Kanchanaburi

20.07.-21.07.2017

Early in the morning we sit in the minibus to Kanchanaburi. There we want to visit the famous Erawan Falls. After we have put our luggage in the hostel, we rent a scooter instead of taking the bus to Erawan National Park due to time advantages. After about 1.5 hours and lunch, we arrive with slightly numb buttocks. When we bought the tickets for the waterfalls and took a closer look, we see that the park is only open until 4 o'clock. The only reason we rented the more expensive scooter is so that we can stay in the park longer. Now we realize why the last bus leaves the national park at 4 o'clock. That's it...

The waterfall consists of 7 larger cascades over a length of 2 km. At the beginning, the path is still fairly easy to handle but becomes more and more challenging due to the high humidity, heat, and increasing slope. Unfortunately, there are many tourists here, which somewhat detracts from the beauty of the waterfalls. When I arrive at level 5, I separate from Claudi because it is too strenuous for her and continue alone to the top until level 7. I think the last level is also the most beautiful. When I arrive back at level 5, Claudi has just come out of the water and now I want to cool off too. What is strange at the beginning is that there are many fish in the water that nibble on the dead skin on your feet if you don't move. After a while, however, you get used to it and the discomfort disappears.

After cooling off, we walk back to our scooter. Of course, it starts raining on the way there. We consider waiting out the rain but then decide against it and set off. Fortunately, the rain is not cold and there is a warm breeze, which makes the ride much more pleasant. Moreover, no more insects are slapping against my face. It also has its advantages.

As we ride, Claudi shouts in my ear that the wind is whipping the rain right into her face. I laugh because it reminds me of the soccer commentators from Fifa 2001. After halfway, it stops and by the time we reach the hostel, our clothes are already dry again.

The next day, we use our remaining hours to ride the scooter to the Death Railway Bridge. It was built by nearly 700 US soldiers imprisoned by the Japanese. About half of the prisoners died during the construction of the bridge. After that, we pass by the war cemetery in Kanchanaburi and also pick up our bus tickets for the trip to Chiang Mai the same evening. We will also meet Basti there again in a few days. Yeah!