Sawatdee Kha!
Felix and I have had 2 more weekends of traveling since I last wrote that I thought I would update you all on. We had Monday off for the King's birthday so we took a long weekend and headed to Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Which was nothing short of amazing. I am proud so say that I have traveled to many places in Thailand now that just blow my mind with how beautiful they are. Kanchanaburi is a small town but has a ton to do just from nature, and for the fact that it is become a decent sized tourist town. It's not tourists like in Bangkok or Phuket though, but you kind of get more of a nature seeking vibe from them.
Better said they are hippies. Anyways, the little town is full of hostels and quaint bars. It is always nice getting away for a weekend and being able to eat at restaurants and actually look at a menu. While we love the Thai food being able to get an "American breakfast" with banana pancakes with honey and eggs, instead of rice in the morning is a huge perk for me. It took us about 4 hours to get the Kanchanaburi and 2 bus rides so we were pretty beat when we finally made it. The town had more people that usual in it because it was a festival week where they honor those who died and also celebrate (?) the Death Railway Bridge. Kanchanaburi was a big player in WWII in that it was here that the Japanese captured thousands of prisoners of war from all over the world and forced them to mainly build bridges for them to give them alternate trade routes. My facts aren't exactly straight but I know that this was a brutal time for the POW and they had them working 14-16 hour days to build this bridge in 6 months when engineers estimated to take 2 or 3 years normally. They pretty much built the bridge by hand with very few tools and were punished with brutal tactics. They weren't fed much either and the food they did receive had kerosene in it from bombings so MANY of the prisoners contracted terrible diseases. In the end I think about 11,000 prisoners died from many countries, including America. The bridge is nicknamed the death railway bridge because of this but formally it is called the Bridge over the River Kwai. Anyways, during this week there was a HUGE festival and re-enactment of the bombing of the bridge which was a giant fireworks and light show so there were much more tourists than usual.
When we got there we had a fantastic meal at an Indian restaurant (a BIG splurge from our 20 baht- less than .75 cents- meals in Inburi. We then decided to go allll out and have massages too haha. We got one hour full body oil massages which included a feet washing, face and head massage, foot massage, and tea at the end for about $6 U.S dollars! We headed over to the festival after that on our motor bike and pretty much got lost in a mega market for a few hours. At this point there were NO tourists and we were the only blonde, and tall people in this giant sea of Asians. It was so packed we could barely walk forward I guess all the other tourists didn't go past where the bridge and light show was located. It was fun though they had rides and we had some great market food and after that we were beat so that pretty much sums up day 1 in Kanchanaburi!
Day 2! Ahhh here is the good stuff. After breakfast we caught a bus to go to Erawan National Park. It took a little over an hour to get here but this is the big attraction in Kanchanaburi, among other things. Here there is a 7 tiered waterfall which I think may make it the biggest waterfall in Thailand. The drive up on the bus was beautiful with the river beside us. The waterfall like I said had 7 tiers and each were ENTIREly different from each other. There were probably more than 7 too if you count all the little ones and swimming lagoons you go through en route to each tier. The first 2 tiers you could bring food to so they were PACKED with thai people who came just to picnic and swim all day. I would have thought just seeing one of the tiers would be amazing so the waterfall as a whole was kind of overwhelming. We jumped in (me with my clothes on because being in a bikini while all the thai people were in full garb seemed weird) on the 2nd tier which was a beautiful waterfall that you could swim up and stand under. If you look at my pictures here too you can see giant fish in the water! These fish eat your dead skin when you get in the water. You pay big bucks in tourist places like Phuket and Bangkok to have this done to you in a spa where you put your feet in tanks so it was pretty cool experiencing it straight from te source. It feels crazy you can feel their little teeth and you kind of want to squirm and scream the whole time because it feels so weird but we sat for awhile and let them nibble on us.
For the remainder of the trip we just kept hiking up the mountain and visiting each tier. They were incredible, some of the places with the light coming through the trees and clear aqua water looked like something out of a dream. Honestly, after the 4th tier I didn't know how much more I could take of waterfalls out-doing each other! Almost all of them you could swim in and some even had natural waterslides down the rocks into the lagoons.
