The Erawan National Park is about an hours drive from Kanchanaburi, and its main attraction is the waterfall, which is said to be the most attractive in the whole of Thailand. Its distinguishing feature is that it is comprised of a series of seven linked cascades, each feeding a pool, most of which offer great swimming. It's quite a trek from the base to the seventh level, but well worth the effort. Level two offer a large bathing pool, which thankfully was not particularly busy on our way up, so I took advantage of it to cool down. All the pools are teeming with fish, some quite large, but it's the smaller ones you need to watch out for as they are keen to nibble your feet. A bit disconcerting at first but quite pleasant when you get used to it. By the time we got to level five, I felt inclined to give my feet the extended fish treatment, and they were soon swarming around. Presumably it is much the same as the fish foot spars that are springing up all over the place, but here it is for free rather than having to pay 150 baht. Then on up to level seven and another refreshing swim. The waterfall and its pools are really very attractive, with a clear water that look turquoise from a distance, presumably due to the limestone that it is flowing though.
The return downward journey was much more rapid, and time again for another swim at level two before heading back to Kanchanaburi. I had wanted to visit one of the local limestone caves on this trip, but the tour company that provided our driver for the day wanted to charge a ridiculous amount for the extra 12km, so reluctantly we gave this a miss. Nevertheless, the Erawan waterfall was enough in itself to make a very worthwhile day out.
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