Be Careful What You Wish For

In the past 24 hours, Jordan and I have discussed the lack of crazy Thai-translated-into-English, lack of monkeys, and lack of rain. As luck would have it, we found ourselves experiencing all of the above.

Yesterday we arrived in Kanchanaburi. Well off the beaten track and in search of waterfalls, we headed there from Bangkok. Our first order of business was to rent some bicycles (we have yet to graduate to mopeds). After sketchily pushing them across train tracks, we managed to cycle past farms, large houses, mini villages, cows and some goats. We ended up at an old World War II cemetary and then a monkey school. Pictures to follow, but the monkey school was a highlight as we fed them papaya and bananas. One baby monkey in particular enjoyed climbing on Jordan and leaving traces of fruit on Jordans shirt. Please note: this does not count as a lack of monkey.

As we biked back to Kanchanaburi, we thought it would be a good idea to check out a restaurant from Lonely Planet. Unfortunately, we were unable to find it and settled upon a random Thai place. Below you can see pictures of the menu. Jordan had just mentioned the fact that all English was apparently properly translated when we fell upon this goldmine:

I'm not quite sure how we ordered while simultaneously laughing hysterically. We left wondering what on earth was going on and how we would manage to decipher menus in the future. The Thai phrasebook Santa gave me did not quite help in this situation... although under the social category you can learn how to ask for clean needles.

Back to wishful thinking, this morning we woke up ready of a full day of touring. I commented on the humidity of the lovely Thailand morning and said something along the lines of, "good thing we don't have to worry about rain."

As our minibus sped off in the direction of the Erawan Falls, a national park here in the central plains, we thought of the monkeys we might see. As we hiked through and swam in the different pools surrounding the falls, we stopped thinking about wildlife and focused on hiking the treacherous trails. At the final and seventh level, we began the descent only to stumble upon some Eastern Europeans focused on the trees. Looking up, we realized that the man we had previously spotted wearing a man thong was taunting some monkeys in the trees. We waited for it to attack him but it did not. We continued on with our trek and the rest of our day's tour. We had seen some monkeys, swam in the waterfall, seen some crazy train lines built into the mountain, walked across flimsy wooden bridges and had a sunset beer at a classy floating restaurant.

As we got back to the hotel, I noticed some flashes of light in the distance and asked Jordan if it could be lightning. We decided, yes it was lightning and figured it was heat related. At dinner, however, it started to pour and we realized everything we talked about was coming true: crazy english translations, monkeys, and rain. This might not seem like a big deal but rain in the dry season might in fact be big. In fact, saying three things out loud we wanted and having them come true within 24 hours... coincidence? I think not.

This trip might just be absolutely blessed by the angels and you don't even know the other things we have wished for... Things we have to look forward to are Thai islands and full moon parties. May all our dreams come true (even the unspoken ones).