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Published: November 24th 2009
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We decided to head out to Kanchanaburi, a couple of hours west of Bangkok to experience a different part of Thailand. We successfully tackled Thai public transport by hailing a taxi (putting hand out, palm down and moving right and left over and over) very informative darling
then worked out how to buy a bus ticket in the bus station but found that we were stared at a lot! I couldn’t understand why people turned to look at us but Matt pointed out that it was probably because we are actually the whitest people in Asia it seems. We are definitely the whitest people in Bangkok ... so many funny stares as we walk down the street, we’re a freakshow!
Anyway, the bus journey wasn’t too bad although after over two hours of the thai karaoke dvd that i’d been subjected to throughout the trip I was mighty relieved to finally reach Kanchanaburi, where we did our first bartering for a rickshaw ride to check out some guest houses. The poor bugger had to lug us along using only pedal power, no mean feat considering his calves were only a third the size of Crowe’s, (potential new career
for you Crowe should bank geekery not work out for you!)
We have decided to take it in turns to take responsibility for making decisions for the day and also choosing the accommodation for the night (which can end up being on different days if we stay in a guest house for two nights instead of one). We have a wager on who can find the cheapest, nicest hostel room to stay in (and undercut the other from the previous day). Despite Matt being quite willing to take a room with a squat toilet, I am definitely not and therefore all the places that we have stayed so far have had flushing toilets. It was my turn to choose the hostel for the first night in Kan so after viewing the first room, I decided there was no way we were staying there, I didn’t even bother asking for a price. The next guest house however, was truly lovely! We could be saving soooo much money if Cate was willing to perform a balancing act while doing her toilet business, but she’s adamant, so at the moment we’re not slumming it too much, a nice gentle introduction!
For
less than £8 a night Cate found us a guesthouse in Kanchanaburi right next to the river, with beautiful views of the sunset at night. Add geckos and a flushing toilet into the equation and you have one very happy Cate. We hired some bikes (so much more fun than walking) and went off exploring, visited the Bridge Over The River Kwai and later that evening booked a full day tour for the next day to explore the Erawan waterfalls, go elephant trekking, bamboo rafting and see some more of the death railway.
So off we went the next day with our cosmopolitan tour group (two Slovenian girls, a middle-aged Czech couple, a French couple and a newly married couple from Manchester - randomly they were on their honeymoon too, travelling around SE Asia for 6 weeks, and guess which day they got married? Friday 14th August ... random eh?
Erawan waterfalls are absolutely amazing. There are seven falls in total, the weather was fabulous as ever and we both ended up swimming in the third fall with only Lisa and John (our newlywed friends) for company. After John assured us that the water wasn’t cold, I stood on the edge of a rock and thought to myself, I’ll only get this chance once. I jumped into the plunge pool and was met by lots of catfish wanting to nibble on me if I didn’t move quickly enough! Matt had to follow suit (big old wimp probably wouldn’t have jumped had I not done it first),
i was being a gentleman and letting the lady go first, to test the cold water and snapping fish and we both climbed up the waterfall rocks and slid down them into the clear water below. What a truly amazing experience. Both of us in swimming gear, Asia hasn’t seen that much pale skin before, and I’m not sure it wants to see it again!
After some Thai food for lunch we scooted off for some elephant trekking ... we got to ride on an elephant, whoop! We trekked from their playground (and by playground I mean the place that they’re chained up - although they did seem very well treated) through some fields, through a river (where our elephant did an ENORMOUS shit) and up some hills to some grass for the elephant to eat). On the way
back the elephant driver (mahout?) pulled up alongside one of his mates and started mocking our white legs, lovely people these Thais, honest.
Needless to say I felt pretty annoyed with this guy as he looked sleezy and lazy but when he started to look, point and talk about our legs in Thai, I was fuming! Cheeky bugger. Talk about feeling self conscious.
Next we were handed these huge green life jackets and told to walk down to the river. We were taken onto a bamboo raft (base made out of bamboo tied together with a metal frame and roof etc), were pulled by speed boat up the river and then let go to drift back down the river to where we started - luckily we were on the bamboo raft that had a guy who could use his oar correctly and didn’t end up going through a tree hanging at the side of the river like the other raft did.) This was an incredibly peaceful experience, the sound of the water lapping and wildlife in the bankside vegetation and the beautiful views. The next day we went to the Tiger Temple (on the back of a
Daily exercise
It's an exhausting routine. pickup truck). The tigers were awesome, we were individually taken around 5-6 tigers to get our photos taken in various poses with them, including one kicking Cate’s boob
it was a gentle nudge as he turned over yet he was strong enough (unsurprisingly) to kick me off the rock I was sitting on! Couldn’t help looking like a giggling child afterwards (I had words with him) and then we got to see tigers get fed and mingled with buffalo (a strange end to the tiger temple).
We also spotted a camel amongst the cattle (very strange sight) and went over to feed him, but after several attempts to feed him and every single time dropping the food on the floor because his mouth came too close to my hand, he got fed up of me and went to his mate for his food instead. Matt did a much better job of feeding him than me! Anyways, we’re back in Bangkok now, and after swapping guesthouse again we’re just finishing off the blog at midnight(ish) before heading off for another well earned rest - time to drag Cate around some temples tomorrow and get some culture down us
before heading north.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I spend many hours writing lists about things and thus we are keeping a checklist of random things whilst we travel:
Number of arguments: 0
Number of bites:
Matt 16
Cate 1
Number of injuries:
Cate (twisted ankle at Erawan, bumped head on bamboo float, blisters.)
Matt (blisters.)
Number of guesthouses/hostels: 4
Number of icecreams:
Matt 2
Cate 3
Number of things lost/stolen/broken:
Cate 2: Lost sunglasses, broken dress.
Transport:
Bus 1
Mini bus 2
Rickshaw 1
Pickup truck 1
Train 2
Bicycle 1
Taxi 5
Aeroplane 1
Tube 3
Sky train 1
Goodnight, love Cate and Matt x
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Grandma
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A big thank you.
It is wonderful to read all you are experiencing. I think you are SO adventuresom!!! You make me laugh at times. Scare me to death at others.!!! Will you manage to come home and settle to previous life I ask myself. I never expected to read and enjoy so much, I applaud you for the excellent writing. I have Darren able to read it as I sent him your first "letter", I go on to that and pick up the wee box that says "latest written". luv to u 2 xx