Second part of my Thailand route: from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi!
Welcome back! If you’re reading this I suppose you also read the first part of my trip.
The first part was a long tiring flight, figuring out how traffic in Bangkok works, eating my first real curry..
and now we wake up early after a worthless night of sleep in my hostel at the always loud Khao san road.
Worst. idea. ever.
Tip:
Don’t book a hostel directly on Khao san road(you won’t sleep) or not in that area at all 😉
It’s busy, lots of travelers and backpackers, but it’s definitely not where all of the fun happens.
I wake up early so I can catch the slow train to Kanchanaburi.
This train departs 2 times a day(7:50 and 13:55) from Thonburi station in Bangkok.
It will take the train about 3 hours from there to Kanchanaburi(the train has more stops).
It’s just one train so the second ride is often delayed, just wait patiently if that’s the case.
My original idea to get from the guest house to Thonburi station:
Walk to the ferry pier, catch a ferry and from there walk to Thonburi station. I wasn’t trusting my own plan that much, because I didn’t trust the information I found online and I didn’t yet have a clue how things go in Thailand.
I checked out from my room, walked outside and what happened was:
all the tuktuk driver started seeking my attention and ask questions. That will happen for you too.
If  you’re not interested in any of that; just keep walking with a polite smile on your face.
One driver started talking to me and I decided to let him take me to Thonburi station.
That way I knew for sure I would get there, but.. way too early now ofourse.
Oh well, after I got there I bought my train ticket, killed some time by reading a book and around 12 I decided on taking a look at the food stands to get some lunch.
How to find vegan food in the middle of nowhere at foodstands where they hardly speak English..
Yes there it is, the word vegetarian! Now I had to find out what I should ask them to leave out.
The friendly Thai men already started asking me what I wanted to eat in his best English.
I explained what I can’t and can eat and trusted him and his wife to make me some food.
A few minutes later I got a plate with fried rice, mushrooms, lemon and pepper.
Very basic, but just what I wanted! And it was only 40 baht people.. 40 baht!
On the slow train it’s hard to do something else than look outside the window.
You’ll see fruit and vegetable plantations, mountains covered with beautiful trees, small local (poor) villages..
oh and the train mechanic likes to honk the horn. Constantly.
You’ll be able to buy fruits, nuts, water and even fried chicken (gross?) from lady’s walking up and down the train.
After about 1.5 hours a Thai man decided to point out everything we saw and teach me the Thai word for it.
He couldn’t speak English, but it all worked out 😉
I got off the train at the stop close to the famous bridge over the river Kwai so I could check off one highlight from the list.
The Thai man also got off and decided to take me on a small ‘tour’.
I was still carrying my backpack, but it was bearable.
We walked the bridge to the other end of the river, walking towards the enormous buddha statue.
It was part of a temple and he tried his best to explain things and teach me some thai words.
”mother buddha, mother buddha” were his favorite English words.
Such a sweet, sweet man!
Vegan food tip in Kanchanaburi:
On’s thai issan! It’s a fully vegetarian kitchen and they know what veganism is.
On is the nicest lady and an amazing cook! I think it’s my favorite restaurant in Thailand..
I recommend the thai iced tea with coconut milk, massamam curry and pad thai.
She also gives a cooking class (on request) so sometimes they are closed without any notice before hand.
It happened to me once, but I walked 30 minutes so she let me in and still made me some awesome food.
+it was my friend Joe (we met the other day at the restaurant) doing the cooking class and they made so much food so he let me taste everything. Yeeey!
Main reason you should visit Kanchanaburi:
-The erawan waterfall!
This waterfall is located in Erawan national park.
The waterfall has 7 levels and I suggest to climb all 7!
The higher you go the less people you see.. well, no that´s not entirely true.
Along the way you´ll see some hidden spots and once I saw one I decided to make it my main stop.
I did some swimming and relaxing there before going to the 7th level!
From level 4 or 5 it gets tough, but so worth it.
The last bathroom is at level 2.. don’t make the same mistake I did. Go!!
Instructions on how to get to the park:
I suggest taking the earliest morning bus to the park, because the last bus back to Kanchanaburi
from Erawan national park is around 4 pm.
Be at the bus station 30 minutes before departing to claim your spot.
Things I didn’t do, but definitely should have:
-Hellfire pass
-Riding the ‘death railway’ with the slow train from Kanchanaburi (they say this view is amaaaazing!)
-Visiting the dragonhead cave temple
In Kanchanaburi you’ll experience real Thailand and not the one set-up for tourists!
The locals there are amazed by tourists(not that tourists don’t come there, just less) and are eager to help you out.
Another thing about Kanchanaburi: there are no tuktuk’s. Only motorcycle taxi’s.
What I should’ve done was renting a bike.. so cheap and easy!
I wasted the time I had in Kanchanaburi, because I was still afraid to undertake most activity’s on my own.
I couldn’t figure out how I had to travel back from hellfire pass. I got frustrated and decided to skip it.
It’s something I regret now. Just ask the hostel owner if you can’t figure stuff out!
They know everything and they take care of everything haha!
My body was also very tired, because I just kept on going since my arrival in Thailand.
That’s something I forget easily, but writing about it makes me think about every detail.
In this video you´ll see me traveling from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi and the friendly Thai man guiding me!
I also have a video up where I´m exploring the Erawan waterfall <3
