Outdoor Adventures in Kanchanaburi

Trip Start Jan 07, 2009
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Trip End Aug 04, 2009


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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

So I left Bangkok bright and early to make the 7:45 train. And when I arrived at the pier that crosses the river to the train station, I realised I forgot my passport in the locker at the guesthouse, so I had to hurry back. Then, because I was in slight panic mode, I was probably slightly overcharged for the taxi back to the railway station. Lesson learned: in Bangkok, don't put your bags in the trunk of the taxi until the driver has agreed to put the meter on!

But all was good in the end, and I made it to the train station! I started looking for other solo backpackers who would be Kanchanaburi buddies, and found Lee, a fellow Canadian! The train journer to Kanchanaburi was enjoyable, watching many small Thai towns go by, and being entertained by the many people who jumped on board to sell us chicken at 9am. (This sort of thing still amuses me. Yes, I'm a newbie.) Upon arrival we walked up and down the guesthouse area and finally settled on the Bluestar Guesthouse, an absolutely beautiful place, and cheap too! (Although it seems the cheap rooms are beside the roosters. But that's just something I will have to get used to.)

On the first day I mostly just explored the town, and went to the Bridge over the River Kwai "Death Railway Bridge". Kanchanaburi is a town full of history...and you know me and history...so if you want to know what it's all about, look it up on wikipedia. :) I was mostly excited about the exciting outdoor things to do in and around Kanchanaburi!

The next morning we set out for the Erewan Falls, about 1 1/2 hours away on the bus. I had seen photos, but I was still blown away! When they said "7 tiered water falls", I had expected the 7 tiers to be all close to one another...but no, this way much better, it was like an exciting trek up a mountain, and at each level there was a more amazing waterfall in clear blue water! It took about 2 hours to get to the top level, but it was absolutely worth it! We swam in the fifth level, which seemed to have the least feet-eating fish. :)

For my last day in Kanchanaburi I decided to rent a kayak to explore the river by myself! The lady at the kayak place was hillarious, dressed for November weather in Canada...thick socks, warm hat...Thais think it's freezing right now! (It did drop to 14 degrees the other morning. lol). Anyway, she drove me quite a way out of town and dropped me in the middle of nowhere with my kayak, and picked me up 12km down the road 3 hours later. During the first two hours I didn't see a single other person on the river. It was completely quiet! This was defenitely a good choice!! I defenitely got my arm excercise for the week! BUT I made the silly mistake of forgetting to put sunscreen on my legs, and I was wearing shorts, so now I have the worse sunburn...and the next time I have to wear a bathing suit I will have the least sexy tan line on earth! lol

Kanchanaburi is a pretty big backpacker town...there's at least 20 little bars along the street, but they are always almost empty! I don't know where everyone is hiding. I was quite glad to have met people on the train and on the way to the falls, cuz it's quite a quiet town!

Tomorrow morning I'm off to Ayuthaya!

Ooooh the internet is being slow and taking a million hours to upload photos, so the photos of the beautiful waterfalls will have to wait!
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