Kanchanaburi - How to Visit Erawan Falls by Private Car

Happy Waitangi Day! Wow that was a successful and awesome excursion. We started the day with breakfast, same deal as yesterday, but with actual coffee this time. Then we hopped in our rental car and went 67km to Erawan National Park and the Erawan Falls. Another place we had never heard of prior to planning this trip.

I didn't want to discuss the driving here until we had returned the rental car without any dents in it. They drive on the left which makes things easier and the roads are very well built and maintained. Nice and smooth and straight. Yesterday we had two lanes in each direction most of the way but today it quickly turned into single lanes. Driving in town is a bit nuts with all the scooters everywhere and no one seems to know what the speed limit is or how to indicate when changing lanes. But out of town there's hardly any traffic and it's a pleasant drive. Disappointed not to see the elephants that the signs kept warning us to watch out for. Most of the time we had no idea what the speed limit was. It seems to be a maximum of 90km/h on the open road and then 50km/h past a school of which there were many. But we were the only ones slowing down for the schools! There are so many signs for all sorts of things it's impossible to know what's going on. They even had red and blue police style flashing lights to advertise a roadside stall! We thought we were about to get asked to pull over. 😂

I was thinking the waterfalls would not meet expectations so kept them pretty low. You see all the photoshopped pictures of them and know they won't look like that. As long as there was some sort water and not a dry riverbed that would be good. Especially when they charge 300 Bhat per person and 30 Bhat for a car and then make you pay 20 Bhat each to rent a life jacket. You are not allowed to swim without one and they have people checking. Initially it seemed like a tourist racket but in reality it's bugger all to spend and as Sarah told me it supports their local economy. New Zealand could learn a thing or two. It's completely free for Thai people which is good. 

There are 7 levels to the waterfalls with sign posts saying how far you need to walk to each level. It's 2km to level 7 and uphill most of the way. The track up is well formed with concrete and proper steps up to level 5 which is at the 1.5km mark. Then to level 6 it's more rough and ready with rocks and roots to negotiate. Up to level 7 it gets quite steep with many steps. Sarah made it to level 5. It was damn hot by then! I continued on to level 7 and it was even hotter by the time I got to the top. The various waterfalls are quite pretty and the level of flow is low at this time of the year which means they have a nice blue colour in places. Because we had the car we got up there early before the big tour bus crowds arrived. There were still a few people about but based on the number of buses we saw driving out it will be crazy busy in the afternoon. 

Once I had been to the top I came back and met Sarah at level 5. We then walked back to level 3 for a swim. The water was lovely and the waterfalls awesome to swim up to and under. There are lots of fish, some tiny and some up to 40cm long. The little ones nibble your skin and nip your elbows or legs. It doesn't hurt but gives you a bit of a fright even though we knew to expect it. Down at level 2 we stopped for another swim. Each time we only shared the pool with 3 or 4 others. Then we headed down to level 1 and purchased a couple of lattes. They don't do flat whites here. We spent about 2.5 hours exploring in total which was plenty of time and was worth the money.

The drive back is busier but no dramas. We stopped for petrol which cost 800 Bhat or just over $40. It must have been around $2 per litre. The rental car got dropped back with about 40 minutes to run on our 24 hour rental. A good value option and gave us plenty of freedom to visit those two places with much less hassle than taking buses or taxis.

Now we can spend the rest of the day chilling in our room, eating chips, drinking coffee, and reading our books. 👍 Dad just sent me a WhatsApp to say Race Across the World visited the same falls this week. They were also in Siem Reap last week just before we were there. We must be about to catch them up!!! 😂