Kanchanaburi & Bangkok...for the last time!

Soooo we arrived in Kanchanaburi with the idea of spending the next four days relaxing by the pool, eating at the sisters and planning our NZ trip in ways we have never done before and it was actually quite scary the thought of leaving S.E. Asia and planning where we have to be and at what date! So now were eating our final Cow Pat Gai and doing our last Thai bus journey to Bangkok and its been emotional! (Gem started crying).

Kanchanaburi & Bangkok

Sooo we arrived in Kanchanaburi with the idea of spending the next four days relaxing in the sun by the pool, eating at the sisters and planning our Nz trip in ways we have never done before and it was actually quite scary the thought of leaving S.E. Asia and planning where we have to be and at what date! So now were eating our final cow pat gai and doing our last Thai bus journey to Bangkok and its been emotional! (Gem started crying).

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Our elephant 'Shirley'

Sangklaburi Yo

So after a four hour bus ride which was supposed to be three but in Thailand nothing is ever on time, we arrived in the middle of the mountains in a much cooler climate which was well deserved. We decided to travel here for an escape of the typical tourist trail what the Thai's call 'farangs'. Apparently it means potato? Anyway we got a moto ride to a guest house with spectacular views of the reservoir and the Mon bridge. We found the night market straight away and got a scooter to explore the hills. We visited the Mon village and seen the local night life. The following day we found what looked like a party in a field which was another local market which sold some pretty random things. From leggings and betel-nut to play-stations and pigs heads! We crossed the Mon bridge and seen the floating village. The Mon people are refugees that fled to Thailand from oppression and abuse in Burma and now unfortunately the Thai government will not grant them Thai rights and are now in a no win situation. Unfortunately the Mon people do not have rights to education, health care and cannot travel out of sangklaburi through border checks forbidding them entering other parts of Thailand. Sangklaburi is known for having the biggest ethnic hill tribe communities throughout Thailand including Mon, Karen and Laotian  tribes so we were excited to explore! We visited the Mon village and souvenir stalls and met a friendly Mon shop keeper nick named 'Yo'. He taught us that Mon used to be a country between Burma and Thailand but 500 years ago through a war it was split between the neighbouring countries therefore making Mon people refugees. Yo served us up some tasty pork rice and spicy basil with Chinese tea for afters. He also taught us some phrases and told us about how himself and his other ten family members live in his small house but the Mon village is his real family. Gem bought a ring carved from elephant bone and we headed back to our guest house to change. That night we booked our elephant trek and bamboo rafting through the jungle for the following day :-D. We started at 9a.m. but managed to get some boiled rice with pork veg and an omelette for breakfast. We sailed down the reservoir through the floating village to where we would be getting a tuk tuk through the jungle. The road was rough but it was worth it because when we arrived two huge elephants were crossing the river to take us on our trek. After getting mobbed by Thai people wanting photos with the westerners we climbed the bamboo ladders onto our elephant. We wandered through the trees and rivers for over an hour taking turns sitting obvious the elephants head and steering her (Shirley gem named her) down the paths. Our tour guide got some great photos and we were devastated when we had to get off :-(. We had dinner and our rafts arrived which we got on and nearly sank straight away which the bamboo captain found hilarious! We floated down the river looking at the picturesque views when suddenly it got abit out of hand. The river soon turned into rapids and the bamboo captain of the raft just ahead was having a bad time! He fell off his raft head first and lost a shoe then tried to jump back on and slid with both feet and landed flat on his back! We thought it was hilarious but he obviously never and was splashing us with his oar and tried to flip our raft. We reached the end of the river and our trip was over back in the tuk tuk we went and we headed back to our guest house. The next day we crossed the bridge and went to see the Gold Pagoda that made the city glow at night which contained Buddha's thumb bone and the local temple where we seen some young monks and a white and jade Buddha statue! We got there just in time before more torrential rain and waited with the young monks for into go off. We had lunch with Yo and he made us the best Mon curry ever! He gave us local bananas for desert along with some green spaghetti looking stuff with milk and sugar in which he couldn't explain in English...We had Chinese tea afterwards and watched Thai 'Take me out' on tv while the rain went off :-). We said our farewells to Yo and headed to the centre for a wander. We went back early to pack as tomorrow would be the four hour bus journey back to Kanchanaburi :-).

Tiger Temple!

