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Day 40 - With a lazy start of banana honey pancakes we caught our bus, our bus luck continued as the air-con broke and we spent an hour in a random Bangkok housing estate having it fixed. With the group back on board after a 7eleven stop we drove 3 hours to Camelia Resort in Kanchanaburi. There we found a third floor room overlooking mountains and a beautiful swimming pool. After a dip we got on our house shaped restaurant and were pulled by a boat along the river. Despite the cold food we liked seeing the sparkly lights of restaurants and the stunning pink sunset and passed the night with limbo, Thai techno music and wishing Emily a happy birthday.
Day 41 - Due to "fierce" monkeys we missed out on the Erawan Falls and spent the day by the pool and Catherine read 'Eat Prey and Love' kindly loaned by Richard (a fitting read after India) and had a very relaxed day. Some of the group and Olivia went to Thai Thai for a burger dinner before an early night.
Day 42 - Breakfast every day was to be egg (omlette, fried or scrambled) and toast and tea (it soon became a dull combination). After two swims Catherine was hungry and we started cooking Pad Thai with instructions from our charming chef - it turned out to be very tasty! After more reading Olivia napped and Catherine learnt how to make a superb chicken and cashew nuts as well as a Thai chicken soup (with a tad too much chilli!). After more swimming Catherine went for a burger at Thai Thai and a chocolately pancake courtesy of Richard.
Day 43 - Our group climbed into our two trucks and sped along to the Sai Yok Waterfall complete with swimming children. We trekked 2000m uphill to the slippy Wang Bah Darn Cave which we crawled into before washing the mud off back at the falls. After lunch we got our first proper Thai train with formal condutor and less formal lady boy through the gorgeous countryside for two hours. Back on the trucks we visited the Bridge on the River Kwai (from the movie) built by prisoners of war and bravely walked along its narrow track. After crazy coloured ice creams and shop browsing we caught the truck back and spent the night by the river swimming and eating pasta.
Day 44 - Day 44 was extra special as it was Catherine's birthday and after an early swim she loved her pancakes, chocolate sauce and fruit breakfast (better than more scrambled egg!) She was also thrilled to receive a birthday card signed by everyone in the group - a lovely gift. The trucks drove us past Thai rivers and cemeteries to our first temple of the day. The dragon temple involved hundreds of steps through the dragon's mouth with its wall murals to the main temple where Catherine left the necessary birthday offerings to Buddha by lighting and placing a candle and lighting three incense sticks from it before making a wish and leaving purple flowers for him. Next she had to rub three pieces of gold foil onto the Buddha of her birth day before sitting quietly before him for a few moments. More hot climbing up rocks and a spiral staircase almost burnt our feet but led to immense views and Catherine hit a gong three times to let the Gods know of her offering. After a shaky walk down we went to the Tiger Temple where most people chose the 10baht pulley car to the top, a little scary trip! At the temple there was a huge golden Buddha, magnificent architecture and more views over fields and mountains. We donated a tile to the temple's roof and had our fortunes read by a weird machine - Olivia was about to meet her love as well as an old friend and she is due to win a court case. Catherine's love was also on their way, she was not going to get her loaned out money back, she had to be cautious and might lose at court so needed a good lawyer! Prepare for law suit between Catherine & Olivia?! Back safely at the bottom we lunched at a restaurant on the river, the food of plain rice and too spicy fishcakes was disappointing but the views over the water made up for it a little. In the afternoon we drove to our third temple and learnt the art of walking meditation (standing, standing, turning, turning, walking, walking...) and seated meditation (rising, falling, rising, falling...) from a monk who practises the art for eight hours a day. Afterwards we walked around the temple grounds and he gave us books and items to help us with our meditation. After some pool time and Catherine's chats on the phone with Richard and her Grandad she opened her gifts from Olivia of Tiffany jewellery, chocolates (of course!) a cute bracelet and some random religious advice booklets (thanks Olivia!). In dresses for the first time in a month and a half and with Steph on hair and Zoe on makeup we were ready for a night out! Olivia went for a drink while Catherine explored Kanchanaburi's night market offerings and enjoyed the fun of a cramped motorcycle taxi ride for 10baht each back to Thai Thai where the birthday dinner was to be held. With all the group there it as a lovely dinner with nice food of chicken noodles and cashew nuts and a Mai Thai or two all round. At the end of the meal, after some shifty manouevering by Tori, Catherine and Emily were next to each other and after a few attempts the lights dimmed and we were presented with a massive, beautiful chocolate cake. We blew out the candles and after lots of slicing relished the yummy cake - a big thank you to Richard for organising such a lovely suprise. After dinner and a quick call from Catherine's parents Olivia headed home while Catherine and the group headed out to a bar, before a 7eleven trip to try on hats and a visit to 9 Under Where for a mix of Thai music, a live band and some more familiar tunes! Despite it ending with a very wet walk home Catherine had an amazing birthday jam packed with great activities, lovely people and many nice suprises.
Day 45 - After a quiet morning by the pool Olivia went for lunch while Catherine got a speedboat down the river. It was an amazing mystery trip as we jetted along and stopped at the Chungkai War Cemetery for prisoners of war who died building the railway between Burma and Siam. Afterwards was a brief stop at a Monkey School - none of the girls wanted to go in and Catherine willingly agreed and we moved on to Khao Poon Cave with its railway track and fat golden monk. Walking round the quiet area we saw many little statues and temples, as well as a crazy stalker cat who liked Maria and monks watching TV. After a swim and a major key loss problem (the hotel not us!) Catherine went with some girls for an hours Thai lavender oil massage. With gentle music and a gentle masseuse this occassion proved much more relaxing. Catherine headed on to the hectic night market where she browsed pretty clothes and jewellery and the lovely Sarah kindly bought her a cute headband for her birthday and Catherine treated herself to a delicious strawberry shake. Done shopping we found it is (just about) possible to fit eight people in a motorcycle taxi. At The Hut Catherine had her last Kanchanaburi dinner of french toast and garlic bread shared with Tori before chatting and eating up leftover birthday cake at the hotel bar.
Day 46 - After a week at Camelia Resort it was sad to leave our picture perfect pool and mountain views but we were back on the road, this time in a lovely AC working coach. En route we stopped at the Hell Fire Pass Museum, watching videos on and reading about the backbreaking work done by hand by prisoners of war and civilians to create over 400km of railway in just twenty months - a very thought provoking museum. After the four hour drive up some very steep slopes we finally pulled into a quiet village.
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