Day 237 - When is a Planetarium Not a Planetarium?

When it's the Bangkok Educational Science Center! Listed simply as a planetarium, the science center actually consist of a planetarium PLUS 4 more science museums. Admission to all four museums plus the planetarium costs less than $3 (As opposed to the $18 for the NYC planetarium and science museum). The guidebook also says to allow at least a half day for the museum[s].

We were there for the reccomended half day and only managed to hit the planetarium and two of the museums.

Our first stop was the main physics and technology museum. Unfortunately one wing was closed, but that didn't stop us from playng with the childrens' exibits, climbing through a giant computer, and checking out the robot exhibit - which featured among other things screening of I Robot in Tai.

Afterwards we wandered through the Ocean Life museum and admired the fish. We didn't understand much, as most of the signs were entirely in Thai, but occasionally the fish names were in written English. I would not want to be caught downriver from this fellow.

Also in the exhibit were several aquariums of corals and reef fish. We were endlesly amused taking pictures of ourselves 'underwater'.

At 2:30, we trouped into the planetarium. It has been ages since either of us had been to a planetarium show, and we had forgotten how much we love the star-making machine. Once again, the dialogue was entirely in Thai, but the displays were great. It was especially neat seeing the Thai versions of familiar (and unfamiliar) constellations. No 'Big Bear' 'Little Bear' here. Thais see in the stars curling dragons, naga, and all manner of mythical half bird, half human creatures.

After the planetarium show, we wandered through the attached space museum looking at model rockets, satellites, and launchers. Who knew that Kazakistan had its own launcher and satellites?

By the time we blinked our way back into the sunlight, it was nearly 4PM and the other museums were closing down. We never even set foot in the Environmental Hall or the Museum of Medicine.

At a loss as what to do with the last few hours we had left in Bangkok, we wandered over to the Foodmall across the street from the museums. I had a huge headache, and was hoping a caffeinated drink would clear it up (it did, along with the tylenol). While there, we discovered that there was an English language screening of Sweeny Todd playing at 5PM. We had our solution of for how to entertain ourselves for our last night in Bangkok!

After the film, we ate a noodle dinner from one of our regular foodstalls, did some last-minute shifting of packs to make them more airline-friendly, and were soon on our way. The cabdriver drove as if pursued, and we made it to the airport in record-time. The check-in process was smooth, but for Cz's very suspicious thermometer, of course buried in the very bottom of his pack. After figuring out that was what had set off the sensors, even the security staff couldn't figure out why, and were very apologetic. Best we can figure is that the heat made the mercury rise and so the thermometer looked like a thn metal rod on the scanner.

In any case, we were soon tucked into our comfy Korean Air seats. As with the other Asian airlines, Korean Air is supremely comfortble, with foldable headrests, and near constant traffic from the stewardesses offering snacks and drinks. We are so unused to the treatment that it seemes almost a pity to sleep through most of it.

Day 236 - Bangkok Hit List

We were not very ambitious tourists the last time we were in Bangkok. Today we decided to make up for lost time, but not before lunch at the fish and soup lady's stall. She remembered us!

We stopped first at the Vimanek Teak Mansion, the largest golden teak building in the world, apparently. Built in 1900, the royal family lived there for 6 years before moving and using the place simply as a storehouse for the royal furniture. In the 1980's the current queen decided to re-open not only the teak mansion, but the surrounding buildings as museums. As a result, the teak mansion is now just one of 14 small museums scattered across the former palace grounds.

The Dusit Throne Room was built around the same time as the teak mansion in a Moorish style. Today it is a crafts center showcasing traditional Thai handicrafts. Especially striking were the little sculptures and boxes 'enameled' with mosaics made of tiny bits of beetle wings.

The grounds also house the grand Throne Hall, a neoclassical beast, approximately 85 metres long. It was getting late in the day, so we opted not to visit, only to take photos from the outside.

