Erawan

So here we are in Kanchanaburi, home of the Bridge over the River Kwai (yep, THAT bridge...it's about 1.5 km from our charming little guesthouse). It's nice here....we ran out of time and money after the island, so Chiang Mai was a no-go. We heard that this little town was like a lowkey mini-Chiang Mai so we opted to come here. It's nice, aside from the one loud tourist strip with gross fat Europeans and Americans dragging around their rented Thai jailbait arm candy. But I digress. Thailand is remarkably easy to get around in, and yesterday was no exception. We opted to take a public bus to go visit Erawan falls, a 7 level 3-tiered waterfall. The bus was made for TINY PEOPLE, we couldn't fit our giant Western frames into the seats so we sat near the back and enjoyed the breeze from the open door. After a sweaty hour, we arrived at this glorious swimming spot and went up to the 3rd level (TOO. HOT. TO. HIKE. AM. DYING.), where after some hesitation I finally jumped in. Why the hesitation? Fish. Lots of fish. For those who don't know, I don't like slimy things touching me. Once at Kits beach a flounder slapped my leg with its tail as it went past me and I didn't swim for like a month afterwards. So you can imagine how I feel after this conversation with Anita at the falls:

Anita (with feet in the water): The fish are nibbling on my toes.
Me (5 feet away on dry land): I'm not f**king going in there.

But the waterfall was too inviting, so eventually we both jumped and spent a long time just sitting on a rock letting the water splash down on us. It was awesome and insanely refreshing. And it 's not even the best part of the trip.

Passed a sign coming in. It said BEWARE OF FIERCE MONKEYS. Notwithstanding how Tyra Banks has ruined the word 'fierce' for life, this is truly an exciting thing. Next thing I know, I see 7 monkeys in a nearby tree playing and jumping from branch to branch.

I can die happy. I've seen monkeys in the wild.

Last day in Thailand. I'm really sad to leave, and it's ironically the first cool day of rain we've had while we're here. On to Bangkok, Muay Thai, and a raised Singha to this amazing country. More later, kids.
-gregg