Oh, The Places I'll Go!: Kanchanaburi Part 1: Bridge Over the River Kwai, River Kwai Jungle Rafts

"Delight in the beauty that surrounds you."

Two weekends ago, our group took an overnight trip to Kanchanaburi, a province outside of Bangkok. Friday morning, we woke up bright and early (this seems to be a trend on days when we should be able to sleep late.....) and got on the bus at 7:15 am. We drove about 3 hours on the bus, and were dropped off at a train on the outskirts of the city of Kanchanaburi. These train tracks were a part of the Death Railway- built by Allied POW's and Asian laborers during World War II. We all got on the train, and took a two hour ride through some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in my life. We crossed over the bridge made famous by the movie The Bridge Over the River Kwai. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard wonderful things and after seeing it in real life, I would love to watch the movie!
This train ride was the first time since I've been in Thailand that I truly have felt like I'm in a totally different part of the world. For the past six weeks, I have definitely felt like I was far away from home, but Bangkok never really gave me a huge culture shock. It wasn't until this train ride that I really realized that I am, in fact, half a world away from home. In addition to that, this train ride filled me with an incredible sense of peacefulness. I remember one specific moment watching the scenery go by, and just closing my eyes and feeling the wind on my face. I absolutely felt God in that moment and in that sense of peace.

View from the Bridge Over the River Kwai

Goodbye, train!

Eventually, we got off the train and got back on our bus to go to boats that would bring us to our "floatel"- a floating river hotel. We pulled up to these little river boats, and I was so excited to see the floatel that I hopped right in the first boat. We had the most exhilarating 20-minute ride up the river...the entire time I was just in awe of the fact that this is truly my life- where I can be jetting up this river surrounded by the most beautiful scenery and feeling completely, 100% free.
Once we got to our floatel and explored a bit, we decided to go for a swim. The current in the river was pretty strong, but we all jumped in and lazily drifted down the river. One of the coolest parts about this was that we could just float down to our cabin, and then swim over to the ladder and get out right at our own doorstep. We spent the rest of the evening and night eating dinner on the river, and then just sitting on the docks with great conversation and lots of laughs.

The boats that took us to our "floatel"

The River Kwai Jungle Rafts- where we stayed

View from my hammock!

The next morning, I had one of the best experiences of the trip so far. I woke up early, and at around 7:00 am, I heard the unmistakable sound of an elephant trunk trumpeting. I sprinted out of my room and ran down the line of cabins until I reached the end. There, I saw two magnificent elephants walking out of the forest down to the river. Two men from the local village were with them to give them a bath and feed them breakfast. I could not believe my eyes and started taking as many pictures as I could. I stood there for a good 45 minutes, just watching these beautiful animals until they disappeared back into the forest. I could've stayed there all day! That is definitely one moment I will never forget.