Kanchanaburi

Yesterday we took the train out of Bangkok to the riverside town of Kanchanaburi. The third class train, ventilated only by open windows and electric fans attached to the ceiling, was by far out most sweat-inducing outing yet. It was also an-all day event because we arrived at the station a full three hours ahead of time, only to hurry up and wait for the three-hour ride. Upon arrival in Kanchanaburi we found that all the guest houses that were recommended to us (and the only ones with pools) were booked, so we pouted about that for awhile before deciding upon Ploy guesthouse. Luckily this morning our first choice guest house, Pong Phen, said they have availabilty so we'll be poolside there tomorrow! Today we took a local bus an hour north to Erawan National Park- home to a beautiful seven-tier waterfall. Unfortunately I severely offended a monk on the bus ride there by sitting within an arm's length of him. We weren't sure why he was so grumpy the whole ride and why he kept shooing me away- until Mason rememberd- 5 minutes AFTER we got off the bus- the no females within arm's lenth rule.
Finally we made it to the water and were comleted refreshed after jumping in. We only jumped to get away from the fish that descend upon and nibble on your feet if you stand in shallow water. That creeped the heck out of us so we decided to tread water out in the middle. After a few more hours of taking in the pretty waterfalls we headed back to town on the bus (no monks to offend this time luckily). Now we're looking forward to dinner and a movie at our guest house. Last night we ate dinner there and they were showing what we think was the season finale of Prison Break- captivating.
We are also really looking forward to dinner because it has become the only real meal we eat each day. For the last three days we've had breakfast at our guest house which consitis of fruit and 2 slices of toast. It is a great meal but usually not enough to last all day- however- we have had to make it last (with only a Luna bar as a supplment) due to a. running around greater bangkok trying to get our Cambodia and Lao visas (which we did successfully on Monday), b. being stuck on the train (yesterday), and c. being stuck at the waterfalls (today).