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Published: March 4th 2008
Sunday 13 January 2008 We arrived at Bangkok airport to be faced with the army of passengers who had also arrived way behind schedule. We joined the long snake-like taxi queue and waited patiently for our turn to negotiate (read ‘gamble’) for a taxi ride. To our amusement, shifty representatives from ‘private taxi companies’ preyed on the exhausted passengers offering ‘express’ services for ‘only 700 Baht’! The unknowing tourists parted with their Baht and had to wait until the ‘express’ taxi service was full (i.e. until more passengers were conned). It was quicker to wait for a 400 Baht normal taxi!
Unfortunately, when we finally arrived at New Siam I Guesthouse (where we had stayed on prior occasions in Bangkok), we found that they had just moments ago given away our room, thinking we weren’t coming as we were half an hour later than advised. We understand that they are very full and very busy, but come on! Anyway, much to the anger of the replacement tourists who stormed out cursing after having searched all night for a room because they had not booked ahead, New Siam honoured our booking and gave us back our room.
Monday 14 January 2008
An early taxi took us across to the west bank of the Chao Praya River to Thonburi railway station which is the main station for trains heading west out of the city. Once we had deciphered the train schedule (photo) to find out which was our train, Michael raced across the road to the markets for breakfast. After ‘tape-worm’ was satisfied we boarded our not-so-comfortable wooden-seated 3rd class train (photo) and prepared for a 4.5 hour journey to Kanchanaburi. It was a noise, bumpy, sooty journey - everything that makes a REAL rustic train journey! By the end, we were covered head to toe in junk from the diesel engine. The views from the carriage were quite something: rice paddies, jungle, small towns, and more jungle (photos).
When we arrived, we knew we were at the correct station because just outside there was a not-so-scale model of the ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’ (photo) or as it is known in Thailand ‘the Death Railway’. Yes, Uncle Bill we have the specs of the pictured train available upon request.
We walked through Kanchanaburi town to our hostel, the Jolly Frog Backpackers (photos). Our bamboo hut was
simple but clean and comfortable, the gardens were lush and the view of the ‘River Kwai’ quite picturesque. Not bad for 200 Baht!
A bumpy tuk-tuk ride took us across town to the JEATH museum (photos) which is a memorial to the POWs from Japan, England, Australia, Thailand and Holland who suffered and died building the Death Railway - also known as the Thai-Burma Railway. The museum consists of a number of bamboo huts which are replicas of the huts in the camps that housed the POWs. The reason for this is to give an idea of the living conditions of the prisoners - not pleasant. The exhibits were quite moving - photos of prisoners and the conditions they endured, letters to loved ones, tools and other items that were traded with the local Thai people for food, and artwork by prisoners in addition of historical information about the construction of the railway.
Positively starving, we scoured the streets for anything edible that PROBABLY would result in food poisoning. Unfortunately the museum is quite far from the centre of town so there really isn’t much around. We managed to find a small very ‘local’ stall selling northern Thailand
style sausages which looked quite fresh and hot. They were hot alright, local chilli hot (photo).
We then walked quite some distance to the main road where we hailed a songthauw (red bus) which took us to the War Cemetery which is in the town (photos). In hindsight, we should have ‘booked’ our original tuk-tuk for a pickup after the JEATH Museum but we had no idea how long we were going to spend there, nor how difficult it would be to get a ride afterwards.
Even though most of the city of Kanchanaburi is all about ‘the war’, something about the War Cemetery really pulled a heart-string with us. The other museums are very graphic with pictures of injured POWs, etc but it was not until we were face to face with hundreds upon hundreds of graves of people younger than ourselves who perished in such horrible circumstances, reading the proud messages from their heartbroken parents, spouses and siblings, that the true devastation that occurred really sank in for us.
We took some time to ‘gather ourselves’ and then walked back to Jolly Frog’s in time to freshen up (after a long walk in the sun)
before our tour to the Tiger Temple.
