Kanchanaburi, Thailand

We took a side trip from Bangkok out to Kanchanaburi to visit John and his girlfriend Ann. Kanchanaburi is a small provincial capital about two hours outside of Bangkok that receives only a few tourists who come to see the Bridge over the River Kwai. John has basically gone native and tries to live the way the Thai people do, and thus, has vast knowledge about Thai culture, customs, religion and local dentists (which we used for a 6mo cleaning). He was an amazing tour guide with a plethora of knowledge spanning from traditional way of life for the Thai people to internet security He showed us around the obligatory tourist sites including the Bridge over the River Kwai and the war museum…

…and also took us out of the city to spend some time with kids at the Moo Baan alternative education community for orphans, in a temple (where we encountered our first king kong sized buddah) and in a local watering hole where we swam with the fishes under multiple waterfalls. Some locals (and Robin) actually encourage the fish to suck on their leg to remove dead skin as a therapeutic massage.

..the highlight of the trip was when we brushed up on our motor biking skills while scooting around the countryside looking at cows with big floppy ears, rice fields, banana plantations, papaya trees, cave temples and beautiful mountains.

Lucky for us, Ann has many skills including masseuse, furniture maker and amazing cook. Robin didn’t hesitate to receive some extra pampering from with a Thai massage one night, and a foot scrub another. We watched and learned how she prepared Tom Yom soup and BBQ Tilapia fish with here outside Thai style kitchen. John also showed us his BBQ pork ribs trick by creating a make-shift sauce from ketchup, vinegar, garlic, and Thai sweet chili sauce.

We were really lucky to have John and Ann as such gracious hosts and tour guides, it was really nice to have some time away from the tourist life to learn more about the way people traditionally live.