In Love with Kanjanaburi!

Last weekend I went to Kanjanaburi, a small city about 3-4 hours west of Bangkok.  It was a gorgeous town with a lush, mountainous backdrop above the River Kwai, famous for the bridge built by American POWs during WWII.  That particular story was made into a movie with Alec Guinness (the original Obiwan Kenobi from Star Wars) in the 50’s – we tried to watch it before we went, but it was a lot of dialogue and we got bored. 

The second day was perfect weather for our planned hike up the waterfalls at Erawan National Park.  Because of the holiday, the park was full of Thai and European tourists, the latter being a constant source of amusement with their overly revealing speedos and ghost-white skin (not to mention the rolls of fat I would rather have not seen).  But at least there were quite a few side paths you could take to escape all the people and really enjoy and appreciate the amazing nature. 

The jungle here is so thick with tall trees and thin, twisting vines, or huge round trucks that lay dead and fallen over the river.  The water was as blue and clear as I have yet seen in this country, where most rivers and canals near the cities are brown with mud and pollution.  It was so refreshing to cool our bodies in the splash during the hike.  I was worried I wouldn’t have the right shoes, but most people had flip-flops or went bare foot. 

I had my first real monkey sighting there!!  There was a whole pack of the light brown furry creatures jumping from tree to three, and on my way down, one of them stopped with her baby, and the father came down too and tried to take the baby monkey while it was sucking on its mothers teet.  I tried to get a video but was too late.  I thought it was cool, but there are a lot of people I have met who have had horrible monkey experiences, and are quite afraid of them. 

On Sunday we rented a scooter and went driving around the town.  We saw a pretty cool cave, and also spotted some bats and shrieked in terror.  We are such girls when it comes to those things, also ants, spiders, snakes, and giant river lizards.  We ate lunch at a floating restaurant and realized that the last bus was leaving soon, so we had to pay our bill in a hurry and make it to the bus station, only to wait on the bus for another hour before it finally left.  Next time I come here, I am going to ride the elephants and swim with them, and then I want to go on a safari and feed the giraffes and pet the tigers :) All in all it was a fabulous weekend, I lived like a queen and only spent $87 on everything.  Here is what I got for that small amount of money: 

Transport to and from Suphanburi and Kanchanaburi

A few random taxi rides

Two nights at a backpacker’s hotel

The best fried beef in oyster sauce of my life, with rice of course

Several bottles of water

Several bottles/cans of beer

Two ivory and turquoise bracelets

A small hand purse

A magnet

A Spiderman hat

Six postcards

A mediocre Fish Spa experience

Beef pepper steak with mushroom sauce and a salad

Several 10baht shots

Scrambled eggs with cheese, baked beans and toast

Transport to and from Erawan National Park

National Park entrance fee

The most delicious Pad Thai of my life

One-hour traditional Thai massage (better than a chiropractor)

Massaman curry and rice

Winecooler

More 10baht shots

More bottles of water

Fried banana rolls with ice cream, chocolate sauce and honey

Coffee

Scrambled egg and cheese sandwich

Motorbike Rental

Cave Entrance Fee

Not very awesome Cat Fish dish at the floating restaurant

It’s amazing how far the dollar goes here!  Safe travels my friends, and chok dee!

Lazy Summer Days

The dark gold cross-legged Buddha rose as high as a two story building inside a Chinese-influenced temple in Ayutthaya, less than an hour north of Bangkok.  Peeling flakes of gold foil fluttered on the stone faces of the surrounding statues.  People of all walks walked around bare foot, a giant rectangle of tubes temporarily housing the traveler’s shoes.  They sold amulets and books like any other museum.  In the market just outside, aging Thai vendor voices drifted ceaselessly across the thick wet air.  Various scents floated up and commingled in different combinations, an earthy base, like bark, seafood frying somewhere in hot oil, trash grown pungent in the sun, sweet coconut pastries, jasmine incense.  With clouds overcast, it was a perfect day to explore the inland island by bicycle.  As we were unchaining the bikes from the metal, a full-grown elephant and two of its passengers walked directly past us. 

            Elephants are thick in this area, and each of them dons a red and gold throne or small gazebo on its back with room enough for a few people.  There’s nothing quite like witnessing an elephant walk up close.  Their feet, in rolls of heavy elephant flesh, press down and become perfectly flat with the land, as rooted as a tree trunk.  Wrinkles riddle the entire body, giving large elephant eyes an old and wise look.  The tusks, too, are noticeably magnificent, strong ivory a relic of their prehistoric quality.  Never before found myself thinking of elephants as magical animals, but then again, I never saw them like this before, living somewhat freely among humans, going about their day jobs. 

           

            Everyday I fall more and more in love with my kids (my students).  They are so friendly here, they make it really easy to get attached, and that will make it very hard to leave at the end of the semester.  I thought about sticking around for the full year, but there is too much country to see and not enough time to see it.  I feel I must challenge myself to teach in different places to expand the whole experience and really get a few different senses of Thailand, the culture and people.  And this town is so small I may go crazy without my amazing roommates, both of whom are going back to the States in October. 

            On a motorbike ride the other day we discovered our local floating market completely by chance.  We took lots of pictures and ate ice cream out of coconuts, watched the women make soups or little sweets.  Everyone loves the opportunity to practice their English with us.  We ran into some wonderful students shopping with their families.  I am getting used to life here, the crazy traffic, the dingy, semi-unsanitary conditions, I no longer recognize the spiders and ants in the house as intruders, but friendly companions looking for food and shelter.  Life is swell, and moves at a leisurely pace.  Almost every afternoon is filled with trips to the market, hot yoga sessions, good food, and fun movies or sitcoms, as well as the refreshment of ice cold bubbling beer.  Yes, I’m getting used to this.