Most visitors to Bangkok stay on Kao San Road, the backpackers' ghetto. We felt we would be remiss if we didn't at least visit this most famous street. Stopping there, I can see why so many people we have met have had less than kind things to say about Bangkok. It was crowded, dirty, and oh-so-commercial. Most of the kids there were quite young with fresh sunburns from the islands, or with plans to head to the islands at the nearest chance. Popular with boys were dreadlock extensions - so many clean-cut college kids were sitting under the nimble fingers of Thai ladies having their J-Crew preppy hair transformed into world-traveller ratty dreads. Equally popular with the girls (all white, mostly blonde) were having either braided extensions, or tiny braids put in all over their heads, complete with beads on the ends. Perhaps no one told them that they are on the entirely wrong set of islands for that style.

Feeling sufficiently touristed, we decided to head for home. I figured if we aimed for the sun (it was late afternoon) we would be heading west, and would eventually hit the river, and by extension, the river taxis. This reconing made Cz very nervous, but he had no better idea, so off we went. Sure enough, within a few blocks, we reached a sign pointing towards Wat Pra Kaew, which I knew was right on one of the main ferry stops. From there it was easy as pie to just follow the arrows back to the riverfront and hop on the water taxi back to the skytrain.

Back in our neighborhood, I was disapointed to find that pumpkin custard lady had taken the night off. Cz went for a massage, and I consoled myself with a sticky rice and mango. After his massage and some internetting, we went for dinner at all our favourite street stalls, and then caught the skytrain back out to the night market. Once again I was disappointed - bra lady no longer appeared to have a table - but we did finish up the last of our gift buying.

Day 235 - Happy Chances

The Chiang Mai University which is near our hostel has an attached gallery. Said gallery is usually closed on Mondays, but I had seen a neat exhibit through the window when I passed by after closing on Sunday, and wanted to show Cz. When we arrived, the doors were open. Perplexed, we wandered in, and no one tried to stop us. The exhibit was called "In My Mother's Footsteps", about a woman who goes back to Germany and later Eastern Europe to trace the route her mother took during the Holocaust as a Jewish prisoner. It was a very good exhibit, and there is apparently a documentary film coming out about it if you are curious.

Better though were the exhibits upstairs. Little did we know, but we had stumbled into the last-minute setup of the undergrad thesis shows. Much of their work was far better than even grad level work at home, and we were duly impressed. That said, we couldn't help but feel a little warm and fuzzy nostalgia as we watched the kids frantically painting, stapling, and installing away.

After the museum, we debated having a sushi lunch or visiting the Wat nearest to our guesthouse. Luckily Wat won out - sushi is everywhere, Thai Wats, only Thailand. We were well-rewarded. This was the finest wat so far in Chiang Mai. The golden Chedi housing the Buddha relics sits serenely over a cluster of shining white stupas containing the ashes of departed royal family members. The temple itself had been destroyed over the centuries, but the golden Buddha collection still stands proud ina lovely painted shelter with some traditional architectural details. Best of all, there were only two other foreign visitors. Everyone else there were monks or locals. It was a fine way to end our Chiang Mai sightseeing.

We still had time for a quick late lunch, and indulged ourselves in another round of Mike's burgers before grabbing our packs and heading out to the train station.

When we arrived at our platform, the grimy cars and diesel-belching engines did not inspire confidence. When we purchased our tickets, all the cheap sleepers were sold, so we had to splash out on 2-tier AC (for all of $22 each for a 14hour night train). That was the best thing that could have happened to us. When in seat position, the chairs were soft and huge enough to curl up it. The train flashed through the mountains with nary a curve nor a bump - far better than a bus. We played cards on the nearly full-sized table provided us until bedtime. And then the real treat.

The seats tranformed into two almost twin-size beds one above the other. Not only that, but they came with 2" thick mattresses (on top of the already nice surface), sheets, pillows, a blanket, even curtains to block out light and noise from the other berths.

We should arrive in Bangkok bright eyed and bushy tailed with this kind of service.

Day 234 - White Elephants Cannot Be Trusted

According to legend, when a new Buddha relic was discovered by the king of Chiang Mai, no one could decide where to build a temple to house it. The king decided to put the relic on the back of a white elephant (sacred animal, but not too bright) and release him in the center of town. Wherever the elephant stopped, the temple would be built.

