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.

kanchanaburi weekend, part 1

hands down, this was one of the best weekends ive had since coming to bangkok, and possibly thailand in general. with the three day weekend (read why here), riha loosely organized a trip over to kanchanaburi, a town about 2 1/2 hours to the west of the city, and 14 of us from the bangkok group ended up joining in on the fun.

we left friday night. half went from the northern bus terminal around 530, when the last bus from that station took off. the rest of us met in pinklao to leave from the south bus terminal at 630. we didnt actually arrive at the bus station until closer to 730-8 and didnt get on the bus until around 9. by that time, the other group had already made it to kanchanaburi and found out that, due to the long weekend, most of the hotels had no vacancies, and that part of that group got the last two rooms at the one they were staying at. obviously, this made us worry about what we would do when we got there a few hours later.

when we got to the bus station in kanchanaburi, we decided the best thing to do first was call around to some of the places we were given brochures for when we bought the bus tickets. the first place we called was rainbow lodge, and we were told that they had two rooms open for the night, one at 250 baht and one for 350 baht. there were five of us and we decided we would take it, so they sent a driver to pick us up free of charge.

it was just a short drive to the hotel, and we got there and were lead to our two rooms, which were actually little bungalows.

one, without aircon, had two twin beds, and the other, with aircon, had a double. we decided the best thing to do was to pick names out of a hat to decide which three people would share the double, and it ended up being me beth and emily, while amy and neil each got their own bed but without ac. after dropping our things off, the same guy who picked us up form the bus station, who spoke english so well he almost sounded native, offered to take us to a bar, which was owned by the same person who owned our hotel. it was walkable, so it only took a few minutes by car to arrive at sugar member, the bar that stays open past 12 when its legally suppose to stop serving alcohol. we met up briefly with the rest of the group but didnt stay out too late since we had to wake up early the next morning.

erawan national park is about an hour from kanachaburi and the park closes at 4, so the plan was to leave "early." apparently, we didnt get up early enough, because the other group had left by 10. we made it to the bus station and got on the 1030 bus, but since it was a public bus, it took almost 2 hours to get to the park with all of the stopping and how slow it had to go uphill, being such a big vehicle. when we called the other group, they were already at the 2nd tier of the waterfalls, so we knew we had to move fast.

by the time we caught up to them, it was already the 4th tier of 7. the rest of the gang decided to go swimming at that level, but i chose to stay out and take pictures with my camera. it was at this level that there were "slides" in the sides of the rocks and i was able to get some good shots of people going down them and in the water. we decided if we were going to make it to the top in time to actually enjoy it, we would go straight there from that level, so we booked it to the 7th tier. at the lower levels, there were steps and railings, but as we got higher, though we were still following paths, we were climbing rocks and trekking through smaller paths and more trees. we made it to the top, where we had been told there were rock formations in the shape of three elephants, which was seen as a good sign. this is what it looked like:

which might maybe resemble one elephant head. but since there was no where to swim at the top, we decided to head back down to the lower levels. it was a much quicker journey going down, and at tier 2 i decided to swim and get behind the falls. however, those pictures are on beths camera so a picture of that tier will have to suffice for now.

we knew that the bottom levels stayed open til 5, but just before 4 we were told the last buses leave at 4, so we rushed down to try to catch them. however, when we got there, we discovered that the one time "thai time" apparently does not exist is when buses leave for the night. the only vehicles left were private buses or vans that had already been hired.

my new favorite form of transportation.

the rumors about bangkok traffic are true: its some of the worst i have encountered. the lights in the directions i always want to be going last about 20 seconds while we wait at the intersection for 200+ seconds (i know because the lights have counters on them) for the traffic going down the cross streets. and the whole thing about lanes is kind of pointless, since it seems that those are used by the drivers own discretion.

one solution to this problem is motorbikes, which are used as taxis very frequently. they can zip through the bigger cars and on some of the smaller roads they can go faster. the problems here are 1. they do not have meters, so you must bargain the prices with them 2. they do not go to places that are very far and 3. you cannot travel in groups.

so theres another solution: river boats. and they happen to be my new favorite form of transportation. previously, i had tried out the watertaxi system in bangkok down the chao phraya. for 13 baht you can go all the way down the river, and you get a nice breeze and view while youre at it. definitely beats sitting in a cab in traffic when the minimum is 35 baht.

then this weekend while in kanchanaburi, we were about to go see the bridge over the river kwai when the man who owns the place we were staying at suggested a boat tour instead. for 100 baht per person, we were taken from our hotel to the bridge, from the bridge to a cave, the cave to a museum, and then back to our hotel. it was such a nice day and being on the water gave us a completely new perspective, while at the same time, it was the perspective best suited for this town, as life here does revolve around the river.

now, if only a system of canals and rivers could be dug for me by the time i get back to the east coast, that would be fab.