First Couple Days in Thailand

Quick swim in the Erwan Waterfall in Konchanaburri

I arrived into Bangkok and (again) since I had no place to stay I found myself wandering Th Kao San area looking for a place to stay. KS is definitely an interesting place. Think of Del Playa Road in Isla Vista on Halloween, all the time. Backpacker mecca crowded with 20 somethings from all over the world looking to get drunk, buy cheap street food and get lost in the haze of Bangkok. A classy, classy place. Since the guide book that I have is about 10 years old, apparently some of the places in there are no longer in existence. Surprise. Eventually I stumbled upon Rambutrri House on one of the side streets in the area: a gem and pretty cheap. By this point it was about 3:30 a.m. and I had the decision to make: go out or sleep. I went out and people watched for a bit as well as tried to look for accommodation for Thursday night when Jason, Rusty and Tammy would be in town, but quickly found myself getting tired and headed back to my spot for the night.


The next morning I had a quick bite at a little cafe and then I went in search of transport to Konchanaburi, which my friend Paul Lynch highly recommended. Since most travel agencies in guest houses operate their own tours, departure times were limited and I wanted to leave ASAP to maximize my time. Wandering around a bit, I found a mini-van service that Thai people use as a commuter service and off I was- the only non-Thai person on this little van in hopes that where I ended up was indeed Konchanaburi. The ride there was... interesting. The landscape heading out of Bangkok was lovely. Once out of the city, it was filled with sugar cane fields, road side agriculture businesses, mechanics and gasoline stations. It reminded me a bit of driving from Guadalajara, Mexico to El Grullo, the town where my dad is from. It felt comfortable. The driver had a foot of steel. He must have been going well over 100 mph, and I'm pretty sure that one of the ladies in the van (somewhere in the vicinity of 80 years old) nearly had a heart attack after hitting a pot hole at that speed. She yelled something in Thai, which I interpreted as "Oh my god!!" About two hours later, I was dropped off at the bus station in the little town of Konchanaburri, hopped on a motorcycle taxi, held on for dear life as I rode without a helmet and was dropped of near the river Kwai to go in search of a bed.

Train ride along the Death Railway

Historically this area of Thailand is very heavy with World War II scars- as this is where the Imperial Japanese Army was hard at work with the building of the Death Railway to Myanmar (Burma) which would enable the Japanese another supply route in their conquest of Myanmar and other Asian countries west. It is estimated that about 16,000 POWs died while building the railway as the Japanese were eager to get the railway done quickly and were working the POWs very hard. Amidst this sad historical context of the area, I was eager to explore further and pay tribute to the history.


Walking down the road I ran into Toi's Tours, where I was enticed to book my trip to the Erwan Waterfall (the reason I came to this town) which also included a visit to an elephant camp, a ride on a bamboo raft down the river Kwai, a train ride along the country side in the Konchanaburi province and a stop at the famous Bridge on the River Kwai. Toi is a nice Thai lady that was helping a french couple before me and she was speaking french quite well, I thought to myself "great, I can also practice my spotty French while in Thailand"- and that I did. I had read in my guide book about Blue Star Guest House which has tree houses and I was curious to see them. Toi agreed that this particular guest house was a good one and that I should definitely see if there was rooms available there. After checking them out, I was sold. The tree house was more so a house on stilts over the river, with the lovely sound of frogs, crickets, boats and the feeling of the outdoors, including mosquitoes. After signing paperwork, I ordered a tall Singha from the front desk and my intention was to drink it and head out and walk around town, but then I remembered that I was there ALONE and I could do whatever the hell I wanted to do and at that moment I just wanted to sit and take in the environment of my home for the day, and that I did. It was quite warm out so I took my shirt off, sprayed myself with mosquito spray, sat on the deck of my tree house, drank my beer and that is it! It felt good and this moment made me feel like I was on vacation, as opposed to the constant on the go I had been doing to date.


After I finished my respite, I went for a walk and stumbled across "Thai Massage" and boy was I ready for the first of (hopefully) many massages during my trip. I walk in and a very petite Thai lady greeted me with a hot tea. There was another foreigner in there getting a massage already. While I wait she gets on the phone and then comes back over to give me a foot bath. Right as my foot bath is wrapping up, another more robust Thai woman rides up on her scooter to the parlor and walks towards the back of the store. The petite woman signals for me to go back and at this point it clicked: petite thai called robust thai to come give me a massage since I, of course, am a bigger guy. The massage was AWESOME. It is said that you'll never forget your first and I sure wont. After the massage I walked for about 30 minutes across town to the nightly market by the train station. This would be dinner and I made a 4-course meal out of it. Walking up and down the aisles of food stands I came across, amongst many other thai eats: mini chicken croquettes, a chicken, pork, crab spring roll, vegetable pad thai, thai papaya salad, and a thai coffee. All for just about $5. I took my dinner, each in its own little box or plastic baggie, to the steps of a fountain nearby and I feasted... and also broke a sweat from the hot sauce that came with the spring rolls.



