We walked around price checking alot of hostels until deciding on Jolly Frog. In my opinion, it was the cheapest and nicest! We decided to get an AC room at 290 Baht a night!!! Whoo hoo... though we hardly needed it... very cool in the mountains, oh well. They had fan rooms for as low as 70/90 Baht too.
We had an upstairs corner room right next to the River Kwai. Outside of our room was a nice deck that Brian took full use of to read. Yes, read! He finished an entire book on this trip!!!!
Jolly Frog's restaurant was also amazing. Unfortunately, this meant we did not move around alot to try different places. My favorite thing on the menu was a full set pork steak dinner for 90 Baht! You could never find that in Pattaya or Bangkok!
So, If you can't tell... Kanchanaburi is very affordable and this made us very happy :) ... not to mention the accommodations and food were spectacular. I would not hesitate to go back to Kanchanaburi! Even items at the 7-11 were up to 10 Baht cheaper than other places in Thailand!
We only spent 3 nights there, but could have easily stayed longer to really relax and vacation. Our first day, we did a tour that encompassed alot of the sites. We went to Erawan Falls, Hellfire Pass, a Temple Cave, took a short scenic train ride, and then ended at the Bridge over the River Kwai. If we hadn't felt obligated to cram as much as we could into our days, you could easily spread out these attractions to a day each and really get to enjoy them.
Erawan Falls means two headed elephant. They say the top of the waterfall looks like a two headed elephant and thus the name. The falls consist of 7 levels. Brian and I only made it to the 5th level because of time restraints.
You could easily spend all day at the falls... hiking and swimming. There is a 200 Baht entrance fee and the headache of trying to find an independent ride out to the park if you do not do a tour. From Kanchanaburi, you head toward Burma/Myanmar for an hour/ hour and a half. Luckily, the weather cooperated with us beautifully while we where in Kanchanaburi!
The actual hiking wasn't too hard. Some of the levels of the falls are really close together, but toward the end they are spread out quiet a bit. As soon as you start the path, you are surrounded by beauty. I really have never seen anywhere quiet like it. The water is so clear and beautiful. Even though they say there are 7 main falls, you contently see smaller waterfalls and pools of water. On one of the levels you can climb a rope and slide down the smooth rocks. The mosquito's were not even that bad! Granted we did use some deet :) Some people where dressed head to toe in hiking gear. I think my outfit was the best and most appropriate. A cheap thin dress! Very cool :) Even Brian was an little envious and he was just in a shirt and shorts!
After lunch we headed to Hellfire Pass. This is where alot of cutting took place to build the railroad during WWII. The Japanese needed a quick supply line to Burma and used alot of POW's to complete the grueling task. I didn't know quiet what to expect because I did not know the history very well. It was a very solemn experience. I would compare it to going to the Arizona Memorial... a very reflective place. We did not get to walk all the way to the actual Hellfire Pass - only to the memorial portion. Again, if you had another full day it would be interesting to walk the entire path.
We went to a small temple cave next. It was right next to the train station! We saw alot of monkeys along the way....
Our last stop of the day was the famous bridge. Brian and I had walked down to it the previous day, but arrived after nightfall. We underestimated the time it took to walk from our hostel to the bridge. So... it was good we got to see it again in daylight!
Each night for dinner our hostel played movies. Our routine was to stuff our faces and watch the latest movies. Absolutely adored Kanchanaburi!
The next day we went to the Tiger Temple. I hate to say I was disappointed... but I was. Alot of the tour companies tried to persuade us not to go, but I never made it to the Sriracha Tiger Zoo and I was looking forward to seeing it. So we went! There is an entrance fee of 500 Baht per person. They say it's a donation, but it's a fee. You can only go between the hours of 2PM - 5PM. If you pay more money you can come earlier or play different activities with the Tigers.
The compound is huge. There are so many animals at the Tiger Temple... not just tigers!!! Lots of wild pigs, deer, cow type things, chickens.... Poor little tigers must hate not being able to hunt! Though it was fun watching the younger tigers try. One actually got away from their handler and smacked a little cow booty with it's paw :)
They say the tigers are not sedated, but its hard to believe. They played the argument that tigers usually sleep during the day and are nocturne creatures.
When you first get to the Tiger Temple, they have a bunch of sleepy tigers chained up around a semi-circle. With a handler, you are lead around to each one to take pictures and pet them. After you are done with the round robin, you can walk around to see the other animals at the temple. Near the young tiger section of the temple, monks sit out with the baby-ish tigers. That was probably the most enjoyable experience... and seeing Brian's terrified face :)
0 comments:
Post a Comment