"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.

Taking as Long as Possible

Kanchanaburi

What a relief.

That was our first thought once we got to Kanchanaburi. At right is our room with private bath and Jenny settling in. Hell, there's even an armoir. Sort of. My favorite part is the bucket and bowl next to the toilet for manual flushing and how I keep finding other people's poop in my toilet due to shitty plumbing. I feel good about that last bit because I know if I find other people's poop, that means someone is finding mine.

The Jolly Frog where we're staying is full of backpackers, so we haven't escaped the tourist areas. But it's full of them for a reason. There's a great view of the river from the courtyard (below) and the area is littered with lawn chairs and hammocks hanging on palm trees(right). Another tree in the yard also appears to hold bunches of tamarind seed pods. Do they grow on trees or is it something else entirely? It's that question that keeps me from just digging in, since who knows what could happen.
[edit]I looked on Wikipedia and it does indeed grow on trees. Tonight I will put trust in the wisdom of the internet and eat some![/edit]

The view of the river from our courtyard

It's also easier here than in Bangkok to get away from the other farang. They seem to stick more to the area around the guest houses and tour group things. In our own first adventure in the area, we took a local bus from Kanchanaburi to Erawan National Park. Remembering the bus number and communicating through hand gestures with the guy behind the ticket window got us what we needed and we met a sweet middle-aged Thai couple with their extra friendly puppy sharing our bench. None of us understood a word the others were saying but we communicated effectively (I think) that we had a dog too and showed them his picture.


Erawan Falls

The bus ride was super uncomfortable, with the world's hardest seats. Unfortunately for me I'm a bit taller than your average Thai so there really wasn't room for my legs, and unfortunately for Jenny my lack of legroom forced here nearly out the window. The ride was over after a mere 1.5hrs and we took a hike into the park(Jungle!), towards the waterfalls. The park was beautiful, with all kinds of unfamiliar flora and fun steep hiking routes that got to the same place eventually as the wussy ones. With our lunch packed and cheap-o flip-flops we hiked around 1.5km over variably steep and rocky terrain to take some pictures and do some swimming.

The water was beautiful, clear and cold and since we were there so early it wasn't yet crowded with hairy European tourists. Jenny was the first to make it in, lasting about 2 minutes before something bit her feet and she got out. We couldn't figure out what it was. The fish seemed friendly enough, and swam away from my hands when I tried to get them to bite me. I told her she was being a wuss and we climbed up to a higher tier to see if maybe the fish were friendlier. This time I went in and something bit me too. Hard. A bunch of times. I took a closer look and swimming around with the tinier fish were these little shrimp-looking crustaceans with tiny pincers. Territorial fuckers didn't want us splashing around in their sandy river bottom. I don't know if this is a seasonal thing, but we didn't read word one about it in any guide book or website. We'll be sending an email on the matter to Lonely Planet and maybe we can receive credit for contributing to the next edition.

Around the fifth tier of seven Jenny was winded and we retreated to the bottom to eat our lunch: bologna and cheese. Neither of us have probably had that since we were twelve years old, and in Thailand of all places. In the hurry to get to the bus that morning though, there weren't many other options at the 7-11 that wouldn't be gross in the heat by the time we ate it. At least we had the Thai snack of Ovaltine peanuts to make us feel like we were experiencing local cuisine.

Another observation about Thailand: lots of things don't make any sense. As a whole group of farangs waited for the 3:00 bus back to Kan city in front of the bus, the driver of the actual 3:00 bus walked right past us to where he was parked on the completely wrong side of the parking lot and just took off. As a result the 4:00 bus was packed to the brim and we were immediately surrounded by at least four different languages which was just plain fun to observe. Anything to make me forget about how uncomfortable the seat was. And there was the positive point of meeting Luke and Holly, an English couple who turned us on to Elephants and Friends which we're trying to work out monetarily. Read that website and tell me your heart doesn't melt.

One of the tiers of the waterfall where Jenny was attacked by crustaceans

The pose that you always see in pictures of Erawan Falls


Victory!


I am paaaaaaale

The rocks had a built in waterslide


Everything was beautiful here

A panorama shot of a wonderful spot we found a bit off the beaten path

Local Things

Since our last blog entry we have also had the pleasure to experience our first Thai massages. My most extensive experience thus far had been Chinese massage in Manhattan, which I received daily after class at the FCI. This was a completely different experience, seeming more like yoga than massage. First we stepped into the air conditioned room(those are always a relief) and changed into these huge comfortable pants that tie around the waist. Laying on a mat with a pillow, my feet sticking completely out from the bottom and my arms over on the mats to my sides, a small Thai woman began to use her entire bodyweight to bend me and twist me. Something we noticed quickly here is that Thais giggle when something is embarrassing or awkward, aside from being so good-natured in general. The whole hour of massage saw everyone laughing together as she tried to bend me, at one point jumping onto my back with her whole body to stretch my hamstrings. At one point she used her bodyweight to press down on major arteries in my legs and arms for as long as a minute, gently releasing the pressure once the pulse stopped resulting in a really neat warming sensation as the blood flowed back and she rubbed the area. On the way out they said in English "See you tomorrow!" which is fine by me.


On the way home we were to meet a really interesting local artist and fall asleep early after all our fun at the Falls. The artist spoke some English and was selling his very attractive large paintings for the equivalent of ~30bux but we're not sure about the costs to ship it home. We'll try to make it happen though. It would be a wonderful reminder of our trip here.





There is so much more that we experience than we have time to write up here, and so many more pictures. We're already having the time of our lives and we've barely been here a week. It's very exciting and we can't wait to see what we do next, because we don't really know any better than you do. Looking forward to sharing trips to the markets and stories of riding motorbikes on the left side of the road.