The next morning I awakened at 6 a.m. after nearly a 10-hour sleep (I was exhausted, and my internal clock was still off a bit). I remembered waking up frequently to fight off the mosquitoes that apparently love my blood, not just in Thailand, but everywhere around the world. Those darn little bugs! Lucky for me, the bug spray I got my hands on was 95% deet, which I'm sure is not good for me, but I also don't want to catch something that I can prevent: i.e. malaria. My tour guide Dao picked me up at 8 a.m. in a van full of other travelers and off we were to our adventure. We drove about 1 hour and arrived at the Erwan Waterfall. This fall has 7 levels and before I saw it, I was thinking, "Yes, just like Seven Falls in Santa Barbara. This will be great." Lucky for me I think Erwan is much more beautiful and more grandiose. The group was let off to explore the falls on our own with 2.5 hours before we had to return. I hiked up with a few others in my group to the 4th fall, where many of us went for a quick swim. The water was nice and refreshing and the fish in the swimming hole created by the fall were also on a mission: to nibble on your feet! My coworker Tara at Orfalea had suggested getting the fish massage, which little fish eat the dead skin on your feet in a small bucket. This was a whole little pond of fish that would come after your feet if you stood still for too long. After the first couple of times the fishies got a fill, I was not willing to continue experiencing the feeling so I made sure to practice my eggbeaters as I was swimming.


I took off from fall #4 and quickly made my way up to the top as I wanted to make sure I got to check it out, after all when would I be back and I only had about 60 minutes before I had to be back at the meeting spot. I made it my intention to run to the top, best as I could, that way it would double up as a bit of exercise as well. It was a very scenic view and the waterfall here, although much less water than falls 3 and 4, had a humble presence. People were scaling the rocks to get higher up than the trail allows, but with my limited time, and since I get afraid of heights sometimes, I decided to race back down after a few photos. After about 30 minutes of jogging back down the trail I made it to fall 3, which I had not jumped in before. This was massive. It was a big curtain of water that engulfed your whole person when you stood under it and doubled as a massage if you stood at the right angle. It felt great!


We carried on with the tour of the area: did a quick elephant ride (which I felt badly for because me and my partner got the smaller one and we were the heavier of the pairs), drifted on a bamboo raft down the Kwai river which was led by two young boys who were giggling at my practice of the Thai language in asking them what their names were and if we could fish in the river, and my favorite of the entire tour was the train ride for 4 stops along the death railway, which nearly none of is original anymore, except for a few parts of the bridge on the river kwai. This train ride was full of Thai commuters, mainly students who were headed back home after class, and tourists taking the 4-stop ride. The train traveled right through rows and rows of papaya trees and sugar cane, beat up shacks along the tracks and a crisp cool breeze. I decided my seat would be the steps to board the train so that I can have a front row seat to everything that we were passing, hoping that I would not fall out or something, but I made it off safe and invigorated.




As soon as we returned to Konchanaburi, I went back to Blue Star had a tall Singha and rested for a little bit in the common area. I made my way back to Toi's Tours to have her book my way back to Bangkok, in a mini van, again. She made a few calls and had me ready to go within half an hour. I asked if I could charge my phone there while the mini van service arrived as it was pretty close to dead. In the meantime I went in search for something to eat and I found a Pad Thai street stand about a 10 minute walk from Toi's. I was in, and just then Toi pulled up on her motor bike as this was where she also frequented for her dinner, awesome- and it was only 25 Baht ($.85). She offered to give me a lift on her bike and so I took it. I ate my pad thai super quickly, as if I had not eaten in months (it was that good!) and then read my guide book. The mini van pulls up and the driver is super startled as he is blocking traffic and is late for his next pick-up, a pudgy dark Thai man. I hop on the mini-van and off we go. Half way to the next stop (about a 10 minute drive) I realize: MY PHONE IS STILL ON THE CHARGER AT TOIS!! Crap, what will I do without my phone. I stand and reach over to the driver to let him know that my phone is with Toi and that I need to get it. He does not understand what I am saying and just says "Sit, sit!". I figured he heard me and just wanted me to sit, as he soon gets on the phone and speaks to someone. We go to another pick-up and I thought, maybe he called Toi and she is going to meet us here on her motor bike. After all she is a very nice lady. She is not at the next stop. I mention again to the driver that Toi has my phone and he just keeps on driving. By this point I realize that he is not going back and has no idea what I mentioned to him, or chose not to understand as his foot is also made of steel and we are well on our way to Bangkok. I conform. This is all part of the adventure and my stressed-state turns from frustration and anger to ease and acceptance. It was my own fault.


Upon arrival to Bangkok, I walk back to Rambutrri House as that is where I had left my large back pack and I was hoping that the 4-person room was open so that Jason, Rusty, Tammy and I can stay there for that night. Surely it was and I book it, go up to the room and call Toi through Skype. She offers to have my iPhone sent over to Rambutrri House the next morning with one of the mini-vans. Since I would be leaving for the islands at 6 a.m. the front desk would hold my phone. I just hope that it is indeed there upon my return from Ko Phangan, and if not... its not the end of the world. My travels will continue!


p.s. since many of my photos are on my iPhone, I will try and post more pictures later. You can also view some here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100556136060707.2727128.3605624&type=1&l=24007cf43b