Thailand

Still recovering from the jet lag, we decided to sleep in, then walked to a nearby 7-11 for burgers (microwaved) and a refill card for my phone. In the afternoon we were taken by songthaew for a tour of the tiger temple (Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua). It is actually an animal sanctuary that looks after tigers whose mothers were killed by poachers, or who were formerly "pets" of government officials. First we visited the adult tigers resting (unchained) in a deep quarry. One by one, we were taken by the wrist and escorted (a bit roughly) by the volunteers to each of the tigers, while another volunteer used our camera to snap photos. One of the tigers my girlfriend was petting scared her when it lifted its tail. Next we got to play with a cute little tiger cub while the adults were brought back to their enclosure. One broke free of its volunteer and started chasing a goat, providing much amusement. Meanwhile, two of the adults already brought into their enclosure started getting it on! Once the loose tiger was caught, the staff threw bags of food onto the road. In moments, a stampede of hogs, cows and horses came charging in to eat. There were also some deer and peacocks in the area.

We ate dinner at the Apple Guesthouse, because it was highly recommended in many guidebooks and online reviews - though some have also said it's overrated. I ordered the massaman curry; one of the dishes that others have raved about. This was my first ever massaman so I didn't have anything to compare to. Still, it was so delicious that I have to vote along with those who have proclaimed Apple to be the best place for dinner. My sister ordered a red curry that was so spicy she had to trade with Dad, who could barely tolerate it! Otherwise, everyone enjoyed their meal immensely.

Kanchanaburi is most famous for the bridge on the river Kwai, and we had seen a sign at our guesthouse that said there was a light & fireworks show on the bridge at 9pm. We had also driven past some markets in that area on the way back from the tiger temple, so we decided to hire a tuk-tuk to take us to the bridge for some shopping and the show. Upon arriving, we found the markets were already closed so we sat around and waited for over an hour. At the bridge we saw another copy of the sign for the light show, but 9:00 came and went with nothing happening. We did see a number of "disco boats" go by on the river; these are like floating night clubs, with loud disco music and lots of people dancing.

The next day our 1-day tour started with minibus transportation to Erawan National Park to see the 7-tiered waterfalls. It was very hot and very humid, and getting all the way to the 7th falls requires a 2.2km uphill trek. But I would do it again and again, as these gorgeous falls were one of the main highlights of my Thailand trip. If their beauty wasn't enough, one can also go for a refreshing swim in pretty much any of the splash pools! We decided to hike all the way to the end and swim on the way back - but in hindsight it would have been nice to break up the hiking. And as mid-day approached, the pools started getting a bit crowded - especially the lower ones. So it's best to get there early and swim on the way up (and perhaps on the way down too!). Going on a tour might have been a mistake as we had to stick to a time limit that didn't give us enough time to swim in all the pools. Some people from our tour opted for the elephant trekking & river rafting, so they barely had enough time at the falls to hike up and down again! The 5th and 7th tier were the most beautiful, and the 4th was the most fun as we were able to slide down the gently sloped boulders.

We also got pretty close to a family of long-tailed macaques (monkeys), but remained wary of them as we had heard they are known to snatch hats, cameras, or even bite people!

Our tour continued by visiting Krasae Cave, which is small and reeks of bat piss. The only thing to see was a large Buddha statue that isn't nearly as impressive as those we saw in Bangkok. From there we rode a train on the death railway, then transferred back to the minibus. On the way back into town we stopped at the bridge on the river Kwai, but since we had already seen it we just shopped around at the nearby market (which was now open). The tour guide was kind enough to let us pick up our luggage from the guesthouse and drop us off at the bus station. This time we wanted 1st class, but it took a while to figure out that the 1st class buses actually stop around the corner from the main bus terminal. Before getting on a bus, we grabbed some dinner nearby but got caught in a downpour on the way back. Being soaked in Thailand is normally no big deal, but upon boarding the bus we found that the air conditioning was being blasted, making us quite uncomfortable for the whole 90 minute ride back to Bangkok.