Kanchanaburi

Bridge over the River Kwai (Kanchanaburi)

Kanchanburi is only 2 hours away but forms a complete contrast to Bangkok. The small town, made famous for having the Bridge over the River Kwai is quiet and relaxing. The bamboo hut that I stayed in for two nights sits nestled right on the River Kwai and is a pleasure to stay in after the prison-like cell that awaited me in Thailand's capital.

In just two days you can cover a great amount in Kanchanaburi. The Bridge over the River Kwai can be reached easily and a trip to both the World War 2 (JEATH) museum and the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre soon gave me an undrstanding of the horror that the POW's and local Thai people went through building the railway track under Japanese control. And if the reality hasn't quite hit home, the World War 2 memorial Cemetry quickly puts it into perspective. I also ventured out to Hellfire pass - where men had to calve out huge sections of rock to build the route for what became known as the Death Railway. I later took a ride on the Death Railway - perhaps the scariest train journey of my life. Thai kids love to hang off the sides and yet, while I don't have a fear of heights - I stayed pretty much whithin the cabin doors.

On a lighter note - a trip to the nearby Erawan falls was a geologists heaven. It's a fair climb up the seven levels of the waterfall, and I took a swim at section four - where fish proceed to come up and bite your feet!!!

I met some cool people here too - a girl from Holland named Mariska, a guy called Jon from Kent and Harjeet from Slough. We are all heading back to Bangkok together - where I can plan the next part of my journey......