So this past Saturday, I finally got my ass out of Bangkok. I stayed 2 more days than planned, and was a bit mad at myself for doing so, but wow am i happy that i left when i did. Life is all about timing and geography right? The plan was to take the train, about 4 hours, northwest to a province called Kanchanaburi. I had a rough idea of what i was going to do while there, and it all went out the window about half way through my train ride. The seating situation on the train...There is one aisle in the middle, on either side there are pairs of benches that face eachother, seating two per bench, 3 with a bit of a squeeze. I was one of the first people on a seemingly quiet car. This all ended 5 minutes later. I find myself surrounded by a very loud, very happy group of about 15 people, all women ages 22-52, with two children thrown in for good measure. As we start moving, several of us begin a cobbled together form of communication, as my thai sucks, and their english was limited. It turns out that they are a team of nurses going on a weekend retreat together. As the train rumbles along, and I'm not saying this to blow smoke up my ass, they all manage to rotate seats many times so to take turns sitting next to me and chat. And the temprature is really climbing. I feel like the not-so-buff version of "The Bachelor" at this point. Not so much "Wind Beneath My Wings,' more like "Sweat Under My Ba**s." Continuing, it's all well and fine and we're really laughing a lot. About two hours into it, one girl asks me if i will come with them to the pier and sing karoke with them later. I say sure, I've been to The Mint! Then she says, ok, so you stay with us at pier? (i am paraphrasing). I say, is it close to where the guesthouses are? Not really. As we meander through this conversation, they basically invite me to stay with them on their "pier," which is actually a floating house located about 78km from where i am intending to stay. After pondering their invite for approximately 23 seconds, i say i would love to, and am flattered. I'm flabbergasted! We've met for all of 2 hours, they are going on a work retreat together, and they invite a total stranger to stay, eat, sing, and later actually play cards (and lose $$) with them. I was really blown away by

a) their trust
b) their genuine kindness
c) their attitude that inviting me along would be nothing but positive and fun

So the following photos are what went on at the floating house. I have a ton more, but i think this is a good summary. And i didn't think that literally we would be staying on a floating house.