Bamboo Rafting on the River Kwai

One morning during our glamping trip in Kanchanaburi Province, we booked a bamboo rafting trip down the River Kwai.

My mom, brother, wife, and I marched down the steep and slippery steps at the Hintok River Camp down to the river, where a bamboo raft was waiting for us.

We stepped aboard the bamboo raft, and our pilot pushed us away from shore. We were on our way, drifting down the River Kwai and following the currents to wherever they would take us.

At the beginning of our journey, when we first sat down upon the rickety bamboo planks of the raft, my mom and brother were at the front of our vessel. 

However, no sooner had we pushed off from the shore, did we find that the raft had turned to face the other direction! We all found ourselves facing backwards.

I agreed to take the back seat on the raft and spent a good minute with Mom tilting the raft back and forth in a really alarming way before we had switched positions on our little boat... but as soon as we set off along the river, we both found ourselves in our original positions! 

The part of the boat that we had originally expected to be the back was now the front, and vice versa.

Oh well...

We finally gave up, and I spent the rest of the journey at the helm with Mom at the stern.

It was a warm day, but the breeze over the river was pleasant, and it was really comfortable on the raft. 

We set off along the river, enjoying the beautiful green scenery of the densely jungled hills which we floated past along our way.

The raft took us lazily down the river. Although our guide invited us to jump in for a swim, we did not take him up on the offer. Instead, we just enjoyed the calm, quiet afternoon on the water. 

Eventually, we came to a narrow bridge spanning the river with a temple and a little village on one side. Our guide tossed a rope to another guy with a motorized longtail boat. It was time to be towed back to the camp.

At first, the boat slowly turned us around and began pulling us back against the current. However, we were soon speeding along the river! Now, it turns out that bamboo rafts aren't necessarily very hydrodynamic (is that the right world?).

As soon as we got some speed, Kyle and I found ourselves getting sprayed with the river water as we bounced up and down on the water.

The ride back to the camp was as wild as the ride down the river had been relaxing, and it made for a fun second half of the journey.

In the end, I think Mom was glad that she was at the back of the raft, because my brother and I were completely soaked. I guess we might as well have gone for a swim after all... the results would have been the same!

Bonus video: Here's a short video of us on our rafting tour of the River Kwai!