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Day 1-
We had an early start from our guest house for a cramped journey to Kanchanaburi. We assumed we'd check into our hotel first and get some food but when we got out of our minibus, all bleary eyed we were greeted by possibly the most enthusiastic tour guide I've met, called Eddie so we all soon woke up! :)
We were taken on a whirlwind tour of Kanchanaburi during the day, visiting the Allied troops memorial cemetry, followed by the Jeath museum and death railway bridge. And that was just before lunch. After lunch we stopped off at one of the waterfalls in Kanchanaburi and decided to see if we could make it to one of the caves near the waterfall. We made it about half way when we weren't sure where we were supposed to go from there. We decided to take the path that looked the most likely but hadn't got very far down the road when two men on a motorbike came down the road, dressed in camoflage and with rifles on thier backs. You don't really want to aargue when someone like that tells you to follow them so we went back to the main entrance with them!!! To everyone's relief, they turned out to just be park rangers, andd informed us how long it would take to get to the caves. As we didn't have enough time, it was back down to the waterfall to kill some time.
Our final stop of the day was on the tourist train to travel on the bridge over the River Kwai, before we had to say goodbye to Eddie and got a transfer to our floating guesthouse for dinner. In the evening, it poured with rain and there was a thunderstom that we all watched from the restaurant which was the furthest out on the river. The roof was made out of palm trees and found out theat there were a few holes in it so got a little bit damp and had to improvise a shelter over the toilet using one of the umbrellas we'd been given but the views of the river were definately worth it.
Day 2-
We were woken by a motorboat going past the guest house, rocking the rooms and after an interesting take on western breakfast, we were handed huge life jackets and then were towed up the river using a motorboat and then left to float back down and enjoy the scenery. A few people jumped in the river and were soon joined by one of the guides that were looking after the rafts who then tried to convince them that they were being followed by crocodiles! After that it was back into the now familiar minibus to do some elephant trekking. It was a bit of a dissapointment here as they didn't look very well cared for at the place we went, some of the older looking ones had been left chained to trees. Hopefully the sanctuary that I'm visiting in Chiang Mai will make up for it though!
Our final trip of the day was to Hell Fire Pass. After having a look around the museum we thought we'd go for a walk down to the pass itself. Although the walk down the pass was not strenuous at all. the trek back up was really difficult, we had to go back into the museum afterwards to get some cool air from the air conditioning.After lunch it was time to say goodbye to everyone doing the 2 day trip and then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the riverfront.
Day 3-
Today was a trip to the 7 step waterfall in Ewarwan national park. We thought we'd have plenty of time to do the 2.2km walk in 2 and a half hours so thought we'd get to the top as soon as possible and then take a long stroll back. Just over an hour later, including rockscrambling, climbing over tree logs and jumping over rocks in rivers, my face was dripping with sweat, Leigh had pulled a muscle in her side but we'd finally made it!!!
We quickly got changed and into the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and quickly found out that there were also fish in the pool that liked to bite you if you stayed still for too long! They were like the fish you get in the fish spas for your feet back home, but about 10cm long instead of a couple of cms. It was still relaxing there and spent some time cooling off from the trek up there. When we got out of the pool there was a monkey and its baby looking around nearby- they managed to get a drink and some food from someones open bag but nothing valuable.The way back down was much easier although still a bit precarious in some places - i dont think this place would have passed health and safety back home! Closer to the bottom we were met by loads of russian tourists walking along tthe trail in just their swimsuits as though they were taking a short stroll to the beach- not a pretty sight!! I'm hoping they weren't planning on making the trek all the way to the top! After a quick stop for some lunch, it was time to make our way back to the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. TheDay 1-
We had an early start from our guest house for a cramped journey to Kanchanaburi. We assumed we'd check into our hotel first and get some food but when we got out of our minibus, all bleary eyed we were greeted by possibly the most enthusiastic tour guide I've met, called Eddie so we all soon woke up! :)
We were taken on a whirlwind tour of Kanchanaburi during the day, visiting the Allied troops memorial cemetry, followed by the Jeath museum and death railway bridge. And that was just before lunch. After lunch we stopped off at one of the waterfalls in Kanchanaburi and decided to see if we could make it to one of the caves near the waterfall. We made it about half way when we weren't sure where we were supposed to go from there. We decided to take the path that looked the most likely but hadn't got very far down the road when two men on a motorbike came down the road, dressed in camoflage and with rifles on thier backs. You don't really want to aargue when someone like that tells you to follow them so we went back to the main entrance with them!!! To everyone's relief, they turned out to just be park rangers, andd informed us how long it would take to get to the caves. As we didn't have enough time, it was back down to the waterfall to kill some time.
Our final stop of the day was on the tourist train to travel on the bridge over the River Kwai, before we had to say goodbye to Eddie and got a transfer to our floating guesthouse for dinner. In the evening, it poured with rain and there was a thunderstom that we all watched from the restaurant which was the furthest out on the river. The roof was made out of palm trees and found out theat there were a few holes in it so got a little bit damp and had to improvise a shelter over the toilet using one of the umbrellas we'd been given but the views of the river were definately worth it.
Day 2-
We were woken by a motorboat going past the guest house, rocking the rooms and after an interesting take on western breakfast, we were handed huge life jackets and then were towed up the river using a motorboat and then left to float back down and enjoy the scenery. A few people jumped in the river and were soon joined by one of the guides that were looking after the rafts who then tried to convince them that they were being followed by crocodiles! After that it was back into the now familiar minibus to do some elephant trekking. It was a bit of a dissapointment here as they didn't look very well cared for at the place we went, some of the older looking ones had been left chained to trees. Hopefully the sanctuary that I'm visiting in Chiang Mai will make up for it though!
Our final trip of the day was to Hell Fire Pass. After having a look around the museum we thought we'd go for a walk down to the pass itself. Although the walk down the pass was not strenuous at all. the trek back up was really difficult, we had to go back into the museum afterwards to get some cool air from the air conditioning.After lunch it was time to say goodbye to everyone doing the 2 day trip and then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the riverfront.
Day 3-
Today was a trip to the 7 step waterfall in Ewarwan national park. We thought we'd have plenty of time to do the 2.2km walk in 2 and a half hours so thought we'd get to the top as soon as possible and then take a long stroll back. Just over an hour later, including rockscrambling, climbing over tree logs and jumping over rocks in rivers, my face was dripping with sweat, Leigh had pulled a muscle in her side but we'd finally made it!!!
We quickly got changed and into the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and quickly found out that there were also fish in the pool that liked to bite you if you stayed still for too long! They were like the fish you get in the fish spas for your feet back home, but about 10cm long instead of a couple of cms. It was still relaxing there and spent some time cooling off from the trek up there. When we got out of the pool there was a monkey and its baby looking around nearby- they managed to get a drink and some food from someones open bag but nothing valuable.The way back down was much easier although still a bit precarious in some places - i dont think this place would have passed health and safety back home! Closer to the bottom we were met by loads of russian tourists walking along tthe trail in just their swimsuits as though they were taking a short stroll to the beach- not a pretty sight!! I'm hoping they weren't planning on making the trek all the way to the top! After a quick stop for some lunch, it was time to make our way back to the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. The driving is a little crazy here- the drivers will stop if theres a dog in the road but if theres a person crossing, they seem to put their foot on the gas!!!
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