(Daniel) Yesterday, when our guide had offered to bring a gun into the mountains, I had decided that it was not necessary, but had hardly slept a wink for thoughts of Bandits and double-crossing guards.  This morning, while Nii and I waited outside the same bar that we had met Mr Yet in yesterday I wondered if we had done the right thing?   We had arranged to meet at 9.00am, but that time came and went, an hour passed and still no sign.  I started to feel a little relieved.  Maybe the guy had intended to rip us off but had second thoughts overnight.

At 10.30 he arrived.  Wearing a much more official uniform, and looking every bit the Military policeman that he had claimed to be.  We shook hands and sat down.  He told us that he had consulted with some people about what we wanted to do and that he had decided to take two other guards and bring machine guns for everyone.  I felt a mix of trepidation and satisfaction that my dilemma had been solved for me, but still that we were stepping into unknown territory with people who had been referred to us by unknowns.  I had desperately wanted to find the illusive Frenchman that everyone had seen but could not find for me, now it looked as if we would have to take the risk and trust these guys.

We went with Mr Yet to the market, where we picked up supplies for the journey, an Icebox and food, beer and drinking water.  I filled up with fuel too, stopping at a small petrol station in the town, then we drove to the Police Station to pick up the guns.  On the way we stopped to buy Ice, I got out to look at the giant cooler in the street, just as a man rode up on a small bike, he was about 32, European, and had a Wild Aid t-shirt on.  I remembered that this was the Frenchman’s charity, and asked if he was the man I had been looking for, his English was quite good, as he explained that I had finally found him!

It was too late now to ask for him to come with us, but I told him where we were going, a small village named Mohr Baing in the mountains, and then beyond to a waterfall.   “It’s impossible.”  He said plainly.  “The rainy season has flooded the river, it is too deep and too fast, and that is only the first of many rivers.  The locals have taken down the bridges on the army track since they had a disagreement with the government about cutting trees down.  No, you will not be able to get to the waterfall.”

I thanked him for the advice, and returned to the Wolf where Nii and Mr Yet were waiting.  I told Nii of the Frenchman’s advice, but that we would try anyway.  She didn’t look phased, but then that’s because she didn’t know what to expect, my mind flashed back to thoughts of Malaysia, and the 5 hours spent digging in the rain and bug infested jungle to get under a fallen tree.  We arrived at the Police station, directed by Mr Yet, I decided then to trust him, as to have doubting thought about your team mates could only be a negative thing.

He walked into the station and returned a few minutes later with two machine guns, one for him and one for me.  My one, he put in the back with Nii.  I looked at the ancient weapons, they were dirty and a bit rusted.  There were bits of grit in the barrel,  if you fired them I am pretty sure that it would either blow up, or would not hit what you were aiming at, if it fired at all!

We drove to the main road out of town, back the way which we had come from Sihanoukville,  arriving at the ferry in about fifteen minutes, then boarded the boat, and crossed to the other side.  I took the opportunity to get to know Mr Yet a bit better, he couldn’t speak any English, but his Thai was quite good, and we were able to communicate quite easily in that language.  The clutch which had worried me, showed no signs of slipping as we pulled up the steep bank on the other side of the river, driving on for another 50 km's to an army checkpoint, which led down a track into the jungle.  Mr Yet cleared us with the soldiers on duty there, swapping seats with Nii, so that she could sit in the front.

We drove down the army track, passing a truck filled with villagers going the other way.  The track was good, mud covered with gravel, but in places water had washed away the mud and gravel creating small rivers or rocky areas that had to be negotiated carefully.  After about ten km's, I saw what looked like a stem from a banana leaf, bright fluorescent green and laying across the road.  I drove over it, looking back in my mirror.  It had moved into a strange position, strange enough to make me stop and get out.  I walked back to it, seeing that it was some kind of snake, quite large, and presumably dead as it was not moving, and looked as if rigamortis had set in I a strange position.  As I got closer, taking photos, I realised that it was a snake, and was in fact very much alive, and the strange position was it’s strike position.  I took another photo, but  Mr Yet called me back from the vehicle and told me that this snake was extremely dangerous!

