Hiking

Kanchanaburi

Well, everything had been so positive and had gone so well. Dan and I were getting so cocky, thinking that we could be the next winners of the amazing race, navigating our way through Southeast Asia. That ended abruptly when we left Bangkok and heading out to Kanchanaburi, a town famous for the Bridge over the River Kwai. We took this relic of a train, no air conditioning and holes through the floor boards...I think it was original from the war! The trip was to take 4 hours and right off the get go Dan picked up one of his "friends". He has a way of attracting "special" people! This Thai man who spoke English sat down beside him and was in his face. The train stopped every 20 minutes or so and we sort of lost track of where we were. Suddenly we were going very slowly and everyone was very excited...we were crossing the famous bridge. That was really exciting except for the fact that Kanchanaburi was before the bridge! We were madly looking at our tourist guidebook and trying to figure out how to get back. Dan's friend said we had to ride the train for another 2 hours and stay the night then ride back in the morning. He was so excited as he lived in this town and was going to be our very own tour guide. He was so in my face when we got off the train that I told him that he was giving me a headache and that Canadians need personal space! But he never stopped talking long enough to listen.



Anyways we found a place to lay our heads and headed back to the train station in the morning. Our friend actually tracked us down, but we were able to outrun him! We realized we were in a very small town and no one could speak any English. This made things very challenging, but after sitting in the town square in the heat all day the train finally came at 3 and we made it back to Kanchanaburi very hot and dirty! We decided to splurge and stay in a place with a pool to relax today. Things are great here...minus the mosquitoes as we are right on the river. We just spent an hour before putting the kids to bed on a killing spree in our room. The kids thought that it was great fun.


Tomorrow we are renting a car and heading in to the jungle for a hike to some waterfalls and hopefully going to find some elephants to ride and some tigers to pet! Things are looking up!

3 Nights in Bangkok

We are leaving Bangkok this afternoon and heading to Kanachaburi, a town across the river from Cambodia, where the famous Bridge over the River Kwai is located. We are going to take a train so the kids are really excited. It is not far, but apparently takes 4 long hot hours as there is no air conditioning. The scenery is supposed to be fantastic though so we are excited!

We have had a great stay in Bangkok. We are staying in a great part of town that is just bustling at all hours. Our hotel was a convent, built in the 40s and it looks and feels like a hospital, but is quiet and clean. Step out of the doors and you are greeted with every kind of food imaginable. Thailand is all about eating! We have been eating from all the roadside stalls...everything from Pad Thai, papaya salad, fresh kettle corn, smoothies, fresh tropical fruit...AMAZING. Food from the vendors is cheap...most meals for our family cost under $5. There are many international restaurants as well, but at a higher price.

The malls here are absolutely amazing...the nicest I have ever seen...seems so out of place, but the real fun shopping takes place outside at the night markets. I love shopping this way. We had such a great time bartering on items. The initial price quoted is about 4x what you can buy the item for, so you feel like you are really getting a great deal!Our room was very hospital like!
Our smoothie vendor...
What in the world?


The famous Bangkok taxi "tuk tuk"


Other highlights have been seeing the life of the river that runs through the city, touring the Grand Palace, and going to the waterslides! This morning Jordan and I went for a run through the park nearby (Bangkok's version of Central Park). It was bustling with activity until the clock struck 8 and everyone stopped their Tai chi, running, stretching and stood erect for the Thai national anthem. It gets broadcast twice a day over loud speakers and everyone stops in the whole kingdom.





Well onto the next adventure...

The next chapter

Last night we arrived in Bangkok and took a cab out to our destination about an hour away. We are in a beach town called Bang Saen (not touristy) staying in a cheap apartment type building. It is really simple, but clean and quiet. We got here around 8PM and went out across the street for our first Thai meal! It was so good, but very, very spicy! Today we went to the beach and experience the most vendors I have ever seen in my life. 5km of beach umbrellas with people selling everything possible. We were the only whites and the only people on the beach wearing swimsuits (Thais swim completely clothed). Dan made friends right away with some drinking Thai men/boys and they paid for him to go out behind a boat on a banana floaty. That was hilarious.

Team 2000

Tonight we went to a small church, that is a church plant from the main one we will be attending tomorrow. There are three families who moved here from North America in the year 2000 for a ten year commitment. They have opened two homes (boys and girls) for HIV positive kids. It was so cool to meet the kids from the orphanage where we will be hanging out tomorrow. They are fantastic! Taylor was a big hit and did so well, allowing them to touch her and drag her around. She is going to be a missionary someday!

Cream Bath

I got to treat Julene to a traditional spa practice in Indonesia called a cream bath. It was fabulous. They massage your head neck and shoulder with ultra moisturizing cream. We splurged and got a pedicure at the same time. I have never had three women working on me at one time! I can't remember the price, but I think that the whole thing for both of us was under $25. Not bad!