Day 139 - 09th November
So waking up with Kel and Dave in my dorm room was kind of strange but after five minutes of Dave singing out loud, I felt like I was back to normality with a home comfort.
We were sharing a room with Nikki, a girl from the U.S. and she joined us on our walking trip down to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, home of the giant reclining Buddha. As in true form with my travels, Buddha's feet were covered in scaffolding, ruining the devine feeling it was suppose to give you. Nevertheless, it was an impressive structure and temple site overall.
We took a casual pace down to the riverside to see the giant stupa on opposite side of the river and that was also covered in scaffolding. Laughing our way along, we stopped for a fancy kebab on the waterfront shopping promenade before heading through a few markets and trying fresh fruit and shakes. Seriously, the fruit options and flavours here are fantastic.
I took the guys down to the political monument and Queen's shrine before we headed back to Khaosan Road for a well earned beer. We covered some heavy issues - the Pol Pot Regime and the British use of the 'C' word - before Kel, Dave and I had to head off to get our bus to the bus station.
I had a little bit of banter with the hotel receptionist who had been great since I arrived in Bangkok and we boarded the 516 to Sai Tai bus station in the south west of the city, over the river. The bus was packed and we were squashed in like sardines. Thankfully it was only a twenty minute or so journey.
At the bus station, which Kel said resembled an airport terminal with its check in desks and shops, we made our way down to platform ten to buy our tickets. Two drunk men were arguing near the exit and one pushed the other down into a massage chair in frustration. It was one of the more awkward fights I've witness in my twenty seven years.
The bus rolled up at five and we jumped on, settling at the back. It had great leg room, welcomed air con and despite a drip from the roof onto me and Kel every so often, it was a pleasant journey.
Kanchanaburi was thriving at night when we arrived in the bus station and we grabbed some street soup before being whisked away to our hostel, The Sugar Cane in a Tuk Tuk.
The huts were nicely situated on the riverbank and after a quick beer, we walked fifteen minutes back down the strip to have a few beers.
In the second bar, we ended up playing pool and Connect Four with the bar staff - some women, some lady boys - and we selected our choices of Aviici on the music system, much to their delight.
The walk back was interrupted by the customary stop at a 7 Eleven before we retreated to our huts ready for the early start in the morning. We were heading to the Elephant Haven Sanctuary. To say I was excited would be putting it mildly.
