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Trish and Dan's Stroll Around the World
Blog Day 51 Sun 26th June 2011
We are up exceptionally early today, around 6am compared to the 12 midday that we've been getting up at anyway; we are up because we are off to Kanchanaburi Adventure Trekking. After a couple of hours in a minibus we arrive at the Floating Market. This is an experience but good fun, you basically just float around watching people buy things from other boats & having people trying to sell you things at all times, there are some serious traffic jams at times & it's funny watching the drivers shout at each other as they try to pass. You have to keep your hands in the boat or you will lose them! Once the boat tour is done we wander around by foot for a while, they do not want to budge on their prices, so we decide it's their loss, all we buy is some lovely hand painted candles that come with a little dish to display them on. After about an hour here we are back on the bus & onto see the Bridge of River Kwai, it's pretty spectacular but it's been made into a tourist attraction which is a real shame as you can't get any good pictures or really take it in for what it once used to be. The next thing is theWW2 Museum which is pretty much a state, it looks like they are still building it, either that or its just home to whatever the Japanese left behind all those years ago thrown into a room & called a museum. Outside we see a Leopard tied to a table, people are taking pictures & touching it but it doesn't look very happy & it seems a shame that people can get away with doing this & using it as a money making scam! We stop for lunch & find out that the next place we are heading to is Tiger Temple, we are now a bit dubious about this since seeing the poor Leopard tied down to the table & being used against its natural will & we've heard that they drug the animals out here especially for tourists so that we can get pictures & they can make money. Upon arriving & entering the park we get told to wear no Pink, Yellow or Orange as the tigers see this as danger & may attack, Dan rapidly changes his bright pink shorts then we are allowed to enter the park. On passing loads of pigs & water Buffalo we reach Tiger Canyon. It turns out to be an area with Tigers big & small tied loosely to trees, they ask you to pay if you want pictures together, we decline at this & just go separately, we get dragged around & sat behind each of the Tigers for a picture & then it's over. It's extremely hot & the Tigers don't seem to be too fussed though a couple of them do seem to be quite alert, we take this as a good sign that they are not drugged. It does however seem a shame that it's so commercialized but we hadn't expected any less. We see some Tigers Playing in the water & spend a while watching them before a photo opportunity together with a tiger & a speechless monk. After a couple of hours we leave here & head to a small waterfall for a rest then it's onto the boat house for dinner followed by short ride & trek (in the rain) to our bed for the night, a cabin on the river. The room is simple to say the least, the bathroom is a tin shack & the shower water is freezing cold but it's all part of the experience & we take it all in. On spraying our room & ourselves with plenty of Mosquito spray we head to the smallest bar in the world, this is where Drinking begins. We met a group of lovely Irish girl's today- Emma, Ciara, Tara & Cliodhan, there are others as well so we all play a few games of Poker. After deciding this is too difficult particularly because there is one girl who is extremely loud & is ruining the game, the boys get to chatting & the girls get to playing DJ & dancing on the tables, its turns out to be a real fun night, one however that we might regret in the morning.
Blog Day 52 Mon 27th June 2011
So as i said, last night's antics would be regretted in the morning & it certainly is but not the fun part of it. We are all feeling slightly worse for wear & we are blaming the whiskey which was bought at some point in the night. After the worst breakfast in the world (stale bread with runny scrambled egg & a chunk of pineapple) we get onto the bus & make our way to Erawan Waterfalls where we will spend the day trekking. The bus journey is horrendous, the roads seem extra awful today, and we are all struggling. Once we arrive at the Waterfall & get walking though we start to feel a bit more human. This particular waterfall is made up of seven steps, it takes about an hour & a half to make it all the way to the top & it's not a manmade area so it involves getting muddy & wet, but you can do it at your own pace so that helps. Each waterfall is beautiful & it's so quite & peaceful. Once we finally reach the top after several hair rising moments we are rewarded by a crystal clear pool and stunning waterfall. As people start to descend into the pool there are screams & laughter, there are huge fish in their sucking & nibbling on their feet. Dan wants a picture of him under the waterfall so Trish stands on the sideline waiting….& waiting….& waiting, Dan won't venture in because the fish are nibbling at his feet. While he toys with the idea a Monkey appears & starts looking around being nosy so Trish decides to stay & look after all the bags while everyone else just paddles their feet. After 1/2 hour or so it's time to start heading back down, just as we are getting changed the monkey makes his move & makes a grab for Trish's pink bag, fortunately it's too heavy but he does manage to get away with her Pink Poncho which we only bought this morning because it was raining. It's pretty scary when he scampers off making hissing noises up into the tree wrapping himself in the Poncho, we disappear before he tries to make a move for anything thing else, guess that's where the saying comes from-YOU CHEEKY MONKEY!!!
Once we find our way back down again we head for a bit of lunch & then it's a 5 hour cramped bus journey back to Bangkok. Once we finally arrive we say goodbye the girls as they get onto their sleeper train, they are making a stop before Chiang Mai. We are left waiting for our train to pull in & we've heard that the food onboard is crap, in the station there are only stalls selling food that looks a bit worse for wear, just outside we spot a KFC & figure how wrong can we go with that! The KFC however is no better but at least it's edible. The Sleeper Train arrives around 7.30pm & we jump onboard. It's pretty basic & not overly comfortable but we are tired & hope this helps, so Goodnight all see you in the morning.
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