Kanchanaburi

My last big adventure on this journey home was a trip to Kanchanaburi with my great friends Vee and Seth.  V, you will remember, is the assistant pastor of my church here in Bangkok and Seth is one of the best friends I have ever had, and is the young man who assumed my role in guiding the Young Leaders Group.  We went to Kanachanburi to meet with another friend and member of Immanuel Baptist, who has been going through a tough time and has been staying with family there.

Kanachanburi is best known as the home of the Bridge on the River Kwai.  A large number of American and other allied prisoners of war were forced to work on construction of a railroad by the Japanese army during World War II in the area.  Many lost their lives and are buried in a military cemetery in the city of Kanchanaburi.  This trip, though, I got no photos of the bridge or cemetery.

Its about a 2 1/2 hour drive west of Bangkok, and we stopped on the way at a floating market and had guay jub for breakfast,  I can't explain how much I love guay jub.  It is a more traditional Chinese dish and pretty hard to find in Bangkok

Wide rolled noodles in a rich broth with a boiled egg, fried squares of tofu, squares of congealed blood (also called blood jelly), pieces of crispy pork and pork entrails.  It may sound intimidating to my American friends, but this stuff is really REALLY good!  

We met with our friend Noom at the home of his mother and sister.  We just wanted to drop in and encourage him.  He was very happy to see us.

We went to a local shop for lunch.  Everyone else had rice and muu dang (red pork), but I opted for ba-mi... egg noddles with chunks of pork and small meat balls.

Leaving Kanachanaburi, we stopped at Sai Yok Yai waterfall.  Vee loves waterfalls more than anyone I know, and there are a lot of them in Thailand.

Standing on a bridge overlooking a community that lives along the river.

Its a beautiful country.

We finished the day by stopping to visit with a man I met a year ago.  Jack was injured nine years ago in a car accident, which left him with no use of his legs and very little ability to use his arms and hands.  Still, he has a wonderful attitude and outlook on life.  He and his brother and mother raise rare tropical fish and sell them.  He makes a pretty good living at it.  He loves getting visitors but he always encourages me more than I do him!

One of Jack's fish.