Apologies for the abrupt end to my last post, but my focus was gone and I held out hope that my cold would disappear if I could get to bed early.

My hopes were dashed when I awoke this morning.

Alas, such is life.  Luckily, I have all day today and tomorrow to rest and acclimate so if I had to get sick, I’m glad it’s now.

And now, I shall continue describing the rest of my Kanchanaburi adventure.

Following our sojourn to the bridge we were herded onto a bus once more.  We arrived at a floating restaurant, that after serving us delicious (and occasionally unidentifiable) food set off down the river, dragged by a small boat for a sunset cruise.  I think the photos will be more illustrative than if I just tell you how beautiful it was.

The boat that tugged us getting into position.

View from where we took off.

Sunset over the right bank of the river.

Pulling us along!

Things became slightly surreal as the sun set.  What started off as a mellow ride down the river turned into a floating night club.  I was sitting on a bench directly next to a speaker watching the pastoral surroundings float by as the bench I was on bounced with the beat of the music.

The next morning we set off bright and early for Taweechai Elephant Park.  My favorite part was starting off on a raft ride down the river.  I didn’t take any photos as I was afraid to take my camera on a bamboo raft, but you’ll have to take my word that it was amazing.

After that we watched an elephant show and took rides on an elephant.  It was an interesting experience, but not one that I think I would repeat.  After they demonstrate just how intelligent these elephants are it’s difficult not to think about how they’re being treated and the ethical ramifications of having them perform for our amusement.  You also see just how impoverished the elephant trainers are as you move through the camp, so it’s also difficult to think about what would happen if this livelihood was taken away from them.

Enough with the philosophizing, and onto the pictures:

Onward steed!

After this was a quick shower, and then yet another bus ride back to Bangkok to meet my school coordinator!  I’ll be sharing more details soon about my arrival here in Phanom Sarakham, but now to napping!