Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to go on a day trip with one of my colleagues at the school where I teach. Kanchanaburi is best known for the infamous Bridge on the River Kwai and it's remarkable sunsets, but when you get out of town and into Kanchanaburi Province itself, there are a lot of lesser-known but equally interesting sites to visit.
Wat Tham Sua
The first destination we reached about three hours after leaving Bangkok that morning was Want Tham Sua, the Tiger Cave Temple. It's a huge temple complex on top of a small mountain. There's a short cable car you can take, but I don't mind a steep climb. Anyway, it was nothing like the climb at the Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi, which interestingly has the same name!
The climb to Wat Tham Sua
It's technically "winter" here in Southeast Asia. Instead of western Thailand's typical clear blue sky, the day was overcast with thick grey clouds. Many of the trees were bare (despite not being really cold), and the rice paddies surrounding the temple are brown and dormant. That and the flocks of birds circling the temple's two high towers (one Thai-style, and the other Chinese) gave it a cool eerie effect.
At the top of the mountain
The eeriness was compounded by the preserved body of the temple's former abbot which was kept in display in the lower parts of the temple compound. It's said (although I don't know how much I believe this), that the bodies of especially holy monks don't decay like regular people. He's been one for over ten years (I forget the exact date), and the body looks naturally mummified inside a glass coffin. I still found it pretty creepy, and didn't get too close for a good look. Besides that, the temple was a neat place to visit, and the views of the surrounding countryside from the tops of the towers were incredible.
Cave Temple
Next up, we arrived at an incredible temple, which unfortunately I don't remember the name of... This one was located inside an underground cavern.
outside the temple
At first, I didn't know what to expect. We arrived at a newish Cambodian-looking temple made of some red stone. "This is cool", I thought. It seemed to me to be just a small, fairly empty temple.
Kanchanaburi Province countryside
Then I was amazed when the narrow passage inside the temple opened up into a large cavern in the side of the mountain. This temple was staffed mostly by white-robed nuns, although there were two monks in meditation as well.
the entrance to the cave
The cave was the home to several small shrines and statues of Buddha or famous monks. You have to be careful walking barefoot in a cave, but being a temple, you have to leave your shoes outside. Most areas had rubber mats set out to protect your feet, but on a few short stretches, you had to carefully make your way over some rocky paths.
A shrine in the cave
Cherry, the teacher with whom I travelled, told me that this cave temple was a fairly well-known place for meditation.
meditating monk in the cave
At the same compound as the cave temple, a large, beautiful Chinese-style temple was under construction. It seemed to be a ways from completion at the time when we visited, although the interior was already richly decorated and featured an impressively huge statue of the "1000-armed god". Outside the new temple, you could walk around the artisans workshop and look at the intricately carved wooden statues they are preparing for the temple. This one was a really special place, as the interior will be hand-carved and decorated mostly in wood.
1000-armed god
Giant Chamchuree Tree
The last place we visited before heading home to Bangkok was a giant "monkey pod tree", called Chamchuree in Thai. This tree, the symbol of the famous Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, is massively tall and wide, and is a famous spot to visit in the province. It would be cool with all of its leaves, but its semi-bare winter branches gave a pretty impressive sight as well.
The Giant Tree
So, there's a lot more to see in Kanchanauri than just the Bridge and the waterfall at Erawan National Park (although both of those places are excellent to visit). Kanchanaburi remains my favorite province outside of Bangkok - that I've seen so far!
It's actually not Chinese New Year yet - that's next Monday - but my school held its official Lunar New Year celebration today with a special morning assembly organized by our Chinese department. The well-funded Chinese Department at my school is run by Hanban (the Confucius Institute), a part of the Chinese Government dedicated to Chinese language and culture education, with a small cadre of recent graduates from China sent to Thailand to teach. The Chinese teachers are very highly-trained in sharing their Chinese culture. They have also been some of the friendliest and nicest people I've met here.
My school, maybe unlike the other schools in Bangkok, is pretty Chinese. By that I mean that we have a lot of Chinese influence and really embrace the Chinese side of Thai culture. It helps, of course, that our patron HRH the Princess is very interested in Chinese, as is the director of Mathayom (the secondary school) where I teach. As I was walking to my class the other day, she stopped me and told me that the teachers who wear Chinese outfits at the assembly would get a special gift from the school. Last year, several of the teachers wore Chinese-style clothes, and I guess the administration really liked that and wanted to encourage it again this year.
teachers receiving their gifts from the Assistant Headmistress
Of course, I wouldn't let the school down! I borrowed a shirt from the Chinese department (I'm still studying Chinese with them this year) to wear to the morning assembly. People at this school love it when the white guy dresses up, and they even asked me to help present a gift to one of the students who performed a Chinese song at the assembly.
Mimi LaoShi, my Chinese teacher
To those wearing something Chinese, the assistant headmistress presented us with our gift from the school. Yuanbao (元宝) was an old, vaguely boat-shaped gold ingot in Imperial China imprinted with a lucky character. The currency was replaced in the 20th century, but small plastic yuanbao are still used as gifts at Chinese New Year. They are said to bring wealth and prosperity. I think that's a pretty nice gift from the school!
元宝 jin yuan bao (gold ingot)
Like last year, there were two shrines set up on the grounds outside the assembly hall. The first was for the Chinese (Taoist) gods, and the second was for heaven, earth, father, and mother. Lighting incense at the second is said to bring health and luck to ones parents.
Chinese offerings at the shrine
lighting incense for mom and dad
Happy Year of the Monkey! I hope the new year brings good luck to all.
