Saying Goodbye to the Former Me

Before I left for Thailand, I think every one of my friends and family told me, "Thailand will change your life. You'll be so different when you return." I knew that spending 5 months abroad would definitely change me, but I never anticipated that it would take effect so quickly.

Friday, I left for Kanchanaburi and Erawan Waterfalls. I was so excited for the trip because a few of my classmates had already been and from hearing their stories and seeing their pictures, it seemed like an amazing little trip. I woke up early to meet with other students to catch the bus. Traveling into Kanchanaburi was such a change. I left the dirty, over-polluted city behind me and began to see mountains,  plants, and water that wasn't quite as brown as the rivers in Bangkok. Once we arrived, we decided to catch a train and ride some elephants. We rode on the Death Railway, which was a really interesting journey. The Death Railway gets its name from the thousands of prisoners that died during the construction of the railroads during World War II. The views from the train were amazing. I couldn't believe the incredible beauty that was flashing before my eyes. The train took about 2 hours, but it was a really neat experience. Once we arrived at the end of the line, we stopped for lunch and bargained a taxi to the elephant camp and then home! Once we arrived at the elephant camp, we were ready for our elephant trek. It cost 250 baht (a little over 4 dollars) to ride on the back of an elephant on a seat or 500 baht to ride on its neck. I was so ready to ride on the neck, but the guide said that you would go into the water and the elephant would flip you off its body so everything would get wet, seeing as I had my camera, money, and other things in my bag that couldn't get wet, I settled for the dry seat ride. I wasn't disappointed. I was mystified at the absolute elegance of this giant creature. Even though I could feel its massive shoulder muscles working beneath my feet, I felt like I was floating above the ground. I thought that we would go on a little path around the farm, something easy, nothing major. Wrong. After getting on the elephant, we head straight down a path, almost a complete drop-off into the water. I have no idea how an elephant can do such a thing. I mean this path was at least a 70 degree angle drop. I would have busted my ass if I tried to trudge down it. But, slowly, we went down the path into the water. The elephant seemed so happy to get into the water. One of the elephants had a little baby, 2 years old according to the guides, and he was adorable. The minute he slipped into the water, he was just like a human child. Splashing the older elephants, swimming in circles around his mother, and blowing water out of his trunk, I don't think he could have had a better time. We went around for about 30 minutes and it was so awesome. Being 5'3 it isn't often that I have to duck for tree branches. The elephants were just so peaceful. When we first arrived, I was a little apprehensive about seeing the elephants with chains around their necks. But, as I came closer to them, they had rubber tubes around the chains, so they wouldn't rub their skin. After taking the ride, I think that they are cared for pretty well. They were going down to the water to play pretty often, and we stopped so they could grab food several times. At the end of the ride you could feed them bananas, which they loved! I stopped to pet one, and it was so incredibly beautiful. I spoke with the woman who was selling bananas and she told me that he was 20 years old and was a "good boy." He was adorable! He flipped up his trunk and blew air at my face and the woman told me that he liked me. I have seen elephants before at the zoo and once at a circus, but this was so different. There was nothing besides a flimsy little wooden fence between us, and he was just enjoying the bananas I was feeding him. Such an awesome experience! There were also two monkeys at the camp. The monkeys I did feel bad for, they were chained to some bamboo structure with about 2 feet of room to roam. They were frantically running back and forth, and even though monkeys are crazy and riddled with disease I hate that they're chained and forced to be a spectacle. I tried to give it affection from afar by throwing food to it.

I rode a motorcycle. Yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you, I Jessica Kesner, rode a motorcycle. For those of you who know me well, I am afraid, actually, more like terrified of them. But, when you have a brutal headache and the only thing standing between you and your bed is a ride on the back of a death-trap, I learned that you're not so picky about how you get there. Trust me, I tried like hell to get a taxi, but out of the 2 we saw, they weren't willing to take us to our guest house. It was insane. (sorry mom) I didn't have a helmet on, the guy obviously wasn't really concerned, and I felt like every moment was impending death. Well, it probably wasn't that dramatic, but let's just put it this way, I won't be getting on another anytime soon. I just feel like Thailand continuously challenges me in every way possible. I am learning that everything I said I wouldn't ever do, I will probably do it in Thailand. Crazy.

Saturday, it was time for Erawan Falls. Erawan Falls is a national park in Kanchanaburi that holds 7 steps of gorgeous waterfalls. The water was crystal clear and an insane turquoise color. It was also freezing, but in an excellent, refreshing way. It was such a wonderful change to being hot and sweaty. The trails were really beautiful, but it was incredibly difficult to trek the trails, because most of the steps were longer than my stride (damn my genetics for making me short, thanks Dad) but it was a great day. I saw a huge spider. I was so freaked out. It was about the size of my palm, and being afraid of spiders, that is not cool. It was jet black with a yellow underbelly. Ew. As we all stood around and took pictures, the woman who was cleaning the trail behind us was laughing hysterically and kept saying "bite, bite" That was my cue to get out of there. Swimming was definitely the highlight of the trip. The water was awesome. And there were some of the fish that I got a fish pedicure with, except some of these were a foot long, some even longer I'm sure! I wasn't as happy to let them eat my dead skin, it felt like you were being shocked, as if you touched a door handle too quickly. Once was enough for that, too creepy. There were places you could step into the rocks and let the water cascade before you, and that was really neat. I did, however, hurt my ankle on the last swimming trip. I jumped from a rock into the water, but didn't quite jump out as far as I thought, and hit a rock. But, as began to complain about hurting my ankle, I had to think about the fact that, yeah my ankle was hurt, but it was hurt at a waterfall in Thailand. I'd say it's worth it. And besides, after 2 days of icing it and taking it easy, it feels almost back to normal, and should be completely better within a few days or so.

Today, I went to Siam Cineplex to watch a movie. I decided on Underworld 4. It was in 4D, so I thought that would be really interesting. Being a fan of the Underworld series, I should have known better. What was I thinking? Although it was an amazing movie and a really cool experience, my chair wasn't still the entire movie. Every fight scene (which was basically the entire film) my chair was moving at impossible angles and flipped to the side and then back to the other. It was a little exhausting. There were also these little mallet things that would jab into the back and sides of your chair when someone was stabbed or punched, so I felt like I was literally being attacked. It didn't hurt, but it definitely kept you alert and into the movie. Also, there were these water sprayers that would squirt you when there was any blood that flew up on the screen, which was kind of gross. It was as if you had the blood on your face. It happened at least 10 times in the movie. I had to wipe off my glasses several times. For 10 dollars, I thought it was a pretty cool thing to do. I mean at home, a 3D movie is more than that. I think it's 11 dollars to see a movie in 3D at Marquee and this was one of the nicest theaters I've ever been in. Not something I'd do often, but it was definitely worth the money.

At the beginning of every movie in Thailand, there is a clip that you stand to attention and watch. This clip is to pay respect to the King. Every patron stands for the short collage of photos and a song plays in the background. I thought this was so cool. You can see the level of respect just oozing out of the photos of the people of Thailand. They love their king and it definitely shows. I love seeing the pride that Thai people have, it is so inspiring.

It's time to get my things put away from the weekend and prepare for another week of classes. It's hard to believe that in 4 days, I will have been here for exactly a month. That's insane! Time truly flies here, and I cannot believe that I've already done so much! Next weekend, I plan to visit Monkey City and the sunflower fields!