Kanchanaburi is a small town three hours northwest of Bangkok renowned for its outdoors activities, rich World War II history, and laid back atmosphere. I'm staying at the Jolly Frog Hostel, a sprawling resort with lawn chairs, hammocks, a popular restaurant staffed by ladyboys, all right on the Kwai River. Surprisingly, the hostel staff is quite unfriendly, except for the travel agent, who can't be bothered to ever awaken from her all day naps.
As I'm staying at 'da frog, my room is rightfully amphibious -- a spacious double on a floating houseboat in the lily pad-strewn river (200Baht = $6).
My neighbors are Lexi and Tata, both Germans vegetarians, who are traveling and working for a year in Southeast Asia and Australia. Their work experience has included being stable girls at a horse camp, acting as a squigee girls in a bikini car wash, and working seven-days-a-week on a fruit farm where Lexi developed the dreaded "mango rash" which consumed her whole body and health for three weeks. Lexi is short, red-haired with dark eyes and numerous piercings. Tata is tall, with wild curly hair like Miss Frizzle, and a predilection for hipsterish thick plastic-framed spectacles. Lexi has a full German pedigree while Tata originally hails from Brazil, with an accent and envy-inducing tanned skin to match. They are both low key and affable. We hit it off immediately and travel for the next three days.
The view from our houseboat/room at sunset is certainly worth the price of admission, like an ever-changing canvas of gold, red, orange, and yellow hues (some pics from Tata & Lexi).
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