Later that night, following the amazing banquet at my school, I met up with Ryan and Ian, who were all ready on the streets around Khao San Road. After we got together, we had ourselves a good ‘ol fashion KSR bloodbath and turned in for the night around three the next morning.
With plans to catch the 9 a.m. bus to Kanchanaburi from the Southern Bus Terminal, I’m surprised and pleased to report that we did, indeed, make it to the bus on time.
This, however, despite our insane taxi driver who offered us a discount on the taxi fare, provided we went without the meter. Well, I’m weary by now of these ‘discounts’ and when he offered to take us there for 250 baht, I simply replied “meter” and got in the car. He was definitely upset that we didn’t jump at the opportunity.
The entire way he repeatedly asked us where we were going, for how long and that he’d drive us there, which I responded to each time. If we tried speaking amongst each other, he’d start singing over us and jerking the wheel/accelerator in rhythm to his songs to keep the attention on him. While I was trying to keep it together in the front seat, Ryan and Ian were convulsing with laughter in the back as a means of keeping their sanity.
Our fare to the bus station was 83 baht.
On to Kanchanaburi…
Famous as the location of the Bridge over the River Kwae, Kanchanaburi has been described by local guide books as having an abundance of bucolic charm and a place where travelers come for a day and stay for a week or longer. I definitely agree with that.
The river meanders through the medium-sized town, and near the bridge there are an abundance of small, quaint bungalows and raft houses – houses literally built on timber logs or large pontoons that are tied off to the shore.
We were taken by rickshaw from the bus station about two kilometers to the Sugar Cane Guesthouse:
Right away we knew we hit on a winner… For this holiday, I was desperately in need of something quiet and low key. A place to unwind and wash the grime from my soul I’d accumulated in Bangkok.
Our front porch:
I sat down and exhaled a deep breath, and I looked out and realized this place is just like many parts of old Florida that I’d seen and enjoyed growing up. Hot, muggy, flowing river, beautiful scenery, peaceful.
Of course minus the mountains:
In that photo, taken by Ryan, the river is so calm that the sky is almost perfectly reflected. A cool breeze blew nearly the entire time and bugs were kept to a minimum, thanks to hundreds of bats that would clean house every evening starting around 7 p.m.
The rest of that day, we just hung out, drank beer and gazed out over the river, incredulous we were actually here viewing this perfect scene and enjoying this perfect setting.
Until Ian tossed the room key to Ryan, where it hit his left shoulder, fell to the deck and slid into the river…
An eruption of blame followed, punctuated by my gasping laughter as I realized that for once, I didn’t have any part of such a blunderous event.
I sensed the beginning of what would surely blossom into an epic story possibly capped off by one or both having to get in and swim for the key (the guest house didn’t have a spare), so I grabbed Ryan’s DSLR and started shooting pictures.
When several attempts to snag the key and it’s long plastic key chain were failed, the realization that someone was getting wet for this damn thing sunk in. In between bouts of wild laughter at their expense, I stepped in and raised the point that it’s only fair that both go in… and somehow they agreed.
Take notice of the sweet resignation on each guy’s face. Ian’s dumb ass forgot to pack swim trunks, so he’s the one in the Halloween boxers:
They were able to fish around the bottom with their feet, hoping to feel the plastic strip attached to the key among all the goo, silt and hydra branches.
After a short search, Ryan’s foot stumbled onto the key, and well… Ian had to go for it:
Subversive jokes aside, Ian manned up and went down for the key.
Sweet victory was had:
After that fiasco, we got more beer and proceeded to take full advantage of the peaceful afternoon, now enhanced by the overwhelming sense of victory in the face of adversity.
Everything was just right that afternoon, and the next day we’d be following everything up with a tour to Erawan Falls, an elephant trek, some bamboo rafting down the river and a trip along the Death Railway…
2 Comments
July 14, 2009 at 12:11 pm
John,
Amazing stories, I love reading your blogs. I cant tell you how excited I am that your are living this dream of yours. I love how respectful of the culture you are and I’m sure your students can appreciate that. I look forward to talking with you again.
August 20, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Word Stevey, exactly how I feel. I’m reading these posts like a book because I was so behind that I finally decided I had to check this out and now I just want to keep turning the pages. Loving the vivid detail. I realize that it’s huge difference compared to just viewing facebook pics.