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Well I made it over safe and well! No real issues at all! Staying in an airport overnight sucks but it's made so much worse with fire alarm testing till 3am!!
Made a buddy on flight over so we navigated each other through Mumbai airport. Hectic/frantic but surprisingly quick though I did get my nail scissors taken off me :(
Bangkok is as mental as ever! It's a bit of a marmite city for most people. I don't mind it, though there are better places to spend longer in. Didn't do much on first day as was seriously tired from travelling for two days but wandered around a bit and got my bearings.
Grand Palace was on the agenda for second day. Definitely need to go early to that because it tends to turn into a cattle market once all the tour buses turn up. Insanely busy. Very pretty buildings and shrines though. Emerald Buddha is tiny!
Headed to Wat Pho after that and liked it such better. Home of the reclining Buddha, so still quite touristy but a lot more chilled out. There's a school based within the grounds which makes it a wee bit different. And lots of cats that I saw one of the monks feeding a cuddling.
Back towards the backpack mecca of Khao San road is the national museum. A very much underrated place and for 200baht v cheap. Lots of Buddha relics from thousands of years ago and a bit of history, architecture and design. Even with some galleries closed for refurbishment it was still well worth a visit and I'm very glad I did.
Early start on Sat morning to get the train to Kanchanaburi and I made the silly decision to walk to the ferry. Although it was early morning and not so hot the added weight of two bags makes a helluva lot of difference!
Paid for journey through barrier and the guy on the pier proceeds to point me in an entirely different direction, taking me back through the barrier and pointing down, what looks to me like a dead end alley and speaking in Thai. Majorly confusing but I took a leap of faith and did what I was told and followed the narrow path through what turned out to be a local market. Definitely not one a tourist would chance upon! Found myself at a pier one down the river from the local cross ferry one I started at and asked a woman waiting if this was for Thonburi. Thankfully it was! Paid again and got across in 3mins so thankful to the Thai gently for confusing me massively but actually being very helpful!
Train to Kanchanaburi was only 45mins late leaving so not too bad for Thai time and I met my travel buddy for the next two days Karri!
The train ride is not the comfiest but the scenery is amazing and for 100baht (around £2) you can't complain!
Arriving in Kanchanaburi the heat hits you like a smack in the face. It's always a couple of degrees hotter than Bangkok and is definitely noticeable!
My accommodation is literally on the river which is awesome but a bit unnerving when you can see water slivers of through the floorboards! Being a smaller town, it's much more laid-back than Bangkok though still with crazy drivers, scooters and side seating tuk-tuks.
I met up with Karri again and we headed to one of the death railway museums that had been recommended by a local American. It turned out to be really good and just beside one of the main cemetery's of the soldiers who died. We went from there to the death railway itself. Although all the wood is replaced the concrete struts are the originals from WWII. Being a history geek I really like learning and seeing this side of a countries past. However a lot of people just use it as a place to pose and get pictures. By all means do that but Christ have some respect as well. Although still part of the working railway you can walk over the bridge to the other side of the Kwai. We timed it for the train heading to Nam Tok. Half way across and all you hear is a deafening part of a train horn and "oh s***!!! It is the bloody train!!!" Thankfully they have little balcony bits that you can stand to the side in but Christ it's close as it passes!! Definitely an experience not everyone can say they've had!
Second and last day here we headed on an organised trip to Erawan National Park. I'm very glad we headed there early as its one of the most popular tours and gets very busy! It's a beautiful 7 tier waterfall set in the park and is well worth a visit. I bailed on walking to the 7th one (which is apparently a bit more of a scramble) as my feet are ruined from blisters but Karri said it was gorgeous blue water and fun rock slides. I settled for seeing some of the lower ones that still required a bit of stair climbing to get to.
After lunch at one of the food stops beside the carpal we headed to see the last wooden bridge from the war to still be in use.
The numbers involved in the entire death railway are incredible and I'm glad that Thailand use this as tourist attraction because it means the guys that died building it are never forgotten.
We boarded the train and it took us over the wooden bridge where we then disembarked a couple of stops away and got back in the a/c mini bus to take us back to Kanchanaburi. A long day but well worth it!
Tomorrow I head to start my volunteering!! Rather excited and nervous!! But I do know I'll be working on the cub team on Sunday!!!!
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