Kanchanaburi

Pretty much the last town before the Burmese border, Kanchanaburi boasts untouched jungle packed with wildlife and it hosts the world famous Kwai River bridge.

Mountain biking, hilltribe treks, cookery courses, elephant camps, war casualty-memorializing or just standing around there scratching your balls, this place offers something for even the most discerning journey man or woman, from the Harvard scholar to the lowbrow cretin.

A typical daytrip includes a visit to the Kwai River Bridge, which, even though heroically screened in the famous movie named after it, is actually nothing but a boring piece of architecture with a muddy river running under it. You can add grandeur to it by using both your imagination and some historical facts. I did neither and therefore it quickly became a "been there, done it, check !" deal.

A few kilometers outside the city, operators organize elephant rides, unexciting bamboo raft rides or refreshing dips under the very nice Erawan waterfall. Best is to hire a motorbike for a day, pick up some leaflets in tourist information center and make up your own plan.

My first act of bravery was paying a visit to the Tiger Temple about 50 kilometers west of Kanchanaburi, where tigers roam free and and accept you to cuddle them under the watchfull eye of the temple's abbot, who keeps them calm. The fearsome creatures were born in captivity, rescued by the monks as puppies.Though they appear docile and friendly it's not avised to accidently step on their tails or wear red. A sign at the entrance informs you that the authorities bear no responsability in case of injury or death.

Nightlife here is quite laid back. There are some floating discos and some random karaoke bars on the river, but there is an 11 PM curfew imposed by the locals who wanna get some sleep. Other nightime spots to shoot some pool or to watch Hollywood movies are scattered around the town's main road. If you like to hang out and down lager with a bunch of shaddy blokes till the early hours, there's loads of options. Some of these guys will whisper "smoke, smoke" to you, which is a proper invitation to an extended sightseeing tour into Thailand's justice department.

I chose to stay at the guesthouse with a good bunch of nice people, all from very different walks of life. Randomly assemble a Japanese girl, an Australian couple, a mad Nowegian and a cool dude from Finland in front of their rooms next to the river, and it will surely prove to be a very entertaining evening. Add to the excitement a robbery attempt on an Israelli guest which ended up with a dumb Thai thug jailed. I pitty the guy, he couldn't have known that the dude lying in the room he broke into just happened to finish his three year military service in Israel, but he should have know better than to come in and out of the room three times while Monsieur was still asleep. Very poor judgement on his behalf. Anyway, the police showed up very quickly and took control over the commotion manu militari. Thaught me that you really do not want to mess with the cops in this country.

What fascinates me about Thailand are the people. I've rarely seen so many smiling and helpfull people in a country so large. They are genuinely interested in learning about your home country and are overwhelmed when they can teach you a few words of their native tongue. Truely a great place.

I'm heading to Chang Mai in a couple of days, where I'll link up with Vanessa and Veronique again, who are coming back in from Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

I'll be back on this blog again one of these days. In the meantime, take care.

Regards,

Rem