R.S. Hotel Kanchanaburi

... and they had to build their own huts and medical buildings<br>- 415 KM of railway was built in 20 months. I can imagine that in today's office environment<br>I do not say this to chastise the Japanese - all nations have their crosses to bear. I say it to remind us how easy our lives are nowadays, thanks to the sacrifices of so many of our people who now lay in graves, and to pay my respects to those who died. And you gotta admit - it's pretty interesting stuff too...if a little dark.<br>

... would have been thrown immediately out the gate and told never to come back again. All the tigers are saved from poachers in the wild so it is all for a good cause. The ones that are saved at too late of an age you can't touch though...because they would literally rip your face clean off...nbd.<br>

... anywhere is a good test of anyone's mettle. Liza returned to the hotel while I took my card in search of money. Against the odds (it seemed) I found another bank. It wasn't apparent that there would be one but I am bloody glad there was. Our fortunes rose again. We found a roadside eatery (Thailand is full of roadside food with their eating for fun policy) and a lovely English speaking (self-taught) waiter who sat down with us ...

... shaped bamboo in the windows creating different patterns, even the floors have raised stencils of flowers and other patterns. They run a construction workshop there where people travel from all over the world to learn green building techniques. Our second week there was just as fun but it didn't seem like we got as much done as in our first week - the new house was almost finished and Meng didn't need our help anymore. I think it was a mixture of starting ...

... Buddhism to us and what life is like for the average person in Thailand, although he is clearly not normal given that he speaks about 17 languages and runs an outdoor bar in a quaint little backpackers town... Night time is extremely peaceful on the water and the stars are out in full force as I chill out on my balcony over the water before running under the cover of my bug net that I'm finally using for real! Sweet dreams to everyone.

... consisted of us pulling up alongside this lady in a boat where she cooked rice and noodles for us in the boat! Needless to say, that has been the best meal we have had in Thailand so far! After breakfast, we headed away from the main part of the market down the canals to where the locals do their shopping and business. It was great to see local life away from the touristy things and we headed right around residential houses on the side of the canal ...

... at humans as a tasty snack. The brochure says no, as so does the Aussie volunteer worker I talk to, but it is difficult to get your head around how these creatures could be so tame around people even if big cats are naturally sleepy and inactive during daylight hours. Regardless it was a hell of an experience being up so close, and unless you're against any animals being in captivity, really recommended.