The Elusive Giant Tree

It feels like it's been a while since we've been on the internet, though I'm sure it's only been a few days. There was a noticeable lack of access in the mountains of Sangkhlaburi where we've been since the weekend. Before that we had a couple of very active days to wrap up our visit to Kanchanaburi, where we finally made some friends as everyone was moving on. We met three Aussie men with great senses of humor on vacation from their wives back home followed by a handful of young people from everywhere that enjoyed rum. Now that we've become so comfortable with our surroundings and daily necessities, we're having a better time meeting people and sharing experiences. One couple, an Irishman and a girl from California, had pretty much traveled the entire world on their way to southeast Asia and had a lot to say. Another Irishman shaved my head for me. He did a horrible job, but hey it was free.

We did some more motorbike riding to see some attractions in the area. Now that we're
comfortable riding and with the local roads it's nice to be able to just hop on and go someplace. It was a good 80km out to get to Hellfire Pass, site of a free museum and hiking trail down to the actual pass itself. The museum was small but full of information and a small room with benches acted as a mini theater showing a short documentary on the pass and the Death Railway. The hike down to the Pass was around 5km and it was an awesome sight considering how it was dug out. So not only did we see the free museum and trail, but on the way back stopped at the waterfall Soi Yak Noi which was free to enter. We were unprepared to come here so we didn't have our bathing suits, but I figured since all the Germans were running around in their Speedos I could just swim in my underpants and no one could complain. The ride back to town had us frightened we would run out of gas, but we made it, watching a really great red sunset over the mountains.

Jenny in Hellfire Pass

Me in Hellfire Pass

Outside Soi Yak Noi

Me in my Unterhosen

The next morning we still had the bike for a few hours so we tried to find something we saw on the map: the Giant Tree. We had no idea what the Giant Tree was, and we still don't, but we figured it would be a good way to kill a few hours. We spent the whole morning riding on the beautiful back roads around Kanchanaburi, never quite finding the Tree. We did see a sign for the "Giant Monkey Pod Tree," which may or may not be related, but that only led us to what may have been a military installation. So really nothing was accomplished other than some sunburn but the sights along those roads really felt like Thailand.

Finally leaving Kanchanaburi, we got on the air-con bus to Sangkhlaburi, around 200km away in
the mountains. It was about half-again as much as the normal bus, but I couldn't stand sitting in those tiny seats for five hours, especially since we couldn't find any english-language newspapers to occupy us. Even on the nicer bus, the ride was scary when it wasn't plain nauseating, winding up the mountain roads without ever seeming to slow down. The bus dropped us off on a corner in Sangkhlaburi which we would later learn was not the bus stop, as seems to happen to so often here. One kilometer later in the dark we found P Guest House, which we had called ahead to hold a room, and hit the sack.

All in all we found Sangkhlaburi to be a nice place but there definitely wasn't as much to do as Kan'. After our two days we pretty much felt we had exhausted our options. Up to that point however it was a really good time, just hanging out, riding motorbike and swimming in the lake. The guest house had really great views of the lake which was beautiful at night and was a great place to just sit. It was fun to just sit and watch the lights from the Mon village across the water and the brightly lit Mon pagoda which we would visit later. That's pretty much the list of attractions in Sangkhlaburi right there: the lake and the couple of temples. En route to the other side of the lake by foot though you run into what they claim to be the world's longest wooden bridge(1.5km) and you're reminded why the rest of the world doesn't use wood for bridges of that size. It was pretty creaky and scary, with boards all over the place covering holes.

One thing that was a nice part of visiting Sangkhlaburi was the hospitality. Everyone seemed much more friendly than anywhere else we've visited so far. The children especially seemed to love saying "Hello!" and waving to us. One Burmese man in the Mon village across the bridge was making us banana pancakes at his cart, and actually invited us to eat inside his home and sit in his only chairs. He then proceeded to give us water from his fridge. It was really odd but a very nice experience. At another point, we ordered some tea in what was pretty much a Thai family's home and then proceeded to sit on their couch all night and watch Escape from Alcatraz. We experienced further niceness at the temples around the Mon village, including the Pagoda which was not nearly as cool in daylight but had pretty bad-ass statues outside. We wished we knew more about Buddhism really just to know what the statues represented, but I figure we can pick up a book or something as we go along.

Our last adventure in Sangkhlaburi was our motorbike ride to Three Pagodas Pass, the (closed to tourists!) border between Thailand and Burma. Pretty disappointing. Apart from three very small pagodas, bland food and some Burmese jewelry there was nothing to do or look at. On the way back, however, we tried to follow a sign to a waterfall and wound up taking a back road like 15km off to the side to what we suspect was another border crossing into Burma. We didn't actually ask the locals on the sides with AK-47s where we actually were, but that's the best guess we can muster. Jenny made us turn around but I'm sure there was an adventure ahead.

Mon Bridge

A kitty in heat that we befriended

Jenny on the dock

Lake Sam Sob sunset

The next day we took some time to figure out where the bus would pick up, ate really good fried chicken and pretty good red bean paste doughnuts for breakfast, and had a ride back to Kan' in the rain. We looked forward to the 2-3km walk in the rain to the guest house, where we'd wait for the next day and our trip back to Bangkok.

"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.