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Published: November 1st 2008
Bridge over the River Kwai
The famous death railway over the river kwaiAfter we left Bangkok we headed to Kanchanburi where the bridge over the River Kwai is, this place was so peaceful compared to the madness of Bangkok, we loved it ! Stayed in a really cheap and friendly guesthouse right on the river, where there was also lots of cheap grub and beer ! What more does one need !? ha ! We did hire a motorbike (sorry mum!) here which was great fun, and meant we could get out and around to see all the sights, including the temple cave, which was huge ! It had several quite large halls, all connected by tunnels and holes, some we had to get down and crawl through ! It was fine until Nath spotted one of Thailands many stray dogs lurking in a corner, I have never moved so fast !!
From here we caught the worlds oldest bus (i'm sure) for about 6 hours through rural Thailand to a lace called Lopburi. Honestly, this buses air con was having no windows. Ok when on the move, but not so ok stopped ! And defintely not Ok with the obligatory afternoon downpour ! Anyway, Lopburi was just a small town, but
Claire on the bridge
There was only a really teeny walkway across the bridge (which is no longer used as a railway), either side of that was straight down into the river ! Didnt like that much.....! completely overun with monkeys ! They were literally everywhere. Running along the electric wires, swinging off balconys and rooftops, nicking food from the vendors, everywhere ! All the locals seemed to be armed with catapults, especially in the restaurants and cafes, as the Thai's will not kill them as they believe they are our ancestors. (True perhaps of some of us more than others.....!!!)
After catching the overnight train, we arrived in Chang Mai where we have had the most awesome couple of days ! We went on a 2 day trek through the hills and rainforest of Northern Thailand. It really is stunning up here. Little did I know when I signed up for this trek though, that they actually meant it ! We hiked for 19km through the wilderness, up and down steep tracks right through the trees and mountains ! It was so hot, and within minutes we were all soaked through ! There were 9 of us on the tour, so was really cool to meet up with some other people and swap stories. We trekked through some hill tribe villages which are amazing, they have no electric or running water at all. At the
View from our veranda...!
This was from our room in Kanchanaburi which we paid around 2.50 squid for both of us ! end of the hardest walk of my life (!) we stayed in one of these villages, showering by candlelight in a hut with a bucket of cold water. Was brilliant ! Then rewarded ourselves with lots of chang beer and drinking games !
The following day was my fave. We went back down the river on 2 bamboo rafts, Nath and another guy steering from the back. Which meant standing the whole way with long pieces of bamboo and pushing off the riverbed to dodge the rapids ! The rest of us got soaked. But it was great fun. We rafted down to an elephant camp who were then our transport for another hour down the river ! Going through it and alongside it, the scenery was stunning and it was just amazing. Nath got to steer for a while !
Back in Chang Mai now, and leaving tomorrow further North so we can cross the border into Laos.
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dawn stevens
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even more green with envy looks as though you are having a really brill time!! chris now getting fired up for his trip!!! start new job 1st dec all looking good now although have had a few undecided moments. Just put ants dad's house on the market so have been busy getting that one prepared - had a fab time in Barcelona very relaxing!!! just what we needed.Ant still off work hopefully soebody coming to see him next week we will not hold our breath though nothing up till now. Look after yourselves all our love dawn and ant