counter to check in, but the agent was confused and said that he thought I was really flying Bangkok Air... I gathered my stuff and headed to the Bangkok Air counter (even though i was sure it was a Thai Air flight) only for them to tell me my flight number was a Thai Air one... so, i traipsed back to my guy at the other counter and had him look again... only to find that my flight was going out of Don Muang Airport - the other airport (an hour away) in Bangkok... i hadn't known when booking my flights that there were two airports in Bangkok, so i didn't think to make sure of it... luckily, i had given myself 3 hrs between flights... so even though i had already spent over an hour getting my bag and figuring out my flight, the attendant said i should still have time to grab a taxi to the other airport. I asked how much it should cost and he told me 300-400 baht... i got money out of the ATM and headed down where he told me to catch a taxi... along the way, some guy tried to con me into paying 1200 baht for the ride... after pshawing him off, i caught a metered cab outside and asked the guy if he could go fast so that i didn't miss my flight... he did a great job, getting me to the airport with an hour to spare, and only charging me what i was told it should cost.

I arrived in Chiang Mai at 11:30pm, so it was after midnight when i grabbed a taxi. Although i had booked a room, i did not have internet access over the past few days and did not have the address written down - so i just told him the name of the place... he dropped me off to a hotel with a locked gate (a lot of the budget hotels i stayed at did this)... however, unlike most of the others, there was no one sleeping close to the entry... so banging on the gate did me no good. I left and began walking to find another place to stay... i felt a little uncomfortable walking by myself at 1am, in the dark, to find a place... i had no idea where i was or whether the area was safe. After about 15 min of walking, i came across a large, seemingly nice hotel that was open... it was 1400 baht for a room (4-20 times what i had been paying up to that point), but i didn't want to keep walking. I booked and paid for the first night in the room without looking at it. Needless to say, it was certainly not worth the approximately $40 i was paying - as bad, even worse, than some of the $2 and $12 hotels i had stayed in... so i went to bed knowing that i would find another place in the morning.

Day 7: Mythos to Can Tho

Today we continued our ride through the Mekong Delta (aptly named because the Mekong River runs through)... after riding for a bit, the guys dropped us off at a huge suspension bridge, told us to walk, and they would meet us at the other side. This bridge crossed the Mekong River, so we spent some time taking pictures as we made our way across. Besides motorbikes (and a few cars) the other thing the bridge was laden with was women selling their goods - cigarettes and such.

After getting picked up at the other side, we next rode to a spot set alongside the Mekong and boarded a boat to ride in the river. As in other places I've been in Mekong, there were many people on the water - living and working. Our first stop was a fish farm floating in the river... other than getting to take some pics of the fish as they came to the surface for food, not too much happening there.

Our next stop was alongside the river at a place where they made coconut candy - as soon as we walked off the boat and over a small dock bridge, a woman held out a plate to offer us coconut paper and coconut candies... the paper was a little odd, but the candies (made of coconut, banana, sugar, sesame seeds) were heavenly. We were encouraged to sit down and eat more as we drank some green tea. We then watched as a guy (maybe teenager) stirred a vat of the coconut mixture.

After thoroughly giving myself a sugar high, we re-boarded the boat to head to our last stop - a farm where they grow fruits and vegetables. We had a tour guide walk us through on a stone pathway, with trees on each side of us - growing asian apples, jackfruit, mango, you name it. Then we hit an area where they housed some ostrich (we could take a ride for a fee), monkeys, a bear, and some alligators (also a fee if we wanted a shot at feeding them). Soon after, we separated from the guide and I heard Huy curse for the first time - he was pissed that the guide there tried to get money out of us and he said that he could easily take us through himself. Our last stop in the farm was a covered area with my new favorite piece of furniture - hammocks. As we lied there chilling out, we were served asian apples to eat. After about 10 minutes there, it started to downpour yet again... so, we relaxed there until the rain let up a bit. By the time we boated back to the shore, it had returned to full-fledged downpour... so we had a small bite to eat and some coffee before donning our full body rainsuits and getting back on the bikes.

