elephants, tigers and waterfalls

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I set off from Bangkok at 9am on the 1st of March. The journey took about 2 hours in a mini bus. There was a small tv set at the front, playing a thai dvd. It was very hard to follow, but must have been good though, as the driver couldnt keep his eyes off it!!!
The bus dropped me at my hotel, right on the edge of the river kwai. It seemed so chilled out and peaceful, especially compared to khao san road! The hotel had an open cafe/bar with writing from backpackers on every inch of the walls. There was a really nice atmosphere.
After lunch a motorbike came to collect me. It had a big metal frame attached to one side, which i had to perch on! I was dropped at the edge over the river where i got a small thin boat along the river kwai. It was very fast! I got off and met the other members of my tour group, who were mostly israli. We walked to the caves, which were very tight to squeeze through! After the caves, we got back on the small boats, which took us to the bridge over the river kwai. We got off and were given an hour or so to walk along the bridge and take a look at the markets, it was extremely hot though so most people made a dash for any shadey area after walking along the bridge.
We then took a mini bus to the elephant camp, which is what i had been looking forward to all day. As soon as i stepped off the bus i was beckoned over by several thai guides, who helped me onto the seat strapped to the elephant. It was a very bumpy and uncomfortable ride through the jungle, ending up at the edge of the river. We then changed into our swim wear and were all given life jackets. In the river there were roughly eight elephants waiting for us. I was helped onto the elephant's rough, hairy back, with a guide standing behind me. It was so surreal sitting bare back on an elephant! It occured to me that i had never even seen an elephant other than in the zoo and now I was riding on one in the river kwai! The whole tour seemed to be going so fast i didnt have time to take it all in.
The next day we had an early start at 7am! we were driven to the 7 steps waterfall. They failed to mention that it takes an hour to walk past every step to the 7th, through the jungle! I was struggling along tree roots and steep rocks in flip flops!! The waterfall was not what i was expecting. It wasnt really much more than a small trickle!! from what i had heard, it was a huge waterfall you could swim in. It definitely wasnt a dissapointment though, every step of the waterfall was beautiful, especially the 5th which we swam in. I didnt stay in the water long though, there were quite a lot of fish in there with me, which nibbled at every opertunity.
In the afternoon we were taken to the tiger temple. I had heard so much about the temple and was expecting a big thai temple with monks and tigers walking around. It couldnt have been more different!! As soon as i arrived i was thrust a piece of paper which i was instructed to sign. Basically it was a form to say that if i got attacked i wouldnt hold them responsible!!! So filled with confidence, we walked through the gates to a dusty area. We were instructed to line up, take our hats and sunglasses off and wait. When i got the the front one guide took my camera and another took my hand and led me to a tiger. There were about nine tigers all asleep, chained up. I was instructed to 'sit' i touched the tiger for what mustve been a few seconds while the guide took a photo. I was then led to the next tiger, and the next. The whole thing lasted a few minutes and I didnt really have time to take it in. It was a big let down. The tigers are apparantly not drugged up, but they all looked completely out of it. One was set to the side for 'special photos' which you could pay 1000baht to have the tigers head dragged onto your lap while you pose for a photo. The whole thing was just a big set up for tourists. Although its supposedly run by monks, i didnt see a single one whilst i was there.
After the temple we were driven back to bangkok. Although i loved the excitement of khao san road when i arrived, i wasnt looking forward to going back. After being in peaceful kanchanaburi, i didnt fancy the dirty, hussle and bussle of bangkok. However, it quickly changed my mind!!! I hadnt seen bangkok at night before, it was even more crazy than during the day, which didnt seem possible before. I even had my first experience of a cockroach scuttling past my feet!!!
This is possibly the longest blog in existance and im still not up to date! so much is happening and i dont have time to write it all down!

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