The elephant headed for the hills. Literally. He marched himself about 6km out of town before stopping on a crest overlooking the budding city. So a Wat and Chedi (Thai stupa - where Buddha relics go) were built on the spot. With the advent of automobiles, a winding road was subsequently added. And I do mean winding with bonus ups and downs.

By the time we arrived at the top of the hill all we could do was stare dizzily about and rub our roiling bellies. Dread in anticipation of the ride down did not improve moods.

We did manage to coax ourselves into the cablecar and the rest of the way up the hill to the Wat (That was one ambitious elephant!). The Wat itself was nice, but not any nicer than others we have visited. Same for the view over town - nice, but we've seen better. Furthermore, the whole complex was crawling with people, and the whole thing felt rather touristic. Of course this is probably coloured by the fact that we still hadn't completely recovered from the ride up.

We did meet this fellow guarding one of the entrances. Someone clearly had a 'complicated' relationship with their parents.

The ride down the hill was nearly as bad as the ride up. We didn't toss our cookies, but our tummies made their displeasure known for the rest of the day.

The owner of our hostel was a tourguide before going into hostelling, and so arranges outings for anyone who cares to join nearly every day. Today's agenda was to visit the oldest Wat in town, the first section of the city to be built, adn the Sunday Night Market, the biggest and best in town.

We began at the old Wat which was just as nice as the one on top of the hill, and far easier to reach. The light was perfect causing the old bricks and the saffron robes of the monks sweeping and tending the grounds to glow. The hostel owner was most knowlegeable, giving us not ony a brief history of the Wat, but of Thailand as a whole.

From there, we went into the old city wall where we learned more history, including the story of the ambitious white elephant. Once off the wall, it was only a short hop to the sunday market.

Every Sunday night, the two main cross streets in the old town close completely to vehicles and transform into a 2km by 2km open-air market. Anything and everything is on sale from crafts to mass produced goods to pirated CD's and DVD's. And food. Much of it is conventional (good) street fair - fruit, phad thai, spring rolls, soups - but some of it strays into the bizzare. When I say you can find any meat on a stick, I mean any meat on a stick. Including a giant cockroach. I should have made a video of me crunching him to bits to play in my kitchen in NY. It would be way safer to the cats than roach bombing...though perhaps it could put a dent in my social life...

After the market, we all piled into a shared taxi and headed back to our own quiet neighborhood. Where we had a lovely (and so conventional) soup and rice dinner before walking back to our hostel for another round of TV before bed.

Day 233 - Party Time

Our visit to Chiang Mai just happened to coincide with the annual flower festival. For the festival, several streets are closed to traffic and filled with vendors selling all sorts of plants, flowers, and tasty snacks. Most exciting are the strawberries. In addition to being spring flower season, it is also the peak of strawberry season, and the strawberries from South Vietnam and North Thailand are considered some of the best in the world. We ate a lot of berries and took a lot of photos.

For dinner, the hostel owner took a large group of us to the Thai barbeque. There were so many of us that a few had to (chose to) ride on the roof and watch the city lights stream by. Every weekend, a building like an open-sided airplane hanger is equipped with table-top grills, platters of fresh food, and a live band. Literally thousands of Thais (and the few lucky foreigners who know about it) gather together to cook, eat, and talk. It's good fun.

Afterwards, we all went out for Karaoke. In Thailand, Japanese-style Karaoke is wildly popular. Rather than taking place in an open bar, groups of friends can rent out rooms of various sizes, each equipped with a karaoke machine. Everyone sings together, eliminating stage fright or performance anxiety. The drinks menu might also have something to do with this.

Overall, it was a properly festive day, beginning to end.

Day 232 - Burnin' Down the House...

...Or Cz goes to cooking school.

Chiang Mai is known for its excellent Thai cuisine. As such, almost everyone who visits here takes at least one day worth of cooking classes. Even Cz was not immune.