Kanchanaburi & The abduction

We arrived after our hell journey to the quieter town of Kanchanaburi. There was a section of the road which resembled the Khoa san of Bangkok where bars where full of Thai women in skimpy clothes shouting 'helllooooo u wan drink?'. Fortunately our hotel was a short walk away and we had the blessing of air con and a nice room :-). We stayed in Sams house for two nights while we got our bearings visited the local night market and found we were the only white people in sight which was a stark contrast from patong. We visited the bridge over the river khwai (pronounces quare!) made famous by a film showing how the Thai prisoners of war built it because of American forces wanting a link between Thailand and Burma. Many people died through malnutrition and mistreatment but nowadays you can get a train along it for 40p per person unless it lashes down and you have to make a quick dash for the nearest coffee shop! And when you arrive at the coffee shop you sit next to a tiger from the local temple and find out where your going the next day! The following days activities got cancelled because of the rain so we hung about in our new hotel 'Pong phen guest house'. The next day we decided to visit the tiger temple where Gem as per usual went dressed in 'innappropriate' shorts and had to buy the strangest pants that would probably fit an elephant! We think they called them fisherman's pants because you could possibly fit his boat in them! At the temple you got to take the tigers for a walk, watch them play and pet them in the shade of a valley. The tigers didn't appear drugged despite claims they are and they all seemed to have some effection for their owners. We got some photos with the tigers and wandered round the sanctuary until the heavens opened and we made our way to the exit. As we left the rain was torrential and 200 meters from the entrance an unsuspecting mini bus driver got himself stuck in what could only be described as a swamp! So next thing me know were up to our knees in mud while another motorbike rider is wheel spinning the bus all over the place. After lodging rocks and branches under the wheels we got him out eventually. We headed back home and it soon stopped raining gem was convinced it was Buddha's doing. We made it home got changed and went to the restaurant we named the sisters for obvious reasons. They made a good sweet and sour not like the one we know! We called it a night and had our plan for the next day ready...it was going to be a long one. Breakfast of chicken fried rice in the sisters and off we went on our 100 mile round trip on a 100cc motor bike in 35° heat. After getting about twenty miles into our trip i was curious as to why the petrol gauge on our bike hadn't moved from half full for the last 12 hours and thought it might be worth visiting a petrol station soon. No more than two miles later our bike was chugging and the tank was empty...in the middle of nowhere...with no idea which way to go. We laughed for abit then seen a pickup truck heading our way...we thumbed him hoping he was Thai, could speak English, had spare fuel and didn't think about taking this opportunity to fleece us of everything we had. In true Thai spirit they were the perfect people you would want to meet when stranded. A humble farming couple who looked as though there truck was on deaths door, they were shoe-less, teeth-less and the biggest smiles you could imagine. They found it hilarious that our petrol gauge didnt work and that this kind of thing happens all the time! Their first idea was flagging a taxi but seens as though there wasn't a cab in sight that wasn't going to happen. The next idea was to syphon the petrol out of his van but he didn't have any either! The third idea was Gem would go with them and come back with the goods in 20 minutes. We know what your thinking and it goes against everything your taught as a toddler but this is Thailand and these people are more likely to take you home and serve you up some chili beef and spicy basil with sticky rice than abduct you. So Gem got in the car and left me with a...'hope i'll see you again....'
Gem - okaay sooo maybe it was a bit dramatic to say that but all in all i was a lil bit nervous haha! So i got in the car (sorry Mum!!) Gettin in a car two people ya don't know Ben forgot to mention the angriest dog in the world was also keeping me company in the car. So i got in the car and sat down well tried to lol there was stuff everywhere...oh yeah an no seat haha! So i sat on whatever i could n we set off. I eyed up two forks on the dashboard at the ready incase they tried anything funny! After being in the car for two mins i new i wouldn't be needing the forks, they really were the nicest people you could meet! The man kept patting my head and asking me questions about England we also had a good conversation about Buddha! We arrived at the petrol station the lady got out and sorted everything for me i just sat while the guy asking do we have Buddha in England i told him we had Jesus he then said amen and made the sign of the cross and laughed ha! Then we made our way back to Ben waiting at the side of the road with the bike. In the way back the guy showed me he had nearly no petrol himself i offer him some money and he wouldn't take it! He patted my head then patted his heart and said no problem you are baby we look after you! The woman then give me the biggest hug ever and smiled from ear to ear! We pulled up next to Ben and gave him the bottles of petrol he filled up and the bike was ready to roll again yay! We offered the couple some money again but they refused,they wished us good luck and watched us drive off, is there no end to these peoples kindness?!!
Ben : We headed to the petrol station and had a coke and walked around to relieve our numb bums from the non-existent seat on our bike. We drove the other twenty odd miles of scenic roads with ease and made it to the seven steps waterfall named Erawan. The waterfall was full of locals having picnics and diving into the cool pools. We headed to the first pool were we saw a monkey grabbing a plastic bag off a woman which was full of picnic supplies! He quickly climbed a tree and sat at the top eating her crisps and nuts cheekily. We headed to the fourth step and swam in the waters and slid down the natural slides of the fall. We took some photos and headed back to our bike because the park was closing. The fifty mile journey back wasn't too bad but we were glad to have the feeling back in our rears :-). We had our dinner in the centre of town and bumped into a French Canadian friend we spent our night at the full moon party with but we left early so we could pack because the next day we will be leaving for sangklaburi which is a border town near Burma.

The fantastic water show...