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Published: October 4th 2006
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Handsome beast
...no, not you Olly! We spent one night in Bangkok in the worlds smallest hotel room - couldn't even swing a cat. The next day we got an early bus to Kanchanaburi, only two hours away.
Our gueshouse here is really nice-we've got a little semi-detached bungalow.
Kanchanaburi is home to the bridge over the river Kwai, part of the Burma-Siam railway (known as the Death Railway because so many men lost their lives building it, as well as thousands of civillians ) ,built by Prisoners of War of the Japanese. Olly's grandad was a PoW and worked on the railway (from the Burma end) so this is a place that we really wanted to visit. On our first day we got a rickshaw to the JEATH war museum (the letters stand for Japan, England, Austarlia, Thailand, and Holland). The main part of the museum was in a rebuilt bamboo house that the PoWs had to sleep in. It was really shocking to read about life as a prisoner of war and the conditions they lived in. The rickshaw driver then took us to the Allied PoW cemetary-It's huge and immaculately kept. It was really sad seeing so many graves of really young
Bridge over the River Kwai
The (rebuilt) famous bridge that spans the river Kwai and allows people to walk over the river. Some of the 'Death Railway' remains and the train that runs along it still crosses the bridge. men. There were
6,982 allied graves there and we saw lots from the Norfolk regiment, some of which Olly's grandad may have been working alongside. It's hard to believe that so many of the men died working on the railway, it just shows how horrific it was it. Engineers told the Japanese that the railway would take five years to complete but it was finished within 16 months as the men were forced to work so hard and harshly punished hard if they didn't.
We also went to the Bridge over the River Kwai and walked accross it.
The following morning we went to a monastary within underground caves. It was pretty. Our guide was about 6 years old! In the afternoon we went to 'Tiger Temple'. It's a place where monks have taken in sick or abandoned animals. Tigers were taken there after hunters killed their mothers in Burma. The tigers have been raised by the monks and are practically tame. Stroking a tiger was very strange! They have had cubs but they are being prepared for life as wild tigers as they will eventually be released. There were lots of other animals in the grounds too,
Allied PoW cemetary
The place in Kanchanaburi where almost 7,000 Commonwealth and Dutch prisoners or war are buried. There is an area of over 200 graves where the headstone simply reads 'A Soldier of the 1939-1945 War. Known unto God' like boar, a bear, horses, and reindeer.
The next day we got up early as we had booked a day trip. We stopped at a really lovely waterfall and then went on to some hot springs. When they say hot they
mean hot!We were the only people there for most of the time and it was really relaxing. Olly braved the really hot springs but I could only manage the coolest one-even that was enough! Luckily there was a cold river running next to the springs so we kept dipping our feet in there to cool down! We spent an hour there and I think that was a bit too long because I felt really sick and light headed afterwards!
We had a nice lunch and then went on to see the Hellfire Pass and visit the museum. The Hellfire Pass is a huge cutting through a stone mountain. It was made so that the railway could pass through and ensure supplies could reach the frontline of the Japanese army. The PoW's who were forced to build it used only hand tools and explosives and the work was awfal. No clothing but a loin cloth made from empty
Just a pussycat!
The tigers like having their bellies rubbed! rice sacks, tiny portions of rice flavoured with salt and a few rotten vegetables 'if they were lucky', and brutal punnishment for any perceived misbehaviour. Even men who were dying of one of the many diseases that were widespread in the camp were still forced to work 18 hour shifts. Just thinking about these horrendous conditions is bad enough, but how it must have been to endure them and then have all those terrible memories of the sights, sounds and smells of life on the railway is unimaginable. 1,200 men died working on the Hellfire Pass. The museum gave us so much information on life as a PoW. We found out that over 8,540 British PoW's died-that's one in four. And in the worst camps, 45% of the prisoners died. It really made us realise how lucky Olly is that he ever came into the world.
Our last stop was for a trip on the Death Railway, 137km of the railway is still used today. It must have been so hard to build as there are very high cliffs and steep drops surrounding the railway. We went back to the river Kwai bridge before heading back to our guesthouse.
McWai
In Bangkok- Ronald McDonald performing the 'wai', the way Thais greet others. Sawadee-ka Ronald! The next morning we got a bus back to Bangkok after a unique ride to the bus station and then prepared to catch the night train to Surat Thani and connecting train to Krabi...
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Dad
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Death Railway
Well observed and sensitively written. Can you see that we are so lucky to be here? You can now understand just how strong you grandad was!