Back To Where It All Began; Bangkok Take Two

Following the two consistent days of facing death and war, we decided that something different was needed for our last day in Kanchanaburi. So yesterday we rang up the songtow (taxi/truck) driver who had offered his services when we arrived in Kanchanburi, and for the small fee of €12 each we had ourselves a driver for the day. We decided to head up to a waterfall in a national park about 65 kms from where we were staying. The driver told us when we arrive that we should take about 3-4 hours here. Considering that the sign said that the waterfall was 500 meters from the carpark, we thought 'silly man. We will probably be done in an hour'.  Silly us more like. Turns out, the bottom tier of the 7 tier waterfall was 500m from the carpark. The 7th tier and most impressive was about 1.2 kms up a mountain. Let me tell you, climbing up rocks and wading through rocky streams in flip flops is not easy or fun. We were thankful for the drivers insistence on the early start though, as arriving at half 8 in the morning meant we had the place practically to ourselves and we beat the heat. If it had been 11am, we would have had a repeat of the Tiger Temple 'I think I am going to die' situation.

We really were rewarded at the top. We found a stunning high waterfall that fell into a crystal clear blue pool on the side of the mountain. We stripped off to the bikinis and stepped in, dreaming of the beautiful pictures we could take beside the crashing water. What we found was lots and lots of horrible squishy moss (I hate the feel of moss) and massive fish that nibbled the dead skin off your legs and arms and anywhere else on your body you happened to dip into the water. Considering that people pay lots of money to sit in shopping centres with their feet in pools of these fish, you would think we would be glad to dip in .... No. These were bloody big fish! I felt like that giraffe from that kids movie 'Madagasgar' where he has a freak attack shouting 'the nature! The nature! Get it off me! Get it off me!'. We quickly retreated to a safe little pool void of fish, took some nice photos and started our descent, stopping to take pictures and marvel at the locals who did not seem perturbed by the fish. We took our 4 hours, and finished our day off with a slight death related trip to a railway museum which told the story of the men who cut into the mountains surrounding Kanchanaburi to build the Japanese railway I mentioned in the previous blog. We found this to be much different to the Kwai bridge. For one, we were one of the few people there. It is located up in the mountains away from any people, and the quiet eerieness of the whole place was kind of disturbing. Neither myself nor Sophie could put our finger on it, but the place definitely had a creepy feel about it. Needless to say, we didnt stay long here. We soon headed back to wine and dine the evening away with Thai food, beer and Brad Pitt.

Today we packed our bags again and headed back to where it all began; Bangkok. Two hours on a bus saw us back near the Khao San Road in a cheap and not so cheerful hostel. I have to say, the whole city stinks, and the traffic is beyond chaotic, but knowing what to expect this time round I am liking it a lot more than I did when I arrived culture shocked and jet lagged last October. We spent the evening in the massive MBK shopping centre eating and browsing, and we ended the night with a cinema trip. Words cannot describe the excitement of a cinema trip here. Popcorn, a massive coke, the most comfortable cinema seats and an English movie, all for under €6. Loved every second, despite the lack of Channing Tatum in the new G.I Joe movie (bloody pictures are so misleading).

Sawatdiikha.