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Published: October 28th 2006
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Welll hobbling around on a bad leg isn't exactly conducive to full blown all singing all dancing activities! So spent the first couple of days in Kanchanaburi doing the tamer options!
Our first day, after a rather late start, we opted for the Thailand Burma Railway Centre, Jen and I having decided that we quite literally knew nothing about the significance of the Bridge Over the River Kwai and the Railway Building that went on at the hands of the Japanese over here. Thus a trip to the museum was a bit of a necessity. The Railway Centre was very good. Very informative although in all honesty quite gruelling. It explained how the need and desire for the Thai: Burma railway came about, starting with the Japanese expansion into Asia and the Pacific, and the reasons that Japan needed a safe land supply route to Burma (their susceptibility to attack in the water, and the distance to get there from Japan - right down past Singapore - look at me go hey?!) Thus this resulted in the planning of the railway from Thailand to Burma. Most of the engineers employed on it were sent to the UK for educating on
rail design and the accumulation of manpower came from prisoners of war from Australia, Britain and Holland among others. The models and descriptions of the conditions and prison camp sites were horrendous. It is incredible to believe that people actually survived the conditions let alone achieved building the railway. The terrain that they dug the railway track into was phenomenal, mountains, tropical rainforest and fast flowing rivers, and all done on rations that you can't survive on in a normal day without any intensive labour! As well as this they had to contend with the tropical diseases such as malaria and cholera with next to no medical provisions. It was truly horrendous! Food rations were generally less than 2000 calories per day and usually consisted of contaminated grain, gone off maggot- ridden fish and no vitamins or minerals - and on a diet like this the PoW were expected to work full days with no breaks! The summary of deaths was harrowing, so many people died and so unecessarily. The statistics given showed that if anything like as much planning had gone into the workforce needs as went into the railway design with fresh water considerations and suitable breaks the
death toll would have been considerably less. Over 6,000 british died in the railway construction as well as nearly 6,000 dutch and australian and over 80,000 malays and burmese. It was just so sad to read about it. The museum also talked about the construction of the Bridge over the River Kwai as well as the second wooden bridge that was built to reduce the allied attacks on the steel one, how it was damaged, the guided bombs used and the gruelling task of rebuilding. It was truly horrendous and the museum gave us a very good idea of what went on during the railway's construction. So now you also know. Hopefully during the rest of our time here we will be able to go up and see a place called Hellfire Pass, which was dug entirely by hand through a rather enormous mountain basically.
On a brighter note, we also had the delight of going to the Thailand Tiger Temple. This is a Buddhist temple that a few years ago was called upon by some locals to take care of a tiger cub that had been orphaned by shooters. The monks took it in and since then have
taken in a considerable amount of orphaned and injured tigers, taming them and living with them. This has essentially made them incapable of survival in the wild and so they are kept at the temple - where visitors can go and see them. Apparently this is the only place in the world that you can do this, and when I say see them, I mean sit next to them and stroke them. Phenomenal and unbelievably surreal!
We were taken down into an old quarry where there were about 10 tigers, you are then given a guide and a photographer who take you around (avoiding walking in front of them, turning your back to them and generally getting too near to the dangerous end!) and let you sit with and stroke these amazing killing machines! I have to say I was more than a little apprehensive and after doing the rounds, tickling bellies, sitting alongside them and stroking them I was quite happy to keep my distance and watch them! They are the most spectacular and gorgeous animals - but I couldn't quite get it out of my mind that these animals are designed to kill. A little later one
of the tigers that I had stroked (the one with the metal bar) started to get agitated and man was i glad i was out of there, it swiped with its paws, beared some pretty enormous teeth and generally acted like a tiger - and I had just been in there sitting next to it! It took a rather brave monk to calm it down, but needless to say I wasn't going back in there! The experience however, was one I wouldn't have missed for the world - it was just fantastic, surreal but fantastic - and you have to wonder how much longer they will be able to do it!
I got talking to one of the volunteers working there at the end who told me that there are no tranquiliser guns on the place and no guns! Incredible - and a pretty good job I found this out afterwards it has to be said! She had been there 3 months and talked about an attack she had had, where a tiger had bitten her arm and scratched her back quite badly (tho she was still there - madness!!!!) as well as the techniques used to keep the
tigers in check - based only upon scare tactics - you have to wonder really, how much longer til some poor unsuspecting tourist gets taken out?! Tigers aside, the temple grounds were also home to a number of water buffalo, cattle, peacocks and wild boar which were fed for our benefit. Jen however had a bit of a close encounter with one of them - can you guess - only the biggest and scariest - a water buffalo decided she was going for one of its corn on the cobs and turned on her, bunting her up the bum! I don't think she wonders anymore why I am so cautious around large animals!!!!
Anyhow...next stop is to be an elephant sanctuary where we are going to work with rescued elephants for 2 days.....so here's hoping that we make it out the other side!
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Dunfarming
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Gruelling??!!
you were only reading it -you should have tried building it!!