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I have learnt so much about the Death Railway during our trip to Kanchanaburi. My education started on the train itself, experiencing the 3rd class carriage from Bangkok on the death railway line. Street sellers come to sell you the usual chicken skewers and curries in a banana leaf so I opted for both at 9am, after our early start. We stayed at VN guesthouse in a floating river room on the river Kwai which moved whenever a boat went past, especially when the nightly karaoke boat full of Korean tourists passed- very entertaining!
The WW2 learning continued at the Burma-Thailand Railway Museum and the very well kept British graveyard in the centre of Kanchanaburi, where we read all about the suffering and deceit of the Japanese. This was quite an emotional place, especially when reading the letters written home from the prisoners. Our trip the next day further supplemented our World War Two knowledge when we visited the Hellfire Pass situated in the middle of the jungle and therefore one of the hardest parts of the Death Railway to build. Again, quite an upsetting place but softened by the clean and informative museum. Riding the death railway at this point as part of the tour was very exciting, going over the tall wooden bridges built by the Prisoners of War. We even got the walk over the bridges by foot as the tracks aren't live. The last stop on our tour was the Bridge over the River Kwai, the iconic bridge which represents such a huge part of the suffering. Whilst we were walking over the bridge, the train we were on previously had caught up with us and we had to stand at the side of the tracks to let it pass!
Another part of the tour was a 2 hour stop off at the 7 tiered waterfall 'Erawan Falls' famous for it's beautiful blue pools in the middle of the jungle. Tier 3 was where we spent most of our time as it had a deep area for swimming and shallow rocks to sit on at the edges. I chose to stay at the latter as I didn't particularly enjoy the fish trying to nibble on my toes but Oli had a good go at swimming here! Whilst we were sitting in the shallows we saw another water monitor lizard, which then climbed into the water and swam with its legs and arms tucked in, so it was streamlined just like a fish! We swiftly got out of the water and walked to tier 4 and then halfway to tier 5 before it got too muddy and realised we probably weren't going to make it back in time for our inclusive pad thai. That night we headed to the night market which was one of the most authentic ones we've been to so far where they were selling everything from dried squid to deep fried locusts and pigs tongues!
The next day we caught the minivan to Ayutthaya, the old historic capital of Siam. With only one full day here we had to see as much as possible so we left our accommodation (an old teak schoolhouse) early in the morning and headed by tuktuk to the first of five temples. The city was invaded by the Burmese hence why they are essentially old ruins that look very similar to the set of tomb raider, with the dramatic towers (prangs) and many large stone Buddhas with their heads chopped off. This city felt like the hottest place we've been to especially as you have to dress 'respectfully', though we enjoyed the day, especially when we rented the headsets around Wat Si Sanphet, the royal temple. We even saw some elephants walking around the historical park. We finished the temples and retreated to Soi 2, the backpacker street of Ayutthaya for a rest and an unplanned chang with the thai magician/quizmaster who ran the bar. Now off to Chiangmai on our overnight VIP Bus!
Stats:
Number of fat white men with thai women in Kanchanaburi- too many
Most temples in one day- 5
Tuktuks taken in Ayutthaya- 11
- comments
Mum It's all so interesting, you must be learning so much on your travels! I hope you enjoy the elephant sanctuary in Chaing Mai but don't be tempted to adopt one and bring it home as I don't think Pip would approve! ! Take care xxxxx