Kanchanaburi (Warning, this blog is a little bit longer than the others)

Hello Again!

So last weekend was a long weekend in Thailand so our little group took a trip out to a town called Kanchanaburi. This is a must-see place if you ever travel to Thailand. It has a very interesting history, being the setting of a prisoners camp in World War 2, along with the fact that it is very close to alot of animal sanctuaries and national parks. I could never fully explain in words how amazing my experiences were on this weekend but I will attempt a description of my time there.

We began our excursions with a trip to Erawan National Park, where there is a 7 tiered waterfall. Yes, we climbed all the way up to the top tier of the waterfall in plus 40 weather. The trek is about 1.5 km one way. But once you get closer to the top it starts to get cooler and you are in thicker parts of the jungle so the sun is hidden. The jungle there is so beautiful, but the best part was getting to swim in the waterfalls! The water is so fresh, cool and clean. It was amazing.A slight downfall was that many fish inhabited the river and the fish like to bite your feet when you are in the water. It was slightly unsettling because you couldn't see them and suddenly something would attack your feet. The Thai people found our shrieks very entertaining. There was not a lot of visible wildlife in this part of the jungle, however we did meet a few monkeys who were very entertaining because they liked to steal food from people. These cute little guys were not afraid to get really close to people which allowed us to get great photos of them. All in all the waterfall was a great way to begin our time in Kanchanaburi.

The next day we took a taxi to an elephant sanctuary. This taxi was essentially a pickup truck with a cover over the box which contained two long benches and that is where the passengers sit. The great part about this was that there was no need for air conditioning because the wind took care of that. The downside was that we had to watch out that we didn't lose anything to the wind as we raced along the road.

 

 

Once we reached the elephant sanctuary we were immediately rushed to the river where we expected to be bathing with the elephants. However we got one better. We actually got to ride them down to the river, and ride them in the water. The elephants would drop their entire bodies underwater so that we would float just above them in the water. Two minutes later, when they needed to come up for air, they would surface and we would be back on their backs again. This was an unbelievable experience!!! I knew elephants were compassionate, maternal creatures, but I have a new respect and awe for these creatures. Even for an animal so big, I felt so secure; I felt a great connection with the elephant I was riding, and probably would take her home with me if that was a possibility. After getting out of the river we got to clean off and feed the elephants bananas. Unfortunately our time with them was short lived and we had to say good bye.

                                  
 






                         

We left the elephants for one last animal adventure, this time at the Tiger Temple. This is a temple where monks live and they have created a wildlife sanctuary. In particular they have brought in many tigers to rescue them from poachers in the northern parts of Thailand.  According to one of the guides at the temple there are only 200 tigers living in the wild in Thailand, and this is a result of poaching. The reason for the poaching is that the northern villages are very poor and a tiger can get them a lot of money, enough to get them through normally difficult times of the year. So the monks have set up a several step program. First they have taken in many tigers to protect them from poaching. Next they have sponsored three villages in the north, on the condition that they refrain from poaching permanently. As a part of this sponsorship they have also built many schools in the villages and have sent several students to post secondary education with full scholarships in hopes that they will return to their villages and educate the rest of the people, creating better lives for everyone and a respect for the animals living around them. Lastly they are planning a rehabilitation program for the tigers at the temple so that they will not live in captivity forever.

Well now that you understand the situation let me get to the cool part. Some of the tigers at the temple have built a connection with some of the monks. So much that they have a certain level of comfort with humans and people can actually go into a specific compound and pet some of them. These tigers are not sedated. Rather they are really lazy for two reasons: it is really hot outside and they want to stay cool and they are also nocturnal. Because of these two reasons not only were we able to pet the tigers without them being sedated, but I actually got to hold a tiger's head in my lap!!! It was the most terrifying, most wonderful thing I have ever done in my life. I could actually feel its teeth as its head lay cradled in my arms. Really amazing!

 

Needless to say it was a busy weekend and we were exhausted afterwards, but it was worth every minute of the heat endured and blisters built on our feet. Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn't get to the museum or the historical spots in Kanchanaburi, but hopefully we will get to go back to see that part before we leave.

 

 

 I can't wait to see what experience Thailand will offer me next! Talk to you soon!

First Traditional Thai Meal

So yesterday we went for our first real Thai meal. I am ashamed to admit that the first meal we experienced here was at the Sizzler (an American restaurant). The teachers here were really hungry and it was the first place we found that everyone agreed upon, so we settled. The food was very good though. However we were determined to have atleast one Thai meal on our first day so we travelled far down Kaset Nawamin (which is a freeway right close to our apartment) and eventually came to this outdoor restaurant.

We were guided on this journey by another fellow Manitoban, Michelle, who has been here for ten months and will be returning home soon. She gave us a lot of advice on living in Thailand and teaching at the school, which I think will prove to be extremely helpful.

                                 
When we finally finished ordering, which took probably twenty minutes because of the language barrier, our food came very quickly. It was delicious!! However, some of it was very spicy. Even when we asked "Mai pet" (not spicy) the food burned our esophaguses. I can only imagine what it would be like if we had forgotten to ask for not spicy. Despite the hotness of our food, it was all still very good and we enjoyed the social aspect of eating together, which is a really important aspect of food for Thai people.

 

We were entertained by live music part way through our meal, which was very amusing. I didn't get any photos of the group because I was not sure if it was acceptable, but they were very fun and they even dedicated a song in English to us.

All in all, a wonderful first experience eating out!

Arriving in Thailand

Hi Everyone!

So here I am, in Thailand, crazy hot, crazy tired--- feeling kind of crazy in general. It feels very weird to be here and I am finally realizing how long I will be experiencing this for. But I am still very excited and enjoying the beautiful Thai scenery and people.

We got in to the country around 9:30 p.m. Sunday, and got to our new homes around midnight. The apartments are small but nice. Taking a shower is an interesting experience. But I will talk about that one another time.

We had an interesting ordeal trying to get cell phones but after an hour of working on communicating and setting up phones for all eleven of us we finally got them. So now we can communicate with each other which is good because a group of the girls got lost already trying to take a taxi back to the
apartment.



The language barrier is definitely something we are going to have to get used to and learn to deal with. The first things to learn in Thai are "Hello/Good bye", "Thank you" and "Sorry". The next one will have to be "I don't understand" However it is all apart of the experience and at times it is amusing seeing where you end up. For now we will just have to smile a lot. :)