I returned to the car and reversed back to the snake to make a video.  Even from the car I felt as if it could somehow harm me, it was very strange.  The colour was so bright and strong, and the shape of the snake was almost like an eel, it had a long thin strip of skin all along its body like a moray.  It face was rectangular, and it was obviously aggressive, as rather than move away, it slowly advanced towards us in an attacking stance.  I decided not to let it get too close, as it may get run over, and drove on. 

The road got progressively worse, it was obvious that everyone here rode motorcycles, and that the only larger vehicles were farm trucks carrying bananas or other crops out of the area for sale.  Eventually we arrived at a small village, the people were surprised to see us, but much more friendly than I had expected, they sat us down, and crowded around to see us.  Nii had bought pencils and rubbers in Thailand, hoping to give them to some village children, and seeing her chance, got these from the Wolf and started to hand them out, I was surprised at how polite the children were, thanking her with the traditional Wai, cueing up in an orderly fashion to get the gifts.

I showed the boys my spear gun, as I thought that they would like to see an ocean version of what they surely used everyday.  Mr Yet, disappeared for a while, coming back with two more policemen, both carrying their own guns, who he explained would accompany us to the waterfall.  Both men looked nice enough, climbing into the back of the Wolf with Mr Yet, ready to leave.  Nii and I clambered into the front, and waving goodbye to the villagers as we set off further along the track.

As soon as we left the village, we came to the river which the Frenchman had told me about.  It was indeed fast flowing, but it hadn’t rained much today, and hardly at all over the last few days, so I thought that this had to help.  I took off my trousers and waded into the cold water with a shovel to test the depth.  The river was over the bonnet in the deepest part, but with the Wolf full wading kit, that shouldn’t be an issue. Although we would have to move any water sensitive items off the floor as the water would soon flow into the vehicle.  The bank on the other side was very steep, and the mud very soft, this would be the issue, if at all. I tried to plot the best route to allow for a quick and easy exit from the water.

The boys in the back looked anxious as I climbed back into the truck, “No Problem!”  I laughed as I lowered the Wolf into the river, immediately I could see that the water had started to fill up the cabin, but she drove across without incident to the other side where I tried to climb the bank to get out.  I didn’t know this at the time, and it is a time old mistake that people make, but I didn’t have the wheels straight, digging in to the soft and getting stuck there.

I tried a few times but it was obvious that I had missed my opportunity for a smooth exit!  I climbed out and removed the waffle boards, placing them under the front wheels first, and climbing out halfway.  Then Mr Yet, who had taken off his uniform to help me,  and had somehow climbed through the roll cage to get out of the front of the vehicle, moved the waffles to the rear wheels.  After several attempts the Wolf pulled itself out of the river and up onto the bank, to the cheers of the crowd which had formed!  The whole operation took around 20 minutes, a far cry from what the Frenchman had led me to believe would be a monumental effort.

The others climbed back into the vehicle, then we carried on along the track, hoping that the return journey would be as smooth!  We came to a bridge, which looked a bit risky, but this held without problem as I drove across. Just further on from there, a huge tree sat across the track, blocking our path.  We jumped out to take a look, the tree had been cut in half, the separation leaving enough space between for a motorcycle to pass through.

There was only one answer, to winch or tow the smaller part of the tree back far enough to squeeze the Wolf through the gap.  I pulled out the winch cable, wrapping it around the tree several times.  I winched in the cable, but the tree was so heavy that the Wolf simply slid forward.  I climbed into the Wolf and reversed back winching in at the same time, this did the trick as the tree moved just enough to get the Wolf through.  The troops climbed back into the vehicle and we drove through the two halves of tree to carry on along the track.

Feeling as if we had passed the worst of it now, I allowed myself to pick up the pace a little, as we came to another river.  This time the river was not too deep and the bank at the other side had wood chips and was level enough not too worry about getting stuck.  There were rocks sticking out until about halfway across, and I negotiated the Wolf across these first before getting everyone back into the vehicle for the water section.  As predicted the Wolf climbed in and out of the water without incident, much to the appreciation of the others.    We carried on along the track feeling more confident in our return journey!

