A chance of heavy tensions between Shelli and Kate come through in the morning, but dissipate by afternoon. Craig seems to withdraw more and more into his iPod. I wonder if he’ll soon forget we are here. Jim continues to be the lone wolf, which is beginning to irritate the girls; however, Jim doesn’t seem to care. Brandon also retreats into his iPod, but purely for mind stimulating reasons. Sudoku, anyone???
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It’s peaceful right now. Everyone is sleeping as I sit on a veranda overlooking the River Kwai. The fog between the mountain ridges looks like something out of a mythical storybook. The birds are chirping and the sound of one of the staff members watering the lawn three floors down is all I hear. Occasionally, you can hear traffic from the street of the nearby bridge, but as long as I stare ahead, it’s like it never existed.

My favorite place for peace and solitude!

Today has to be one of the best days of my life, which is surprising considering I didn’t have high expectations for it. You see, we decided to take one of those all day tour group package things and visit some of the attractions in the area. These kinds of trips are normally a burden to me considering it’s 10 hours and you are at the mercy of some tour guide and stuck mingling with people you’ve never met before in your life (and will probably never see again).

We started our journey late (our fault… but they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day) and were rushed to the waiting van. Now I don’t know if we were just trying to make up time or what, but with Speed Racer behind the wheel, Mr Toad’s Wild Ride had nothing on us.

We arrived at our first destination: a small waterfall called Saiyok Noi.

Jim at the falls...

Not a big deal. I’ve been to Dunns River Falls, a multitiered waterfall in Jamacia. Now that was cool! In fact, there was the multitiered Erawan Falls nearby which I would have rather visited… but that wasn’t on the tour. Oh well. We grabbed a few pictures, but 30 minutes flew by and we were back in the van.

Speed Racer was now whisking us off to a destination I was really looking forward to: Hin Dat Hot Spring.

The hot springs!

An hour didn’t seem like it was going to be enough time, but I made the best of it. Little did I realize how perfect it would be. We hopped in the first pool which was about 40 degrees Celcius. It felt sooooooo good. I completely immersed myself and let the warm water relax me as it enveloped my entire body.

Now THIS is a vacation!!!

Next to the pools was a stream.

Relaxing next to the cold stream.

This stream was not warm… rather, just the opposite. Jim just jumped right in, but my body wasn’t handling the extreme change that well. I waded in up to my waist and that was fine with me. We continued this pool/river jumping for about 30 minutes and then I decided to take the full body river plunge. I found a section of stream with few rocks and that was a little deeper. I fell in head first. The sensation was exhilarating! I jumped out of the water feeling completely refreshed.

Apparently Jim needed to go as bad as the guy on the sign!

After Jim got an emergency stop at the bathroom, we changed back to our street clothes and left the European Speedofest behind. What great memories (not of the European speedos, I should clarify).

We continued the journey by experiencing some history before lunch. We visited Hellfire Pass, which was the site of a Japanese supply railroad that was constructed by prisoners of war during World War 2.

Hellfire Pass

For more on the history of it, visit http://www.hellfirepass.com/museum_hellfire_pass.html.

I thought this was an interesting description from one of the survivors.

We toured the museum and the site for about an hour. I couldn’t help but think that my friend Glenn would really find this place interesting.

An overlook to the pass below. Beautiful shot!

After our journey through time, we stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall roadside restaurant and enjoyed an AMAZING Thai feast.

SOOOOOOO GOOD!!!

Speed Racer even came by after we had our fill and started feeding the leftovers to some mutant fish that lived in a pond next to the restaurant. Soon, everybody wanted a turn, including Jim.

Jim feeding the mutant fish!

We got back in the van and soon arrived at our next destination: an elephant camp and bamboo rafting tour on the Kwai River. We were towed upriver by a small boat and then released to drift back downstream.

