Kanchanaburi

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We stayed in Kanchanaburi for a few nights in a river raft room. It was so basic; our room was completely made from bamboo, the walls were incredibly thin and everytime a boat came past it rocked from side to side! There was no flushing toilet and the shower was filled with gheckos! But...it was so beautiful. It was really peaceful and the staff were so sweet, (despite speaking no english at all!) We had a little seating area on our raft, to sit outside and look at the passing boats, monitor lizards or the sunset over the River Kwai Bridge.

We visited a WW2 cemetary, which was immaculate. There were three gardeners working away whilst we were there. It was so quiet considering it was in the city. The head stones were all identical, lined up in rows upon rows. The cemetary was overlooked by the death railway museum, which we also visited. It was really informative, but also really sad. The way they had restored it though looked like a beautiful tribute to the tens of thousands of PoW's who died whilst building the railway and bridge through Thailand and into Burma, whilst they were held captive by the Japanese.

I felt very naive as I wasn't aware of the horrific details of the railway construction, but I am glad I went and now know a little more about the history of Thailand. The museum housed lots of personal items found by the Thai people when the Japanese surrendered; Letters from their families and little match boxes that the PoW's had engraved. There were also letters to families back in the UK, informing them of their relatives death. (Some were sent 2 years after they had died). We looked around for a good few hours, completely engrossed.

We walked over the river Kwai bridge which was surreal. It is still being used, and despite being heavilly bombed at the end of WW2 the exterior steel sides are the original ones that the PoW's built.

Kanchanaburi in itself is an interesting town filled with history. We also saw a few markets, (we walked past a stall with a leopard on it!!), used a local hotel pool (it was SO SO hot!), and ate lots!

From Kanchanaburi we travelled down South to Surat Thani on an overnight train, and then across to the Island of Koh Samui.

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Photos

Bamboo house
our little river raft that we slept in