Off the beaten path in Kanchanaburi

Just a short post to tell you about a neat experience we had while in Thailand (our final real post is in the works!). As it turns out, one of my friends from high school, Jaclyn Bergamino, has made Thailand her home. She and her boyfriend are currently English teachers at schools in a city a few hours outside of Bangkok called Kanchanaburi. Being this close to an old friend, we had to visit! So a few weekends ago we took the (very slow!) train from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi to visit Jaclyn and Sam. It was an absolutely awesome addition to our Thailand trip! In contrast to the touristy activities we'd been doing in northern and southern Thailand, visiting Jaclyn was anything but! Jaclyn and Sam live in a cute little apartment completely outside the tourist district of their town. They have nice neighbors, a friendly landlord, and great connections to the businesses, restaurants, and taxi drivers throughout their neighborhood. They have a simple life... working during the week and relaxing on the weekends. Sam makes time to do some extra, volunteer English tutoring on the side, and Jaclyn just got a side job as a travel writer. Their affairs are easy to manage, their local relationships aren't too complicated, and they love it. What a great life they've developed in Thailand! What's even more, Jaclyn and Sam gave us a more authentic look at the nature of Thai locals. Whereas in the tourist areas, there are always taxi drivers, travel agents, or hotel operators trying to rip you off, most Thai people Jaclyn and Sam interact with are extremely eager to help foreigners in any way possible. They give Jaclyn and Sam an incredible level of respect because they are teachers (a respect gravely missing from American culture!), and they regularly invite them to their homes to eat or just stop them for a friendly, albeit a bit broken, English/Thai conversation. While Amit and I had been on guard, constantly defensive when interacting with locals, Jaclyn and Sam are warmly-accepted members of their Thai community and have an easier time interacting with Thai people than even with some of the more aggressive tourists who visit their town. It was an educational, and incredibly unique, experience for us on our trip, and we came away from our relaxing visit with them with a completely different perspective on interactions with Thai people. This "education" was almost immediately applicable, as we were approached by 3 or 4 different people when we arrived at the Southern Bus Station in Bangkok. We had plans to buy tickets to head down south to Koh Phangan, and usually, when we're approached by locals acting like they want to help us, we quickly rebuff them in an attempt to avoid whatever scam they are pushing. After our weekend with Jaclyn, however, we decided to be a little more open to their help... and as it turned out, they were indeed just trying to help us get where we were going! Each person who discovered that we wanted to buy tickets to Koh Phangan would point us in the direction of the correct ticket counter until we finally got there and bought exactly what we were looking for... no tricks, scams, or other deception. So a big thanks to Jaclyn and Sam for a great weekend and a great perspective on the Thai people! While most of the rest of our visit in Thailand was within the tourist bubble, this unique departure from the beaten path was a real treat! Get ready for our final post... we're on our way home!!! Love, Dena & Amit

Sam, Jaclyn, and Dena at the river near their apartment The beautiful mountains across the river from Jaclyn and Sam's apartment Sam and Amit, relaxing on a bench at the river The sunset in Kanchanaburi