Once the engine was shut off, silence reigned. It was so quiet that I had a strange echoing sound in my ears.

We started walking up the hill, which sloped at a steep angle. The path was narrow with traces of boot prints from other hikers. Our guide told us that this path was used regularly by the park patrols who guard and maintain the forest to control its overgrowth.

We had walked up the hill for only about two or three hundred meters, but we could already hear our breaths panting heavily as if we had run for several miles.

“Guys, let’s have a little rest here, I’m quite tired,” said Orin, who was a bit on the chubby side.

“I think I won’t be able to reach the place. We have just started our hike, but I’m already tired to the bone,” he added.

“Come on, guys,” said the guide, turning to us with an encouraging smile. “It’s quite normal to be out of breath. If you’re not used to hiking uphill, you will feel tired after the first few hundred meters,” he explained. “Listen up, everyone, here’s my advice: with every step you take, observe the muscles in your legs and feel if they contract. If they do, try and relax them. While the muscles are relaxing, let’s say, on your left leg, move your right leg, and then feel it relaxing. Do this alternately with both legs while we go up the hill. Don’t walk too fast or take too many steps at a time, as that will cause lactic acid to build up in your muscles. Once the acid level reaches a certain point, you will become so exhausted that you won’t be able to walk at all,” he shared his walking technique, which sounded like a combination of walking meditation and general theory.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier? I’m so tired that I am about to faint!” Orin complained.

When we started walking again, we followed the guide’s advice. Our pace was so slow at the beginning that we didn’t cover much as much distance as we should. However, we picked up speed as our walking technique improved.

“Step, relax, step, relax …” each of us mumbled while we were walking along the path. Surprisingly, it worked. We didn’t feel tired anymore, even though we had walked for several miles; no wheezing, no rapid heartbeats, and our hearts were beating a little faster than normal.

“This technique is good for long-distance hikes, and generally benefits athletes who need to build muscle endurance and performance, like, for instance, running a marathon or long-distance cycling,” the guide added, after noticing our surprise.

As we walked on, we found out that our guide used to be an expert botanist. He gave us relevant information, describing almost everything, including the different kinds of trees, mushrooms, moss, lichen, parasites, animal footprints and their dung, the history of the terrain, and so on, which made us forget about our fatigue.

Three and a half hours had passed when we finally came close to our destination.

“When we pass this hill, we will nearly be there,” our guide told us, while we rested under a large tree and drank our water.

The area was a rainforest. It was the end of the rainy season, so we could see moss, ferns, and even wild orchids covering the branches of the trees, which were so thick that they looked like an ancient forest.

Climbing up the last hill was quite tough as the path rose up almost vertically. We had to hold on to the trees and vines, or to anything that we could grasp to pull ourselves up.

By that time, even the guide had stopped talking to focus on the climb. But he kept giving useful and helpful instructions along the way. It took us twenty minutes to climb that hill, and once we reached the top, we were so proud of ourselves that we had made it.

“This is what we call Phu Teen Suan Sai. The word ‘Phu’ means mountain plain, so like in Phu Kradeung, Phu Rua, or other Phus in this area, you can see that the top of this hill is flat,” the guide began to explain, once we had all gathered to rest.

There were lots of small and medium sized trees, all clumped together closely with some space in between. After a short while we finally arrived at our hidden destination in the rainforest.

“Here we are, boys and girl! Allow me to present you the Quaternary Stones,” our guide called out, pointing at the stones.

It was such an anti-climax.

I had imagined that I would have had to fight my way through the rainforest, and, after emerging from the undergrowth, the four giant stones would have unveiled themselves majestically in the wide court of the forest clearing and mesmerised us explorers with their mystery and beauty. But, in reality, it wasn’t like that at all.

“What!? This is it!? This is the place that we wasted half a day in trekking here!?” said Orin, voicing his frustration.

The disappointment may have been caused by the nature of the forest here, where trees had grown everywhere, and all were covered with vines. If the area had been cleared by uprooting all small trees and cutting away the vines around the stones, the effect would have been more even stunning as the stones themselves were impressively huge. They towered above us and it looked like they had intentionally been placed there, facing the four directions. We walked around them twice, then thrice, and took some pictures which we didn’t find too impressive as the area was so cluttered. Then we didn’t know what to do next.

“Okay everybody, let’s have lunch now,” Sun proposed, which sounded like the best idea at that moment as our hunger pangs set in.

We sat together, eating the lunch we had brought. For some reasons, we found that having dried and salted fish with sticky rice complemented the ambience of the forest quite well, and I couldn’t stop myself eating.

“Go easy on the sticky rice and don’t eat too much,” the guide reminded us after we have started midway.

“Sticky rice is quite filling. When you start eating it, you don’t feel it’s filling enough but once you feel full, the sticky rice will expand further, inflating your stomach which can cause belly aches. Some people become so bloated that they cannot breathe,” he warned as he noticed us wolfing down our food.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Orin complained, well aware that he always ate a lot.

“Sorry, I forgot,” our guide apologised.

We ended up eating all the food that we had planned for our next meal, but the good side was that we wouldn’t have to carry any going back.