We began the day with a market tour. Our guide (and cooking teacher for the day) could be a stand-up comedian. I recognised most of the veggies and herbs that he pointed out, but he amused us by making jokes about the 'Thai' names for things, and by calling some of the well-known veggies by their Dutch names, to the surprise of the Dutch in the group, and the amusement of the English-speakers.

Best of all, we learned how to not only make Phad Thai, but to do it with impressive displays of flame-throwing. Not exactly home-kitchen friendly, but loads of fun.

So without further ado....

Some recipes.

Tom Yam Soup

Ingredients: (2 small servings)
1 cup water or stock (veg, chicken, or seafood)
3 thin slices ginger, peeled
3 1" pieces lemongrass
1 shallot roughly crushed (smash it with the side of a knife) and cut into 3 pieces
1-5 small green chilies roughly crushed (smash with the side of a knife)
1-2 Kaffir lime leaf vein removed torn into pieces (1/2 tsp lime zest would work fine)
2-4 mushrooms cut into chunks (we used straw mushrooms, any other kind is fine too)
1/4 tomato, sliced
Protein - can be prawns, tofu, fish, thinly sliced chicken, pork, beef...about 1/4 cup whatever you like
1Tbs fish sauce (soy sauce will do)
Cilantro (coriander leaves) to taste
1Tbs lime juice (fresh squeezed is best)
1 tsp sweet chili paste (optional)
1 clove garlic, skin removed, smahed and cut in half

Bring water or stock to a boil on high heat

Add all ingredients except cilantro and lime juice

Cook until everything is cooked through (1-2 minutes)

Remove from heat

Add cilantro and lime juice

Serve with rice, yoghurt, or beer (all of these things cut the heat)


Phad Thai (The Thai dish that almost all Westerners like)

Ingredients (for one serving)
1c fresh rice noodles (or soaked and drained dried rice noodles)
1 clove garlic smashed, skin on (smash with the flat side of a knife. The pan will be very hot, and the skin will keep the garlic from burning)
1/4c firm tofu, chopped (chicken, prawns, or pork are also fine)
1-2Tbs oil (any kind EXCEPT olive or sesame)
1/3c Bean sprouts
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup water (optional ONLY if you want flames)
2 chives cut into 1" pieces

Sauce:
1tsp fish sauce (soy sauce is fine)
1Tbs white sugar, palm sugar, or maple syrup
1 Tbs tamirind juice (you make by adding boiling water to tamarind paste or powder - fresh lemon juice is an OK substitute)
1Tbs soy sauce

Condiments:
Crushed chilies
Crushed unsalted peanuts
Lime wedge


Place oil in wok and heat over medium until smoking

Add protein (tofu or meat) and garlic

Stir until tofu is brown or meat is nearly cooked

Add noodles and water (water is optional the water is what makes the flames)

Keep stirring one minute

Turn heat to low

Add sauce ingredients

Return heat to medium, and cook for 1 more minute

Push noodles to side of wok

Add sprouts and chives and put noodles on top (the noodles will keep the steam in on the veg, the veg will keep your noodles from burning)

Push veg and noodles to side of wok

Add a bit of oil on the other side

Turn heat up to high and pour in egg to make a thin omelet

When egg is nearly cooked, spoon noodle and veg mix on top and turn off the heat

Fold egg around noodles and veg

OR

After adding a bit of oil to other side of wok, just scramble the egg on that side

Once the egg is cooked, toss together with noodles and veg

This method actually tastes better, it's just not as pretty

Note: Phad Thai, as with most Thai dishes, is best cooked in batches of 1-2 servings, as the key to the flavour is to cook everything very fast at high heat.

Day 231 - East Meets West

The three days getting to Chiang Mai pretty much wiped us out. For our first day in Thailand's 'cultural capital', we did...NOTHING. Well, not much anyway.

We began by waking up late. I updated the blog and surfed Craigslist for apartments. Cz watched movies for what was left of the morning. At 1, we went across town to the train station to book our tickets back to Bangkok. Tickets in hand, we returned to our neighborhood for an oh-so-greasy, oh-so-Western, and oh-so-good burger lunch.

