Hey friends, it has been more than awhile & I'm sure that you are dangling on the edge of your seat to hear about parts 2 & 3 of the Thailand adventure.... so let's get cracking!
After leaving Bangkok we took a van to Kanchanaburi, a town west of Bangkok. The main purpose of the trip was to get out Bangkok for a few days to hopefully see a more rural side of Thailand along with seeing the Bridge over the river Kwai of course. We were hoping to get some experience with elephants here as well & my god did we!
We arrive in Kanchanaburi like we arrive in most places: confused & without a plan. (Luckily, this always seems to work for us) After an hour of walking around to find maps & get our bearings we finally cave in to let this woman bring us to a place where we think we can sign up to ride elephants. We were shocked when we realized that she would be biking us to our destination. First off, we barely fit in to her tiny seat & our bags were basically dragging across the road. Needless to say, this woman had calves of steal. The hostel/tour organization is a lot closer than we thought & it is a bit of a relief. With some difficulty we manage to sign up for an elephant trek scheduled in a few hours. So with the time we have to kill we begin to explore.
We decide to try and find the war grave site from the victims of the Burma railroad, most of the people were prisoners of war. I don't know why but this grave site hit me hard. I think it was the fact that American history does such a bad job on giving you a world view. I honestly had no idea that this happened & really is such a tragedy for so many people. Laura & I sat there for a long time reflecting on the horrors of the world & payed our respects.
Walking back we stumble across a restaurant with a sign that says "Thai Cooking Lessons Here!" Without even thinking we burst into the place to get more information. We meet a tiny Thai woman who is appropriately named "On" (because she is never off!) who is accompanied by a man from America in his 30's acting as her apprentice. He told us that he fell in love with the Thai cuisine along with Thailand & felt like he needed to learn from her so he can open a restaurant back home. We chat with them for awhile & decide that we are going to cook after our elephant adventure. We pick out our dishes and we are back on our merry way.
Minutes after we get back to the hostel a van arrives that is scheduled to bring us to the elephant site. We are joined by a father & a daughter from China who are enjoying a week long Thailand holiday as well. We laughed the whole way about our adventures & after a 30 minute drive we arrive to the site. I am not sure what I was expecting but the place seemed to pop up in the middle of nowhere, it was so small. I can't even begin to imagine how I would have found this place if it wasn't for luck. Before we know it we are put on top of an elephant and starting our trek. They had us in those caged box type things on the elephants back. Don't get me wrong it was fun for awhile, but Laura & I wanted more. I am pretty sure that the guy didn't understand our request & we probably broke the rules, but we shimmed straight down that elephant's back right on to his neck. WOW. I can't even tell you, it was beyond freeing. To be in charge of such a large animal, I felt like some type of warrior princess. The elephant's skin felt like sand paper and his ears would occasionally flag against my thighs & tickle just a little bit. I would put my head on top of his and my arms on top of his trunk, I felt as though I was one with him. Being out of that seat was unsteady, and it felt like any minute you could topple off. To be honest, I didn't care. I felt so close to this animal & felt that it was incapable of bringing me harm. We trekked around the woods going up and down for some time taking turns with who gets to ride on the elephants neck. Eventually we both get down on there... not going to lie that was a bit scary. Finally we are finished & just like that I feel incredibly sad. I want to just be on the elephants back forever. Just as we think we are heading back to the van one of the guides stops us and takes us down to the river (YES, the River Kwai!)
The guide leads the elephant into the water and beckons us to come with him. The next thing we know we are taking a bath with this magnificent animal. Well, I would say it wasn't just
a bath but more of a full fledged intense shower. The elephant was tipped its head and trunk into the water and whipped its neck back to blast us with river water. Don't ask me why I chose to wear a skirt this day. Laura & I were screaming & felt completely in the moment. It was a surreal rush. I even got brave enough to stand on the elephants back to see how long I could balance myself. Soon our time with the elephant was over & I found myself protesting. We said our goodbyes, hugs, and kisses (yes the the elephant) and dragged our butts out of the river. We were left feeling ecstatic, on top of the world, & alive.
After making our way back into the town we find On's restaurant. We change out of our drenched clothes and get ready to start cooking. On. How can I even describe her? She was dancing, laughing, and of course cooking up some amazing dishes. Gangam style was her jam & all the meanwhile she was doing the dance while throwing ingredients into the wok. She taught us the only Thai word that I will ever remember: mnaw (muh-now), which means lime. I'll never forget her demand to add more lime by giddily screeching: "NOW....MNAW!" On teaches us how to make two different soups, pad thai (my favorite!), pineapple fried rice, mango sticky rice, and tons more. We left with our souls rejuvenated and our belly's full.
The next day we took a walk to see the famous bridge over the river Kwai. It was a hot and beautiful day & today it felt good to be a tourist. I won't go into all of the details about the bridge, but if you want to learn more here is some basic information: http://www.bridgeriverkwai.com/
All in all it was a wonderful trip filled with a history lesson, laughs, adventure, & food. What more could you ask for? :)
xoxo,
Becca
After leaving Bangkok we took a van to Kanchanaburi, a town west of Bangkok. The main purpose of the trip was to get out Bangkok for a few days to hopefully see a more rural side of Thailand along with seeing the Bridge over the river Kwai of course. We were hoping to get some experience with elephants here as well & my god did we!
 |
| Strong woman who biked us to the hostel! |
Walking back we stumble across a restaurant with a sign that says "Thai Cooking Lessons Here!" Without even thinking we burst into the place to get more information. We meet a tiny Thai woman who is appropriately named "On" (because she is never off!) who is accompanied by a man from America in his 30's acting as her apprentice. He told us that he fell in love with the Thai cuisine along with Thailand & felt like he needed to learn from her so he can open a restaurant back home. We chat with them for awhile & decide that we are going to cook after our elephant adventure. We pick out our dishes and we are back on our merry way.
The guide leads the elephant into the water and beckons us to come with him. The next thing we know we are taking a bath with this magnificent animal. Well, I would say it wasn't just
After making our way back into the town we find On's restaurant. We change out of our drenched clothes and get ready to start cooking. On. How can I even describe her? She was dancing, laughing, and of course cooking up some amazing dishes. Gangam style was her jam & all the meanwhile she was doing the dance while throwing ingredients into the wok. She taught us the only Thai word that I will ever remember: mnaw (muh-now), which means lime. I'll never forget her demand to add more lime by giddily screeching: "NOW....MNAW!" On teaches us how to make two different soups, pad thai (my favorite!), pineapple fried rice, mango sticky rice, and tons more. We left with our souls rejuvenated and our belly's full.The next day we took a walk to see the famous bridge over the river Kwai. It was a hot and beautiful day & today it felt good to be a tourist. I won't go into all of the details about the bridge, but if you want to learn more here is some basic information: http://www.bridgeriverkwai.com/
All in all it was a wonderful trip filled with a history lesson, laughs, adventure, & food. What more could you ask for? :)
xoxo,
Becca
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