"That Dog is a Ridgeback"

Local Things

Traffic was frightening in Bangkok, not so in Kanchanaburi. We rented a motorbike for 150 baht and just zipped around town for the day. Getting used to accelerating and braking on that thing in flip-flops was a challenge, as was driving on the left side of the road, but by the end of the day we had not died and actually kind of got the hang of it. While Kan isn't really so big, it's a bit much for Jenny to walk everywhere so she enjoyed the restful travel. We visited the markets and the mall and saw the floating restaurants along the river, plus had the fun of riding a motorbike for the first time, so it was a good day.

The mall there looked just like any western mall, except for the lack of English. Right at the entrance was a KFC, after all. 99 baht value meals! It's a wonder that sort of thing can survive with Muslim women frying chicken for a fraction of the price directly in front of the place on a street cart, but I guess one doesn't really have any other options for biscuits and coleslaw. The mall also included 10 baht karaoke booths (very popular with the kids after school, right) and a supermarket which is handy to have around, even if peanut butter is the same price as it is in the states. :(

This isn't interesting really, but let's test out video uploading anyway.

The markets right next door, in comparison, were a wonderful site. Produce, fish and meat all lined up unrefrigerated on wooden and metal tables, right out for everyone to see. The pork vendor, with piles of heads, feet and unnameable other cuts right next to the seafood vendor with whole frogs, rice paddy rats(I'm told they're better than chicken), eels and live snapper. If only we had a kitchen! I know I won't be able to get things like the rat in the states, and I wish I could play with it while I'm here. Even so, there is plenty of fresh fruit to eat every morning now that we found a lock-back knife to dissect things.

Even more than cutting fruit, I've needed the knife just to cut through the rubber bands that they tie around bags here. Everything here is served in bags. I think the laws require vendors to return empty glass bottles, but whatever the reason when you buy a soda it is poured into a plastic bag with ice and a straw. Same for milk tea(my new favorite beverage, "chah yen") and most food items. Environmentally it's probably a great idea with the bags producing so much less garbage than bigger packaging would. Unfortunately there's never any place to throw garbage away in Bangkok, but we're having slightly better luck here in Kanchanaburi. It was kind of funny at first to see everyone riding around on motorbikes with bags of soda or tea hanging off the left handle but they don't exactly fit into a cup holder.

Death Railway

We ditched the motorbike for rickety, single-gear brakeless bicycles on another day, to make Jenny sore just after she was beginning to get used to all the walking. We used these to run the course of all the "Death Railway" tourist locations: the Allied War Cemetery, the Death Railway Museum and then the actual Bridge over the River Kwai, and in that order in an attempt to make the trip to the bridge as interesting as possible since it is really unremarkable to look at without the history. While the cemetery was pretty and a wonderful gesture from the Thai people, there wasn't more to it than a quick walk-through. Right next to here was the museum which was really wonderful for its size. A series of great professional exhibits explained the history chronologically, moving on to exhibits concerning the atrocities inflicted upon the POWs pressed into labor. A few dioramas were very interesting to look at and there was also a short documentary including interviews with survivors of the camps, showing on a television in a reproduction of the huts where POWs might have stayed. Ending the viewing of the museum on a happy note, a coupon for free coffee or tea in the air-conditioned café is given with admission so everyone leaves refreshed.

The area around the bridge was overrun with Japanese tourists and surrounded by over-priced kitschy merchandise and street food. Probably the most touristy thing we've seen since we got to the area. The bridge itself was just wood and metal over some water, and all we really got out of it was a good shot of Jenny with the sunset (above). The first thing we noticed when we walked on the bridge was how easy it would be to fall off if hit by a stray Japanese elbow. There are no guardrails or anything, and I'm sure people fall into the water from time to time. Not the sort of thing you see in the States. Little things like that remind you you're in a different place, in case you forgot.
On the way back, we rode past a big fat happy pug in front of someone's house. It made me sad.

Since we got out of Bangkok and life slowed down to a manageable pace we've been finding different ways of living frugally. First, bandannas are to be used as wash cloths and placed wet on the head. Second, shower time doubles as laundry time. Third, meals are to be purchased at the night market. Things get going there around 19:00 and it's just our luck that it coincides with dinner time. One half is everything from t-shirts to the knife I bought to bunnies in skirts(right), and the other is all kinds of food and beverage vendors selling everything for Thai prices. We both get full meals with dessert and beverages (grass jelly!) for a pittance and even pick up something not-terribly-perishable to eat for breakfast. I've developed a relationship with the lady who makes the green papaya salad where I gesture for more chiles and she makes a face like she smells something bad. Then I eat it in bed at the guest house the next morning, and later in the day my poop is full of peanuts and undigested chile skins, which look like blood and gets you worried at first. Watch out.

Speaking of the guest house, we already said we loved this place, but we mean it even more now. They have a "VDO" selection (engrish for video) where whoever comes by first can pick movies to be shown at night from a catalog of VCDs. They are invariably crappy bootlegs with Thai subtitles, and variably decent to watch. We've already seen a few films that we had missed before while sitting for a beer and water or while eating dinner. Seriously, 50 baht for dinner and two movies is a great deal, even if one of them is "The Selena Incident". Most recently we scheduled a viewing of "Wild Hogs" in Joe's honor, to get us in the mood for traveling at home. I'd still rather be here, but it doesn't sound like a bad idea at all.