So we came back in one piece, risked our lives with reckless tuk tuk drivers and spoke poor English for one week. There were times when we were scared stiffless, times we were caught in fits of hilarity and even on all fours. It was indeed a trip of many firsts.
We wanted to have an off-the-beaten-track trip to Thailand, on top of the usual Bangkok shopping frenzy, thus the first 2 stops out of the capital.
The Kanchanaburi Adventure
Kanchanaburi
The no-flush incident
I guess outside of Bangkok, you don’t really get toilets with flushing facilities that often. Our first night in the guesthouse, we were staring at the toiletbowl with perplexity. Where is the freaking flush button? And we were met with the same expression on the Thai staff’s face the next day, when we queried him on the sanitary facilities. Apparently, you are supposed to spray water from a nozzle till everything is washed away. I wonder if everything just gets emptied into the river beneath us.
VN Guesthouse - The river rooms
Getting wet
The first stop of our day tour was the seven-tiered Erawan Waterfalls. While we had set off with an ambitious heart, it was not long before we were breathless. The aim of the climb up was to get to the waterfall at the top-most tier and have a refreshingly cool dip. The thing was, it got steeper and steeper the higher we climbed and we were scrambling for footholds. We were also unglamourously on all fours sometimes. I was secretly wondering if we would be able to tahan the way down.
Truth be told, we were a little disappointed when we finally reached the 7th tier. We were expecting some great, roaring, spectacular sight like the Niagara Falls but were met with a much more tranquil pool instead. Nevertheless, we had a good dip, accompanied by little fishes at the bottom which nibbled at our feet. The other resident animals were the monkeys, which were peacefully grooming each other before a tourist teased them with bananas. So they got hyper and started to eye our belongings.
If you look carefully at the top part of the waterfall, a spunky tourist has actually managed to find her way up there!
The face-off
The moment the 2 monkeys paused on their way past us, I sensed that they were up to no good. Our bags and clothes were on this rock which was in between us – the humans and the monkeys. I thought yelling would do the trick. So I did, not once but thrice. It just stared beadily at me. As it reached out to grab my bag, I did the same and got scratched. It was not until we threw Dor’s slippers at them that they retreated. And I had too enthusiastically flung the slipper into the water. Haha.
Scoreboard
Humans - 1
Monkeys - 0
Yay!
It was only later that I heard that the same monkey had pulled the hair of another tourist. I’m willing to bet that this particular one is a female monkey, for that inherent bitchiness she possesses.
Clockwise from left: 1) On the way up 2) Finally we reached the top! 3) The monkey culprits grooming 4) Us posing happily seconds before the face-off with the monkeys
High high up there
Sitting in a suspended seat way up there is no joke. After I got over the initial nerves (images of us toppling off the elephant’s back rampant in my head), it was quite an experience lurching forward with each step it took. Our guide sat in front of us straddling its huge, flappy ears and singing to the tune of “大象，大象，你的鼻子怎麽这麽长？” The back of its ears were surprisingly pink, splattered with grey spots. And its grey hide was so thick and coarse! You should have seen its gentle brown eyes, a little unfocused, framed by the longest lashes ever.
Look at the humongous elephant dung!
A cool dip in the river
After all the excitement, we had a breather activity – River Rafting! It was very peaceful just sitting on the raft, being rowed forward. I was surprised that a bamboo raft was so stable, despite its flimsy appearance. And the best part was of course, the swimming in the river. The river did not smell at all! It was so relaxing just floating there, despite vaguely nagging thoughts of what else might be lurking beneath.
The death railway
The remnants of World War II still remains in Kanchanaburi in the form of the Death Railway. Countless POWs were sacrificed in the Japanese’s quest for a strategic route to transport resources. When we visited the Death Railway Museum, it was coincidentally 8 Feb, the day the Japanese invaded Singapore decades ago. It was said that when the Singapore POWs were brought to Thailand, they were promised better living conditions in the new camp. But of course, the Japanese soldiers were lying.
I chanced upon this blog which gives a true account of what a POW went through then. Give it a read!
http://www.globalgayz.com/kwai.html Clockwise from left: 1) On the death railway 2) Fellow train passengers getting some fresh air 3) A re-enactment of the Road-Runner-tied-to-railway saga =p 4) The bridge over the River Kwai
Noises-in-the-night
Other than the distant karaoke music drifting in now and then, what had us covering our ears was the sound of neighbourly activities seeping through the thin walls between us. Moans punctuated by short pauses, which came faster and faster. I was glad that I had mp3s to keep the noises at bay.
The waterbed experience
We were awoken the next morning by tremors. Bleary me sat up in bed and initially thought it was an earthquake. Then I realized that our bed was actually bobbing up and down, because speedboats were zooming past us on the river. And with that, I went back to sleep. Not a bad sensation after all; in fact, I quite liked it. Thumbs up to staying in a floating river raft room! And imagine yourself bobbing when you are in the shower too. *grinz*
The view from our room's balcony
The swing in the guesthouse!
Labels: Holiday