As it was already getting late (we had spent a few hours out there), we headed for the hotel. After quickly showering and changing clothes, we headed with Huy and Son to a boat where we would be having our New Years Eve dinner. We seemed to be the only non-Vietnamese people on the dinner cruise, so people enjoyed watching us - especially after we had a few bottles of wine and got silly. After Lynne told us she could put her whole fist in her mouth, and then showed us, we all had to take a try... oh yes, there are pictures to document it... and i'll have you know that i was successful after attempt #2. The family at the table across from us was getting such a kick out of it and us that before they left, they even came by to talk with us (interpreted by Huy) to tell us (in particular Dre) how pretty our hair was and how pretty we were... then the teenage son proceeded to show us his body trick by flipping his eyelid inside out... totally gross, but of course he wanted a picture so i obliged him with it.

At dinner, Huy really encouraged us to order some things that we would probably not get to eat again once we left Vietnam... for sure i was not going to get dog (at least knowingly), but i was willing to try something... we ordered an eel dish (which i've had before, but others hadn't), frog (also another one i've eaten before), and field mouse... you heard me right - mouse. Luckily it did not come out whole, but in squares covered in a glaze... after one bite... i was... loving it! it turned out to be my favorite thing on the table other than the garlic sauteed cabbage. I'm sure the glaze played a big part in me liking it so much, but it tasted like pork ribs... so now i can take eating field mouse off my list of things to do.

The dinner cruise only lasted until 10pm, so after that Dahn met up with us and we went to a dance club. We were 5 of only about 8 white people (and i only met one of them) in the place, so we were quite the center of attention at times... people coming up to ask us where we are from and wanting to dance with us... and lots of glances... we were there when the clock struck 12 and it felt really cool to be ringing in the new year with my new friends in a new place.

We got back to the hotel a little after 1am, with plans to meet up at 5am to go to the Floating Market (it only goes until 9am). My already challenged sleep time was interrupted at 3:30am by a phone call from my dad making sure i was ok and not in Bangkok yet since there was a fire at a club there. In a daze, i told him i was ok and not leaving until the next day (actually that day since it was 3:30am)... I tried falling back asleep but really stayed awake most of the time until i actually got up.

rode on through to Can Tho (with a hammock lying, rest/pee stop in between). Once we got to

Day 6: Ho Chi Minh City to Mythos

Today was a day centered on the Vietnam War. Just outside of Ho Chi Minh City is the War Remnants Museum. This museum is all about the war, with some it from the perspective of journalists, but most of it from the Vietnamese perspective. It was very eye-opening for me since i (embarrassingly) know little about the war. What i gleaned from the museum, however, made me feel almost ashamed to come from the States. I know that our generation is not responsible for those of the past, and not every American supported the war, but seeing what happened during the war was really hard. Growing up as Jewish, with grandparents who lived through the Holocaust, i couldn't help but feel like there were similarities. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is any comparison to Hitler or the concentration camps, but some of things that happened to the Vietnamese people during the war as a result of the war itself, agent orange, and napalm are just as unsettling. The biggest thing i walked away from the museum with was a desire to really learn more, so i'm definitely going to do some reading when i get back to learn more about what happened so i can have a more informed opinion.

The second thing we did today was visit the Cu Chi (pronounced Chu Chi) tunnels. These were a network of tunnels dug (by hand) by Southern Vietnamese people from Cu Chi between the 1940s and 1960s. These tunnels housed sleeping quarters, meeting rooms, a kitchen, and infirmary - and lots of booby traps. Tourists can now go through parts of the tunnels, however, anyone with claustrophobia or a heart condition can't partake because the tunnels are so small - extremely so at some points. Not only the tunnels themselves, but also the 10-20 different kinds of booby traps set up by the people who created these tunnels, show their ingenuity - not that i'm a fan of injuring people, but some of the booby traps were pretty crazy.

From Cu Chi we headed to the Mekong Delta region, with our first stop being Mythos. This was the only night that i was overly disturbed by my sleeping quarters. Checking the beds immediately when we entered the room, Vanessa and I found a swarm of ants and smaller guys that looked like they could be bed bugs or something. We went down and said something, only to have the woman reappear with bug spray. I told her this wasn't acceptable and we wanted to see another room... if it weren't for being with 4 other girls and not wanting to offend our guys, i would have picked up and found another place. The 2nd room, obviously just bug sprayed by the woman, seemed to be better (at least with no visible bugs on the bed)... i kept my bags and stuff up off the floor just in case... thought i wouldn't be able to sleep that night, but after a beer and being tired, i fell asleep quickly in my silk sleeping bag, with my head on my own, pillow protected travel pillow - no way was i sleeping directly on the bed.

