I hurried back to my apartment, broke out my Thailand Lonely Planet guide book, anxiously looking for a place to go so I could salvage my weekend. After much debate and research, I decided on a sleepy town in Western Thailand next to the Burmese border called Sangkhlaburi. It was a bit of a trek to get there, but my golly was it worth every micro second. I woke up bright and early Saturday morning, and with perfect timing I caught the hour-long bus to Kanchanaburi where I would need to get off and take another 5 hour-long bus ride. When I arrived in Kanchanaburi, a man approached me and asked where I was going. I told him and he ushered me over to a van station, telling me it would get me to Sangkhlaburi much faster. It was about the same price as the bus, and I figured I’d be more comfortable. It turned out to be a great decision, because instead of taking 5 hours, it only took 3 1/2, but I’m getting ahead of myself. The ride took me through the beautiful Kanchanaburi mountain range, full of massive limestone giants covered in thick greenery with their complex peaks shaping the sky. I looked around the van and noticed that most of the other passengers were asleep, and I wondered how anyone could pass up a time to look at these amazing natural wonders. I stayed awake the whole time, listening to my iPod, just staring out my window and watching the mountains get more and more impressive as we went further west.
Mountains on the way up to Sangkhlaburi
I arrived in Sangkhlaburi at about one o’clock, and was immediately impressed with what I saw. It was a very small town, with only about 47,000 residents who live there. Most of them aren’t even Thai- they are mainly Burmese refugees from the Mon and Karen tribes who escaped to Thailand because of oppression in Burma. They now live in a village in this town that is connected by the longest wooden bridge in Thailand called the Mon Bridge. The bridge crosses the Khao Laem reservoir on which the town overlooks, and many people live in houses on the water. I checked into a small home stay, put down my bag, grabbed my camera and hit the town. After a quick lunch of Burmese Curry, I crossed the Mon Bridge, and explored the village. I hired a motorbike taxi and the driver took me around to all the hot spots. He did his best to communicate to me what the significance of each place was, but I only picked up a little of what he was trying to say. Afterwards, he dropped me off a local restaurant and the woman who ran it invited me in for some Burmese coffee. I gladly accepted, sat down, and pushed around a small racecar with her four-year old son, all while enjoying the most delicious cup of coffee I have ever had in my life. I spent the next couple of hours walking around on the bridge, checking out the market in town, taking pictures, and meeting people. I have never met so many friendly people in my entire life. Every person smiled, waved and said “Hello” to me as I walked by them. They didn’t stare at me like everywhere else in Thailand though, and I felt very comfortable strolling around.
I walked around until it was almost 5:00, and that means only one thing: sunset. I headed back onto the bridge and spent the next hour and a half people watching, enjoying my surroundings and taking pictures of the sunset. And I have to say, it might have been on my list of top five all time sunsets. As the sun went down, and darkness took over the town, I heard sounds of thunder, and saw streaks of lightning. On the cusp of an electric storm, the air feels magnetic. The hairs on your arms stand up, and you can just feel something is about to happen. I left the bridge and found a little restaurant on the lake to have dinner. It was there that I met a fellow traveler named Helen. She was an older woman, probably in her later 50’s or so, but age doesn’t matter in the face of travel. She was from Australia, and we talked up a storm about anything and everything for a couple hours as the lightning lit up the sky. I was exhausted from the day though and went to bed around 8:30. I wanted to get a lot of sleep for the next day, but unfortunately this didn’t happen. I slept until around 1 a.m. or so, when I woke up and just couldn’t fall back asleep. I tossed and turned, hoping to fall back asleep until it was 6:00 a.m. when I woke up, got dressed and headed back down to the lake. I was tired but I didn’t care, I had a goal: early morning misty boat ride on the lake. I had heard that the mornings were magical here, and that boat rides were a must. I went to the dock, hired a boat and we set off. The lake was covered in fog, and I couldn’t see much, but I loved just being out there on the water. The sounds of nature, the cool air and the wind in my face all combined for a wonderful experience that I didn’t want to end. It’s surprising how fast an hour can go by when you are truly enjoying yourself.
