Kanchanaburi

With last Thursday being Queen Sirikit's birthday (and Mother's Day, since she's "mother" of the Kingdom), we had a four day weekend again. Our newest member from Sac State arrived a few weeks ago, and hadn't been to very many places, so I invited him to go with me to Kanchanaburi, since the rest of the teachers have almost all already been there. We met up at MRT(subway) at 8:30am Thursday, and headed to Bangkok's Southern Bus Terminal, where we bought our tickets and settled in for the 3 1/2 hour ride to Kanchanaburi. I had reserved two bungalows at the BlueStar Guesthouse for 3 nights, at 200B(about $6) per night per room. It was right on the River Kwai, and the staff were more than helpful when it came to figuring out what we planned to do all weekend.



Thursday evening we went to the JEATH museum.

In WWII, Japanese soldiers forced POWs to build Death railway, the railway connecting Thailand and Burma, in only sixteen months, when engineers say it should've taken at least five years. They were fed very little, and often it was rotten food, and forced to work nearly 20 hours a day. Thousands died of malnutrition, starvation, disease, and heat exhaustion; the ones that did survive were severely emaciated, many missing a limb or two, amputated due to disease. JEATH stands for the six countries involved: J - Japan, E - England, A - Australia and America, T - Thailand(where it took place), and H - Holland. It was very hard to walk through, and I think we both felt sick to our stomachs as we were leaving.

Friday morning we hopped a bus to Erawan waterfall, and Robin INSISTED we climb to the 7th level(the top).

I wasn't too keen on that idea, but wasn't going to stand at the bottom by myself and wait, so I went along.

Somewhere around level 3 I decided to test the water and swim around...that was until I got about ten feet in and felt the unanticipated swarm of eager fish around my legs who had apparently been waiting all day to make my acquaintance.

Unfortunately, I was not as thrilled to feel them as they were to feel me, and after a few short girly screams and whimpers paired with a couple of panicky jumps, arms flailing, I managed to pull myself up onto a big safe rock. Then it poured. POURED.

I continued the climb to the top in my swimsuit, flip-flops sloshing with every step(it was easier barefoot, but then I had to carry my shoes, so I eventually just put them back on), single strap backback secured across my shoulders, trying my best to stick to the path that was now muddy, flooding, and slippery. We finally reached the top(which was an accomplishment in and of itself, but nothing spectacular to look at), and then headed back down...only to miss our bus by FIVE MINUTES. The staff member we spoke to must have sensed(or seen) my anguish, and said that her boss could drive us home in his truck in an hour. It was a much more comfortable ride than the bus, and he didn't even charge us. Gotta love Thais.
Had dinner at The Floating Restaurant that evening with our new friend from Holland, Lucas.

Lol, and yes, we "went Dutch."

Saturday we bathed with Elephants! Haha, though not quite as awkwardly as it may sound.

We rode them into the river, and got to scrub them down with heavy duty soap and brushes.

Then they'd dive underwater to rinse off.

That, and the baby elephant, made my day. I <3 elephants.

In the afternoon we took a long boat up and down the river.

Walked across the Bridge over River Kwai,

explored a cave,

and visited one of the cemeteries for the POWs.

That part was really sad, but at the same time really beautiful.

Slept in on Sunday, checked out at noon, then headed home. Overall, another great weekend in the Kingdom.