|
Heide and Mark Adventuring until the money runs out.... |
|
|
||
|
|
|
"Thai-ing" up the loose ends... After a few days in Kanchanaburi, we had put together our “Plan B.” Washing the passports was a big mistake, but we weren't prepared to give up the Cambodia trip. We’d already missed Petra due to the US dollars issue (See: February 2, 2004) and missing another ancient civilization (this time, Angkor Wat) when we were so, so close would have been heartbreaking. Besides, it’s not exactly like we’re over on this side of the world very often. However, there was just one problem. The Monday after the “passport washing,” we visited our respective embassies to apply for new passports. The procedure is pretty straight forward… fill out some paperwork, hand over large sums of cash and a couple of photos of yourself and then wait. Here comes the issue. As part of this process, Mark wasn’t given his old passport back. Heide had hers, and her embassy said that she was “most likely” okay to travel on it, (I know, really helpful, ‘huh?) but Mark was passport-less and wouldn’t be able to pick up his new one for a week. Manipulating our “to-do” list around the key date of picking up Mark’s passport we figured out that we could still fit in the Cambodia trip if we made a break for the border right after visiting the UK embassy.
Plan B also meant that we had to change our plans to visit the island of Ko Samet… something we weren’t happy about….. but willing to settle for as we had spent almost a week on Ko Pha Ngan. (See: June 16, 2004 -- We also hope to be able to visit Thailand’s islands again some day in the near future!) Instead we’d spend a few extra days around the Bangkok area, but after spending a few days in Kanchanaburi… we decided to use the small central Thailand town as our "home-base" for exploration of the region and to accomplish all those final to-dos or "loose ends." Of course, the next logical question is… what is there to do in Kanchanaburi – besides visiting the Bridge over the River Kwai, the death railway, and associated attractions?
Of all the things that we really wanted to do in Thailand, one thing stood out... the floating market of Damnoen Saduak with it's wooden canoes, women in wide brimmed straw hats and multicolored market place was a cultural experience that we didn't want to miss. As it turned out, were able to arrange a private tour from Kanchanaburi that would get us to the market before the tour busses... but that meant a very early, before breakfast start...
Once in Damnoen Saduak, we boarded our canoe and set out into the canals and markets. Shops line the sides of the waterways and boats containing everything from exotic fruits and vegetables to tourist paraphernalia are everywhere. You have to keep your hands inside the boat for fear that they may be crushed by the boat next to you trying to push it's way through the fray! Food vendors that are seemingly everywhere in Southeast Asia aren't absent from the floating market... we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of noodle soup made by a vendor passing by on another boat. It was delightful!
Back in Kanchanaburi, we decided to explore the attractions in the region by taking a tour. Our tour company picked us up in a wonderful air-conditioned mini-van but soon 6 of us were separated from the group and loaded into the back of a pick up truck... a very typical form of transportation in this region although a bit dusty and dirty! Our first stop was the Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi waterfall. It was marketed as a wonderful natural waterfall in the Thai country side,... however, it must have been.... well,... enhanced. It seriously looked like something from Disneyland and neither of us believe that the concrete foundations were original. However, apparently the King visited here some time ago and since then it's been a major stop for tourists in the region. (If you're ever here... we don't recommend it.)
Then we were off to an Elephant camp! It is said that the elephant is one of the most powerful symbols in Thailand and their images are everywhere... from topiaries lining the streets in Bangkok to golden images of them in many of the temples. Indeed, a white elephant was on Thailand's flag until 1917. There are an estimated 3000 wild elephants in Thailand today, more than in India, and over 2000 in captivity.
Working elephants do anything and everything from logging to tourist trail rides but under Thai law, once an elephant reaches 61 years of age, they must be released into the wild. Our visit with the elephants included about an hour long trail ride through the forest on the back of one of these big beasts. It is really a wonderful way to travel through the jungle... the elephants seem to know just where to place their big feet to create the perfect path through the foliage. It's also amazing that they are willing to "listen" to their human trainers... with such size and bulk they could simply run most of us over if they wanted to, but instead they are actually very cooperative.
We completed our day by taking a bamboo raft down the Mae Nam Mae Klong river. Okay, so given that the river was so calm, the rafting itself wasn't all that exciting. However, it was very peaceful and the scenery was beautiful and it was a good way to spend an hour of our afternoon. From here, we'll be off to Cambodia as long as we can pick up Mark's new passport... Next Entry: July 2, 2004 Previous Entry: June 25, 2004 This Page was last update: Thursday, July 22, 2004 at 4:36:01 AM This site is using the Adult Contemporary (purple) theme.
|
|