Day 5: Mui Ne to Ho Chi Minh City

We began our day at a dragonfruit farm... these are quite pretty fruit, deep pink on the outside and white with black seeds inside... their taste and texture is similar to kiwi, but they have a much milder flavor. After walking through some of the trees, we were treated to tea and some sliced dragonfruit by the proprietors. we bought a couple dragonfruit and some other treats to take with us.

After the dragonfruit, we got to see a woman making rice paper... from using the water left when soaking rice to creating a 'batter' that was poured onto a hot, round griddle...this wasn't like typical rice paper i am used to... not sure if it's because it had not dried yet, but it was not only soft and chewy, but had dragonfruit seeds in it along with a taste of onion. I'm thinking it was more like rice cracker than rice paper, but maybe it's just a variety i haven't seen before.

Next were the hammocks... so nice... we went to a place along the side of the road to have a break, drink some tasty Vietnamese coffee (damn that condensed milk is good, yet evil), and lie out in hammocks for a bit (really nice for our butts that were beginning to feel the effects of being on a bike for 5 days)... the only imperfection in this vacation-like atmosphere was the toilet (of course)... maybe the worst, not smell or dirt wise but logistically, i have been in... i opened the door to a square cement floor, with a ridge along all four sides, and a small hole in the back corner... i was seriously unsure what i was supposed to do... i ended up with each leg on opposing ridges, awkwardly pulling down my skivvies since my legs were not in close proximity to each other, and peeing on the floor... as you can imagine, liquid hitting flat cement floor means splatter... then i had to maneuver getting the tissue out of my pocket (you didn't think there was toilet paper in there, did you?), pulling my pants up, and exiting without stepping into the square. Once that was completed successfully, i used the provided hose to wash the ground and wash the liquid into the tiny back hole.

After this we headed into Ho Chi Minh City. Although i was told how crazy the city could be, i was not fully prepared for it. Take NYC and make it 10 times worse... with motorbikes... all on top of each other and no regard for any kind of traffic rules... bike literally on top of bike, edging by each other, cutting each other off, playing chicken... my backpack, strapped to the back of the bike, proved to be a weapon.

Incident #1 occurred soon after we got into the city when my guy and a woman on a motorbike headed into the same opening... she hesitated while my guy moved forward... i heard a screech, he turned back for a second and then kept moving... since the bikes behind us didn't stop moving either, i could not see what happened behind me... a few minutes later when we were stopped at a traffic light (one of the few actually around), the woman pulled up next to us and started yelling at Dreung... turned out that my bag had snipped her handlebars as we edged past her... after a back-and-forth until the light changed, we moved on and Dreung said that it wouldn't have happened if she had just kept moving and didn't hesitate...

Incident #2 happened about 10 minutes later when all of a sudden i feel the bike being pulled down to the right and i see a woman on a bicycle holding on and taking us down with her... luckily she let go and Dreung (barely) kept us upright... again he kept moving and later told me (when i asked why he didn't stop) that it would just lead to more accidents because of all the people behind us... not sure what caused her to fall (probably my bag hitting her) or if she was ok... pretty unnerving for me...

Incident #3 another 10 minutes after that when a woman on a motorbike to our left started falling into us (again leading us to nearly fall to the right) - i really thought we were going down on this one - but again Dreung recovered. The woman, however, did not and her bike went down... she fell to the ground with one flip flop flying off and a hole left in the knee of her jeans (this time, there was a spot we could pull over). Dreung helped her up... she was obviously upset... they went back and forth a bit, but then he came back and we got back on to the bike and rode off - no insurance information exchanged (do they even have it?)...

In all three of these motorbike incidents, i remained intact and unscathed. I was not so lucky when walking on the sidewalk that evening in the city... no, i was not hit by a running motorbike (although they often do ride on the sidewalk) but one that was not in use. A guy was rearranging his bike and swung it out, without looking, as i was passing by him... the metal rack on the back nailed me in the shin and i eeked out a very audible 'Ouch'. He apologized and asked if i was okay but i was in the intense pain stage and my friends were still walking ahead of me, so i just kept moving. I was gimpy and sore for a few hours... it felt better when i woke up the next day, but i now have a nice gash as a souvenir.