I like to try things I've never done before & no, I've never gone to a volcanic mud bath before. Honestly, the things I do when Peter's not around to make sure I'm behaving myself!! (He's gone back to Vancouver for a week). This was quite the experience. The bus came by at 9:am & the dozen or so cruisers pile in. We were being escorted by Alex & our first stop was a local fishing hole beside the river. It was very basic with the women over to one side doing the laundry on the rocks & the men out in the dug out canoes throwing their nets out & catching some small local fish in the muddy waters of the the river. Onto the volcano after that. Of course, I had visions of a big, desolate, mountainous volcano - this was a hill made of mud. On top of that, there were 12 cruise ship buses in a 10x12 ft parking lot. Not exactly what I had in mind when I signed up for this. However....the mud was not what I was expecting either - it was way better. I mean mud is mud, but not this stuff - it was bouyant for one thing & if you got turned a certain way, there was no getting upright & of course, the more you laughed, the harder it was to upright yourself. Anyway, it s the thickest, ooziest, sulpheric smelling muck I have ever been in. I loved it! At first I was a little hesitant about putting my head in, but I figured, what the heck, I'm here, go for it. I ducked under & instantly regretted it when I couldn't hear a thing for all the mud in my ears. Not to mention of course, the eyes, nose & mouth. You try to rid yourself of some of this stuff, but it only makes it worse. My eyes are loaded with mud, I've got mud in my mouth, & I can't hear for all the mud & yet, I'm still thinking this is fun - the more I laugh, the more grit I get in my mouth! I'm in for a little longer than I want, I mean, I'm ready to get out, but the lady in front of me is rather a large woman & she has no upper body strength to pull herself up the ladder. She is panicking & all I'm thinking, is this lady going to fall back down on me crushing me to the bottom of this mud pit where I'll die & nobody will ever be able to find me ever again. I back off to give her some space & see that she is just shaking like a leaf - she is so scared. Well, so am I - I don't want to be down here forever. Anyway, she backed off from the ladder - I still don't know if she ever got out - (I'm thinking crane). One slight problem as I'm attempting my exit. The mud is so thick & so heavy, it starts presenting a problem with by bathing suit. In my wisdom, I had decided to wear my absolutely oldest bathing suit with NO elasticity whatsoever in it & you guessed it - it's down to my knees!!! I'm trying pull it up as fast as it falls down - I get a few chuckles from the people waiting in line & thank god I don't understand the language because I don't think I would've liked what they were saying!! We stopped for lunch at a little roadside spot & I pointed to the first thing I saw being some sort of meat. A person behind me said, "oh my, aren't you brave." Hmmmm & then I see what he's talking about. In the back of the restaurant (?) are a bunch of carcass skins of something or other & I point at them & then at my plate & the ladies serving up my meal nod their heads yes. Okaaaaay, that's what I'm eating. My aren't I brave. I look around & not a single other person is having this - not even the guide. Well, believe it or not, it was good & I made somebody else try it because if I was going down, I was taking somebody down with me. Anyway, that was 5 hours ago & I'm still alive. All in all, a very eventful day!
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