Rivers and jungle, oh my! (Ryan)
It's taken me long enough to get round to writing on this thing, which seemed a great idea at the start, and indeed still is, but which I never seem to have the time for. Well, friends, I've now taken it upon myself to bore you to death by ranting at you about our travels. I hope you enjoy it.
Well, since the first post that Tim made after the first couple of days, a lot has happened. We had a day in Central Bangkok, which was pretty hectic. It's good fun wandering around completely foreign places and then, when we couldn't have any less clue where we are, just hopping into one of the many many taxis and going to somewhere else to get lost. Whilst I'm talking abot taxis, I might as well tell you about the traffic (*snore*). There's so much of it, it's ridiculous, and they're far less strict with little things like lanes and things like personal safety than we are in our wee land. Bikes just fly between cars and people sometimes wander down the middle of the street at lights trying to sell you things. Three people to a bike isn't unheard of, and the passengers are rarely all adults in those cases. And there are that many taxis and sawngtheaws (a sawngtheaw is a sort of modified truck-type thing with a massive roofed back and two benches inside) that I have no idea how any of the drivers scrape a living. Communication with the drivers themselves ranges from pointing at the Thai script in the guidebook for where we want to go, to sometimes actually doing it vocally.
Right now we're very close to the Bridge Over the River Kwai, which we went to investigate over the weekend, taking in a couple of museums. It seems that almost every museum here in Kanchanaburi is associated with the Bridge. It's amazing how small and fairly dull the thing is in real life, given how many people died making it, and the rest of the railway. We've been across it on foot and by train.
Anyway, to the jungle! On Sunday we set off at 8 to go do some sight-seeing and then do some real jungle trekking. The sights were a hotspring, which was bloody hot and there was a big asian bloke there who wanted to hug all of us; before that we went to a waterfall, which over here increasingly seems to be the local swimming pool; lastly we went to see Hellfire Pass, a place where the Death Railway had to be cut through rock to about twenty-five feet deep. Fascinating stuff, all of it, but the jungle capped it all off. After about two and a half hours in the humidity we ended up having to walk up a river, which went to about shin-deep in places, and this wearing our boots. It was here I discovered that waterproofing works both outside to in, and inside to out. Thankfully Noi, our guide, made a fire overnight to dry them all off for us. On the second day we walked from the village where we stayed to some elephants, then went bamboo rafting. The village where we stayed that night was stunning, perhaps for its simplicity, which would appeal to town-dwellers, I guess. In the moonlight the stilted huts where we stayed just looked incredible. Interestingly, Shaun got bitten by something, on the foot (we were all going barefoot because of the boot issue). The something, our guide thought, may well have been a scorpion. But never fear! Noi stuck a piece of bamboo on it and it sucked the poison out and all was well.
Last night, after getting back, we went out to eat with our new Japanese friend Yasaki, who we trekked with, and then me and Tim stayed out drinking with an American called Pete and some local women, who may well be taking us out tonight, which will be just swell.
Tomorrow I think we'll leave and spend a night in a place called Ratchaburi before we move to the beaches further south, starting in a place called Hua Hin. We've just about exhausted the tourist potential of this area and we should probably get moving. Two months all of a sudden doesn't seem like much time at all. Still can't believe how long we'll be away for, and in fact nor can many of the people we've spoken too, but that's the fun of it. Haven't actually met any folk our own age yet. Everyone seems to be older and both amazed and envious of what we're doing at 18 and 19.
On a last note, prices here are amazing. We've been eating together all the time and probably haven't spent more than a fiver, and the rooms are less than two quid a night. The money don't half go far out 'ere. Anyway, epic tale over, we're off to get some din-dins and head out, but fear not, I'll be back to enthrall you all soon!
Well, since the first post that Tim made after the first couple of days, a lot has happened. We had a day in Central Bangkok, which was pretty hectic. It's good fun wandering around completely foreign places and then, when we couldn't have any less clue where we are, just hopping into one of the many many taxis and going to somewhere else to get lost. Whilst I'm talking abot taxis, I might as well tell you about the traffic (*snore*). There's so much of it, it's ridiculous, and they're far less strict with little things like lanes and things like personal safety than we are in our wee land. Bikes just fly between cars and people sometimes wander down the middle of the street at lights trying to sell you things. Three people to a bike isn't unheard of, and the passengers are rarely all adults in those cases. And there are that many taxis and sawngtheaws (a sawngtheaw is a sort of modified truck-type thing with a massive roofed back and two benches inside) that I have no idea how any of the drivers scrape a living. Communication with the drivers themselves ranges from pointing at the Thai script in the guidebook for where we want to go, to sometimes actually doing it vocally.
Right now we're very close to the Bridge Over the River Kwai, which we went to investigate over the weekend, taking in a couple of museums. It seems that almost every museum here in Kanchanaburi is associated with the Bridge. It's amazing how small and fairly dull the thing is in real life, given how many people died making it, and the rest of the railway. We've been across it on foot and by train.
Anyway, to the jungle! On Sunday we set off at 8 to go do some sight-seeing and then do some real jungle trekking. The sights were a hotspring, which was bloody hot and there was a big asian bloke there who wanted to hug all of us; before that we went to a waterfall, which over here increasingly seems to be the local swimming pool; lastly we went to see Hellfire Pass, a place where the Death Railway had to be cut through rock to about twenty-five feet deep. Fascinating stuff, all of it, but the jungle capped it all off. After about two and a half hours in the humidity we ended up having to walk up a river, which went to about shin-deep in places, and this wearing our boots. It was here I discovered that waterproofing works both outside to in, and inside to out. Thankfully Noi, our guide, made a fire overnight to dry them all off for us. On the second day we walked from the village where we stayed to some elephants, then went bamboo rafting. The village where we stayed that night was stunning, perhaps for its simplicity, which would appeal to town-dwellers, I guess. In the moonlight the stilted huts where we stayed just looked incredible. Interestingly, Shaun got bitten by something, on the foot (we were all going barefoot because of the boot issue). The something, our guide thought, may well have been a scorpion. But never fear! Noi stuck a piece of bamboo on it and it sucked the poison out and all was well.
Last night, after getting back, we went out to eat with our new Japanese friend Yasaki, who we trekked with, and then me and Tim stayed out drinking with an American called Pete and some local women, who may well be taking us out tonight, which will be just swell.
Tomorrow I think we'll leave and spend a night in a place called Ratchaburi before we move to the beaches further south, starting in a place called Hua Hin. We've just about exhausted the tourist potential of this area and we should probably get moving. Two months all of a sudden doesn't seem like much time at all. Still can't believe how long we'll be away for, and in fact nor can many of the people we've spoken too, but that's the fun of it. Haven't actually met any folk our own age yet. Everyone seems to be older and both amazed and envious of what we're doing at 18 and 19.
On a last note, prices here are amazing. We've been eating together all the time and probably haven't spent more than a fiver, and the rooms are less than two quid a night. The money don't half go far out 'ere. Anyway, epic tale over, we're off to get some din-dins and head out, but fear not, I'll be back to enthrall you all soon!
posted by Ryan at Tuesday, March 14, 2006
1 Comments:
This blog hates me, and i hate it. Why will it not let me write and sign up why!!
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