Kanchanaburi, Erawan National Park, Thong Pha Pham, Sankhlaburi

Greetings from Sankhlaburi! We've had 10 awesome days of adventure since leaving Bangkok. We began heading northwest to the small city of Kanchanaburi where we spent a couple nights and then took an overnight camping trip to Erawan National Park to see an incredible waterfall.Next we continued northwest to a small town called Thong Pha Phum and then on to Sankhlaburi, where we've stayed for four nights. Our next big destination is Chiang Mai and on to Northern Thailand. Read the stories of our adventures by following the photo trail.:)

Here's a little map for orientation. Bangkok was a crazy big city and we were itching to leave and escape to the countryside. This region is characterized by agriculture (we saw primarily rice fields, fruit trees, and rubber trees), thick jungles, distinct mountains, and several large lakes and dams.

A view of the river Kwai (the same river from Bridge on the River Kwai) from our personal porch in Kanchanaburi. It was pretty plush and even had air conditioning! Most rooms have a fan, and pricier ones include the AC. We watched a huge party raft-boat go by at night --we heard it coming first as Thai karaoke blared from the speakers.

Delicious street food at a market in Kanchanaburi! These were small eggs wrapped in a sort of veggie-stir fry ball, then sliced in half with chili sauce. To drink, a coconut smoothie. It seems that almost every town has a night market starting around 5 or 6pm for dinner and shopping.

A lovely flower in Kanchanaburi.

Motorcycle riding through the rural landscape around Kanchanaburi. Guy was the driver, as I had never ridden a motorcycle before, but I got some practice while we were out. This was a truly wonderful day--it was the first day we had a chance to explore Thailand independently of Taxis or public transportation. Riding through the country was exhilarating and beautiful. 

One of the farms we passed on our motorcycle ride, framed by mountains in the background. The soil we've seen is a rich, red color. The climate and fertile soil really make for prolific farming in this area.

A couple of butterflies dancing on the side of the road. We've seen countless beautiful butterflies in many colors and patterns.

We came across a temple in the middle of farms and forest. The temple was really ornate with a classic large statue of Buddha. There are over 30,000 wats (temples) in Thailand and many of them are extremely ornate. So you can expect to find dozens of shrines and at least a few temples in every city. 

We walked through a cave temple, Wat Bahn Tham, which featured five cave rooms with huge golden Buddha statues surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites.

Entering Erawan National Park! Just an hour bus ride from Kanchanaburi with one major attraction: a massive seven-tier waterfall with dozens of mini waterfalls and places to swim. We saw the most tourists here out of anywhere on our trip and most of them were Russian.

Swimming in a pool off the side of the trail, Erawan National Park.

These little sucker fish!! At first the feeling of fish nibbling at our legs freaked us out , but as soon as we relaxed we realized they weren't really attacking us, but rather nibbling our skin to eat dead skin cells (we think). They loved our feet  and we each had perhaps 50 little fish nibbling our feet at one time! Guy described the feeling as if "hundreds of tiny cats were quickly licking your skin."

Another small waterfall with a pool we swam in. There were countless shelves of waterfalls, created by years of mineral deposits. The water was warm, clear and wonderful.

The spiders in Thailand are huge and exotic! Ah! They look absolutely menacing but we read that the most poisonous spider is in fact the black widow. These other large ones just look scary.... 

PUPPIIIEEES! We camped out at Erawan National Park, where there was a gazebo nearby our tent. As we stood on the Gazebo, we looked down and SEVEN adorable puppies emerged from a hole in the concrete. They lived there and later at night we saw their mother come to feed them milk. 

So ofcourse we spent some time playing with them. By far the cutest feral animals either of us had ever seen.

In Thong Pha Phum at a park, fishing in the river! Guy bought a collapsible fishing rod at a fishing shop in Kanchanaburi. We've been casting into the water almost everywhere we go. The hardest part is trying to get the correct lures and bait for the fish in these local rivers (the language barrier is really difficult sometimes). We're trying to fish for Snakehead fish, but really we're trying for anything that will bite. So the second hardest part is actually catching something --no luck so far.

View in Thong Pha Phum of the street and a temple on a cliff above the city.

We saw a sign for pizza at this restaurant in Thong Pha Phum. I got crab pizza and Guy go sausage, both with Chang beer. You can always count on finding Chang or Leo beer in Thailand -both light lagers. We're looking forward to finding a darker beer but this may not happen until we get back to the States.

Delicious breakfast in Sankhlaburi at the Burmese Inn where we stayed for two nights. The breakfast is called Muesla and it consists of whatever fruit is on hand (pineapple, watermelon, banana, grapes, etc.) with yogurt and granola mixed in. We typically have Thai iced coffee in the mornings too.

A crazy rhinoceros-looking beetle we found at a pagoda temple in Sankhlaburi. The temple is located in a Mon village across the lake from the main town of Sankhlaburi. 

The best bathroom so far, at the Burmese Inn in Sankhlaburi.

On a motorcycle ride outside Sankhlaburi -- we found acres and acres of rubber trees. We learned that 43% of the world's rubber is produced in Thailand! A white sap drips from the trees and is collected at night in coconut shells attached to the trees. It looks a lot like maple syrup harvesting to me.

Sheets of rubber drying.

On our first jungle adventure outside of Sankhlaburi. The forests out here are full of HUGE bamboo! 

A photo of the forest, totally thick with vegetation.

There were spiders everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. We were both fearful for our lives!  We saw huge exotic spiders  with stripes and colors, and other ones that were large and black. We managed to make it to a swimming hole but didn't hang out for long in the jungle. Growing up in the docile forest of the Pacific Northwest doesn't prepare you for the creatures and thick nature of the Thai jungle.

The view from our private balcony at the P Guest House in Sankhlaburi! We looked down upon a lovely terraced garden down to the lake.

Happy birthday to meee! For my birthday we went on a jungle trek and it was incredible! We left our guest house at 9am on a long boat (with 12 other ppl) and cruised through the big lake around Sankhlaburi with awesome views of the mountains and forest. Next we rode elephants for about an hour, had lunch along a river, then rafted on bamboo rafts down the river. We ended the day by relaxing, having a great Thai dinner, and then some drinks. It was the best birthday I've ever had!

Feeding the elephants sugarcane before the ride!

Our herd of elephants stepping down into the river.

Wooo!!  Riding an elephant was pretty much as incredible as you might expect. :D 

Our line of elephants walking through water, on the river beach, and through the jungle.

River rafting on rafts made from bamboo! We didn't get a safety tutorial or any instruction at all on how to use our bamboo poles --crashed into a tree and boulder along the way.

Getting the hang of using bamboo poles to guide the raft. The river moves you along and you use the pole to direct the raft towards where you'd like to go, or away from large river obstacles.