Bangkok, Part One

We made it to Bangkok on Thursday night at about 5, which doesn't seem too bad until I tell you that we left our flat at 8 that morning and the flight is only 3 hours.  It was a day fraught with peril: plane delays, long waits for take-off, and navigating a foreign subway.  The Jensen's (who we were meeting here) were quite certain that we had been sold into sex slavery.  The effort was worth it though!

The girls were thrilled to find a cupcake establishment that had an excellent understanding of proper frosting.  Although the Filipinos love sugar, they don't get buttercream at all.

"I get buttercream."

We had dinner and cupcakes then headed back to the hotel for a good night's rest.
We wanted to be prepared for Friday's adventures.

Friday started with 3 hours in the van.  The kids held it together admirably.  Naps helped.

This is a real sign.
The road we were on bisects the jungle- the heaviest part of the jungle on one side, and the water on the other, so elephants cross so they can drink.

Kate and I on the mean streets of Kanchanaburi.

The first stop of our tour was Erawan Falls.  It's a set of seven waterfalls.

Number One.

Number Two.
Those are fish behind her.  When you put your feet in the water they would nibble them.

Chris, Jen, Zander, and us.

Still waterfall number two.

Again, check out those fish!
The waterfalls are located in a national park.  It was so clean.  When we entered the area of the waterfalls, we had to procure all of our water bottles to be inventoried.  On the way out, we had to re-inventory and were fined for any missing bottles.

They had a great time playing in the waterfall.

The aforementioned fierce monkey.
They kind of were.

Waterfall Three.
Also the waterfall known as:  The waterfall where Russian tourists pull their swimsuits into their bum cracks and pose sexy on a tree right by my kids.
International travel is VERY eye opening.
And bum crack opening.

Waterfall Four.
Kiki screwed up all of her courage to slide down with Bruce.
She didn't save any for when she hit the water- she came out crying.

We only hiked four waterfalls then ran out of steam.  We were on a guided tour which turned out to be great.  Our guide called the restaurant as we were leaving the fourth fall and ordered our lunch, so by the time we reached the bottom our food was ready.

The restaurant was a total hole in the wall but it will probably go down as one of the favorite meals I've ever eaten.  The food was good, certainly, but something about good company and beautiful surroundings makes for a memorable meal.
Maybe because a transvestite cooked it.

After lunch, we crossed something else off of the bucket list: Elephant Rides.  Not much to say except it was pretty awesome.

We also went on a raft ride.

One more shot with the elephants.

We went on a train ride on the Thai-Burma Death Railway. 

Then we went to sleep.

It was an unbelievable day...sometimes on these adventures I have to pinch myself.  I never dreamed that I would find myself on the back of an elephant in Bangkok.  The girls are quite the travelers, which I'm grateful for.  They will have the chance to prove themselves: we have 24 hours of travel coming up in just ONE week.