Breakfast at 6.15am got us ready for our 2 night tour of Kanchanaburi, The River Kwai and so on with a driver and guide, hired by the 6 of us. Now we are tourists… as opposed to seasoned Thai travellers! Our luggage was reduced by paying the hotel to care for the majority and just taking a small bag each.
Our hired driver, guide and mini bus were the start of luxury far above our rank.  Each time we left the bus to look at something we were offered a cold drink and a cold cloth, sealed in plastic. A trip to a temple, started us off, followed by a stop at the start of the famous railway. I took lots of photos for Dads benefit, of things I cannot identify. Hopefully they were meaningful. The water tank the Japs built to keep the steam trains going was still there and we were allowed into the control room to see all the big thingos (!).
We arrived at the Bridge over the River Kwai, to crowds of people, this being the week of the Kwai bridge festival. The guide asked if we would like to pay extra and go to the sound and light show at night, with dinner included. This only happens once per year so how could we say no?
After feeding a goat on the train platform, we boarded the train to ‘somewhere’, where there is a large tresle bridge. I had been on the train for 5 minutes and got up off my wooden seat and the whole bottom seat crashed to the floor. I managed to land on my feet and didn’t get hurt but evidentially it looked pretty funny.
The mini bus met us at the other end and we had a look at the tresle bridge, a cave where the Japanese sheltered and market stalls.
Our accommodation was far above our rank, with the most gorgeous grounds, enormous pool all set on the River Kwai.
The sound and light show was breathtaking and ear exploding but a magnificant evening and a once a year opportunity.

Me, Lee and Lorraine

Leaving Ko Sumet was difficult after such a lovely relaxing time on the beach but we have exciting things ahead of us!
We caught the boat across to where our mini bus was waiting for us. This boat wasn’t so packed with people or fish so wasn’t as interesting as the trip across. The mini bus trip to Bangkok should have taken 3-4 hours but took 2 and a half. This included us being kicked out half way and asked to get into another bus with a different driver. No explanation was given but we suspect it’s because we asked him to turn the music down (!). The 2nd driver drove at 130k and more and tailgated vehicles the whole way. I chose to read my book and not look but Col was watching him. At one stage he had a mobile phone in each hand while driving. Even so, we arrived in Bangkok safely and managed to organise ourselves to get a 2nd fitting of COLINS SUIT TO WEAR TO THE WEDDING (!!!) and to shop at the markets via taxi.

Mel, Col and Bruce

We have arranged our guided trip to Kanchanaburi, River Kwai, Worlds tallest Pagoda, Long boat down Kwai Noi River, Death railway, Hellfire pass, Erawan national park/waterfall hike and the tiger temple. This will be over 2 nights (3 days) and we will leave from Bangkok on Sunday, returning again on Tuesday.
We had about 2 hours of shopping frenzy tonight. OK, well truthfully… Lee, Lorraine and I did. The frenzy ended in even more tablecloths and bags purchased.
Tomorrow Col and I are going to the Grand Palace and the Oriental hotel for high tea.
I’m not sure what day or date it is anymore. My tummy is still cramping and playing up after almost a week but I feel pretty good to eat and walk around so I am putting up with it.

Colin has a new nicname.

Col walked into our room the other night, bowing and using the Thai gesture with his hands together in front of his face and saying ‘Buttercup’. After laughing (nervously) I asked what that was supposed to mean. Then I realised that What he was attempting to copy the Thai greeting ‘Sawatdee khrap (cup)’. Buttercup???? He now greets the ‘panel of aunts and uncles’ that way too, which gives us a good laugh.
So the new nicname is ‘Buttercup’.

Sadly, we left our Thai village, Tha Phon for the last time and the 8 of us packed into the 4WD. How many elephants can you pack into a mini? The way we are eating (plus the swollen ankles) that is probably not a bad description!
A long trip to Khao Yai National park was interuppted by the usual toilet stops with the accompanying highly distracting market stalls. While travelling along the way, Bruce (uncle) said ‘It’s a shame we haven’t seen any elephants. As he was saying it we looked to the left and there were 6 enormous elephants swaying in a ‘conservation park’. Peter pulled over immediately… because he is an extremely tolerant and patient bloke! According to his mother (my Grandmother) he has never raised his voice in anger in his whole life. Surprisingly that includes driving us around Thailand and putting up with our tiresome habits!
The elephants were dauntingly large but we got to sit on their knee, feed them and Col and I had a ride through creeks and paddocks for 15 minutes. Sitting on an elephants knee with it’s swinging trunk and big eye right next to your face is quite an experience.
While we were having our ride, the others went to a shopping place up the road. The shopping centre was built to look like Venice and was quite stunning. If we had more time it would have been lovely to inspect it more closely but we were already running typically late.
We got to the Khao Yai national park at 4pm and considering how much we paid to get in, it was unfortunate that stopping to see the elephants had made it so late in the day. The advantage of this was that there were plenty of animals out. Our drive through the park took about 1 and a half hours. We dodged plenty of elephant poo and saw lots of deer, monkeys, lizards with the occassional cobra (stick) and boa constrictor (imaginary).
We arrived at Petchabury (spelling?) our destination in the dark and discovered that where we had planned to stay, had no vacancies. After trying several places we chose to keep driving. Once we finally found somewhere to stay, my headache and upset tummy had reached a new height and I was feeling so sick I went to bed and left the others to go and have tea. Lorraine (aunt) was also sick with what seemed to be the same bug.
Our next stop was Ko Sumet. Hmmm beach!