After hiking up for a few hours we made it to the top tier right before it was time to head back down to catch the last bus back to Kanchanaburi. On our way down we had an encounter with some wild monkeys. They decided they didn't want to let us or the 15 people behind us pass and when felix tried to go under their vine 2 ran down and started hissing and acting like they were going to attack him. I loved monkeys before I actually met them and when they were safe in their enclosures in the zoo now I am actually a bit scared of them. Or maybe WARY of them is a better word because I don't quite trust them. He kept trying to go under but more kept appearing out of the trees and making it clear they did not want us to pass. The head one finally was looking the other way and Felix made a run for it! We made it in one piece with no monkey attacks thankfully and a baby one even came really close once we passed and looked at us nicely as to say I'm sorry everyone else is so mean!
After the long trek down we got to our bus which..being the last bus out of there..was more than packed. It was overflowing with people the whole aisle was people standing and we still weren't on yet. Somehow though..they got us on. This involved Felix hanging OUT the door of the bus and holding on to the rail. You would think from this point on with Felix only half on the bus and me so packed in with people in the aisle that I could barely lift my hand to grab a rail to hold on to that we wouldn't let anyone else. Ohh no..of course not in Thailand. We proceeded to pick up about TEN more people, the first one being a little girl and her giant basket of laundry. She sat where the windshield was pretty much on the drivers lap and then lo and behold the rest of the hour 1/2 journey we kept adding more people on. I could barely move and think I was half on top of about 5 other people with a girl who was sitting CHEEK literally on my butt and Felix still hanging out the back but we made it so I guess no harm done! We had a good night out after we showered and got back and had a fantastic meal once again full with appetizers and banana fritters with dessert. I ran into about 10 people from my group too who were also travelling there so that was a great suprise!
The next day we had intentions of checking out some of the caves but didn't ever end up finding the one we were looking for. We know we will definitely be back to Kanchanaburi. There is another huge waterfall called Soi Yok which is supposed to be incredible but after seeing 7 tiers of falls the day before we didn't know how much more we could take in one weekend. There are also many caves here, temples, and other things to see. There is a Tiger Temple where the tigers are raised by monks and you can go and pet them, BATHE them, and take pictures but apparently it's pretty controversial because people think they drug them so we avoided that. We did check out the cemetery for the Death Railway workers before we left and that was pretty remarkable. It was probably the prettiest cemetery I have ever been too. The grounds were maintained extraordinarily and every grave had a different beautiful plant or mini tree beside it. It is a pretty powerful place the graves are separated by countries of the prisoners who died and they listed the ages with MANY of them being young as 17 or 18 and even more who were around 21, 22 years old. It's hard to think of many worse ways you can die than as being a prisoner for so long and forced to do another countries bidding while they pretty much torture you so it was a sad place but very interesting to see.
Bangkok!
Last weekend we spent in Bangkok and had a huge reunion with most of Felix's close friends from his group. We got there late on Friday because of terrible traffic. A huge main road was completely shut down because a WEEK after the King's birthday they were still celebrating. The whole street was strung with lights and music and a parade with girls dressed in gowns. It was kind of like Disneyland. There were also massive fireworks going on. We finally got to Khao San road where we have always stayed because of the super cheap hostels and fun night life. Felix and I ate a massive dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant (as well as the next night too haha) where you sit in a tiny private room on pillows. On Saturday we headed to a MASSIVE market (Thailand's specialty if you haven't guessed yet). That night we went out for Felix's birthday and before hand experienced a PING PONG show. This is one of those things in Thailand that is... hmm... interesting? and pretty gross.. but everyone kind of has to experience once. And I think it's safe to say after one time I will never feel the need to go to one again! I will leave all of you to do your own research on it as it's a bit explicit.