When daylight settled on the town, I made my way to the bus station and took a sorng-tau (a pickup truck with seats in the back) to Three Pagodas Pass, the border between Thailand and Burma. The ride took about a half hour, and I had my feet dangling off the back of the truck, watching blurs of green whiz by me. I was listening to my iPod and was having fun choosing different songs to play as we drove along. I decided that listening to “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynard Skynard was the most fun, and Rogue Wave’s “Lake Michigan” fit the mood best. The real treasure though, was listening to Sigur Ros, and as I zoomed by the mountains and looked out at the vast landscapes, I decided that listening to them in these surroundings was the defining moment of my life, and I couldn’t help but let a smile creep up my face. There isn’t much to see at Three Pagodas Pass, the pagodas themselves are pretty unimpressive. I spent most of my time here wondering around, looking out at the mountains and meeting some of the local people, some of whom took a picture with me. The most exciting part of being there was when I walked to the small town next to Three Pagodas Pass and explored the narrow streets and colorful faces of the people that live there. I also accidentally walked into Burma, which resulted in army men with guns yelling at me to get out. A little scary but pretty amusing and funny I think. In my defense, it was not clearly marked where Thailand ends and Burma begins. I was just walking along a street and all of a sudden I was in Burma. At least I can say that I have been there now, can’t I?
A short while later, I headed back to Sangkhlaburi and had lunch. It was still early and I didn’t know what I was going to do with myself until the end of the day. I saw some people swimming in the reservoir outside the restaurant, so right away I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t have a bathing suit so I just went right in with my shorts. The water was clean and warm and it felt great to go swimming during the hot day. There was even a raft out in the reservoir. It wasn’t as great as my raft at Ko Samet, but hey, what is? It was made of bamboo, and was much smaller, but it swayed with the water and that’s all I needed. I swam out to it and relaxed and got some sun while I took a quick nap. When I woke up a short while later, I swam back to shore, gathered my things and headed back to my home stay where I showered and changed my clothes. I still had some time before the sunset so I walked around the town, trying to find places that I hadn’t been yet. I wandered around for who knows how long, and the longer I strolled the dustier my feet got from the dirt road. Eventually, I went back to the restaurant to have a beer and watch the sunset over the bridge. It was nice to see it from a different angle, but I was slightly disappointed because it wasn’t as great of a sunset as the previous night. I did get to see my friend Helen again, and after a quick catch up recalling our days events, we parted ways. I was completely and utterly beat from the day’s activities so I went back to my home stay where I just crashed. A solid 10 hours later, I woke up and packed up my things and left. I said goodbye to the family that lent me their home for the weekend and I made my way back down to the reservoir for one last look. It was misty again and the air was blue and I could see the sun trying to peak out from the clouds. I just stood there admiring this amazing place, wishing I didn’t have to go. So, with one last look, I turned around and walked up to the street where I took a motorbike into town.
I caught a van to Kanchanaburi pretty quickly and I began my descent back into reality as the van took me back down through the mountains. The views going back down were just as incredible, if not better than any view before. Mist and early morning fog still covered the mountains and the sun rose in the distance silhouetting them. All was good until about halfway through the ride something terrible happened. A smelly old man got into the van and sat right next to me. He smelled like rotten curry and B.O., and made himself comfortable by sprawling out all over the seat. He was completely invading my personal space with his arms and legs touching mine and I tried to stay clear as I squished myself against the window. He then started to cough almost right in my face and made sounds that made me think he had a cockroach in his throat. Then, to top it all off, he decided that right now was the best time to pick his ear hair and proceeded to wipe them on his pants. I had to deal with this for about two hours, and I’ve never wanted to get out of a car so bad in my entire life. However, it couldn’t possibly taint my weekend, as I really believe it was my best yet.
Never have I connected with a place I’ve traveled to as much as I did with Sangkhlaburi. And I would consider myself a very lucky person if I ever get to return to this hidden gem tucked away deep in the mountains.
"In my defense, it was not clearly marked where Thailand ends and Burma begins."
ReplyDeleteLOL. I really wish I could travel with you man. We'll have to do that someday soon.