The burger joint is called Mike's and looks like a classic American diner. It's motto reads 'converting vegetarians since 1979'. I can see why. I do plan to go back to my partial veggie ways when I return home, but for now, that was a damn fine burger.

It was nearly 4 by the time we returned to the hostel, where we resumed doing...nothing. The common room is graced with several comfy chairs and floor cushions, a large TV, and American series on DVD. It is an enormous time suck, and our time was effectively sucked.

We had planned on going on a night tour of Chiang Mai with a group of people from the hostel, but unfortunately right about dusk, it began pouring rain. Most unfortunate, especially considering that part of the night tour was to celebrate Spicy Thai (the hostel) being voted #2 hostel in all of Asia. Undaunted, the hostel owner moved the party home, with bucket drinks, snacks and music.

We might not have seen much of Chiang Mai, but we certainly saw a lot of what makes Spicy Thai worth its new crown.

Day 230 - Back to Thailand

Houay Xai sits on the Laos side of the Mekong. Chiang Khong occupies on the Thai side. At one point, there were plans to build a bridge to connect the two, but the economic crash of 1997 put the skids on those plans, and they have yet to be resumed. As of today, small longtail boats ferry people and goods back and forth across the border for a small fee.

Once on the Thai side, one walks through the imposing welcome gate to the far less imposing customs house where a bored official stamps passports after a cursory glance. There is none of the 'paying for the stamp' and visa-questioning malarky that we have encountered at half the other wayside posts. Thailand is probably the most developed of the mainland SE asian countries (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), and the ease of entry seems proof of this.

Within a few minutes, we have purchased our bus ticket for Chiang Mai, paid a visit to the 7-11 (they are everywhere in Thailand), and even caught up on e-mails. It is sort of nice being back where nearly everything is easy and familiar. Along with being the most developed, Thailand is easily the most Western of the SE Asian nations. A strange phenominon considering that it was the only one never a Western colony.

A long bus ride later, we finally arrive in Chiang Mai. No one seems to know where our guesthosue is, so we go online to get the address and some rudimentary direction. We hail a tuk-tuk driver who swears up an down that he knows out guesthouse. He does not. We circle the city for ages while he asks all his fellow drivers how to get there. FINALLY we find it tucked away on a quiet residential street.

We are met by our friend J, who we met in Bangkok, and are soon happily chatting away with the other guests and watching American TV series on pirated DVD's. Most of the guests here planned to stay for a few days, and have ended up staying here two weeks or more. It is a friendly, homey place, and easy to see the appeal. I'm sort of sad to have the hard departure date because of the flight, but glad to be leaving on a high note.

Day 207 - Sunrise, Sunset

We woke up this morning hours before daylight to catch the 5:00AM bus to Aranyaprathet, the Thai border with Cambodia. Unfortunately, I was wide awake for the dark part of the ride, and fell asleep just in time to miss a lovely sunrise.

Thai tourist buses are generally a scam, but are very easy to avoid simply by buying all bus tickets directly at the bus station. The bus station sells tickets only for state-run bus companies, and the quality of each class of travel is strictly regulated. The express buses to the border are all first class, which means not only are there air con and reclining seats, but someone comes by with little snacks and water. On the VIP buses, the service is upped once more, including meals, movies, and essentially barca loungers for seats. (We haven't gotten to ride one of these yet). On the downside (or upside depending on your opinion) karaoke is just as popular in Thailand as in the rest of SE Asia, and often the bus's audio visual system is set to en route karaoke. This is less than amusing at 5:30AM.

We arrived at the stop closest to the border at about 9:30AM. After a quick trip to the toilets, we negotiated a tuk-tuk to the border. The driver initially asked for 150baht per person. We ended up agreeing on 20baht per person. He was very cheerful about the whole thing - I suspect that when they ask for such ridiculously high rates that it is more a game than actually trying to get it.

