Next we went to a historical battlefield where the Thai and Burmese armies had clashed in a bloody war hundreds of years ago. There was a huge memorial to the Thai general, the brother of King Rama I.
It was beginning to get really hot, and even with sunscreen we were beginning to burn. I'm outside quite a bit in Bangkok, but because of the pollution, I haven't been burnt. It was almost a little weird to see a blue sky! P'Ja asked if we were hungry, and drove us to a nearby guesthouse on the Kwai Noi (Little Kwai), an arm of the Kwai. After eating various Thai dishes, she took us to a really famous temple.
That tree is over 500 years old. It is said to house the ancient spirit of a girl who was wrongfully killed. The locals believe that if you pray at the shrine there and make a wish, the ghost will help it come true. If it does, they bring silks and girls clothes to leave as an offering at the shrine to thank her.
They were working on building a huge new temple. We got to sign our names on the back of one of the roof tiles!
Next, we drove to Erawan National Park to see the famous seven-tiered Erawan Waterfall. Unfortunately we were a little late, and only arrived in time to see the first and least impressive tier. Since it was a holiday weekend, there were tons of people swimming in the pool under the waterfall. It was quite a hike to get to each consecutive tier, and the park had already closed tiers two through seven to begin clearing people out for the evening. Again, we saw lots of obnoxious Russian tourists. They're everywhere, very obvious, and incredibly rude.
 |
| some cool scenery |
After leaving the park, P'Ja took us to see the Kanchanaburi Dam. It's the second largest Dam in Thailand and provides hydroelectric power to much of the country. P'Ja's husband P'Chai is an engineer who helped construct the dam and worked there for twenty years.
 |
| some more cool scenery (at the reservoir) |
 |
| again, cool scenery |
 |
| the dam |
 |
| three farangs atop the dam |
And then it was time for the inevitable conclusion of any Thai gathering: Thai Karaoke. For some reason, the Thai families really love to sing karaoke. They're not very good, which is what makes it even more hilarious. Most of the songs were in Thai, but they found some songs by the Beatles and we were expected to sing. So I sang "Let it Be" and "Yesterday" with Kelsey and Katie. That was enough to satisfy the family, luckily!
I really like all of my female coworkers, but I think the men could tell that I had been missing guy time. They really enjoyed hanging out with me, and P'Chai began calling me "my son". He showed me pictures that his family had taken on vacations with farang teachers in previous years, and pointed out his other "sons". One of them was my friend, Grant who had welcomed me to Bangkok several weeks ago.
 |
| me with P'Joc (Uncle Jocky) to the left, and P'Chai in the middle |
The next morning we ate rice porridge with chicken, and then headed out. On our way back to Bangkok, the family took us back to the temple. They wanted to get us Thai amulets. We met with a monk who said a blessing over the amulets. P'Ja told us that they are the most powerful type of Buddhist amulet, and are for "all the good things". In Thailand, an amulet is believed to have more power based on how old it is, and which monks have blessed it. Ours were blessed by a very old and supposedly famous (in Kanchanaburi) monk named Pla Tha Grada (spelling?). He also gave us delicious dragonfruit!
*I really can't believe that it took me so long to update this blog. Things have been super busy here lately, and there's been some weird political stuff which I'll write about soon, I'm sure. I did so much in one weekend in Kanchanaburi, that it was a little overwhelming! Work-wise, noting really notable has happened in the last few weeks. I'll try to continue catching up. This weekend is another holiday, and I'm going on another road trip. I'll let you all know how it goes!
No comments:
Post a Comment