The most beautiful landscapes of the Kanchanaburi Province can be found in Erawan National Park. The park features a beautiful 7 tier waterfall (1 mile hike to the top) and five caves. One cave even has prehistoric coffins. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to explore the caves. Our main focus was the waterfall itself.
We had read online that it was incredibly easy to find accommodation once you arrive in the park. The park has bungalows and tents for rent. After the 2 hour bus ride, which provided a view of the pavement through its wood slats, we strolled up to the tourist accommodation desk at around noon. I requested a four person bungalow. The woman was beyond rude and without looking up from her phone she said, “No bungalow. Tent only. Don’t like tent- go away.” Apparently there was an uncommonly large group of foreigners in the park for a party. I explained that we had no problem staying in tents, but would like to stow our bags at their office while we visited the waterfall. Her response was, “No luggage storage.” So we sat around to brainstorm what to do with our stuff. Leaving everything in tents was not a secure option. We decided to divvy up labor. The guys went in search of food, Kellie watched the stuff, and I went in search of foreigners who had successfully rented a bungalow in the hopes they would allow us to lock our bags up at their place. I met two nice Irish men, some Russian speaking Russians, more Russians, and two hippies from San Francisco. Side note, there are actually so many Russian tourists in this area that my guidebook warns to get to the park as early as possible to avoid the Russian hordes. I now know way! The Irish men recommended a hotel outside the park, the Russians looked at me blankly, and the two hippies had nothing to offer except their extreme enthusiasm at hearing an American accent since it was the first one they had come across in their travels (I have only met 5 Americans on the road… tons of Germans). I then spotted a group of Thai people in my age bracket. I approached and asked if they were staying in a bungalow. They nodded. In basic English I requested if we could lock our things up in their bungalow. They said yes. As time went on and after phone numbers had been exchanged, it became obvious that they had not understood and that they were actually leaving for Bangkok that day. I told one of the girls that the woman at the desk had been very rude and seemed to not like foreigners. I requested that she inquire into the availability of bungalows in Thai. She too thought the woman was rude and offered to help. I put on my biggest Thai like smile and followed her into the office. The woman looked from her to me. I could see the wheel turning in her head and the shift in her persona. She flipped through the reservation book and found one two person bungalow. It really wasn’t a bungalow but a ply wood box with a door. Regardless, Jack Pot! All we needed was a place to lock our stuff. The bummer was that we had to wait till 2 pm. Fine we will take it! At two I entered the office to get the key to our wooden box and found two additional women in the room. I batted my eyes and explained to them that there are four of us. The one woman said, “You have been waiting for a while haven’t you?” I nodded. “Let me see what I can find.” Sure enough there was a six person bungalow available. So we happily overpaid for a place to sleep. The woman later told me that the house was supposed to go to another group, but she felt I was a much more patient foreigner than most and that my smile made me look like a nice person. I can hear my brother now, “Ha! Fooled her didn’t you!” She also told me that they did in fact have luggage storage.
We hiked to the top of the waterfall, slid down smooth rock formation slides, had our dead skin eaten off of our feet by fish of questionable sanitation, watched a Bollywood film being made, and had an overall nice time. I just wish we could have spent a full day there. If you make the trip, don’t do a day trip from Kanchanaburi. You really should spend a couple days exploring the park.
We had read online that it was incredibly easy to find accommodation once you arrive in the park. The park has bungalows and tents for rent. After the 2 hour bus ride, which provided a view of the pavement through its wood slats, we strolled up to the tourist accommodation desk at around noon. I requested a four person bungalow. The woman was beyond rude and without looking up from her phone she said, “No bungalow. Tent only. Don’t like tent- go away.” Apparently there was an uncommonly large group of foreigners in the park for a party. I explained that we had no problem staying in tents, but would like to stow our bags at their office while we visited the waterfall. Her response was, “No luggage storage.” So we sat around to brainstorm what to do with our stuff. Leaving everything in tents was not a secure option. We decided to divvy up labor. The guys went in search of food, Kellie watched the stuff, and I went in search of foreigners who had successfully rented a bungalow in the hopes they would allow us to lock our bags up at their place. I met two nice Irish men, some Russian speaking Russians, more Russians, and two hippies from San Francisco. Side note, there are actually so many Russian tourists in this area that my guidebook warns to get to the park as early as possible to avoid the Russian hordes. I now know way! The Irish men recommended a hotel outside the park, the Russians looked at me blankly, and the two hippies had nothing to offer except their extreme enthusiasm at hearing an American accent since it was the first one they had come across in their travels (I have only met 5 Americans on the road… tons of Germans). I then spotted a group of Thai people in my age bracket. I approached and asked if they were staying in a bungalow. They nodded. In basic English I requested if we could lock our things up in their bungalow. They said yes. As time went on and after phone numbers had been exchanged, it became obvious that they had not understood and that they were actually leaving for Bangkok that day. I told one of the girls that the woman at the desk had been very rude and seemed to not like foreigners. I requested that she inquire into the availability of bungalows in Thai. She too thought the woman was rude and offered to help. I put on my biggest Thai like smile and followed her into the office. The woman looked from her to me. I could see the wheel turning in her head and the shift in her persona. She flipped through the reservation book and found one two person bungalow. It really wasn’t a bungalow but a ply wood box with a door. Regardless, Jack Pot! All we needed was a place to lock our stuff. The bummer was that we had to wait till 2 pm. Fine we will take it! At two I entered the office to get the key to our wooden box and found two additional women in the room. I batted my eyes and explained to them that there are four of us. The one woman said, “You have been waiting for a while haven’t you?” I nodded. “Let me see what I can find.” Sure enough there was a six person bungalow available. So we happily overpaid for a place to sleep. The woman later told me that the house was supposed to go to another group, but she felt I was a much more patient foreigner than most and that my smile made me look like a nice person. I can hear my brother now, “Ha! Fooled her didn’t you!” She also told me that they did in fact have luggage storage.
We hiked to the top of the waterfall, slid down smooth rock formation slides, had our dead skin eaten off of our feet by fish of questionable sanitation, watched a Bollywood film being made, and had an overall nice time. I just wish we could have spent a full day there. If you make the trip, don’t do a day trip from Kanchanaburi. You really should spend a couple days exploring the park.
