River Kwai Festival?? When is it?
 

I did a search here and on Google but didn't come up with much.

Can someone tell me what the dates are for 2006? I am finding "the end of Nov, beginning of December" but nothing more specific.

Also, is it terribly crowded in Kanchanaburi during the weekend? Is it very, very quiet during the week days? I am considering visiting Kanchanaburi during my solo trip in November.

Thanks!

Tamara

I think your first line could be set in stone these days !

Anyway Yahoo Thailand came up with the answer number 1 result, easy ( note you don't have to click 'Thailand' search, if you go into Yahoo Thailand just put in the searh and click "all the web":

http://asia.yahoo.com/thailand/

Then just put in search and click "all the web" for some reason it actualy comes up with the results you might expect! If you want other search there are 2 boxes next to where you search (in Thai ) just click first, you get English language results but they are in my opinion brilliant.

Anyway here is the link:

http://www.thailandgrandfestival.com...asp?festID=483

It's 24th Nov to 5th Dec

A good standard 3 star a/c pool etc is the Felix, about USD 42 standard, 48 for river view, some will say there are better but if you want to be close and stay at a place that is well established then the Felix is a good choice.
Very well worth the extra few $ for river view !!

tamara...why do you want to go to kanch.?? i know james likes it but i don't see any value in it really...

Bob, I think you and I have different interests and traveling styles. I love nature, the outdoors, hiking, snorkeling, etc. You like the Marriott, swimming in concrete pools, etc.

I tend to think that if you are not interested in a place, I will like it! ;-)

I know you don't like Chiang Mai and I loved it. Have you been to Kanchanaburi? If you did and you didn't like it then I am sure I will like it. :-)

Either way, I have a feeling you and I will have a grand old time at the get together in Bangkok in November even though we have different traveling styles.

Cheers!

Tamara

BTW Bob, I know that Kan. has many beautiful parks that I would love to explore. Plus it seems like a great place to chill out while traveling solo.

Have you been?

Bob, you haven't answered my question yet. Are you on holiday? :-)

Why don't you like Kanchanaburi?

Tamara

i have been away...undoubtably to a place you would not like...wow...i was just trying to be helpful...i just wrote something nasty that i have erased...
go hug the trees and swim in the dirty water in the river and enjoy....i will enjoying the marriott pool where i am 98% certain that i will not get any disease or rash, etc...

and yes i have been there...

Tamara I think you will enjoy going to Kan and getting a different insight into Thailand. Go for it and have a blast!
J

Boy, Bob! Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?!

I originally posted this:

"I tend to think that if you are not interested in a place, I will like it! :-)

I know you don't like Chiang Mai and I loved it. Have you been to Kanchanaburi? If you did and you didn't like it then I am sure I will like it. :-)"

only because we seem to have completely different traveling styles. Nothing wrong with either style just a difference in interests. Did you NOT take note of the smiley faces?

Why would you go and begin to post a nasty comment back to me?!?! I don't get it.

Don't worry, I won 't cramp your style by attending the get together in Bangkok although there are several people that I would like to have met, including you prior to your response. :-(

Thanks for the encouragement, Jules!

Have you spent time there? The parks with all the waterfalls are very enticing to me.

Cheers!

Tamara

Tamara, it has been quite a few years since I was there but I enjoyed it. It seems that James likes it and has some good up to date info for you on accomidation etc. I have been reading some peoples reports on staying on the river in boats etc. From reading your past report I think it could be something of interest to you. One I recall reading was definatly not lux but I don't recall if costs were in line with that. It sounded like a great atmosphere though.
J

Thanks again, Jules! :-)

I have been researching accomodations there and they have a wide variety of places to stay. I tend to lean towards the adventurous side so some of the river raft places sound great to me!

I may be able to catch the first day of the festival but that would only give me one night upon my return to Bangkok before I fly home. I may not even make the decision until I am over there.

BTW, I posted a comment on your Baan Orapin thread.

Tamara - we stayed at the Jungle rafts one night and then another another night at the River Kwai Resotel. I've posted before about how we loved the former, but the latter wasn't such a good place to stay! The main building was nice but the whole place was empty so totally lacking in atmosphere. It just felt deserted, although it did have a swimming pool and air con (rooms smelt damp though). So if you want to mix Jungle raft style accommodation with something a little more comfortable, then go with JamesA's advice for the Felix. I wonder though if it may have been busier if we had been there on a weekend. We were at Jungle Rafts Saturday night and at the Resotel on Sunday - JR had great atmosphere and was full, Resotel had none and was empty!

My favourite thing about Kanchanaburi was the kayaking/canoeing down the river through some kind of gorge - great big rockfaces either side of the river, amazing and no other boats around. We canoed from the Jungle Rafts down to the Resotel when we switched hotels. Definitely a great place to be if you like to be active.

Thanks Bella! From what I have read Kanchanaburi is a great place to visit for those of us that like the great outdoors. Especially for "tree huggers" as Bob aka rhkkmk seems to assume I am. ;-)

Thanks Bella!

Tamara

i often get out of the wrong side of the bed...

you are welcome at the mini GTG of course as is everyone....

And there was me thinking I was going to have to buy you both dinner on me!!

Tamara, The Felix is used by a lot of the tour companies, now, don't think of that in a bad way, many people just spend a few days and want to see Hellfire pass, the Museums, the War cemetaries plus do the hikes, kayak, river rafting etc etc, so for many they need to pack a lot into a couple of days, the felix is geared towards that, it's what I often term a 'safe bet', has been around years and tour companies regularly use as reliable.
There are also nice place that have a/c. The area is huge, there are also Golf resorts, does get busy at weekends for the weekend break crowd from Bangkok.

Well, James, now you can just by ME dinner on a night other than the GTG! ;-)

Thanks James!