Our confidence was short lived as just around the corner form the river was a hole in the track, I stopped in front of it and everyone got out to look.  The hole was deep, about  6 feet,. With vertical sides, and lumps of wood protruding through.  The mud around the sides of the hole was soft and sludgy, my boot sinking up to the top and nearly staying there forever if it hadn’t been done up properly!

We decided to build a new bridge, I had brought the axes with me from the trailer, we took these and looked for some suitable trees to cut down.  Four trees and a lot of chopping later, we had covered the hole.  Over the logs, we laid the waffle boards to spread the load.  With the bridge built I climbed into the Wolf and edged forward.  Almost immediately the first plank sank into the soft mud and the waffle flipped up in front of the truck, the wheel sinking into the hole.  I pulled back and climbed back out of the hole.

We moved the waffles closer to the edge and tried again, this time I was able to climb onto the board without it moving.  I decided to go fast, as the momentum should carry me over the gap as long as the whole thing didn’t collapse.  I gunned the throttle and went for it.  Luckily this was the right choice, as I managed to reach the other side to bouncing and falling logs behind me.  the cheers went up and we carried on.

I know what you’re thinking, enough already!  We have had bridges down, river crossing, holes in the road.  What more could you do in the searing heat of the midday sun.  I was thinking the same, tired and satisfied, this was enough for me.  Just let it end!  But no, it didn’t end here, the next few km's, saw us cross another river, which I had to winch out of, then a stream with mud so soft that the vehicle nearly flipped over as it sank on one side.  But the worst was another hole like the last,  but spanning the entire road.  The ditch was about five feet deep and as we pulled up to it at about 4pm, I could feel my energy sapping away.  There was no way to build a bridge over this thing,  there was nothing to support it on either side.  And digging could be a futile exercise in wasting time and energy.

There was only one answer that I could see, to try and level the bottom with the waffles, drive in and then somehow pull all 3 tonnes  of the Wolf out of the other side.  We dug away a little and moved some rocks to the bott9om of the gully, then placed the waffles across the bottom.  On first sight it looked as if the wolf could simply drive in and out, but I knew that this would not be the case.  The mud at the bottom was extremely soft, and the gully itself was not as wide as the Wolf was long, meaning that either one end or the other would stick out, or perhaps both wheels would sit off the ground as she beached on both sides.

I pulled forward and dropped into the hole.  The Wolf looked ok at first, but as I tried to climb out, she just drove into the steep side, and stuck.   We managed to jack up the vehicle for a second, enough time to get the waffles out and set them up as a ramp to get out, but this still didn’t help.  I took out the winch cable, and attached it to a tree strop, then around a big tree on the other side.  The 24v husky winch pulled tight as I wound it in, dragging the nose through the mud, and lifting it up and out of the hole, just as it come out the back of the vehicle dropped in, leaving the two rear wheels hanging over the gap.  I stopped briefly top take a photos, then winched in more until the back wheels met the waffles and I climbed up and out of the hole to the track.

I couldn’t believe what we had managed to do, and how far we had come past so many obstacles, especially with only the one vehicle, ut then that is the point of the Lone Wolf.  We drove further, until the track disappeared, and we were driving through forest.  The ground was soft and boggy, but the coopers carried us through, until we could hear a waterfall!  I pulled down the last hundred metres to a beautiful scene, edging forward onto rocks overlooking the rapids.  We pulled up and made camp, placing lights around the area, and setting up cooking fires.

Nii and the boys made dinner, Panang curry with rice.  While I checked the vehicle, put up the roof tent and had a well needed shower in the river.  The area was picture perfect, no people no roads, nothing.  I wandered around in amazement, taking photos and enjoying the scenery, trying not to think of the journey back tomorrow across the same obstacles!

Overnight the boys took turns in keeping watch, I woke up several times, and each time, spotted one of them periodically checking the area for intruders of any kind, it helped me to feel safe with sleeping, and all in all it was a good nights rest!

Click here for a selection of the videos from Day 1

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