rain on the roof

04.29.2008 kanchanaburi Elephant Camp

on a cloudy day i leave kanchanaburi to see hellfire memorial, a memorial dedicated to PoWs who built the thailand-burma railway. that night is spent in a small town of thong pha phum, with its burmese mon curry, lychees, pancakes and coffee (which was actually pancakes with condensed milk)

and then i reach the quiet border(close to myanmaar) town of sanghlaburi. it rains for three days after i land here. the monsoons have arrived and along with them gheckos the size of a mouse, a million frogs that croak through the night, and flying termites which hover over towns the entire day.

we take a walk to the mon village, crossing the longest wooden bridge in thailand to see the temple mounted with 6 kgs of gold on its spire. i spend the next two days in the restaurant of the guesthouse (which has a spectacular view of the area) making new friends, saying goodbye to the now-old friends, walking into town and finally making peace with the rain and going to the border post of myanmar.

the border has been closed for more than a year now (but its still possible to step into myanmar by just stepping behind the food stalls) it was more the journey than the destination that i went for. in the afternoon, i take a 4km hike into the remote karen village, a village with no electricity but solar panels for dish antennae, a 50 concrete road in the middle of the village and dirt motorbikes! the latter are badly needed in the rains.

i almost have to slide down the last few meters! tevas make bad hiking sandals in the mud- once again!

i am in bangkok now, to take care of some business back home. tomorrow i head north to see more elephants, temples, hill tribes and more (or less).

with another 7 days left for my thai visa, i have perhaps two more stops before i cross over to laos and slowly float away (to the capital)..

(and yes, i finally gave in and went for an organized tour- the day after meeting the tigers, in an effort to touch more "wild" animals, i went for an elephant trek and to bathe with the elephants in the river- the only way you can do it)