Before returning to the resort staple, lounging, we walked around the grounds, back where to be food (wild pigs, bunnies, and maybe peacocks) are put on display as a "mini-zoo". We also met some local young people, ages 6 (hôk), 9 (kâo), 10 (sìp), and 16 (sìp-hôk). We introduced ourselves to the young ones with an offering of candy we had bought before we left for this very purpose. They gave us very tart, pitted, tiny apple type things in exchange. We had a great time trying to speak thai with them, our most succesful interaction yet. We learned eachothers ages (a common piece of introductive information for Thai's), and names, that they spoke thai and mon, and that the elder one thought Jeanie was beautiful (s~uay). What fun!

!We checked out of the River Kwai village on the 15^th. It was expensive, we spent as much there for food and lodging in two days as the other six days of our trip thus far. That was still of course inexpensive by our normal standards. Attention gift givers (Joan), they did not have the credit card number on file, so you shouldn't see a charge for us. Our last day there we really had a great time. We walked around the area outside the immediate resort and saw how the support people lived, played on some "team building" ropes course, and walked out of the woods and into our resort oasis via a little used trail, a great way rememder how much of a treat our time ther was.

To top it off, on our way to dinner the night before, we were invited to sit with some Thai people who had arived a few raftels down from us that evening. A couple with two kids owned a busines in Bangkok and were taking their employees there for a mini-vacation. We spent most of the evening with the woman and a freind of theirs. They were most gracious, providing us dinner (the spiciest I've had yet, I almost hurt myself, it was funny), and beer. Best of all great conversation, we learned a little more thai (they knew a little (nîd nàwy) english), and a lot more.

So the morning of the 15^th we went to Kanchanaburi via a somewhat Disco'y, colorful, reflective, public bus. We checked into a hole in the wall place (the register showed only a dozen people having stayed there this year), but it seem safe enough, and was only 150 baht (about 4USD).