I have not been very good at updating this blog regularly. I am leaving Kanchanaburi to return to Bangkok before making my way to Penang in Malaysia.

Kanchanaburi is famous for its bridge over the river Kwai, which killed over 100,000 people to build, from POW or forced labourers dragged from Japanese invaded countries.

I travelled from Bangkok by taxi with Belinda, a 3h ride with heavy traffic. Belinda founded the Elephant Conservation Network (ECN) many years ago, and has worked in conservation in Thailand for 25 years. ECN is now affiliated with ZSL and Belinda heads both organisations with Jittin as her Programme Manager. I stayed in one of the guest rooms of the ECN ZSL offices where Belinda also stays. The house was purpose built with offices and one large bedroom ensuite on the first floor, and 3 further bedrooms, living area and kitchen on the ground floor. It is about 4km from the backpacker strip where most restaurants and guest houses are.

The offices are next to a horse camp, home of a German Thai lady who also teaches Thai. Unfortunately not in very good financial state, as can be seen by the conditions of horses. They also have a mini menagerie, of turtles and one gibbon who although in fairly large cage, has been there for over 20 years on her own. Camilla remember to ask for her to be relocated to a sanctuary!

2 other "Farang" (westerners) work there, Camilla and Katie, although Katie left the week after I arrived after one year (nothing to do with me I was assured). Camilla was to become my trusted (and charming) companion and guide for the next 2 weeks!

Similar to my work in Indonesia, I was to help them implement a new financial reporting system developed by the UK office and enabling to track spend against budget. Still not the most exciting job, but at least making use of my skill set!

Laura joined us for the first weekend at Belinda's invitation, and we were all happy to just relax, go for walks and eating and drinking in local restaurants. We did go on the Bridge to take a few photos, and to the jewellery market for a browse. I also decided to rent a scooter to ensure travel freedom, no an easy task for me as I had never driven one. No accidents to report although i did narrowly escape running over a dog.

Following Laura's departure, evenings were spent either swimming or running at the local 5 star hotel, the Felix, where no one seems to check if you are a guest or a member. Free pool! Meals were usually taken at the house with each of us taking turns to cook.

The following weekend, a friend of Belinda and long serving conservationist with elephants in Thailand, Richard Lair, joined us for the weekend as he will be working with ECN on a legal review project. Richard is from the US originally and has lived in thailand since the 60s, emigrating in 1980. He spent 2 years in the jungle to be a mahoot (elephant trainer) and has worked for the ministry of forestry, for the UN and on many movies where elephants were needed. A very impressive CV and some fascinating stories! A unique encounter with a great man, humbling experience.

My first elephant encounter was sadly with a dead one. As i came back from lunch break, Camilla suggested that we go to the edge of Salakpra national park where an elephant had been found electrocuted by a security fence. Foul play is suspected as they are meant to be merely a deterrent and not kill, although unlikely to go punished. This is the 2nd elephant killed in a few months there, the first one being from firearm traps most likely to shoot wild boars. After years of no elephants killed, this came as a sad fact to all.

We set off for the hour journey and found the elephant near its future grave being digged. Vets then proceeded to remove its tusks, a very gruesome affair
as they go far back in the skull. After over an hour to remove the first tusk, we called it a day and left rangers and vets to carry on.

As i mentioned, Camilla was kind enough to accompany me on my tours. We took the train up the Death Railway, which goes 2 hours towards Burma to Nam Tok. There are talks to repair the remainder of the line to Burma, which could be a good adventure if not for the impact on the environment and surrounding parks. A section of the train is still the original rails on stilts, and parts dug deep through the mountain, a very impressive feat and one that must have taken its toll on labourers to build. Near Nam Tok, Thais favour a small waterfall, Saiyok Nok, where they gather to bathe and picnic. We watched during the couple of hours we had spare before taking the train back.

The next day we set off to Erawan park, home to waterfalls named after the 3-headed elephant god Erawan. There are 7 waterfalls at different levels, each offering lovely natural swimming pools. The top one is a bit of a hike, but worth the climb, and with imagination you can make out Erawan in the rock formation. From the 3rd level, food is prohibited, and a deposit of ThB20 for each bottle required to ensure it is not trashed. As monkeys are numerous and fierce, this is a good thing! The pools are home to many fishes, who will provide a free albeit ticklish pedicure, and one we certainly made used of for almost an hour!

We had a picnic of fish, sticky rice and papaya salad as Thais would have, delicious.
I must say I have not had a bad meal during my stay, i think Thai food is a real gem and much more varied than many other countries. And they certainly like eating! With so many street food stalls at such good value, I understand that most Thais do not cook but eat all their meals out!

I finally got the opportunity to meet live elephants when I went to Elephants World, a sanctuary for rescued domesticated elephants. Guests are considered volunteers and help with taking care of the elephants. There are 10 elephants, all retired, ranging from one young male (less than 10 years old) to mostly older elephants up to 76 i think.
On arrival, we get to greet a few elephants and feed them fruits. We then proceeded to cook sticky rice with either sweet potato or pumpkin for the older elephants, who do not have teeth any longer. The rice is then shaped in a ball, the size of which depends on each elephant's preference (!!), covered in a fiber dust coating. We then place them one by one on their trunks and watch them munch away large quantities or rice.
The centre had also recently received a dozen bunnies and we helped separate males from females in two different enclosures. One of the rabbit had a badly damaged leg with flesh and bone exposed, and I bravely held it whilst the vet cleaned and bandaged his wound. Made me regret not to pursue my childhood dream of being a vet! No, accountant is much better... The vet did all this with a cigarette in his mouth, which made me respect him even more.
The best part of the day is undeniably bathing with the elephants. We get to go on their neck with their mahoot on their back, and help scrub them in the water. Each on one elephant. Some decided to roll in the water with guests left to swim back to shore and try again. Despite attempts from my elephant's mahoot to trigger the same, Mali (her name which means jasmine) refused to bulge. At over 70 I can understand!
Elephants have very strong necks but bad backs, hence riding on their neck is ok, but they probably can't carry more than one person on their back. In particular when they are fitted with steel platforms, this is too heavy for them. So if you ever visit, bear that in mind and do not ride elephants and fuel both their suffering, and their poaching!
The end of the day was spent feeding them pineapple. Amazing how they can chew the whole (unpeeled) fruit, whilst being able to cut off the upper part with their trunk.

As I mentioned Kanchanaburi is home to the famous River Kwai bridge, and many sites are moving reminders of the events. In particular the excellent Thai-Burma Railway museum offers a good insight of the history and events. The adjacent War Cemetary is equally moving with thousands of soldier tombs.
More random, the World War II Museum offers an odd combination of war memorabilia and other artefacts such as paintings of Miss Thailand winners over the years (who look suspiciously the same) and of Great Men and other dictators (who also look suspiciously similar, and in the case of Winston Churchill nothing like the real man). The museum is privately owned and a shrine to that family! Great views over the bridge though, and some good parts.

Other evenings were spent either getting foot, Thai or oil massages (at £5 the hour why not), or going to the night markets, food or an assortment of clothes, pets, DVDs... The pets stalls were upsetting, as they had squirrels and hedgehogs...

Right, time to head for the next leg of the trip

Note: don't be alarmed by the elephants chains, it's for their protection!