A bit of History, Culture and Seclusion in Central Thailand...

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Good Day to all,

Ok, so believe it or not after my jollys on the Islands in the Gulf of Thailand I was getting a little bit sick of the whole 'lonely planet trail'. Even though we knew it could be similar myself and the beard man headed to the western coast (the Andaman) to check that out. Once again we boarded a boat bus combo with all of the other guidebook wielding twenty something farangs (thai word for whities) and headed in the direction of Koh Phi Phi. Upon arrival in the port town of Krabi we were greeted by a massive que off said Farangs waiting to get on the boat to Phi Phi. The two of us looked at each other and in that instance in a haze of fatigue and resentment decided to sack Phi Phi off and stay in Krabi.

The following two day were just spent on the Railay peninnsula which, like many of the other places was very mych geard to the farangs. One thing we did do which was a bit different was climb up to a lagoon on top of one of the large limestone karsts that are found all over the region. It was great to get a bit of a sweat on after being a bit lazy sitting around on beaches and drinking.

and so after a couple of days it was time for myself and the beard man to part company; he was heading to Malaysia to take part in a 10 silent meditation called a Vipassna and I was to head north to the central plains of Thailand.

I had one last terrible farang bus to endure back up to Bangkok which furthered my resentment towards to bannana pankcake crowd. Unfortunately I only had time in Bangkok to grab some breakfast; at the particular time I was there it was when all of the Red shirts were kicking off and for a bit of excitement it might have been cool to go and see what the crack was but alas I had to get a bus.

I was to head to the town of Kanchanabari to the west of Bangkok. The town is famous for housing the bridge over the River Kwai; so it was time for me to go and get a history lesson. With a spring in my step I left the tourist hoard at Khaosan Road and got on a local bus where I was the only farang and the only person with a big grin on my face.

Although Kanchanaburi is fairly touristy it attracts a different kind of tourist, a generally older more americanised package tourist who probably was only in Kanchanabari because they saw the film. I decided to get away from these people by hiring a bicycle and hairing off by myself to check out some of the sights. I arose very early in morning to beat the heat of the day (its starting to creep toward 40 degrees centigrade here!). I headed to the cave temple here in the past monks have gone to meditate silently. I had to whole place to myself. As I headed deeper and deeper into the cave with the Indiana Jones theme tune ringing around in my head the passages became narrower and narrower, adn the silence deeper and deeper... it was bliss to get away from people. The cave temple also site on a hille which afford amazing views over the river and the hills beyond. Off I went on the bike I went again for a game I like to play called 'head down a random road and see what happens'. The game usually leads to some sort of adventure and has been a fail safe way to spend a day in the past. I was happily cycling a long when I was stopped by the local fuzz. Sheepishly I dismounted the bike wandering whether I had been clycling took fast, too slow or whether white people aren't alowed to cycle? It turns out my last guess wasn't too far off in the nicest way possible he basically told me that I couldn't cycle down this road and that I should head back to the tourist area... so much for being an adventuruer!

I did meet a great group of people in one of the bars opposite my guesthouse who took me to a rope swing that went into the river; if you want to see a video check my facebook!

The next port of call was to be the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya. A town full of old ruins built by the Siamese. It was one of the places my history loving American friend Damien who I met in India reccomended to me. The best way to see the ruins was on bike... brilliant for my because I have grown a love of cycling whilst on this trip. I will be perfectly honest with you here when I say that to me the ruins where just piles of old bricks (sorry Damien if you're reading this). The real fun for me came from cycling all day.

That evening I decided to hit the night market for some grub. As you may know I am a Veggie (although I have just started eating fish again); Thailand can be hard sometimes as everything is made with meat. So when I came across a stand that was offering what looked like mushroom soup with loads of different types of mushrooms I thought great. It wasn't until i'd ordered that I realised one of the smaller mushrooms lookes suspiciously like isect larvae... my observations were correct. Not to be disheartened I thre caution to the wind a dug right in and I will be honest it was one of the best soups I have ever had. I was joined by a local retired police officer for my meal who wanted to practice his English and provide me with an entertainng meal! (I will try and upload the video I have).

Following my few days of historical enligentenment I thought it would be best to seek out some nature. I decided to head to the world renowned Khao Yai national park. I had heard that accomodation was extrememly hard to come by if you weren't doing an expensive tour offered by any of the guesthouses. I had how ever emailed the green leaf guesthouse and they said it would be ok to stay there without doing a tour. However upon arrival they went back on there word and wouldn't let me have a room... *instert insultive swear word here*. Granted this was at about 5:30 in the evening thigs weren't looking good. So I decided to head to the park. The woman from the guesthouse had half heartedly said there was a bus that I could take to the national park from the road outside the guesthouse. I waited and I waited and no bus materialised.

So what was a young backpacker to do?

With my beatnic ideals in the front of my mind I stuck out my thumb. This was the first time I had ever hitchhiked before in my life so I did'nt know what to expect but what else could I do? Within five minutes a pick up truck full of student stopped and actually went out of there way to take me to the park entrance. Once at the entrance a Thai family in a pick up truck were kind enough to take me all the way into the park to the camp site. This has led to me to think that the normal Thai's who dont make there money off tourists are far friendlier than the tourist hating money makers. I was in high spirits when I got to the remote campsite and found I could rent a tent. So I decided to spend two night in seclusion by myself in the national park. I hitched to the visitor centre the next day to get some info on treks etc. I was informed that if I wanted to do any treks I would have to spend money on joining a tour or hiring an expensive guide they did however give me a map of the trails... that was a bad idea on there part. So off I went into the jungle by myself armed with my map a load of water and some food. I trekked through the junlgle by myself for hours aiming to reach a wild life observatuion tower. On the way I had the true jungle experience with all of the noises around me and I had it all to myself... I was in my element. The best bit of the day however was emerging from the jungle pouring with sweat and walking into the obervation tower to a load of people on a tour who were bewildered to see where this mad jungle man had come from. There they all were in matching leece socks being ushered around by there guides whilst I was free to do what I wanted there is only one word to describe how I was feeling... smug.

So there you have it a bit of a long one.

I head into Cambodia tomorrow and I am mega excited; I'm currently in the very non toursity town of Surin close to the border.

I hope you are all well!

Jack x

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Photos

The View from the Cave Temple
A view over the River Kwai

The Cave Temple
Indiana Jo... *ahem* me inside the cave temple.

Hitch Hiking to the National Park
The wonderful people who gave me my first ever lift hitch hiking!

Jungle Seclusion
Just myself in the jungle, no guides, no itinerary...