Yes, Mr. Lifeguard, I am conscious...

This post promises to be a more coherent and cognizant view of Thailand.

About six months ago, I was talking to my dad about going to Thailand, one of those countries on the other side of the planet, one of those countries I knew absolutely nothing about. He said, "Make sure you go to the River Kwai." I know there's that whole novel into movie deal about the POWs during WWII, but that was about it. So besides the deeply moving historical value, is there anything worth while around Kanchanaburi?

Yes, my friends. Yes, there is.

Aside from the stunning mountain views, there is the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, a memorial to the100,000 plus POWs (16,000 allies and 90,000 local Asian laborers) who died from horrific working conditions. From there we went to the actual bridge over River Kwai (or Kwae). In short...it was AWESOME. Yeah, it looks like just a bridge with some railroad tracks, but when you think about the history there...awesome. Just awesome.

The day only got better from there. Everything just became a random adventure. Our amazing tour guide from BCC met another amazing tour guide who let us join her group. We rode the train across death railway and took in the stunning mountain views. (note: when traveling to a new place, try to do the train thing. awesome and easy way to take in the scenery without walking).

We got off the train and had lunch at an outdoor restaurant. Sarah and I were talking to these two guys from England doing a year-long walkabout; going to South America, Asia, and Australia. Never in my life would I have imagined being so intrigued by traveling, but it sounded like so much fun and such an incredible experience that I found myself trying to think of the places that I would go if I were to do such a trip.

After lunch, we took a bamboo raft down the river. Awesome and peaceful experience. I couldn't help but imagine the raft making stops in the early morning, loading up with children and their books, and making its way toward the school like an aquatic bus...not that I have any reason to think that has ever happened...just random ADDness. We talked to a woman visiting from Australia who said just the same. When you see how simply and peacefully many of the Thai people live, it makes you wonder why we stress ourselves into heart attacks everywhere else. It was awesome to be able to meet so many interesting people and hear their stories.

When we got off the raft, we loaded our slightly damp selves back into the van to head off to our next adventure:

The Tiger Temple...