Kanchanaburi Kraziness

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April 18th 2009

Published: April 20th 2009

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Wilder

Cemetary at Kanchanaburi

Honouring the fallen soldiers

Kanchanaburi Kraziness

After we left the Monastery, we learned that we had another full day in Lopburi before we set off to the next adventure. This roughly translated into over 24 hours of complete and utter freedom. A novel and heady sensation after the rigidly scheduled timeline of the past few days. Unfortunately it didn't take more then 24 minutes to discover that, besides getting raped and pillaged by monkeys, there is not really much to see or do in Lopburi. Boredom quickly set in, and with it, a certain reckless disregard for calm and careful deliberation Someone mentioned getting a tattoo. This suggestion quickly morphed into a veritable procession of volunteers offering up assorted body parts to the needle. It was a party. A parade. A prime example of peer pressure at work. Before we left the city, easily half the group was sporting this permanent reminder of their trip to Thailand. I can't say I wasn't tempted (it was so cheap! so easy!) but in the end I decided that it was just too impulsive for my liking. The fact that the tattoo artist was working in our cockroach infested hotel room amidst a loud and rauceous party

Tattoo party

Laura...trying to block the pain through Sangsom

also played a part in my decision. I'm actually impressed at how well the tattoos turned out considering that his subjects were generally so drunk from Sangsom that they were swaying in the fan-induced breeze.

The following day the hungover and inked up group was loaded into yet-another bus so that we could travel to the small town of Kanchanaburi. This town is known for the infamous bridge over the river Kwai. Kanchanaburi used to be the site of a WWII prisoner-of-war camp where captured allied soldiers were forced to build 415km of rail so that the Japanese soldiers could transport military supplies from Burma to Bangkok. Today these tracks are known as the Death Railway because over 100,000 men were killed in their creation.

One would think that the source for these little nuggets of knowledge would have come from either my in-country coordinators, or the local historical museum, however stragely enough I had to gleam the historical significance of this town from my trusty Lonely Planet guide. In fact, though I was in the area for 3 days, I barely had the time to squeeze in a visit to the memorial cemetary to pay my respects

Blatant exploitation...

...but I just can't resist the lure

to the fallen Allied soldiers. This negligence was not due to disrespect, or apathy, or laziness (or not entirely at any rate). Instead I place the blame squarely on Tong's shoulders. He managed to create such an amazingly irresistable schedule of events that I was too busy having fun to examine the history of this historical town. Here's a quick look at our crazy itinerary while staying in Kanchanaburi:

Day 1: In Transit

This is the day that we traveled to Kanchanaburi from Lopburi. As I mentioned before, a sizeable portion of our group was feeling rather hungover at the beginning of this journey, but we all perked up considerably when we pulled into a Safari Park. Personally I have to admit to a certain amount of skepticism. I've been to Bushe Gardens after all, and the dusty, deserted, and dilapidated state of the main entrance did not seem to bode well to what we would find inside. However, upon descending from our bus, we were amazed and delighted at the sight of 2 real, live tigers for our petting and photographic pleasure. I was torn. Part of me was aghast at the thought of these magnificant beasts

Just hanging around...

...while swinging from some elephant trunks. What an unbelievable sensation! And I'm so glad they didn't drop me!

being chained and drugged up solely so that they could be whored out to the public for a mere 150 baht per picture. The other part of me really wanted to pet a tiger (I mean, when would I ever get a chance like this again? And wouldn't the pictures look so cool?). In the end, I'm ashamed to admit that curiousity trumped conscience. Fittingly enough, I almost paid for this curiousity when the tiger tried to exact his revenge for this shameful display of exploitation by snapping at me while I was posing for the picture. Thankfully my reflexes were faster then his retaliation.

After the tigers, we entered the compound and attended both the elephant and crocodile show. Both were blatent examples of animal exploitation and several members of the group elected to wait outside rather then watch. Sadly my moral code is simply not as strong. I attended both and while I did find them hard to watch, I was exhilerated at the opportunity to interact with the animals afterwards. My poor mother received the shock of her life when she opened up my Facebook pictures and saw me cozied up to a crocodile...sorry mom.

After the croc fight...

...I figured that this guy was tired enough for me to risk petting him

Perhaps the best part of the day was when we loaded into a bus, handfulls of carrots clutched to our chests, and took a drive through the safari park.

It. Was. Incredible.

The bus meandered through the various areas of the park, slowing down to allow us to see, feed, and photograph a plethora of sleepy-eyes animals. There were lions and tigers and bears - oh my. Not to mention buffalos (from Canada - I asked), deer, giraffes and zebras.

And did I mention that we could feed them...with our own hands!?!? You certainly don't get that at Busche Gardens. We had giraffes sticking their heads INSIDE the bus! Jo actually got french kissed by one as it went in to retrieve a carrot that Tong had unceremoneously stuffed in her mouth. I'm not sure whether she particularly appreciated that experience...but we sure did! By the end of the tour I was flying high - I couldn't stop smiling. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip...and to think it was only the beginning.

