This past weekend was another three day weekend (they really don't like to work over here) so a bunch of us planned to do a little bit of traveling. We decided to go to Kanchanaburi. My thousands of loyal readers all around the world will remember that this was where we rode the elephants during orientation. However, Kanchanaburi has a lot more to offer than just elephant rides so we decided it was worth a longer visit.
Ever since the disaster with the hotel room in Lopburi, my main objective when searching for a place to stay while traveling is cleanliness. I've decided that it's worth a 15 minute walk to the main row of bars if I'm sure I won't wake up covered in bed bugs. This being Thailand, a country where the norm for cleanliness is far lower than anything we are used to at home, my goal can sometimes seem ambitious. However, after enough searching and reading many reviews, I am usually able to find a place with a good reputation that is relatively cheap. I know anyone who has backpacked before probably thinks I'm being lame but in my opinion it's totally worth it. Anyway, we really hit the jackpot in Kanchanaburi. We found a great place run by a nice lady named Apple. All of the rooms were brand new and spotless. Although it was a bit of a walk to the bars, I was extremely happy with our hotel selection.
If you remember from my previous post about Kanchanaburi, the Bridge Over the River Kwai is located just north of the city. When we went to the bridge during orientation, it was getting very dark so my pictures did not turn out as well as I hoped they would. I got a few better ones this time around:
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| I don't know if I'd trust being on that train going over a bridge that has been blown up so many times. |
Right next to the bridge was the Kanchanaburi WWII Museum. I'm not really sure why it's called that because it's pretty much just a collection of random things in four big buildings. We lost interest pretty quickly. Friday night we wound up checking out the bar scene of the city. I was surprised to see how many expats there were living in Kanchanburi. It is not uncommon at all to see Europeans, usually older men with Thai wives (I'm sure the women are in it for love), living on the islands but Kanchanaburi is in northwestern Thailand, not on the ocean. Whatever the reason for them being there, the Europeans run some fun bars. Many of them have live music while others have western sports on the TV. There is a strip about a mile long with numerous bars. We had a really fun night just checking out the different places.
Saturday was the real highlight of the trip. We got up early (despite our fierce hangovers) and headed an hour and a half north of the city to Erawan National Park. The park is famous for the Erawan Waterfall. This is a seven-tiered waterfall located along a 1.5 mile hike up a mountain. It was amazing. Each tier has its own fantastic waterfall. I knew heading into it that it would be cool but I was totally unprepared for how unbelievable the waterfalls would really look. While swimming in one of the pools below the fifth tier, one of my friends remarked that these are the type of natural swimming areas that five star hotels try to model their pools after. We really had a great day doing the hike. The first tier was very cool but it was entirely overshadowed by the second tier. The second one was what I imagine when I think of the classic picture of a waterfall. After that, the next really cool one was the fourth tier. It had a natural rock slide that we had a lot of fun sliding down. The fifth tier was definitely my favorite one. It was big waterfall with a bunch of beautiful pools spreading out over the rocks in front of it. The seventh one was also very cool. It is definitely the biggest and is also the most famous. The best part was that every time we started to get really hot and sweaty from all of the hiking, we'd approach a new tier and jump in the water. I must say, though, my only problem with the falls was the fish. The water was crystal clear so you could see everything moving below you. This wouldn't bother me except that the fish wouldn't leave you alone while you were swimming. One of the things I've noticed in many of the hair and nail salons around Thailand is a thing called a fish massage. I guess you put your feet in a tank and the fish eat the dead skin off of the bottom of them. As disgusting as that sounds, the pools at Erawan had hundreds of this kind of fish in them. Whenever you would plant your feet to get in or out of the pool, you could feel them nibbling away. It was really just a bizarre feeling. Anyway, that being the only downside (albeit one that you got used to after a few minutes anyway) I can honestly say that going to Erawan was one of the best things I've done so far in Thailand. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:
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| Tier Two |
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| Tier Four with the rock slide |
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| Feet Eating Fish |
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| Tier Five. My favorite one. |
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| The pool below Tier Seven |
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| Me in front of Tier Seven |
After a long day at the falls we were all pretty exhausted. However, we rallied and had a really fun night out on the town again. Overall, Kanchanaburi was one of my favorite trips so far. I was with some great people and we had an awesome time.
In more recent news, tonight I attended the wedding reception of one of my coworkers. It was a great example of the cultural differences that exist between Thailand and the U.S. It was a fun time but it wasn't like any other wedding I'd ever been to. It was actually held in the auditorium of the school where I teach. It is apparently a tradition to avoid hiring a band and instead have the guests sing karaoke all evening. These are just a few examples of things I found amusing throughout the night. All in all it was a nice event and I was glad to be a part of it but it certainly did not hold up to the standard set by a Hickey family wedding held just a few months ago.
Tomorrow I head to Phuket, the most famous beach in Thailand. The students have midterms next week so I get the week off because they don't make us proctor the exams. I have a really tough life over here. Phuket, and the neighboring island of Koh Phi Phi, are supposed to be pretty incredible so look for some cool pictures sometime after Christmas. I think this will be my last post before the holiday so I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas.
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