After a frantic shopping trip, we walked to the village Loy Krathong festival where the entire village celebrated. Locals floated hand made Katong down a river with a candle in it.  “Katong” means a Lotus shaped vessel made of banana leaves. The Katong usually holds a candle. Again, we were the only non-Thai people there and the mayor welcomed us and instructed the locals to be nice to us and professional (!), translated by Eiam.

After a ‘Miss Thai Phon competition, Thai boxing and dancing, we went to float some Katong down the creek and let off giant hot air balloons (see pic). Having watched the local women making the Katong the day before, it was very special to see them floating around with their candles lit.

We arrived home at about 11.30pm and went to sleep to the sound of the very loud festival music, ready to wake early (ish) to leave Tha Phon for good the next morning.

19/11/10

Random Thai wedding

Eiam asked Lorraine, Lee and I to escort her to a wedding in her village, Tha Phon. Feeling ill equipped for a wedding, we ate breakfast at 8am and adorned ourselves in our least shabby clothing. I found a pair of thong/sandals which my swollen feet would fit into and off we went, 10 minutes late. We had walked a little way down the street when a motor bike arrived and the girl on it told us that the wedding was waiting for us so we needed to hurry. All along the road, people were waiting for us and once we reached them they joined the group. By the time we arrived at the wedding, there were about 35 people walking with us.
The bride’s mother was so excited to see ‘felang (non-Thai people)’ that she took us to the bride and groom to have our photo taken with them and to pour water onto their hands. We were photographed with the bride’s Mum, at her insistance and then led to our table where we were greeted by many excited guests.
The girls at our table insisted on pouring me rice whisky and on our eating every morsel of food which arrived (in abundance). Every 5 minutes we had to do ‘cheers’ with our glasses and swallow more whiskey. I tried desperately to sip mine delicately, but it kept getting topped up. At 9am in the morning, having already eaten breakfast, and with the extreme heat I was begining to feel a little squirmish!
After much food, drink and laughter we were dragged onto the ‘dance floor’ (grassy patch of back yard) to dance. By then Colin and Mal had also joined us and were dancing in the heat too.
We left when it was polite to do so (about midday) and went home to the washing. Within an hour, we discovered that ‘the party’ had arrived on their motor bikes to ‘rage on’… and so it went!
It was lovely to experience the Thai culture first hand in a small village with such lovely friendly and fun loving people.

18/9/10
The motel in Phimai cost $14 Aus per room so we should have no complaints but there was no top sheet and the bed was not the most comfortable. The fridge didn’t work and the hostess had attitude (for good reason). Breakfast cost us about $1 Aus per item (porridge with pork, chicken or prawns being one of the highlights). This all combined to make it yet another funny adventure and part of the excitement of ‘doing it semi rough’!

Phi Mai ancient temple

After breakfast we managed to pack our growing luggage and ourselves up and go to see the ancient Phimai temple. This was both beautiful and inspiring, with its magnificent trees and ancient ruins.
Our trip back to Tha Phon was interupted by lunch. The guys thought it was just lunch… but us women discovered silk shops all along the streets of the little place, Nong Mai Kaen, we stopped at. After eating lunch, which consisted of PORK because that’s all they had, we took to the shops and discovered beautiful and cheap bolts of silk and clothing in about 6 shops. Many hours and $$ later, the guys managed to get us back into the car with even more luggage, stuffed into every spot in the car possible.
The last part of the trip was a little hot and squishy with about 4 more hours of driving to do. We arrived at ThaPhon, greeted by the dogs and Eiam’s Mum who had made us roast pork and rice. Hmmm that was really delicious!

17/9/10
I discovered an odd assortment of exposed wiring into an electrical socket behind my bed head at our hotel at Nong Kai. I managed to keep my pillow in place overnight and avoid getting electricuted!
After packing up, we drove to immigration and attempted to convince them to extend our Visa by 2 days. The sign out the front said, ‘Come and see our happy smiles’. We didn’t see any smiles at all. The woman at the desk told us that we could not extend our Visa but to overstay it and pay a penalty at the airport (2 days late). This would amount to 1000 Baht each (about $30).

Lunch was at Our next task was to find a silk making place in Chonnabot. After much driving, many U turns, asking locals where to go and and discussion about directions we discovered that the factory was closed on that day. We proceeded to find some silk shops to satisfy ourselves. One of the locals who gave us directions, offered to take us to a house where a woman weaves silk. We walked down the back of the village into the bottom of a house, which was on stilts) and watched a woman weaving on the dirt floor with dogs and chooks running around under her feet. She was paid 100 Baht a day (about$3). It was an amazing experience to watch her skill and the conditions in which she worked. Afterwards we went to some silk shops in the street. these were quite expensive but one of them offered to show us out the back where they weave the silk. The conditions here were pretty much the same, only it wasn’t underneath somebodies house!
Our journey ended at Phi Mai, where we found the only hotel in the village and paid $14Aus for the night.
Eiam took us to the night market where we inspected the incredible food produce. Fried crickets,