Kanchanaburi: Day 2

Because we went to sleep at 8 pm, we were awake by 5 am. The first day Hoy told us that everyone in Kanchanaburi is sleeping by 7 pm and awake by 4 am, and I guess she was right! We watched the sunrise over the river and enjoyed the blissfully warm temperatures. Kitti (the owner and namesake of the floating house we stayed in) made fried eggs for breakfast, and before we knew it we were off the see the elephants.

The night before, our guide Sam gave us the option to pay a bit extra to bathe the elephants before our elephant ride. We decided to go for it, and we highly recommend it to anyone who had the opportunity!!! When we arrived at the elephant sanctuary and started to walk toward the river where the elephants were patiently waiting for us, one of the elephant trainers points at me and says something to Sam. He calls me over and tells me that I get to go on the “really nice elephant, not scary at all.” I wasn’t sure if I looked scared or if the Thais were playing a trick on me (they have a tendency to do that to young American girls with “pretty smile”), but went with it anyone. After being on the elephant in the river for about two minutes, she starts shaking her huge head like a wet dog with water in its ears! Knocks me off in about three seconds flat, but I got back up and tried it again. This happened about three times, and then everyone else who was bathing elephants wanting to give the shaking elephant a try. No one, not even Justin, could last very long on her! Even the young Thais tried to ride her like a bull and went straight into the river! It was a lot of fun and very entertaining for everyone, so I guess I just got to be the guinea pig. Regardless of this little mishap, this was definitely a trip highlight so far. The elephants are amazing… they like to be petted and scratched and played with, just like dogs. They have incredibly soft ears that contrast strikingly with the coarse hairs strewn haphazardly about their heads and necks. They love to have the dirt scrubbed off their backs, and we were so happy to help them out!

After the bath, the same group of bathers and guides went for an elephant ride through the nearby jungle. The rugged cliffs made for an excellent backdrop to the surreal experience of riding on a bench on top of an elephant with a guide straddling its neck and jabbering away at you in a combination of Thai, English, and Burmese. Our guide seemed to be the ring leader and was very entertaining, and our elephant was definitely the hungriest of the bunch so we stopped quite a few times to take in the sites while she had a snack.

That afternoon, we suited up for a bamboo rafting ride from the Kitti Raft to the floating restaurant. Literally bamboo lashed together on top of low profile pontoons, our raft floated along as we alternately sun tanned on the raft and floated along side it in the river. Our boat driver was in the water more than anyone else, so good thing we weren’t in any danger of hitting something! He and Justin took turns floating in a tube tied to the back of the raft. It was very relaxing, and we got to know our new German friends, Maria and Doreen, a little better in the process. Our raft dropped us off on the wrong side of the river, so we had to cross a very rickety bridge to get to the right side with more space between wooden slats than actual wooden slats!

We spent the rest of the day in the Hellfire Memorial Museum, another tidbit of railroad history that is as depressing as it is interesting. Sam then told us we were going to go for a quick walk on part of the railroad and he would pick us up on the other side. Our quick walk took an hour and it was soooooo hot! We did get to see some of the railroad cuts and, from an engineering standpoint, it was quite a feat.

After our long, hot hike, we went back to the Kitti Raft for a swim, a few beers with the Germans, and dinner. Now, I have to explain our little “swims”: we dove in at one end of the raft, surfaced as fast as possible in order to grab a tire halfway down the raft, held on as long as possible in the ridiculous current, then drifted the rest of the way to haul ourselves out on one of the previously mentioned bamboo rafts. Ever swim was exciting, especially considering the Germans and I couldn’t haul ourselves out without Justin’s help!