I’ve been in Kanchanaburi for 5 days now and it has been great! First off, each morning I have jumped into the river kwai and it is just the most awesome way to wake up. This is the view from the dock:

Just lovely. Each day here has been awesome. From days filled with activities (bats! Waterfalls!) to the slower days (reading, jumping into the river, riding around the countryside in a scooter), this was the perfect place for me to go. So far, I’ve had good luck with places I stayed, people I’ve met and things I’ve done! Off to a good start!

Yesterday I had my first Wat experience and it was a good one! The way I went to has a stairway up through the mouth of a dragon, with a temple in the dragon’s belly. I committed to going all the way up, but then I didn’t know that the stairway continued, all the way up the mountain. About halfway up I was joined in my pilgrammage by a tortoiseshell cat, she was a devout Buddhist going to pay her respects to Buddha (or rather to mouse underneath the shrine). 700 steps later I make it to the top and look out over the whole river valley. This was the view:

And I had it all to myself. I stood looking out over the river valley with the wind blowing in the 40 degree heat, and I felt serene. I’m not religious but I can see why they walk up there, it’s quite an experience. Then bang some gongs, wai to the Buddha and go back down.

The entrance:

The Buddhist cat:

Oh but that’s the best part, just below the shrine I noticed an entrance to a cave, two guys where just leaving so I got it to myself as well. As I was looking around in it I noticed the tiny bats! This time they were actually the tiniest bats in the world, their bodies were no larger than my thumb (The ones in the other cave were somewhere between a thumb and a palm sized). There were only about 10 of them though but I felt humbled to see such a small relative of mine (smallest mammal in the world!).

A great experience! But yeah, I’ve been here long enough that it feels like home. My room, reminds me of my room from back in Calgary and its super comfortable (and private!). I spotted a very shy siamese cat (my first in the land of Siam!) which reminded me of a scaredy cat that I used to know. I love the gardens here and the dock is the icing on the cake. Up next, 10 days of silence in the mountains! My life is filled with awesomeness!

My room:

A Siamese cat in Siam!

The gardens:

Actual worlds smallest mammals