Today I went on a horseback ride!!! It was really fun. Started out this morning at about 9:00. It was supposed to be sunny this morning, but when I got up, it was pretty cloudy. It kind of made the morning cold. There was no wind again today so that helped so it wasn't really cold. Anyway, made my way down to the stable with my guide. It was Carolina again!!! She is awesome. Got to the stable and it was just Carolina, myself, and one other person. They also bring along a horse handler in case something happens. He just doesn't speak any English, so that is why Carolina has to go too. So, it was just the four of us out for a ride. We went into the foothills of the mountains. We crossed a few rivers where the water was almost up to the stirrups. Then up and down really steep rocky terrain. Those horses are amazing. How they keep their footing with my fat butt on them, I will never know. Carolina said to just trust the horse and all would be fine. She was right. They have 200 horses here at the hotel. They will add another 100 next year for a total of 300. The horses work 7 days, then they are set loose on the property for 7 days to rest. So, I guess with all the tours, they need quite a few horses. They also use them for working on the hotel grounds. We were riding for about an hour or so, and started going into a valley near a lake. Carolina asked if I wanted to go faster. I said sure, why not. I have only been on a horse maybe 4 times in my life, and most of those were on trail rides where if you try to get the horse off the trail, they won't go. They are so used to doing the same thing every day. So, this was a whole new experience for me. The other guy on the tour didn't want to go fast so she sent me off with the horse handler guy. We went into this grassy valley and as soon as we got there, he took off. Well, my horse followed and we were at a full gallop in a split second. I don't know if it is my lack of riding experience, but man, I bounced up and down in that saddle so bad I thought my testicles were going to permanently disappear into my abdomen, and my legs were going to fall off. I kind of was just hanging on to the saddle so I wouldn't fall off. At one point I looked over at the guy and it seemed like he was just laying back and enjoying the ride. It was actually super fun and terrifying at the same time. We galloped to one end of the valley, then back to catch up with the other two. It was enough for me. The tour only lasted about three and a half hours. But when we got back, man my legs were sore! It was still worth it though.
So, I had the afternoon free. By the time we got back the sun was out and it was warm. I decided to check out the hotel and get some photos. My room is in the photo of the brown log building. I'm the big window on the bottom floor. It is a really nice hotel. So, I walked around outside the hotel getting some photos. Then I went to the bar with my laptop to update the blog. The internet was horrible yesterday, for some reason, so I couldn't publish yesterday's post. And, I wanted to get today's done too. Well, I worked on some photos and tried to upload to the blog. The internet was down. So, I decided to go for lunch. It was closed when I got there. So, on to plan C. I went on a little walk by myself and just explored around. I found a little trail and kept walking. Maybe I walked a mile and back. Then I went to my room and started to read and fell asleep for about an hour. It was super nice.
After my nap, I woke up and read some more and then went to dinner and to organize my trip for tomorrow. I am really nervous about tomorrow's excursion. I am hiking up to the towers. We will take horses half way up, then we are hiking. The guy told me the last 1 kilometer will take at least an hour. It is pretty much straight up. So, I guess I'm going to climb a mountain tomorrow. I am so out of shape it is sad. I told the guy tonight that I was nervous. He laughed and said I could for sure do it! Nice of him. Then he told me he takes people in their 70's up there and they do fine. Those people in their 70's are probably marathon runners or something. I don't know. I just hope I don't hold the group back and I don't die. I think it's maybe harder in my head than it really is going to be. That's what I keep telling myself anyway. Yikes...
Well, if I survive tomorrow, I will try and post again...