Death. Well, Almost.

The first time that I was truly terrified for my life was in July 2005 when I took a 14 seater hopper plane from San Jose, Costa Rica, to Quepos. My bf and I held on tight to each other as we flew into the wall of clouds and the pounding rain. The ride was bumpy, turning our stomachs upside down and jolting our hearts. I seriously thought I was going to die. Not just because of the ferocious turbulence and zero visibility, but also because the flight crew recorded the weight of my luggage and asked for my and my boyfriend's weight--we were the only two passengers on the plane!

Just recently, I went to Kauai with my bf and had another close run-in with death. It was a cloudy day and there was sporadic rainfall as we made our way north from Poipu to the Hanalei area. The freeway ended at Ke'e Beach and that was where the Kalalau Trail started, an 11 mile path for the crazies, or a 2 mile hike to Hanakapi'ai Beach for the less vigorous tourists. I wore boardshorts, a tank top, and red Puma shoes and carried a bag for my towel, water and my beloved camera.

The trail started off uphill with mostly rocks. I was out of breath 5 minutes into the hike but when I saw the lady with a 10 month old baby in arm, I couldn't give up so easily. If a baby can do it, I can do it! Further more up the trail, we passed by an elderly couple who were heading down. What the...?! If they can do it, I can do it! What's next? A paraplegic is going to go fly past by me? No, but a couple dressed in rain jackets, camping gear and a hiking stick passed by us. My bf and I looked at each other and our ESP was strong: we were sooooo not prepared for this.

I was concentrating so hard on the ground, careful to not slip off a rock, that I missed all the lush greenery around me, the twisted tree trunks, the hanging vines, the differently shaped leaves. It was simply beautiful.

We reached a part of the trail that offered a view of the ocean and it motivated me to continue. About 30 minutes into our hike, it started raining hard, completely soaking us, but the rain went away rather quickly, unfortunately, leaving behind slippery mud and rocks. Foot imprints belonging to other hikers marked the trail, as well as evidence of their fall. There were parts of the trail where the path was about 2 feet wide. Because of the steep incline, I had to cautiously plant every footstep to ensure that I had a steady hold. I knew I shouldn't have looked down the cliff but I was morbidly curious as to how far I would drop if I were to fall off.

At one point my bf almost fell but he didn't. Funny enough, I slipped and fell where he almost did, landing on my precious butt and hands. The red mud was slathered all over my shorts, and also made its way to my buttcheeks. Throughout the whole ordeal, I was praying so hard.

Every time we passed by hikers heading down, we'd ask them how far it was to the beach. "40 minutes." 20 minutes later, we'd ask someone else. "40 minutes." What the...?! We're never going to get there! But it was too late to turn around. When we finally started heading downhill, the mud was getting worse and worse. I dreaded stepping in the mud because it reminded me of the noise of stepping in a big pile of dog or horse poo. Anyways, we finally made it down but we had to travel down these giant rocks that were parallel to a huge rushing stream. It took us about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

1 hour and 30 minutes. A 2 mile steep hike. Slippery mud that almost killed me. Skin rubbed off from the back of my sneakers. You'd think the beach would magnificent, with white, powdery sands and calm, clear turquoise waters with a mermaid singing on the rocks. But nooooooooooo!!! My sacrifice was for nothing! There were signs warning of dangerous currents and over 10 deaths that occurred there. The beach was mediocre and the waves were too menacing to go into. Plus the wind was starting up and the sky began to drizzle. About 10 minutes after we arrived, my bf decides to take the 2 mile hike to the waterfall. It was already 3:30pm and I didn't want to cross the rivers or hold my bf back. So I stayed back while he ventured off.

Right next to me was a family--with a 2 year old girl! Crazy people! How the heck did they manage to get the stroller up and down the hike of death and then across the giant rocks? 15 minutes later, it rained again so I decided to head back. I even managed to get lost, missing the entrance to the trail, ending up at a dead end starring at a bunch of trees, thinking what the white man must have thought when he first saw the Chinese--"damn, they all look alike!" For a moment, I panicked, thinking that nobody is going to find my body if I died...but I found the entrance and made my courageous trek back.

I was alone for most of the hike. I moved like a sloth, scared that one wrong step would send me over the cliff. One point I almost slipped and grabbed onto a leaf. Most of the time I was praying. Then I thought to myself that I never kissed my bf goodbye. I would have felt horrible if something were to happen to him. He had to make the 4 mile hike back and he had no water. What if the sun went down before he got back? I even joked about not going back for him if he didn't return to the car. There was an immense feeling of relief when my feet touched the sands of Ke'e Beach. I tossed out the shoes and threw away my shirt. As I laid down on the beach, baby chicks came chirping toward me. Awww, how cute!...at first. Then I just shoo'd them off because I didn't want them to touch me. My bf surprisingly came back quickly with tales of death-defying victory. The waterfall wasn't spectacular. He crossed a river that was increasingly rising and almost fell in. He also slipped a couple times. But thank Buddha he came back!

The story could end here with my close brush with death but I'd like to share the fact that we were bitten by chiggers on the trail. Chiggers! They're microscopic! Our welts didn't appear until the night after the hike and I itched like cuh-ray-zee! I guess that's better than death.