Blogs from Western Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 90

Kanchanaburi Saw Bridge Over River Kwai Lots of History. Okay, I must admit before leaving for Kanchanaburi I did not really know the importance of all of the things I would be seeing. Let me tell you that I learned a lot of WWII history! This was the first day of my tour. It was a bit disorganized BUT I reminded myself that "you get what you pay for" and I just started to take things as they came to me. Can't really complain when I only spent 500TB per day for my tour (that translates to about $16CDN - all meals and accommodations included!) Most of the morning was spent getting thru Bangkok rush hour and then driving to Kanchanaburi. Then we stopped off at a War Cemetary and the JEATH Museum. It was all ... read more

voor we naar phuket kwamen zaten we dus eerst in kanchanaburi aan de river kwai. het was er pokkeheet, maar we hebben er ons best wel geamuseerd. het hotel was weer decadent in orde. maar de prijzen van de drankjes in het hotel waren ridicuul. een cola 2 euro + nog eens taks en service. dus zijn we savond maar met een groepje naar kanchanaburi city geweest, daar wat mekong ingeslagen en nadien in het donker aan het zwembad gaan burten. er zaten vrij luidruchtige mensen tussen dus ik vreesde dat ze ons zouden wegsturen wat vreemd genoeg niet gebeurde. De dag nadien deden we het verplichte ritje met de trein , bezoek aan de kmer ruines, waar ze interresant genoeg een thaise langspeel film aan het opnemen waren. de produktiewaarden moesten zeker niet onderdoen voor ... read more

The next morning we all had to be up early to get a taxi to the train station. The driver we had was so funny, but the only things we could understand him saying were ‘shopping’ and ‘singing’. The news came on the radio about the soccer in the UK, and the driver started to sing in Thai so loudly, and turned the radio up so loud, and kept telling us to sing with him. The bus station was crawling with people, and other forms of life too, as was the bus. Kel and I were just starting to relax on the bus, when all of a sudden I screamed out, because there was a bug crawling right next to her leg. I’m not so good with that kind of thing. Once we were in Kanchanburi, ... read more

I'm back now and one of my sisters, Gaby, is due to be arriving there...It's like I will never leave that place...in my eyes, the glittering rush of the waterfalls, echoes as a whisper from some hidden realm of the soul. I still recall my awe when I first got there...all my mind could produce was images of 'The mission'. And for the first time I realised that my concept of paradise was a place full of laughter and joy, where local folks indulged in the most naive activities, far from the crowds of tourists... I arrived at the first level of waterfalls at around three pm...there were some kids splashing around and a woman with a baby on her arms half submersed in one pool...I had no words to speak...just a smile melting withing all ... read more

During the second World War, the Japanese army forced prisoners of war to build a railway between Thailand and Myanmar. The length of this railway was about 415km through very difficult terrain. It is estimated that about 16,000 POWs died while building the railway. The Bridge of River Kwai was bombed several times during the war. Nowadays the bridge is still used by trains. At the Jeath War Museum there are replicas of the bamboo-huts used to house POWs during the occupation. We also visited the Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery and took a ride on the train beside the River Kwai. Hellfire Pass is the name of the railway cutting accomplished with minimal equipment through rocks. The name comes from the fact that the torchlights used by the POW's, made look the place like a scene ... read more