The border was a little dodgy, as visa scams are common. We ended up having to pay a little more for our Cambodian visa on the Thai side of the border because Cambodia was temporarily suspending visas on entry for foreigners unless they could provide proof of onward travel. I would call it a scam, except that this particular hitch was government sanctioned - which makes it no less scammy, but at least I don't feel like a chump for falling for it.

Visas in hand, we walked across the border without a hitch, took the government bus to the taxi stand on the Cambodian side, and had soon negotiated a fair price for the bumpy 3-hour ride into Siem Reap. Bumpy because the road is largely unpaved. Having been to India and Nepal, we were unfazed by the unpaved road, and in fact felt pretty swank as we sat in air con comfort watching the dust billow past our sealed up windows.

Once in Siem Reap, we were surprised at how lovely the town is. Unlike Agra which knows people will come to see the Taj no matter how nasty the town, Siem Reap retains much of its French-Colonial charm, despite the recent boom in tourism.

By the time we finished a late lunch and showering off the road dust, it was nearly 4:30, and time to meet our tuk-tuk driver to take us to the ticket office and sunset point. Sunset point is a tiny temple perched on a hill over the plains and Angkor Wat in the distance. Unfortunately, it is VERY much on the tourist map. Resulting in the more striking view being red-faced tourists puffing their way up the hill and crawl-climbing the extremely steep steps to the top rather than the sunset. It felt like a scene from a Hieronymus Bosch painting.

It was still nice, though, if very strange. Monks in saffron robes peppered the crowd, and the Buddha statue in the center of temple had offerings of fruit and incense laid at his feet. I liked these small reminders, that despite being a UNESCO site, and tourist trap, it is still a working temple.

Tomorrow we follow the hordes once more to the mother of them all...Angkor Wat.

Day 205 - Park Benches on Pachyderms

The Dutch girl we met in Kanchanaburi had never ridden on an elephant, and really wanted to try an elephant ride and elephant bathing while she was in Thailand. Cz and I have met, ridden, fed, and washed multiple elephants already, but I like elephants, so we decided to go too.

Unlike the elephant treks in Nepal, this one really was just an elephant ride. Much like pony rides in the States, we were placed on a gentle elephant and even seat belted into our park bench. The elephants did a slow circuit of a the woods near their camp and then walked down to the river for the 'elephant bath'.

We were each given a life jacket and rode the elephants into water deep enough that they could 'dive', dunking us into the water. More emphasis was placed on personal safety, and less on just playing with elephants in the water. I suppose that is necessary, as this is a much more established and touristy operation, and the river current seemed stronger than in Chitwan. It was still fun, but I missed my pachyderm pals from Chitwan.

After the elephant wash, we dried off, ate a last meal at our favourite restaurant, and hopped on a bus back to Bangkok. Apparently we chose the most popular bus, as we claimed some of the last seats before the aisles were stuffed Indian-style. Luckily it was only 3-hour ride until we back in Bangkok. We spent a little bit of time at the bus station getting info on tickets to Siem Reap, and were soon happily ensconced back at Sukhumvit Hostel munching on our favourite Phad Thai and fruit smoothies.

Day 204 - Seven Levels of Fun

Erawan National Park sits about an hour's bus ride from Kanchanaburi. The main draw there is the 7-tiered Erawan falls. Aside from being very pretty, swimming is permitted in all the pools. The water is clear except where the force of the water churns up the milky white limestone as it tumbles down. The shallows of every pool are populated by schools of fearless little fish that nibble on hands and feet. In fact, during the building of the death railway, men would use the nibbling fish (not here, in the river Kwai) to clean away the dead and rotting flesh from their wounds.

Levels four and six to seven were particularly fun. Six to seven because the rocks were full of natural hand and toe-holds, so it was east to climb up the falls between the levels. The Australian and I went up this way and were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves, thinking we had found an untraversed part of the falls. Then we noticed a group of people emerging from the woods and a sign saying , 'end of the path'. Turns out we weren't the pioneers we thought we were - there was in fact a path by which one could walk quite comfortably to level seven. Our way was till more fun though.

Level four was great because its rocks were covered in a slick brown algae, effectively turning them into natural waterslides. We each took turns winging our way down the different boulders until it was time to dry off and hike back to the bus.

