Chasing Waterfalls

Bridge over the River Kwai

September-22-2012 (3 days, 2 nights)

Destination: Kanchanaburi, North of Bangkok

Transportation: Public Bus 127 (30THB) -->Bus station Noi--> Private Bus (leaves every 30 minutes, 150THB)

Hostel: Jolly Frog

Accommodation :  Waterfront room 150THB per night (75THB each= $2.50 USD)

comfy king bed, fan, bathroom not attached to room (squatter) 

Tips for travelers-

Bring: Toilet paper, towel, bug spray, sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, pack light, a book, shoes you can get wet (girls jelly shoes) 

Budget: total spent less than 3,000 THB (we got 2 massages, ate nice meals and did the major attractions)

Our experience: 

We had heard a lot about the waterfalls but didn't have a Lonely Planet book or any idea what we were really* getting ourselves into. 

 Co-incidentally on my moms birthday;  Saturday, Sept. 22nd we woke up around 6:45am (early for us) because we wanted to have the whole day to explore. Our morning actually worked out perfectly, time was in our favor. Before leaving we stopped at 7-11 down the street from our house to stock up and when we got out of the store the bus 127 was right there waiting for us! we hopped on, got to the bus station and waaallaaa the next bus happened to be in 30 minutes. The ride was easy, fast and somewhat relaxing. 

First impression of Kanchan: Omg this place is the coolest thing ever. I can't believe it's only 2 hours away from us for $2.50. We took a TukTuk bike to Jolly Frog (which we had heard about from other friends). What an amazing place, it was RIGHT on the river. Gorgeous day, sun shinning, around 11 o'clock and we were ready to explore. 

Jolly Frog's restaurant=extremely cheap but you get what you pay for. Quantity over quality thats for sure (just a splash of shell in my scrambled eggs)

The great part about Jolly Frog was the hammocks and the baby kittens we fell in love with! 

After having a late 2nd breakfast we decided to rent a scooter: 200THB for 24 hours= we're in! It was kinda a pain because we didn't bring our passports, luckily all we had to was walk down the street to another shop that didn't care. I appreciate it more now that I've been to Kanchanaburi 3x, we both had helmets.  Man did it feel good to be back on a scooter. Not gonna lie at first I had forgotten what side of the road to drive on, but I put on my poker face and rode me and Brooke threw the city. 

Bridge over River Kwai, where the 1957 British World War II film by David Leah was based on the bridge. yes, Tourist attraction! we checked out the shopping, saw some random animals and enjoyed the sunshine. 

FYI, getting lost in a new place is the most effective way to explore

The first day in Kanchanaburi changed my life. Me and Brooke were SO happy. We found the most beautiful little island, scenery that made my heart skip a beat. 

It takes the untouched land and massive landscapes of Mother Nature to truly change your perspective

I had never seen anything like it, well except on StumbleUpon where there is pictures of beautiful destinations that look too good to be true. In that moment nothing else mattered to us, our adrenaline was as high as a kite through the rest of our adventure. The only inconvenience: 

Pictures don't do justice!

No matter how great it is....for some reason the moment we feel something so fabulous, beautiful, inspiring, life-changing and unreal... we are always quick to capture. 

"Omg this is so unreal; holy cow... Did you see that!!! Take a picture!"

The happiness that fills our hearts isn't for-filling until it is shared. I mean I can tell you how amazing a place is and I can show you my pictures but unfortunately living the experience is something more personal than this (or any) blog. 

BUT, in my defense I write because I am passionate about traveling;

Passionate about living life to the fullest and pursuing the purpose of life.

This brings up a lecture I had in my PY228 Interpersonal Relations class (yes, I still do go to school) where my teacher was talking about the purpose of our lives. She asked some students:

 "What is the purpose of your life?"

Thai students response: to make my family proud, to give to others..to be happy. 

One Thai student said "I am not sure what my purpose is, I think mine is to find out that purpose."

I found this interesting; the idea that the journey of our self-discovery, self-concept is a piece of the puzzle of our purpose. Its not necessary the finish line that we are all seeking; the end; success.. but rather to เพลิดเพลิน (enjoy) the process and how we embrace it and reflect on it. 

