Semester Abroad in Thailand: KANCHANABURI AND THE JOURNEY TO THE 7 TIERS OF THE FALLS OF ERAWAN FALLS

Friday late morning Malhar, Grace, Julia and I took off to Kanchanaburi, a town in Kanchanaburi province about 2.5 hours away. Beth’s boyfriend was visiting from the Philippines so they would meet us and the other UNC kids in Bangkok at the environmental studies field site were also coming Saturday morning. We took a taxi to a bus station about 40 minutes away, but we actually didn’t get to the bus station. We weren’t sure where we were so we got out where we saw some buses in roughly the same area- it wasn’t the right place. We asked for directions to sahtahni-rotmay (bus station in Thai) and asked some people in front of an old bus. They started shouting at Malhar, friendly shouting though, that this was going to Kanchanaburi, but it was only 15 baht (about 50 cents), which can’t be right. We ended up getting on and Malhar called his Thai friend to talk to the driver. It was actually a 30 minute bus ride to another bus that would take us to Kanchanaburi. I passed out, mouth wide open and even dreamt. The next bus was a charter bus and cost 50 baht ($1.70) for the 1+ hour ride to Kanchanaburi. Kanchanaburi is a relaxed town with one main street. We got two bungalows literally on the water, as in the rooms were on rafts that were anchored to land- it was awesome.

After we checked in it was 3:30 so we decided to walk to a few of the local sites. We stopped at a war museum, which had one room with weapons and photos from WW2, and then another building that focused on Thailand-Burma conflicts. Each floor was one room (about the size of a large bedroom) and had a case of historical artifacts and then the walls were covered with murals depicting famous Thai-Burmese wars. The stories were written in Thai, and sometimes also English, below the pictures. You could also access the roof and balconies, which gave us a nice view of the river and town. Right next to the museum was the Bridge over the River Kwai aka Death Railway. This bridge and 415 km railroad was constructed during Japanese occupation of SE Asia in WW2. The Japanese wanted to build a railroad through Japan to get supplies to Burma. They used 200,000 laborers from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and other countries in SE Asia and 30,000 POWs from USA, Australia, Holland, and Britain. In the construction, 100,000 laborers and 16,000 POWs died, hence the nickname Death Railway. By the end of the war, the bridge and parts of the railroad were bombed by the Allied forces and unusable. After the war, Britain sold the railway to Thailand, who repaired the railway and still uses it today. It is still slightly controversial if the railway should still be in use, and making money, considering the terrible conditions under which it was constructed. I personally think it should remain standing in memorial, but should no longer be running.

The next day was unbelievable- one of my favorite days in Thailand. We woke up early to make sure we had time to go to Tesco to get sandwich supplies and get to the bus stop by a quarter till 8 to make the 8 am bus. The bus was about 1.5 hours to the 7 Levels of the Falls of Erawan (which totally sounds like it could be in LOTR). It was just the 4 of us since Beth’s boyfriend was sick and running a fever and the UNC kids were still in transit so we would meet up with them at the falls. Erawan National Park is most famous for Erawan Falls, which is a waterfall that drops a total of 1500 meters. There are 7 levels, but some levels have a few tiers, so I’m not really sure what designats a level. The 7^th level at the top is said to resemble the head of Erawan, the 3 headed elephant from Hindu mythology. We first jumped in at level 2, which had a wide fall with rocks behind the downpour extremely clear water. The water was chilly but nice and it was unreal going under the falls and then hanging out on the rocks behind the sheets of water pouring down in front of us. Before you can walk to the 3^rd level, you had to give 20 baht for every plastic water bottle you had, which would be returned on your way out when you show that you still have your bottles. I think this is a great incentive to not litter and hold on to your waste. The third fall was also lovely, but we didn’t swim again till the fourth level. This level had a nice swimming pool with fish nipping at the dead skin on your heels (freaked me out every time) and two boulders that made natural slides! We had a great time playing on those. After this level, the hike became a little more rigorous and we were going higher every time. Around the 5^th level we ran into the other 6 UNC kids, who hadn’t been swimming yet and were going to swim on the way down. We went into this fall, which was like small-tiered pools spilling in to each other. Level 6 was by far everyone’s favorite. When we first looked at it we joked about how we would need spiked cleats to climb the waterfall, but then a few tried it and realized it wasn’t that slippery. We climbed to a rock, then grabbed on to a rope like branch and swung over to the slope of the fall. The water was pouring over a few different places, so some areas were a little harder to go through than others, but it was a great scene and everyone was so happy. Part of the waterfall fell over a cave which we all crawled in together- it had a muted jade color and glass like texture. We finally made it to the 7^th level, which was near the peak of the mountain, and we had a picnic. It was so unreal- climbing, swimming, jumping in waterfalls and bright blue pools and hiking through the jungle with great friends. On the way down we stopped at a few falls but we needed to get down by 4 to catch the last bus back. The bus was pretty much full, so I sat on the stairwell in front of the open bus door and the boys were on the roof (girls aren’t allowed to because of cultural traditions). I ran in to a couple on our bus later and they told me I was lucky the bus never took a sharp left otherwise I could’ve flown out the door. I was fairly stable in my seat but they’re right that any very fast and unstable movements wouldn’t have meant good things for myself, or the boys on the roof. Transportation standards are so lax. That night we all went to dinner and had a great night checking out the town.

After breakfast on Sunday we went to the POW museum. It was also small, but much more informative than the other war museum. The best part about it were POW’s personal accounts published in newspaper articles. Soldiers were near starving and worked brutally hard, so obviously their immune systems were very weak. Minor cuts would turn in to open ulcers, which would become so infected that one would have to scoop out maggots with a spoon. Amputations were pretty common since these wounds became too infected, but were done without anesthesia or any pain medication. Honestly, I didn’t realize Southeast Asia played a role in WW2. I assumed that when the US established bases in Thailand during the Vietnam War, it was the first US involvement in Thailand. Actually, SE Asia was involved in the Pacific War and I hope I have more opportunities to learn about those events.