Being towed up the River Kwai

However, Speed Racer called me out and told me to jump into the river and go for a swim. I told him I’d think about it, but he said to do it now because the boat ride wouldn’t last very long. At first I just wanted to ride the raft, but soon concluded; when was the next time I’d be able to say I went swimming in the River Kwai? So I dove in!

Somebody save me!!!

Jim was coaxed a bit too and soon gave in, followed shortly by Craig, who was really the last guy in the boat. We let the fast-moving current take control of us and we started cruising down the River Kwai. It was an amazing experience that none of us regretted.

Floating down the River Kwai.

When we got to the launching site, we climbed ashore and made our way to the elephant camp for the next part of the adventure. Jim and I climbed aboard the same elephant and started the trek down the path. It was kind of funny because the safety bar on the seat was really the only thing keeping us from flying off. I kinda felt like there should be a net on the side because we were moving from extreme right to extreme left. I took a few snaps and then the driver offered to take a few for us. I thought this meant he would just turn around and take a couple so we wouldn’t have to do the whole self-portrait thing. Little did we realize he meant he’d let us drive as he walked in front snapping photos.

Brandon driving the elephant.

Needless to say, the rest of the group was jealous. Even after pointing us out, Shelli and Kate’s driver wouldn’t let them do it. Poor Craig just had to sit alone with another woman from our tour group as his driver predicted we were going to die. After a while, Jim got a turn and the driver snapped like another 100 pictures.

Going all Korean in our last pose.

We finished our “BEST ELEPHANT RIDE EVER!!!” and dashed back to the van for our next adventure.

Our next stop was a little outdoor market off the Death Railroad train depot. After a few minutes of shopping, we visited a nearby Buddha cave.

I think this pic is one of my favorites. It really shows the grandeur of this cave and the lighting really helps.

We then took a ride on a train… destination: unknown!!! We were told the best views were on the right side of the train, but unfortunately, some of us couldn’t get a seat. But our misfortune soon turned into the most thrilling ride ever. We were told we were allowed to stand in the doorway, but a few people started taking that a step further by sitting on the stairs or hanging out the doorway. In a move that would cause my mother undue stress if she were there, I too hung out the door of a moving train.

Who is trying to throw me from a moving train? Could it be a rival blogger?

It was sooooo much fun. Craig tried it too and we laughed as the deadly branches of the passing trees and brush almost killed us as we flew by them.

The van met us at the end of the line and we boarded, headed for our final destination: The Bridge Over the River Kwai. The rest of the group did not realize the historical or cinematic significance of this place. So while I went over the bridge over the River Kwai… they shopped for sunglasses. Despite late afternoon foot traffic on the bridge, it was pretty cool.

About to cross the famous Bridge Over the River Kwai.

We headed home for a night of delicious food at our new favorite hole-in-the-wall.

Shelli no longer has to worry for spicy because they do low spicy for her here.

We then spilt up and got massages. I don’t know why I felt going through the pain again, but I was so loose after the last one that I had to do it again. Craig, Jim and I went to one place while the girls went to another. Now the guy’s spa was really swank. We got our feet washed and were even given special massage pajamas. We, however, put them on backwards (how were we supposed to know the full body ties were supposed to go in the back?) and we think the ladies were laughing at us the whole time. I really wish I had gotten a picture. I can’t tell you what transpired during Jim’s massage, but for me, this massage was more painful than the one yesterday. This lady was killing me with her vice grip and bony knuckles and elbows. As she was working on my legs and she started up the thigh, I made a funny face and she asked if I was ticklish. I said “no” in a high pitched voice as I released my breath. By the end, I was ready to get out of the joint. The woman told me I could change back in the shower room. I ended up getting a fully-clothed shower when I accidentally turned the knob as I removed the massage pajamas from where I hung them. It got a good laugh from Craig and Jim. All in all, the perfect end to a perfect day.

Tags: adventure, bridge, danger, Death Railway, elephants, fish, food, Hin Dat Hot Spring, Kanchanaburi, massage, River Kwai, Saiyok Noi, Speed Racer, speedo, Thailand, train, waterfall