Following the Dream

Christian December 8th, 2008

     The trip from Ko Tao to Kanchanaburi was terrible.  When we woke up, the rain still had not stopped and it was pouring buckets outside.  To get to the truck that would transfer us to the dock, we had to walk through a knee high puddle, drenching our shoes.  As we neared the dock the pickup truck that we were sitting in the bed of hit a huge pot hole, making the seven of us in the back fly forward.  The truck was stuck, so we got out and walked the last 100 meters.  By the time we made it to the checkin counter, we were completely soaked.  Our waterproof pack covers could not even keep out the rain.  The ferry ended up being about an hour late.  When we were finally on the ferry, the air conditioners were on full blast and dripping water all over me.  We found the only other two seats next two a wierdo, but decided it would be better than getting anymore wet.  When we reached Chumporn, the boat stopped at the end of the longest, rickty dock I have ever seen.  It was at least a ten minute walk in the rain over missing boards and nails sticking out.  We saw more than one person fall and eat it on the way to the checkin for the bus.  We had to wait about an hour to get onto the bus, and got the second from the back seats.  Our luck was that in the last row was a group of five people from France who spent the whole time yelling, making fun of the Thais, and acting like three year olds for the entire trip.  Everytime you would look up, there would be someone looking back at them really wondering if they were acting the way they were.  Some ten hours later we managed to get to Bangkok and walked to a popular guesthouse street.  Along the way, we passed a group of four english guys who were chasing each other.  We had no clue what was going on until the one hit the ground and started shaking.  They bought a taser and were shocking each other.  The guy on the ground got up and was fine, and to his credit he managed not to spill his beer.  This would prove to be a preview of the nightlife in Bangkok.  Tired, we went to three guesthouses, finally finding one with a room available and fell asleep.  The next morning we caught an early bus to Kanchanaburi from the southern bus terminal.  It was just over a two hour ride.  When we arrived to Kanchanaburi, we had to get a ride to the guesthouse so we opted for a Rickshaw.  This is basically a bike with three wheels and a bench in the pack for the passengers to sit.  We were able to get the guy down below a dollar, it was not the fastest transportation, but it was certainly interesting.  I was impressed he was able to pedal with us and all of our bags.  We were super excited when we got to the Jolly Frog Guesthouse and they had a room availble.  For $5.70 a night we had a room with a private bath and a porch that overlooked the garden and river. 

By the time we flung our bags into the room, we were both starving, so we headed down to the restaurant to grab a meal for less than three dollars while we planned out our time.  They had an onsite travel agent that books tours, that were some of the cheapest that we had seen.  We decided to visit the tiger temple that afternoon, do an all day trip to Erawan Waterfalls, an Elephant trek, Elephant bathing, and the death railway tomorrow (Thanksgiving) and just relax on our final day.  The Songthaw came to pick us up for the tiger temple a few minutes after we were done eating lunch.  It was jammed with people, but we had some good conversation on the hour or so it took to get there.  When we arrived there, we bought our overpriced tickets and headed to the entrance gate.  There was one problem though, they would not let Casey in.  Her shorts were just above her knees, it would have been nice of the travel agent or the driver to tell her this beforehand.  We tried everything to get the guy to let us in, but no dice.  He told us that we should switch, Casey wear my shorts and I wear hers since mine would cover her knees.  Casey shorts would look like Daisy Dukes on me, and I think that would be even more offending.  We went back to the driver for some answers.  He was going to talk to the gate, but then suddenly remembered he had a pair of pants that looked like clown pants in the back of his trunk.  Casey put them on and we were on our way to see some tigers.  Upon entering the tiger temple, it does not look like much, it looks very unkept.  Also another thing is that there are all kinds of other animals running around, from deer to wild pigs.  It was about a 5 minute walk to get to the Tiger Canyon where the tigers are brought each afternoon to get petted by guests.  It is a little ridiculous there.  If you make a $30 “donation” you can have you picture taken together with a tiger, and get special poses.  Otherwise you wait in line to be led by a hand holding volunteer around to all of the tigers, while another volunteer takes your photos.  It felt very rushed, you only got about 45 seconds with each tiger before getting wisked away to other ones.  I think that we may have been spoiled by the tiger kingdom in Chiang Mai.  The tigers here were very sleepy.  Most of them did not even wake up when you petted them. 

