It was time to move on today so we packed our bags and after breakfast we waved goodbye to the Bluestar Guest House and started up the driveway to look for a tuk-tuk to take us to the bus station.  At the top of the driveway we ran into a Beligian couple with their kids piling into the back of a Sawngthaew (ute with two rows of seats running the length of the tray) so we halved the cost with them and jumped in.

Originally we’d planned to go to Suphanburi then jump in a second bus to Ayuthaya, we are trying to make our way slowly up North and avoid having to go back through Bangkok.  It seems to be a little harder than one would think from here.  Talking to the Belgian couple we found that they were trying to do the same but instead they were going to Sangkhlaburi (near the three pergoda pass and what is believed to be the longest wooden bridge in Thailand) then from there going to Um Phang then up from there.

This surprised me a little since I’d looked but could not find a way to get from Sangkhlaburi to Um Phang still they assured me they had researched it and it was possible.  In one of those sudden changes one can and does make we decided to try and see how it went since we’d originally preferred to go that way.

The journey to Sangkhlaburi was beautiful winding slowly up through the mountains and four hours after we left Kanchnaburi we arrived in a sleepy town where you can actually walk more than 10 steps without someone asking you if you wanted a taxi.  Now that is a good thing except in this case we actually wanted a taxi since the book does not have a map of the town and so while we knew the name of the place we wanted to go to we didn’t know how to get there.

Thankfully we found someone to take us but unlike many other places the whole barter system does not seem to work.  The motorbike was 10 THB, the taxi was 100 THB for what was supposed to be a 1.5 km ride.  Unfortunately the motorbike was out with the packs so we split the cost of the Sawngthaew with the Belgian couple and headed to the P Guest House.  Unfortunately they did not have rooms.  They were full, which so far on the trip since places have been mostly empty we found a little strange.  They then told us it was a Thai Holiday so not only were they full but it was likely everyone would be for the next couple of days.  She suggested we try the little place next door and if they did not have any room then to come back and she would try to get us a room somewhere.  Thankfully the place next door (I still do not know what it is call since nothing is in English and the people here do not speak English either.) had some rooms.  The unfortunately I think given the Thai Holiday and knowing that most places were full her eyes lit up at seeing us walk down the driveway.  She charged and fairly high price for what these rooms are but at least we had a bed.  I had an inclining that she had jacked the price up considerably which was confirmed by the owners of the P Guest House.

After settling in and relaxing a bit we headed back to the P Guest House for dinner which proved to be a rather relaxed evening.  I had the Burmese Curry which in answer to my question if it was ‘Hot’ before I ordered the waiter relpied it was only ‘a little bit spicy’.

Note to self in Thailand ‘a little bit spicy’ means yes it is hot!  Still it was very tasty.