Part 3....Tembag Living

After an exciting chopper ride, we make it to the truck to head to the Wilmot household. Elevation is about 8,000 feet and the short walk to the truck, uphill has made me realize my lungs are not quite ready for this. The town roads are all gravel, up the side of the mountain, no guardrails with speedlimits of about 15-20 miles per hour. Vehicles of choice are Ford SUV's, Land Rovers or large industrial equipment. Enough said.
Understand, I usually drive due to car sickness. I have no option but to be a passenger in this country, besides, I would not even consider driving these roads. We climb up the switchback roads to Hidden Valley. I am in complete awe at the waterfalls coming out the side of the mountains, the clouds rolling in within a blink of an eye and another corner reveals mountain terrain only seen in magazines.

The Wilmot household is located at the end of the road in Hidden Valley. The view from the home looks down onto Tembag. The view to the east is a large mountain with waterfalls everywhere. You don't see the top of the mountain very often due to clouds. The clouds change on a constant basis. One minute you get a spectacular view, the next you can see and feel the mist as it rolls in. Jungle terrain.
There are also a few homes which have been condemned due to sliding off the mountain. Add it to the rest of the excitement.

After a hot shower, John takes me down to see Bonnie at the school where she works. Not a large place, I do believe the school has about 36 students total. I spent the day in the class room watching Bonnie in action. The students gave me a tour of the school and were so proud of the gardens they were growing for a science project. For a small school, the curriculum is amazing. The school was going to be putting on an end of year 50's themed show on Friday, so many of the students were rehearsing for this huge event.

After school, Bonnie gave me the walking tour of area up the street from the school. It is basically considered the "male" market area. The tribe travels up from the bottom of the hill to sell their "goods"(beetlenut with lime, cigarettes,peanuts, snake fruit, cell phone batteries, sim cards, etc.) The smell is like no other. The tribe covers themselves in pig grease to protect their skin, the smoke clove cigarettes and chew beetlenut. While chewing his strange combination, they spit it all over the place. The spit leaves blood red stains everywhere. Now I understand what the signs for "No spitting" is for. Women are barefoot and carry their children in slings they wear around their heads hanging down there back. They are friendly and love to have their pictures taken. Out of respect, I did ask to take photos before I did so. It is very hard to determine the age of these people, as it is not documented.