A few weeks ago Daniel and Rebekah mentioned that they were going to Kanchanaburi
Rebekah's half-marathon. Annet and I gleefully tagged along... however we had the abnormal weekend!Fridays are horrible days when trying to commute in the metropolis of Bangkok. However, we tried.... and we thankfully made it on a bus out of BKK.
We arrived after dark into Kanchanburi after a long bus ride in which Annet and I both had to hold out seats up. The bus was packed... people standing in the aisles, my chair continually falling onto the person's knees behind me. And so cold. We could feel every curve and bump in the road... we have left the city. We were greeted by the hotel side-car... which in all honesty was pretty fun riding in!
After arriving there we realized that Bekah's race was in the jungle--
which only meant that we were continuing our adventure. First we went on an elephant ride in which our elephant leader (E.L.) tried to sell us these rings that were made out of elephant tail hair. They were gross, ugly, and not worth the 200 Baht he was asking for. Annet and I immediately said "no" which angered the E.L. and decided as punishment us and the elephant were going to stare at a concrete wall for the rest of the "jungle tour." It was horrible.
The our driver took us to the Soi Waterfalls--- only to be discovered as one of the many in this area. It was fun driving around with him because I had ample opportunity to practice my Thai!
It is very normal to walk around (even in Bangkok) and see trees wrapped with ribbons. These trees are supposed to ward off bad spirits. I actually enjoy seeing them... not because I completely believe they are warding off bad spirits.... but I enjoy the devotion that the Thai's have with these. And it is exciting noticing the different arrangements of ribbons...
This particular tree was on our 4k hike of Erawan Waterfalls.
This hike was awesome because everywhere you looked there were more waterfalls! It had officially 7 tiers, but there were far more than 7 waterfalls... it was beautiful.
This is M'am Bekah after finishing her race! Yes, she was a winner and got a medal.
I thought Sheree would appreciate the Thai-runner mentality/theme
One of the more exciting adventures on the trip was our Tiger Temple visit. Apparently about 10 years ago some Buddhist monks were given an abandoned Tiger (Sua) to raise... and then word spread and the monks began to take in more tigers. Now we are able to visit them and our money goes to tourism as well as into paying for the care of the "suas".
While were were there we saw a man in line go up and ask the staff, "What should you do if you get bit by a Tiger?"
The man just looks at him and then asks, "Where is your bite?"
The bite was minimal, however... it was from a baby tiger! Imagine from the one I am posing next to! This little Thai lady held my hand and led me to about 4/5 different tigers for pictures. Only in Thailand....
Chai-ka, an adventure for sure.
Thai tongue twister.... "Sua" (depending on the tone) means three different things. So this tongue twister can mean: "Sua yuu bon sua"
"The tiger is on the mat" or "The shirt is on the mat" or "The shirt is on the tiger"... Complements of Thai 101.
1 comment:
Sounds like a blast! I'm glad to hear you're having fun :)
Post a Comment