After waiting for half the people in the tour to return to their room to change their clothes as they had worn clothes against instructions (i.e. too revealing for a temple or colours that provoke the tigers) we settled in for a long drive to the Tiger Temple. The Tiger Temple is a compound outside Kanchanaburi which was started by a monk who took in tiger cubs which had been orphaned by poaching. The compound grew and eventually became a kind of nature reserve. Unfortunately the tourist dollar reigns supreme and the place is now completely overrun with convoys of tourists lining up to get their photo taken with the tigers. Only a photo of Michael with a tiger is attached on this blog because he was better at hiding his genuine feelings about the place than Barbara was (photos). The basic procedure is, they take your money, pick you up, throw you on the ground, throw a heavily sedated very sad-looking tiger into your lap, and take a photo. They then continue this process until you have had your photo taken with a half dozen semi-unconscious tigers then you are escorted
away. The entire experience is not only extremely fake (i.e. the tigers are not tamed, they are unconscious), but it is very unpleasant being ‘manhandled’ by the ‘temple volunteers’, and seeing the tigers in such a terrible state was really quite upsetting. This is not a place that we would return to again, nor a place we would recommend others to visit.
Anyway, back in town we demolished a delicious dinner at Tai Thai restaurant and then prepared for an early start the next morning.
Tuesday 15 January 2008 We woke at sparrows, packed and checked out from Jolly Frog’s then hot-footed it to the railway station for our 6am train to Nam Tok (photo).
A few minutes after departing, the train slowed to pass over the ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’. Now, we must pause the story here for a moment for a slight historical correction. Apparently, this famous bridge didn’t actually cross the River Kwai when it was built. The river actually had a different name but was renamed due to the fame of the bridge. The REAL River Kwai is nearby. In any case, it was very dark when we crossed the bridge
so we could hardly see a thing (photo) but we saw more of it later that day when we returned to Bangkok.
So the train continued on for about 4 hours until we reached Nam Tok which is the end of the current train line. We were smarter this time and sat in the last carriage so we wouldn’t get covered in soot. The views for this leg of the journey were definitely the most stunning. The train travelled precariously across ‘matchstick bridges’, along sheer rock cliffs, over rivers, and through jungle (photos).
Once at Nam Tok we negotiated briskly with a songthaew driver who drove us 17km out of town to the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum. We wandered around the museum, amazed by the story of the POWs and enslaved workers from Burma and Thailand who built the Death Railway from Burma to Thailand. The Hellfire pass is largest of many ‘cuttings’ where the workers needed to cut through rock mountains in order to install the railway. Hellfire pass is over 100m long and 17m deep and takes its name from the flame torches by which the workers dug during the night.
There is a 4km
walking track through the mountains and jungle along the old railway track. We really wanted to walk along this track to see the Hellfire Pass (photos). However we were advised by management that the track had been temporarily closed for maintenance, the closure due to red-tape nonsense with the Thai government not allowing the materials to be transported to the Thai military-held land on which the memorial is built. The frustrated manager (being an Aussie himself), sympathised with us wanting to see it and experience it and so armed with the excuse that ‘their government pays for this memorial’, he arranged an indirect way for us to see it. He spoke to our songthaew driver who drove us and two British tag-alongs down to the bottom of the track from where we could walk back up discretely. The two British walkers weren’t very well prepared for a hike so they took a shorter route, but Michael and I actually walked further down the mountain, past Hintok Station (a rail junction) and to Compressor Cutting at the end of the maintained trail. We then turned back and headed up the hill past many other cuttings, bridges and steep embankments to the
Hellfire Pass.
The ‘track’ is actually the old railway bed made from large course stones. There are still some wooden sleepers that have been preserved and can be clearly seen along the track. We were very fortunate to have started the climb in the cool of the morning as by the afternoon, the temperature had increased substantially. Although the track gradient is not very steep, it is very long, very rough and heat radiates off the stones. The steep embankments are quite a sight. One of the highest is about 7 meters tall. To builds these embankments, the workers had to haul stones up to the top while being pelted with stones thrown by guards at the top when they didn’t work fast enough - not only painful but doubling their work as they then had to carry the thrown stones back up the embankment.
It took us about 1.5 hours to reach the Hellfire Pass. It was a very humbling experience to be standing in the cutting that had been dug by hand, with only the most basic of tools and under such tough conditions. As an example of how difficult the rock was to dig through,
along the way there are even parts of tools still lodged in the rock that broke during the excavation.
At the entrance to the cutting is a special memorial to Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop (photo) who served on the Thai-Burma railway and not only treated the sick and wounded POWs in his capacity as Medical Officer, but as their Commander he also protected them and other workers from harm inflicted by their captors.
