We’re hanging out in our hotel in Bangkok, waiting for our flight to Nairobi later tonight.
Kanchanaburi was tremendous. It started off with an entertaining rant about religion from our hotel owner, Apple. She described the influence on society of Buddhist monks in terms that sounded like the mafia, in which devotees must pay off monks to be left alone or pay up. Apparently Apple did not pay them off, so they came by to tell her that her landscaping was giving off bad karma. Apple wrapped up her lecture by encouraging us to go to the local Temple to pay respects to Buddha on his birthday.
We also toured the River Kwai region northwest of Kanchanaburi. This included riding (and feeding) elephants, punting on a bamboo raft, befriending three Brits (two party girls and a diving student eager to make their acquaintance), riding the death railway (built by WWII POWs under brutal conditions) over a rickety bridge, and sharing hot springs with a tour bus of Russian oligarchs in speedos (and their 17 year old girlfriends). We wrapped up the night with a great meal at the Mangosteen Cafe, beers in town (in mugs because it was Buddha’s birthday), mango n sticky rice, and jenga (Holly won, 4-2).
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| Bridge. River Kwai. |
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| And check that off the Bucket List... |
We also did a Thai cooking class, which was probably the highlight of our short lives. First, Fon (“Rainy”) brought us to the local market to buy ingredients. Then we drove about 30 minutes into the countryside to her family’s compound (lots of old rural homes, with a nice modern house rising from between mango and papaya trees). Fon brought along her assistant (“We”) and friend (“Thom”). After spending half-an-hour ripping the heads/shells/veins off of prawns, and some uncomfortable moments where Thom (jokingly?) threatened Holly with a knife, we fulfilled Fon’s promise that we would “make a funny party.” We sang karaoke for nearly an hour. Fon’s cousins came over and took hundreds of pictures of us. And oh yeah, we made an incredible meal.
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| Pre-party making |
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| Phad Thai, Green Curry, and Tom Yum Kai |
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| Bridge Over Troubled Water karaoke |
We went back to town and drank at Rainy’s Bar. Thom told us about her days as a ‘hostess’ at go-go bars in Phuket. Fon uploaded and edited hundreds of pictures from our party. We played pool with We. We stayed until past midnight (when we celebrated We’s birthday) Fon drove us home because of bad men who might sell us yaa baa. It was a great day, and we definitely made a funny party.
And as if the night couldn't get any better, we saw this dog.
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| Look at my eyebrows! |
Our last SE Asian destination was Bangkok. We’ve used our few days here to see the usual tourist sites (Reclining Buddha, beautiful temples with architecture that we never learned much about, panorama of the city by day at the Golden Mount Temple, panorama of the city by night from bars on top of skyscrapers...)
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| Krung Thep at night from skybar |
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| Reclining Buddah needs a bigger home |
But we also walked through other parts of town. In old Bangkok, we discovered Chote Chitr, which we thought was just another hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant until we saw that the walls were plastered with glowing foodie recommendations from NYTimes, NPR, USA Today, etc. We wandered random back alleys where there were no more farangs – we were sometimes rewarded by finding markets for intricate amulets and woodcarvings, but we also stumbled over rickety wooden planks used as walkways over sewage canals. We were surprised that some of the shacks were actual homes, that the shacks were so close to wealthy areas, and that rats could be the size of fully grown cats.
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| Yum... and check out that Thai food! |
We’re off to feast on our last Thai meal (probably our 50th after seventeen days here) and then it’s off to make a funny party on our East African safari!
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