kanchanaburi weekend, part 2

luckily, the other group had hired a sang thoew for the day so it was there to pick them up and they let us jump on with them. because it was a private ride and it was smaller, the trip back didnt take nearly as long. still, by the time we arrived back in kanchanaburi we were starving.

we had dinner at a hotel that will and andrew were staying at and were able to eat right by the water. as it began to get dark out, we saw barges with loud music passing every couple of minutes. We asked what they were and were told they are party boats essentially, bars that float up and down the river. the group was split about wanting to try that out, but ultimately we ended up no getting on one. we chose names for secret santa and by the time we got back to our places, it was almost 9.

we had seen a sign on one of the streets that said that the room we were in was 590 baht, so when we got back, we tried to talk to the desk and get an answer. the owner, sugar, who owns the bar we had been going to, said she would come meet to talk to us but never did, so we went next door to where the others were staying and played connect four and uno for a few hours before heading out to the bars.

the next morning, we decided it was time to deal with the room issues. the day before, emily and beth had both talked to sugar on the phone and so it was my turn this time. i explained to her that a price was only mentioned once to us on friday before checking in and that was 250 and 350 for the rooms. we were willing to pay the 350 and 590 she was asking for the second night, but were not happy about it. after arguing, calmly, for a few minutes, she threatened to call the police, so i passed the phone off to beth.

it ended up that she gave us 80 baht off each night, but on principle, we checked out of that hotel and went down the street to sams. in this place, we were staying on a barge that was docked but floating on the water. it was great. and sam spoke english very well since he had studied at rutgers years ago. he had even lived in tacoma park for a few months!

he talked to us for a bit and we told him we wanted to see the bridge and some other things around town, so he suggested that we take a boat tour. there were 12 of us and each boat cost 600 baht, so it ended up only being 100 each. for a few hours, we traveled up and down the river kwai, and it was amazing.

our first stop was the bridge, made famous by the movie "bridge over the river kwai." the city of kanchanaburi itself is completely based around the pow camp that existed there during wwii and this bridge built by pows as well as used to transport them, where thousands died on the trip or in the camp.

next, we went to the other end and saw a wat inside of a cave. while crawling through the winds and nooks, it occurred to us that we didnt know how they built the wats or the buddhas inside of the cave, but there was no one to ask, since our tour guide was a 7 or 8 year old thai boy.

following the cave, we went to the jeath war museum and learned more about the history of the bridge and the town. there were pictures, newspaper clippings, artifacts and paintings made by the pows while they were being held by the japanese.

we arrived back at the hotel and ate and napped for a bit before the boats came back to get us again for a light and sound show that happens at the bridge every sunday and wednesday night. it was amazing. we were watching it from the water rather than in chairs on the land and even though we couldnt really understand what was happening, we got the gist, since it was a war reenactment complemented by fireworks, music, halograms and lights. there were even people set on fire who then jumped off the bridge or boat into the water. it was definitely worth witnessing.

it did last longer than we expected though, and by the time we were showered and had dinner, it was already 11. after such a long two days, most of us who stayed and didnt head back to bangkok decided to head to bed early. we got up the next day and finally had some of the breakfast foods i had been craving, then walked down to see the war cemetery that is in the center of town before the long trek back home.

we decided to take a mini bus back, thinking it would be quicker and more comfortable, but it ended up taking longer because of the holiday and we were jammed in so it was not either. it took us back to khaosan where the roads were shut down for more celebrations and getting a cab back to my villiage took quite a while. by the time i arrived at my apartment, it was almost 9 and i was exhausted, but thrilled by the weekend i had just experienced.