Travel period: 31 May – 1 June
2014 (1 night stay)
Location: Western Thailand
It has been a while since I blogged last. I have done a few
trips abroad but I find this trip interesting since it is not written in most
travel books or journals. Well, there may be a few articles online BUT Let me show
it through my words then.
I and my friend, Nhong begin our trip at 4:30 am from
Bangkok. We drive through Nakornpathom, which is a province before
Kanchanaburi. Kanchanaburi province is famous for its rivers, hills and mountains
as well as the death railway, the well-known tourist spot for Thailand. There
are lots of travel agents that offer a day trip tour from Bangkok to
Kanchanaburi from Khaosan road. The tour pretty much includes a commercial
tiger temple, a butterfly farm and lunch by the river near the death railway.
To me, Kanchanaburi is massive. When I say massive, it means
it covers a large area of parks. I suppose since there are vast areas of
mountains and rivers. For a first-time visitor, you should make your way there as well as those who like to go fishing; this is a good place for that.
Since we have been to Kanchanaburi and the death railway so
many times, we decided to do a trip further away from Kanchanaburi. The place
is called Erawan national park.
I have been there before about 4 years ago in 2010. What
struck me was the turquoise water on the sixth tier. The Erawan falls is
well-known for the emerald green ponds. There are in total of 7 tiers. It takes
about 1 to 2 hours hike from the lowest tier. The path is easy. It is laid with
concrete up to about 4 to 5 tiers then the path begins to look more like a real
hiking trail.
The park is open at 8 a.m. and we arrive at 8:15 am, one of
the first visitors LoL. We were really excited so. Surely a benefit of being
there early is you get to swim in clean water and less crowed, especially
avoidance of kids peeing in the ponds.
For those who like something different than any other
waterfalls, I suggest the 6th tier. For me, it is the most beautiful
tier of all. With its nice blue colour water, I think it is from the limestone
erosion so the water is full of minerals, in this case, calcite. The whole day was spent at the falls. We leave about 5 pm
and drive to along Kwai river to find an accommodation and eventually found a
place called Wang Yai river kwai resort. It is located by Kwai noi river. The
rate is 1,800 THB a night with a stunning view of the river. It was definitely
worth it. We checked out at midday the next day and drove back to Bangkok. We
stopped by at the commercial tiger temple since Nhong hadn’t never been there.
As I said, it was really commercial. From its name ‘temple’, you would think
you could find serenity there. For me, it is just a zoo for tourists to come
and have their pictures taken with the tigers. I personally like animals myself
so I got a few snap shots then. A drive to Erawan park and back to Bangkok is so beautiful. It is definitely the place to recommend for a
weekend escape from Bangkok.
Pictures below;
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| Wang Yai river kwai resort. |
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| One of the tiers. |
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| Tier 2. |
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| The Tier 6. |