In Chiang Mai, the adult tigers were very active running around the cage.  Some believe that these tigers are drugged so that the tourists can get close to them.  After our round of photos, we headed off to check out the rest of the facility.  We followed a tour group up to the tiger cages where a few of them were kept.  I don’t know if you are supposed to go up there, but it was very cool.  We could go right up to the tiger cages.  One of them was eating some chicken.  It did not eat as feriousosly as I thought it would, it ate all dainty eating a small piece at a time.  Next we spotted a tiger cub that was with one of the volunteers.  Unfortunately, many others saw the cub and all flocked to him.  Then the volunteers rounded up all the tourists and put us in a holding pen while they walked one of the tigers from the tiger canyon back to its cage.  While we were on lock down, I took some time to play with the two cubs that two volunteers had at the exhibit while the rest of the tourists were watching the big tiger walk by.  I felt like a pro with the cub and was not hesitant to play with it a bit, while everyone else stood their distance.  After we were released from the holding pen, it was feeding time for the rest of the animals at the tiger temple.  Guys in a pickup truck threw out bags of fruit to the herds of pigs, horses, and other animals that rushed over when they knew the food was being thrown out. 

This area of the tiger temple is being worked on and there are some pretty nice enclosures being built.  I think that over the next couple of years the tiger temple will start to look much better.  On the way out, we stopped by a lepord, a flock of peacocks, and a wild pig walking around in a lake.  The experience was defineity unique and had some great photo opportunities, however the Tiger Kingdom is a better bet while it is still new and there aren’t too many visitors.  At the tiger temple you felt very rushed and the volunteers did not seem that nice which really took away from the experience.  Casey handed her clown pants back to the driver and we were taken back to the guesthouse where we grabbed some dinner.
     Happy Thanksgiving!  We woke up early to go on our day tour.  Originally we were supposed to go to Erawan Waterfalls first, but there was a change of plans and we were heading to the Elephant Camp first.  Once we were there, we climbed onto an elephant and were on our way on our elephant trek through the jungle.  It was pretty cool sitting on top of an elephant, but we were not moving all of that fast and the jungle turned out to be some woods by the camp.  On the 45 minute ride, we did see another young elephant out in the woods alone, which was neat.  On the way to the elephant bathing, I spotted this huge black snake on the path near a bush.  When I pointed it out to our elephant driver, we jumped off the elephant and tried to catch it, but it got away.  He told us that he wanted to eat it, YUM!  We had to wait a bit to do the elephant bathing.  Casey was the first to go.  You have to ride the elephant bareback into a river.  From there the elephant completely submerges itself in the river, soaking you.  You are given a brush and some soap to wash the elephants head.  Casey looked like she was really enjoying it.  Once the bath was over, the elephant came back over to the loading dock and it was my turn.  It was harder than it looked, sitting on the elephant’s neck trying to keep balance while going out to the river.  Once out in the river the elephant got so low that I almost got washed away by the current.  I gave him a good scrub before heading back in.  It was a very unique experience. 

Next it was off to Erawan Waterfalls.  I was super excited since before we left I had a photo of them as my screensaver at work at one point.  They definitly didn’t disapoint.  They aren’t that large in size, but they are very beautiful.  They have seven tiers that you can hike to, each one a little different.  All of the pools are an emerald green color, surrounded by lush green jungle.  The second tier is probably the most famous and seen in most of the photos, since you can swim under to a little cave under the waterfalls.  We decided to wait to go in until the end.  We hiked all the way up, taking some photos of each of the tiers.  It was really hot out and we could not wait to jump in, so we started to head back, deciding to jump into the pool at tier two.  There was hardly anyone there, compared to being packed when we first arrived.  We got a big surprise when we jumped in.  There are tons of fish there that like to bite you on your feet.  It doesn’t hurt but it does freak you out a bit.  We swam under the waterfall and enjoyed ourselves at the pool for a while, trying to avoid the fish.  If you watch where the falls hit the water in the pool, every so often you can see a fish jump up out of the water a good three feet or so.  It is pretty neat.  We apparently missed lunch, due to a misunderstanding with our guide so we headed back a little early.  She was very nice about it and got one of the cooks to whip us up some food. 

Once all of the group was back, it was time to head to a cave and the death railway.  The cave contained a buddha statue, and was not that exciting.  The death railway has a lot of history, it is where many allied soilders who were POWs died when they were forced to build the railway during WW2.  We took a ride on the railway in a train that seemed to go way faster than it should have.  That was the end of the tour and it was time to head back to the guesthouse for some Thanksgiving dinner.  We splurged and both got chicken dishes and had a drink with our meal.  It was a good thanksgiving, even if we did not get any turkey.  The next day we visited one of the allied cemetarys in Kanchanaburi.  It was a sad reminder of the past. The rest of the day was spent relaxing by the river in the guesthouse courtyard enjoying a couple of drinks watching the sun go down.  Sadly, it was time to head back to Bangkok the next day where the airport has been shut down by protesters.  We had hoped it would open in time for our flight, but it did not happen and we had some decisions to make. . .

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