Every life experience is a piece of the puzzle...throughout this journey of life, we are all building, constructing and revising our puzzle, our purpose, ourselves. When it's done, a beautiful picture is created. A beautiful life. Although the beauty is not in the picture, it's in the story of each pieces being put together. 

Together we all live in this world with the same pursuit of happiness. Hand in hand, we can help fill the missing pieces of each others lives. 

Ask yourself: "What is the purpose of your life?" 

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE IS HAPPINESS.

"The turn-toward happiness as a valid goal and the conscious decision to seek happiness in a systematic manner can profoundly change the rest of our lives." -Quoted from the book I'm reading The Art of Happiness.

                                                

So back to what I was saying...yes, I am usually one of those travelers that says: Omg lets get a picture or a video to prove that we did that.

On our way back after a good 2 hour scooter ride on the island, it started DUMPING. At this time, Brooke was driving and wow I couldn't even watch. I was nervous, not gonna lie. We made it back to Jolly Frog drenched as if we had showered in our clothes. There were a few moments when the rain fogged up our glasses and things got pretty scary. 

All in all, that scooter ride is one I will remember forever. Me and my best friend had the opportunity to explore a piece of the world that gave us goosebumps and made us reflect on how lucky we are. 

After we changed out of our wet clothes, we decided to check out this sick-ass reggae bar that had a hammock in the middle and live music. Straight jahhh, it was so chill and whoaaaa their Long Islands are long and strong! 

Since it was only like 6 pm we decided that we better go get a thai massage and then go out. At our Thai massage the guy next to us seemed as if he was gettin' alittle bit more than that (happy ending). After a great meal and a great day we were ready to try out the night life. Of course we started at the street bar that said "Get drunk for 10 baht" ummm thats like a penny. I'm in. and on top of that the first bottle we saw was of course the infamous Black cock! 

REPRESENT.  

We met some pretty cool people (best part of our traveling) and got to hear everyones stories. We went back to the reggae place played with the instruments and bonded with the loc-dogs. Brooke knocked my Long Island over, after I knew it was gonna be a good night. At that point I knew it was going to be hard to wake up early and go to the waterfalls :/ but in that moment, nothing else was on our minds. We wanted to celebrate life at its greatest.

Ended up sleeping in.. ops. Had to push the waterfalls back a day because its one of those events you need to wake up early and do. 

We spend our day laying in Hammocks chilling with Sam and I attempted to paint. But didn't manage to get anything on the canvas. 

I would recommend Jolly Frog to travelers who 

1) aren't high maintenance

 2) are on a budget 

3) don't need AC 

4) Looking for a peaceful cheap place to sleep

There is really frogs at night that are Jollily making noise.

Our last day we woke up early to catch the bus to Erwin Waterfalls. The bus was easy and around 30 baht (1$) and then they charge you around 200 baht once you get up there. So worth it. 

7 different levels of waterfalls. Tall Trees, beautiful streams, reflections, bridges and insects. Since we made it there early we beat the tourist, but on our way back we ran into some entertaining european bathing suits. They are definitely not shy about showing skin. Guys in speedos, girls in skimpy suits. 

Waterfall #7 is the jackpot. Looks a little like Yosemite back in the US but obviously had a different atmosphere. What people don't tell you is:THERE IS FISH EVERYWHERE. They nibble at you when you go in the water. It tickled and was hard to really swim while being surrounded by a bunch of hungry nemos. Brooke sat back and laughed as me and Sam attempted to swim while telling the fish to back off as if thats going to do anything. 

On our bus ride back we all sat in the back with this little adorable girl staring at us. Of course I wanted to capture her emotions in a photo. 

When we got back in Bangkok it was pouring rain, we had the driver stop across from our place so we wouldn't have to get a cab. We looked hilarious, 2 girls with our backpacks on and rain suits on, we looked like walking umpa lumpas. Everyone was staring, we got a kick out of it.

All in all the trip was great, our first trip without Kyle and Kevin, we missed them but it was nice to meet Sam and bond with my besty.

Kanchanaburi TRIP #1=Success

Biggest Realization:

It is SO easy to take a bus from Bangkok --> anywhere. The hardest part: deciding where to go. 

Favorite Moments: Scooter ride, Sliding down the manmade slide at the falls, Dancing and playing music at the Reggae bar, Thai massages, Playing with the kittens

I knew after that I would be back to Kanchanaburi soon.