With the stairway from the trail to the museum, and in need of a discreet return to the museum, we walked along the main road and in the front door of the museum - faking that we had endured a long 17km walk from the railway station, we certainly looked the part! At the trail exit we also spotted the local memorial (photo). We thanked the manager for his efforts and met our taxi to rush back to Nam Tok Station for the train returning to Bangkok. The very efficient driving brought us back to Nam Tok station (photo) with plenty of time to buy tickets and sit down for a quick lunch before catching our eight hour wooden-seated train ride back to Bangkok.
The first part of return journey near Nam Tok was quiet with reflection. Now knowing that our carriages were passing over original WW2 viaducts constructed by Australian and other prisoners as part of the Thai-Burma railway gave new meaning to the epitaph “They gave their lives so that we may live”.
Later in the journey we were entertained by conversation with some very friendly Swedish travellers with whom we hope to meet up again soon. Once more, we enjoyed the scenery including rocky cliffs, rivers and tapioca plantations (photos) but also took the opportunity to have a snooze....using our backpacks as pillows for comfort and security reasons. Half way along, we once again passed through Kanchanaburi and over the ‘bridge over the River Kwai’, but in the daylight this time so we could see it! (photos)
Back at Thonburi railway station we had no trouble finding a taxi to take us back to New Siam I, in fact there were a couple of them arguing over us. Very flattering!
However, the day wasn’t over quite yet! A quick call to our Australian mates Sammy and Jen and we were off for a night out on the town...
Our night out was delayed slightly by Sammy’s geographical embarrassment but soon enough we found ourselves in Bangkok’s very own Chinatown (photo), located near the White Orchid Hotel.
Sammy, Jen and their friends Kung and Ant treated us to a very comical gastronomic tour of Chinatown starting with pepper soup - yes Barbara actually ate pepper, closely followed by seafood omelettes - Michael had to be careful with these ones (photo), and then lastly dessert of sweet bread with various tasty fillings (photo). By this time everyone was full to bursting. We had had a ball but since it was our last night in Thailand and there were still more sights to see, we bid our friends farewell and boarded a very lost taxi.
The taxi eventually took us to Soi Cowboy (photo) which is apparently Bangkok’s premier red-light district. We obviously had no genuine interest in the ‘merchandise’ on offer but had met many people who had been there and said it was an interesting sight to see. As soon as we arrived Barbara befriended a very cute baby elephant that was performing in the street. She bought some banana sticks and had fun playing with it
Just one of many headstones
at the Kanchanaburi War Cemeteryand feeding it (photo). Unfortunately, as we explored the street further we found it not only disappointing but also rather disgusting. Soi Cowboy has none of the excitement that the Patpong Markets have - it is purely a ‘meat market’. It is also rather a sad sight seeing the place just full of drunken tourists making an absolute mess of the place. Unimpressed, we left and headed back to our hostel.
Wednesday 16 January 2008 Ah! Our last day in Thailand - and our last day in Asia.
We decided to give the Grand Palace one last shot - and what do you know, third time lucky! Michael had previously seen the Wat Prah Keuw in the same complex when Barbara was laid up in bed with an injured toe but hadn’t had time to see the palace. The time before we got as close as the front gate before we were conned! This time nothing was getting in our way - except the funeral of the King’s sister. We managed to see a lot of the complex except the sections that were closed off for Thai mourners to pay their respects. The palace was very beautiful
and very ornate, a very Grand Palace (photos). We also took a short look around Wat Prah Keuw (photos) as Barbara hadn’t seen it before. It was a beautiful clear day and the sun radiated off the golden chedi (photo). Definitely worth the effort of three attempts!
Having worked up an appetite, we feasted on Pad Thai freshly cooked right in front of us on Khao San Road (photo).
That afternoon we did some last minute shopping for all of the things which were going to be more expensive in Europe - namely, everything! We had generous baggage limits for our flight so we stocked up on all of the necessities. We also indulged in a 100 Baht (3AUD) haircut each from the hairdresser across the lane from New Siam.
That evening, with dinner being serve on our flight, we just had a quick snack before heading off to the airport - to Wiffy Waffles we went! We briefly indulged in fresh servings of hot waffles with ice cream and chocolate fudge for Michael (photo) and blueberry sauce for Barbara.
A very brisk taxi took us to the airport where we prepared for our all-night flight
Very well kept graves
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery to Vienna (photo).
Goodbye Asia.
Goodbye humidity.
Goodbye value.
Goodbye service!
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