Day 2: Railways and Waterways

The day began with a trip out to the bridge over the river Kwai.

Lazing away...

...was obviously not interested in the carrot we chucked his way

We had an hour to walk the bridge and snap the obligatory photo's before escaping from the relentless heat for an ice cream break (I'm convinced that ice cream is the only thing that has gotten me through Thailand with my sanity). At 11am we all loaded into a train to ride the Death Railway all the way out to Erawan National Park. This was basically at the mouth of the river Kwai, and Tong had arranged for us to go rafting down the river.

I'm not sure what I was expecting - perhaps sturdy Robinson Crusoe-esque vehicles which could be steered effortlessly through the surging waters - but the rickety bamboo constructions which partically sank when you stepped aboard certainly caught me by surprise. Tong's suggestion of wearing a bathing suit should have provided me with an inkling of what I would find I suppose. We all gingerely climbed aboard, only 4 per raft to honour the structural integrity (or lack thereof) of our craft, and were cast adrift. The calm still waters belied the strong current underneath and the rafts were swiftly carried downriver. It didn't take long before the passengers jumped ship for a refreshingly cool

King of the Jungle

Or the Safari Park anyways...his section of it

swim. Unwilling to pit my pathetically inferious swimming abilities against the strong current, I stuck close to the raft. In fact, the furthest I got was to hook my legs over the back of our trusty ship and let it carry me down the river while floating on my back. I wish I had my camera. Words cannot describe the peaceful serenity of that cool green-hued river winding through the lush and vibrant forest.

Afterwards we were given an opportunity to ride elephants throughout the park. I decided to decline. Not because I thought that the animals were mistreated in any way (in fact they looked pretty content as far as elephants go), but because I really had no interest in climbing aboard an elephant. I'd been on one before and so knew firsthand how uncomfortable they were. And smelly. Instead, I hung around the park snapping pictures and looking for more tigers to pet (there were no tigers, but I did have an opportunity to hold a giant boa constrictor...I declined from that as well).

Our final destination of the day were these floating party houses up by Khao Laem Dam. By this time, we had been

Putting the buffalo? yak? hmmm...

...I'm Canadian...I should know this...

out for approximately 9 hours and I was feeling headachey and somewhat less than sociable. I was definitely not feeling any urge to party. I blame the rain...for some reason it always makes me feel down. I would never survive in Vancouver or Ireland without adding a liberal dose of happy pills to my daily diet. While everyone else promptly went for a swim in the rain, I found a quiet little corner and had a nap. I woke up a few hours later feeling significantly better and eager to dip into some of Vitt's tequila.

What passed was a night of epic proportions. We ran out of rum and cigarettes by 10pm and had to send one of the guys out into the pouring rain to replenish our supplies. Three tequila shots in and I was painting Jonny's toenails. Four shots in and I was letting him paint mine with what appeared to be industrial strength white-out (it took me over a week to get that stuff off - and in the meantime I was walking around with sickly, gangreneous looking toes). A glass of rum later and I was playing Ring of Fire, which is the silliest

Peekaboo

Relentless in his search for carrots

and most inventive drinking game I've ever encountered. Vitt, having consumed more tequila then I, lay in a comatose state on the floor beside me. In an effort to revive him I started tickle-torturing him. This certainly got him moving - all the way to the balcony where he proceded to throw up for the next 4 hours (sorry Vitt!). By 1am I had to admit defeat and stumbled to bed while the party raged on around me.

Day 3: Fish Massages and Food Drives

On our third day, we spent the morning in the lake in an attempt to rehydrate our poor abused bodies. We even strung together a series of bamboo rafts and were pulled out to go look at the dam close up. Unfortunately I had Tam on my raft and his monumental size and weight resulted in us getting tipped...repeatedly...to his great amusement...

That afternoon we drove out to Erawan Falls to swim in this 7-tiered waterfall. Most of the group decided to stay down at the lower tiers and relax, but I decided to get adventurous and hike to the top. I managed to get as far as tier 6 before I

Party Houses up at the Dam

I'm surprised we didn't sink these floating houses after the party we had

began questioning my navigational abilities and decided to turn back before I got myself lost. I reached the bottom in time for a quick dip and soon realized what Tong meant by getting a "fish massage". As soon as I had lowered myself into the water, I was surrounded by fish who eagerly fought to take a gentle nibble out of me. I couldn't help it - I let out an indignified yelp. It was an unnerving sensation and I didn't linger long before heading back to dry land. I think I'll stick to human massages from now on...

We ended the day by visiting the local orphanage where we donated enough money to feed the 150 kids for a week. We also stayed there long enough to dish up their food for that day and interact with the children while they ate. It was a great experience and I was happy to see how normal, friendly, and well-cared for the orphans were.

We stumbled back to Kanchanaburi that night exhausted and exhilerated from the past 3 days. Our next stop was Bangkok, before heading South to bask in the sun on some of Thailands best beaches.