Erawan National Park

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February 10th 2008

Published: November 8th 2008

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Chocolatemonkee

Add Wheels and Go

Another type of taxi cab

This morning, we had breakfast in the open air restaurant at our guest house. The young lady that seems to run the place is pregnant and has another kid running around. I don't think she smiles. I wonder if its because she has to wait on us?

I wonder what we must seem like to her? Would it be any different than someone working at a hotel back home? I'm going to see if she'll smile before we leave Kanchanaburi.

Instead of a song thaew to the bus depot, we took a motorbike taxi with a side car of sorts. In our short time in Thailand, I think I have seen just about anything that can have wheels added and pulled or pushed by a motorbike carrying something or someone. Back home, this would just not work. The cops would pull you over in a second. Of course, when in Rome, or this case Thailand, smile and hold on!
All around us, people were up and sidewalk stalls were opening with fresh produce being set out. As we drove by, everyone seemed to be smiling at us. A lot better than the steely eyed glares from people in North

Oreos

Or so we hope

America.
We had planned on going to the Erawan National Park to see the waterfalls. It has 7 tiered waterfall which cascades down the mountain. You can even swim in the pools below the falls. We bought tickets and some snacks (mmmmm... Oreos) for the trip and boarded another public bus.
This time we were the only foreigners on the bus. It seems that on the weekends, people head out of town to the park to enjoy a little nature. I guess deep down, we're all the same.

I wonder all buses wait until they are enroute before they fuel up. We had not even gone 5 minutes from the bus depot when we stopped at a gas station. I guess you have to see how much money you made with customers before you fuel?

We saw more beautiful countryside, passed a hydro-electric dam and saw a huge coconut factory of some kind. Of course each house we passed had a stand set up in front of it selling everything from aluminum ladders to kites to umbrellas to bar-b-qued chicken. I'm not sure how much business each place does but I guess if you can sell a little

Bus to Erawan

Note the offerings of oranges and water on the dash.

here and a little there, it all adds up after awhile.

We paid admission to the park and proceeded to walk up the mountain to follow the waterfalls. There were a lot of people, sitting dipping their feet in the pools at the bottom of the falls. People were picnicking and had entire extended families with them.

Interestingly enough, we had to check our water bottles in at the base of the falls. They are trying to preserve the area and do not want people littering along the mountainside. Seemed odd considering they let everyone frolic in the falls, but I like their way of thinking.

We saw huge stands of bamboo. Crazy to think that this stuff grows like weeds here while at home, we have a small little stick and thought it was doing so good when it grew an inch in 2 months. Seems like some sort of tradition to carve your name onto the bamboo.

We also saw the huge vines like in all the Tarzan movies we saw as kids. I was surprised at how green everything was even for the dry season.
We also found the answer to that annoying

Heading out of town

Very hilly once you leave town

buzzing sound we had been hearing the whole time in Kanchan. It turns out its a big bug that kinda looks like a June bug. It emits such a shrill buzzing sound. Kinda creepy.

After reaching the top of falls we made our way back down, watching people slide down the falls into the turquoise water. When we got closer to the pools, we could see fish swimming in the water. Another tourist pointed out that they will "nibble" on you if you if you stand still.

Back at the bottom, we went to the information center and then to the food stalls. The chicken looked so good that we bought a thigh to share along with some Singha beer. Mmmmmmm. What a great way to end a nice long walk up and down a large hill.

We were early for the bus ride home so we started to people watch. One family in particular caught my eye as they were sitting next to us and talking and laughing quite a bit. The mother sat there picking at her daughter's hair and running her nails along the strands. The father and two other kids sat watching intently.

Open for business

Stands seemed to open up all the way down the road

Using my small vocabulary of Thai and the mother's small bit of English, we found that they had come to the park for the day to relax.
She asked us what we thought of Thailand and why we came there all the while removing lice from her daughters hair. I guess it passes the time.
The Mom asked if we wanted to share a cab back to city as it would cost less than the bus if all 7 of us took it back. She was concerned that she would not get back in time to go to work.

Candace and I kept trading glances as neither one of us was sure if we were going to get scammed. I could picture us in Kanchanaburi with a huge cab bill and Mom and family no where in sight.
The Mom was very persistent but we graciously declined. When they went to get off the bus, she smiled and thanked us for coming to her country and wished us well. Maybe it wasn't a scam after all.
I wonder if I'll become less pessimistic by the end of this trip?

Candace saw a huge python on the side of

Hydro Electric Dam

I wondered where they got their power from

the road in a ditch. I was too busy looking out the other side of the bus and would have loved to see it. A bunch of men were standing over it and it appeared that its head had been cut off. Maybe supper for the next week?

Back in Kanchanaburi, we walked about town. Stopping to look at artwork, which we eventually bought, we found that there was a night market near by.

We stopped at our first ever night market but were quickly overwhelmed by the amount of stuff for sale. It seems that any thing and everything is for sale although I did not see many people buying much more than food. We had a quick coke and then came back to our guest house as we had a long day.

Before going to bed, we booked a mini bus to Bangkok as we booked a flight to Krabi and feel that the mini bus will be quicker.

The next time I write, we should be in Krabi!

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