Pirates of the good ship Team Adventure

Back in Thailand and on the road again... We stopped off in Kanchanaburi for a few days. A smaller town than usual, we also decided to try something different for us: Activity days! We have become slothful since leaving Ireland, so days with lots of walking around were considered a good idea...

Here we are at Sai Yok Noi waterfall! Its a picturesque area, and the water is nice for paddling your feet in, or going into up to your knees as one poor tourist found out as she slipped forward on algae covered rocks. Here's Emma and myself blocking the nice view.


Oh no! Emma has been tied to the tracks by a nefarious criminal! Amanda looks on in horror as the train races towards Emma! What a sad end to Emmas adventures.


After the waterfall we went on an elephant trek. We were brought up to a hillside village where the elephants live. They drivers communicate with the elephants by making different sounds, and kinda tickling behind their ears with their feet. Oh there's Emma. Guess she got away from the train somehow...


As we walked along the elephants stopped every now and then to decimate bamboo trees. Turns out, even if your job is to be an elephant trainer, its really difficult to persuade them not to eat on the job. We were told not to worry about the acres of burning mountain side in the background.


The river rafting was really fun. The bamboo poles are loosely tied together with little seats on them for passengers. When you get on the boat the main body of the boat actually goes mostly underwater, which is a little unnerving at first. The man at the front just pushes the boat along by driving a bamboo pole into the river bed and pushing hard. He was good enough to let me pilot the raft for the 2nd half of the journey. Lets just say its not as easy as they make it look! Amanda celebrated a safe journey by getting her foot stuck in the raft while getting off.


This is part of Hellfire Pass, a stretch along the Death Railway, which also has the Bridge over the River Kwai. This clearing was made in the hillside using POW's and slave workers from around Asia. Along the side is a memorial to a POW who was killed by the Japanese because the compressor drill he was using broke in the tough rock face. Mechanical tools were an extreme rarity though, with the vast majority being done by hand.


On the way back to the museum, Rachel and I took the long way back so we could do some more exploring. It meant going up and down about a million steps, which was a little more than we bargained for. Rachel is a real trooper though and doesn't let death by heat exhaustion get her down.


This second of the railway was completed in a month , with ~700 people dying during this period.

Finally at the end of our train journey is the Bridge over the river Kwai. You can actually walk across it, as the bridge has been completely repaired as a memorial. Its a risky endeavor however, as the metal plates in the middle bend when you walk on them and the wood boards at the side aint in the best condition of their lives. There's no barriers to prevent a long fall if you trip either!



Next day was a trip to Tiger Temple. Its home not just to tigers, many lost or injured animals from the area wander in its gates from time to time. These include deer, boors oxen, peacocks cows and chickens. Tigers are pretty big up close by the way. Much bigger than when viewed at a distance behind bars. Especially their paws. And Teeth.

Emma being fearless as usual. I suppose if you can take a train on, a tiger is no problem. They aren't chained to anything by the way. Those cats are free to wander around their area, but the handlers try and discourage it. They also don't like the colour red, so a man we saw petting them today with red shorts was a daredevil without even realizing it.


Here's Rachel petting.... a monk?! Those guys are celebate, leave them in peace please!

After about 45 minutes they Abbot of the monastery told us the tigers wanted to leave so we had to wrap things up. As we left I had the chance to walk beside an unrestrained tiger. It was an amazing experience. We went back to the park and had a look at some new arrival tiger cubs and the other animals around the park.

During feeding time, DISASTER!! All the animals rush for the food, seemingly about to crush us all under their thundering hooves. Amazingly, Emma isn't the only one with super strength. Amanda stops them all with one hand!

We shall be moving on in a few days. Paddys day is coming up soon, so we'll get back to you with how well Asia manages to pull it off!