7/24/10 6:10 AM : I am in a Taxi, and I ring up somebody and after a few words handover the phone to the driver
Rewind ~ 2 days
7/22/10 2:00 PM : I am in office talking with a colleague sitting next to me, as he surfs the net trying to find out the best way for me to reach kanchanaburi
Rewind ~ 1 day
7/21/10 9:00 PM : I am surfing net at my serviced apartment and reading tourist review comments for kanchanaburi trip and finalized Mini-van for dropping me to kanchanaburi
Forward ~ 1 day
7/22/10 2:15 PM : Finally found out one tourist van service number. Called him up and confirmed if it was still active and timings and price.
Forward ~ 2 days
7/24/10 6:30 AM : My cab halts in an empty road in khao san road, and I can see a number of mini vans parked on the left hand side. I talk with one of the person sitting behind a small table placed on the pavement, pay him 120 baht and in another five minute, get onto the front seat of a mini-van.
Forward ~ 2.5 Hours
7/24/10 9:00 AM : I am walking along a deserted street which is full of massage shops, food shops, guest houses, and shops of tour organizers. Most of them have not yet opened. feeling completely lost and confused… not knowing what to do
Rewind ~ 20 mins
7/24/10 8:40 AM : I am talking with person behind the counter of a tourist shop, as they explain me all the available tours in kanchanaburi, but when I select the tour I want to go, I am informed that it has already started and the vans have departed. I go around few more shops, and its the same story. The day tours seems to start at 8 AM itself
Rewind ~ 1 day
7/23/10 4:00 PM : I am sitting next to my Team lead in office @Chamchuree Square, as he googles and shows me maps and distances (and travel duration) between places that I want to cover in kanchanaburi. He is concerned that I may not be able to manage all the travel myself and we finally decide that i should reach there (kanchanaburi) and join in one of the local tour programs.
Rewind ~ 4 hours
7/23/10 11:30 AM : My TL is sitting next to me and has a look at the list of places I want to cover in my weekend trip. He then suggests me that I should take into account the time factor as well (travel n sightseeing) to make the plan work. Else I may not be able to complete the trip as planned.
Forward ~ 1 day
7/24/10 5:00 AM : My alarm rings, I wake up hurriedly and go through the daily morning chores. I had already packed my bag yesterday night. The plan is for a one day trip to kanchanaburi. Will travel till kanchanaburi by a local tourist van and then catch a local tour program from there, and return by 8.30 pm back to Bangkok
Rewind ~ 2 weeks
7/5/2010-7/14/2010 : I go through various sites, friend suggestions, tourist companies around Bangkok and enquire about various adventure trip options, their prices, the duration, etc. and finalize on Kanchanaburi - as that seems to give me more new experiences and is affordable (both time and cost wise) for me.
I also notice that cost/prices set by bigger tourist firms (found online) are way too high than ones offered by tour shops along roads (nana for ex), and even cheaper is the weekend Special Train offer. But disadvantage is that its quite slow and does not cover everything that i want.
Forward ~ 2 weeks
7/24/10 3:30 PM : I am sitting next to a nice big tiger (re
al), touching softly on top of its neck and somebody is clicking pictures, and seconds later I am suddenly being held firmly on my hand and pulled around very fast, almost like runningRewind ~ 6 hours
7/24/10 9:15 AM : I am standing at a tour organizing shop named "Good Times" (came back again after enquiring other shops), and they tell me that there is a tiger temple tour at noon, if I wish to join. The travel cost 130 baht (up and down) and 500 baht is the entrance fee.
Rewind ~ 2 weeks
7/5/2010-7/14/2010 : I read about tiger temple in Kanchanaburi, I see pictures of general tourist people with tiger on their lap etc. I am very excited and want to experience the same ….
Forward ~ 2 weeks
7/24/10 3:15 PM : I am walking along with a pretty lady in a seemingly deserted forest like area with some brochures (maps) in our hands and discussing something.
Rewind ~ 2 hours
7/24/10 1:30 PM : I am at the "Good Times" tourist shop again, this time booking my Tiger temple trip, and next to me is a pretty lady seemingly from the US. She is going through the tour brochures and seems pretty confused and selects erawan waterfall + safari world tour option for next day.
----------I N T E R V E L-----------
If you want to know what happened with the tiger suddenly? whats the story about that girl from US?, and was my trip successful? what all places was i able to cover? did i stay back there for the night? etc, then you will have to wait for the next part :)
Coming up next is the answer for all the above questions + a straight forward review and tips for Kanchanaburi tour.
Hope you enjoyed reading this. Eagerly waiting for your comments. :)
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