Tired and pleasantly sore from our very active day, we quickly changed and returned to our favourite restaurant for a big dinner. We figured we burned up enough calories to order at least twice as many dishes as we had people.

After dinner, most of us went for massages. Traditional Thai massages start at about $4 US for a full hour treatment, and oil massages (more like Western massage) are about $6 per hour. Cz, being the most sore from yet another day spent trekking went in for a whopping 2 hour treatment. He came back so relaxed and happy that I think the cheap massages might be just the carrot to get him traipsing around the hills on a regular basis.

Day 203 - Day on the River Kwai

Kanchanaburi is a small town that would be completely off the tourist circuit, but for a certain bridge immortalised by Hollywood's version of WWII. The town has developed around its history with landmarks and museums scattered over a few kilometres. It is possible to hire tuk-tuks or taxis to get from point to point, but much more fun (and cheaper) to just hire bicycles for the day. As by the time we were ready to tour Kanchanaburi, we were a group of seven strong, we made a quite an impressive little parade as we pedaled around town.

Our first stop was the famous Kwai River Bridge. Since WWII it has been rebuilt a few times, and remains a working railroad bridge for local trains. The pylons closest to shore still show evidence of its turbulent past, but otherwise it is simply a tranquil bridge across one of many rivers in Thailand.

On the far side of the bridge, hawkers have set up stalls selling all manner of random stuff. Strangely, several tame peacocks cohabit the area in a large pen. Perhaps, like the abby elephants, it is possible to pay a bit to go in the cage with them and feed them. They seem pretty well-kept, but there is no logical reason for them to be there.

The area around the railroad leading towards the bridge on the Kanchanaburi side has developed a cluster of stalls catering to the many visitors. Our Australian friend decided to play on his Chinese heritage with a traditional palm-leaf hat from one of the stalls. He is a med student, and will be spending the next six weeks volunteering at a refugee hospital near the border with Burma. Everyone here is much amused with him and his hat, and he hopes that his comic antics will help relieve some of his patients' inevitable fear at the clinic.

After lunch, we pedaled over to the very informative Thai Burma Railway Museum. The museum was very well laid-out with several exhibits about the events surrounding the building, and eventual dismantling, of the 'Death Railway'. The museum overlooked one of the memorial cemeteries. We found it most striking (and tragic) that a recurring theme of the museum was that careful records were kept of all the European deaths, but there was almost no evidence that could be found on the Malaysian, Indonesian, Koreans, and other Asians that died in the building of the railway, beyond that they seemed to have the worst treatment an highest death rates. Similarly, in the war cemetery next door, there are sections for Dutch, British, even American troops, but no section for the Asians, simply because their graves in the jungles couldn't be found.

We raced against time to bike to the JEATH war memorial museum on the far edge of town. That museum was really more a collection of photos and newspaper clippings kept in buildings designed to represent the camp huts in which the soldiers lived for the duration of their time on the railway. Everything was permeated with mildew, and many of the photos curled at the corners with the damp. The evident decay might have detracted from the preservation aspect of the museum, but it did bring home the harshness of the living conditions.

We stopped briefly at our guesthouse to clean up a little for dinner and to admire the view from our porch. It's hard to believe a place of such tranquility was once the scene of so much violence.

We ate dinner at a great local restaurant where Cz entertained himself by taking 'art photos' of all our friends.

We finished the night in a local bar whose main attraction was a litter of almost-new puppies. Their eyes were open, but they still wobbled on fat little legs, and fell over to sleep anywhere - frequently our laps. In addition to the puppies, the bar had several nostalgic games like Jenga and connect four. One round of Jenga proved that the laws of physics do not necessarily apply in Thai bars. Within the first few moves, the whole affair balanced on two offset rods. Somehow the game continued until it seemed nearly every layer balanced precariously on a single piece. Each of us kept pulling out pieces to make it more unstable, assuming that it wouldn't come back around, yet somehow it did. An ill-advised move by Cz about two turns after this one finally brought it tumbling down.