Overall, we had another great weekend in Bangkok but don't think we will be seeing it again for a looong time. When we live in Inburi so cheaply Bangkok just seems to be a giant money pit and it's hard to understand how we spend so much there. We hope next time go go see the King's palace but besides that are all Bangkok-ed out for the time being. Ahhhh 2 more great weekends of travel.. :)
Felix and I have had 2 more weekends of traveling since I last wrote that I thought I would update you all on. We had Monday off for the King's birthday so we took a long weekend and headed to Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Which was nothing short of amazing. I am proud so say that I have traveled to many places in Thailand now that just blow my mind with how beautiful they are. Kanchanaburi is a small town but has a ton to do just from nature, and for the fact that it is become a decent sized tourist town. It's not tourists like in Bangkok or Phuket though, but you kind of get more of a nature seeking vibe from them.
Better said they are hippies. Anyways, the little town is full of hostels and quaint bars. It is always nice getting away for a weekend and being able to eat at restaurants and actually look at a menu. While we love the Thai food being able to get an "American breakfast" with banana pancakes with honey and eggs, instead of rice in the morning is a huge perk for me. It took us about 4 hours to get the Kanchanaburi and 2 bus rides so we were pretty beat when we finally made it. The town had more people that usual in it because it was a festival week where they honor those who died and also celebrate (?) the Death Railway Bridge. Kanchanaburi was a big player in WWII in that it was here that the Japanese captured thousands of prisoners of war from all over the world and forced them to mainly build bridges for them to give them alternate trade routes. My facts aren't exactly straight but I know that this was a brutal time for the POW and they had them working 14-16 hour days to build this bridge in 6 months when engineers estimated to take 2 or 3 years normally. They pretty much built the bridge by hand with very few tools and were punished with brutal tactics. They weren't fed much either and the food they did receive had kerosene in it from bombings so MANY of the prisoners contracted terrible diseases. In the end I think about 11,000 prisoners died from many countries, including America. The bridge is nicknamed the death railway bridge because of this but formally it is called the Bridge over the River Kwai. Anyways, during this week there was a HUGE festival and re-enactment of the bombing of the bridge which was a giant fireworks and light show so there were much more tourists than usual.
When we got there we had a fantastic meal at an Indian restaurant (a BIG splurge from our 20 baht- less than .75 cents- meals in Inburi. We then decided to go allll out and have massages too haha. We got one hour full body oil massages which included a feet washing, face and head massage, foot massage, and tea at the end for about $6 U.S dollars! We headed over to the festival after that on our motor bike and pretty much got lost in a mega market for a few hours. At this point there were NO tourists and we were the only blonde, and tall people in this giant sea of Asians. It was so packed we could barely walk forward I guess all the other tourists didn't go past where the bridge and light show was located. It was fun though they had rides and we had some great market food and after that we were beat so that pretty much sums up day 1 in Kanchanaburi!
Day 2! Ahhh here is the good stuff. After breakfast we caught a bus to go to Erawan National Park. It took a little over an hour to get here but this is the big attraction in Kanchanaburi, among other things. Here there is a 7 tiered waterfall which I think may make it the biggest waterfall in Thailand. The drive up on the bus was beautiful with the river beside us. The waterfall like I said had 7 tiers and each were ENTIREly different from each other. There were probably more than 7 too if you count all the little ones and swimming lagoons you go through en route to each tier. The first 2 tiers you could bring food to so they were PACKED with thai people who came just to picnic and swim all day. I would have thought just seeing one of the tiers would be amazing so the waterfall as a whole was kind of overwhelming. We jumped in (me with my clothes on because being in a bikini while all the thai people were in full garb seemed weird) on the 2nd tier which was a beautiful waterfall that you could swim up and stand under. If you look at my pictures here too you can see giant fish in the water! These fish eat your dead skin when you get in the water. You pay big bucks in tourist places like Phuket and Bangkok to have this done to you in a spa where you put your feet in tanks so it was pretty cool experiencing it straight from te source. It feels crazy you can feel their little teeth and you kind of want to squirm and scream the whole time because it feels so weird but we sat for awhile and let them nibble on us.
For the remainder of the trip we just kept hiking up the mountain and visiting each tier. They were incredible, some of the places with the light coming through the trees and clear aqua water looked like something out of a dream. Honestly, after the 4th tier I didn't know how much more I could take of waterfalls out-doing each other! Almost all of them you could swim in and some even had natural waterslides down the rocks into the lagoons.
