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Published: January 19th 2006
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So I left Bangkok and got on a bus to go to Kanchanaburi. I met this Dutch couple, Bram and Karen, on the bus who were my age and we ended up staying at the same place. They were on a round-the-world trip as well but they had already been traveling for 6 months. There trip sounded amazing and made me jealous. But they're not going to Africa, so ha.
Our guest house in Kanchanburi was perfect. It was sitting in the River Kwai so you had to take a boat to it. It was really secluded and peaceful. It was just me, the Dutch couple and this gigantic Polish guy. Bram, Karen and I went to see the sites together. The first day we went to see a bunch of museums and tours about the building of the Japanese railway from Thailand to Burma druing world war II. We saw the Bridge over the River Kwai and Hell's Fire pass. These are all really sad places to go visit because so many POW's and native Thai people died while building this railway, but the views at all these places were so beautiful.
After that we took a ride
View From My Guest House
This was shot right outside my room door in the early evening. There were hammoks on the boathouse too that I took advantage of on the Death Train. Seriously, they call it the Death Train. It's called that because it goes along the path that all the POW's and Thai people died while building the railway. Anyhow, the fact that I was standing half outside the Death Train because it was so crowded made me feel a little nervous. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I had the best view outside the train and was able to get some great pictures. On the train there were a bunch of Thai girls that looked about 12 years old that kept laughing at me. Then when they got off the train they were all waiving at me and laughing. It was strange.
Later, however, I went to a water fall where a bunch of Thai kids play around in and the same group of girls were there all laughing and pointing. Finally, they came up to me and asked if they could take pictures. One of them said she was getting a masters degree at San Diego (which of course means "A whales Vagina". I told her that but I think the anchorman quote got lost in translation) which was
Puppies
They had these baby puppies at the boathouse I stayed on. Look how cute and tiny they are. surprising because they all looked so young. Anyhow, Thai women love me. Must be the old Freilich charm. Eh? Haaa. There is no Freilich charm, only Freilich awkardness, at least in my case.
After the waterfall we had a quiet Thai dinner at the guest house on the river and then the 4 of us proceeded to get drunk. We talked about a lot of really touchy subjects on politics, WWII, Jews and Israel, and anti-semetism in Poland. It was interesting to hear the European viewpoint of everything. Most of it was just babbling keep in mind though because we were all wasted. Anyhow, at one point the Polish guy started crying. Bram and I were shocked. Neither of us were really sure what he was so upset about. Needless to say the following evening we kept the chit chat to lighter subjects. Like football (soccer), which I know pretty much nothing about. My contribution to the conversation consisted of, "Pele, eh?" Or, "Mia Hamm?" Whatever.
The next day we went on an elephant trek which was pretty fun except that I had to sit on the elephant with the 300 pound Polish guy and I was affraid
Elephant ride
The Polish guy and I on the elephant ride. I would fall off. I was okay though. After that we went to a tiger temple that was awesome. It's this place where the monks take in orphaned tiger cubs and raise them there. They aren't ever able to survive on their own but their offspring are. You're able to sit with the tigers and pet them while a trainer takes your picture. It was incredible. They also had some really cute baby tigers. After that we just relaxed while taking a bamboo raft down the River Kwai. It was so beautiful and the water felt really refreshing.
The 3rd day we went to the 7 steps Erwan Water Falls. We went hiking through the jungle and got to see all these stunning waterfalls. And, along the way I felt a branch hit my head. When I looked up there was this baby monkey laughing at me! Then when I looked around I realized we were surrounded by a bunch of monkeys. It was great. One of them was really aggressive and kept grabbing at this one guys backpack. But the rest were very nice and were playing jokes on us. Luckily none of the jokes involved throughing their
Tiger Temple
Me with one of the tigers. You can tell I was a bit nervous. own shit at us. I heard they like that joke. After we trecked all the way to the top waterfall we headed back down and took a swim in one of them. It had these two huge rocks that you can slide off of into the pool. Also, there were these fish swimming with us that would bite your feet. It didn't hurt but it felt really weird. It was an amazing day.
After that, I took a bus to some train station that I arrived at 5 hours too early. I was exhausted and all gross from hiking through the jungle all day and I needed to take an overnight train to Surat Thani. So that's where I'm at now. I can't wait to find a place to take a shower because I smell like a foot. Alright, talk you later.
-Jonathan
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leah
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these pictures are great! they're making me sooooo excited. see you in bangkok in two weeks!!