After hiking up for a few hours we made it to the top tier right before it was time to head back down to catch the last bus back to Kanchanaburi. On our way down we had an encounter with some wild monkeys. They decided they didn't want to let us or the 15 people behind us pass and when felix tried to go under their vine 2 ran down and started hissing and acting like they were going to attack him. I loved monkeys before I actually met them and when they were safe in their enclosures in the zoo now I am actually a bit scared of them. Or maybe WARY of them is a better word because I don't quite trust them. He kept trying to go under but more kept appearing out of the trees and making it clear they did not want us to pass. The head one finally was looking the other way and Felix made a run for it! We made it in one piece with no monkey attacks thankfully and a baby one even came really close once we passed and looked at us nicely as to say I'm sorry everyone else is so mean!
After the long trek down we got to our bus which..being the last bus out of there..was more than packed. It was overflowing with people the whole aisle was people standing and we still weren't on yet. Somehow though..they got us on. This involved Felix hanging OUT the door of the bus and holding on to the rail. You would think from this point on with Felix only half on the bus and me so packed in with people in the aisle that I could barely lift my hand to grab a rail to hold on to that we wouldn't let anyone else. Ohh no..of course not in Thailand. We proceeded to pick up about TEN more people, the first one being a little girl and her giant basket of laundry. She sat where the windshield was pretty much on the drivers lap and then lo and behold the rest of the hour 1/2 journey we kept adding more people on. I could barely move and think I was half on top of about 5 other people with a girl who was sitting CHEEK literally on my butt and Felix still hanging out the back but we made it so I guess no harm done! We had a good night out after we showered and got back and had a fantastic meal once again full with appetizers and banana fritters with dessert. I ran into about 10 people from my group too who were also travelling there so that was a great suprise!
The next day we had intentions of checking out some of the caves but didn't ever end up finding the one we were looking for. We know we will definitely be back to Kanchanaburi. There is another huge waterfall called Soi Yok which is supposed to be incredible but after seeing 7 tiers of falls the day before we didn't know how much more we could take in one weekend. There are also many caves here, temples, and other things to see. There is a Tiger Temple where the tigers are raised by monks and you can go and pet them, BATHE them, and take pictures but apparently it's pretty controversial because people think they drug them so we avoided that. We did check out the cemetery for the Death Railway workers before we left and that was pretty remarkable. It was probably the prettiest cemetery I have ever been too. The grounds were maintained extraordinarily and every grave had a different beautiful plant or mini tree beside it. It is a pretty powerful place the graves are separated by countries of the prisoners who died and they listed the ages with MANY of them being young as 17 or 18 and even more who were around 21, 22 years old. It's hard to think of many worse ways you can die than as being a prisoner for so long and forced to do another countries bidding while they pretty much torture you so it was a sad place but very interesting to see.
Bangkok!
Last weekend we spent in Bangkok and had a huge reunion with most of Felix's close friends from his group. We got there late on Friday because of terrible traffic. A huge main road was completely shut down because a WEEK after the King's birthday they were still celebrating. The whole street was strung with lights and music and a parade with girls dressed in gowns. It was kind of like Disneyland. There were also massive fireworks going on. We finally got to Khao San road where we have always stayed because of the super cheap hostels and fun night life. Felix and I ate a massive dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant (as well as the next night too haha) where you sit in a tiny private room on pillows. On Saturday we headed to a MASSIVE market (Thailand's specialty if you haven't guessed yet). That night we went out for Felix's birthday and before hand experienced a PING PONG show. This is one of those things in Thailand that is... hmm... interesting? and pretty gross.. but everyone kind of has to experience once. And I think it's safe to say after one time I will never feel the need to go to one again! I will leave all of you to do your own research on it as it's a bit explicit.
Overall, we had another great weekend in Bangkok but don't think we will be seeing it again for a looong time. When we live in Inburi so cheaply Bangkok just seems to be a giant money pit and it's hard to understand how we spend so much there. We hope next time go go see the King's palace but besides that are all Bangkok-ed out for the time being. Ahhhh 2 more great weekends of travel.. :)
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