Floating markets and bombed bridges

---

Day 167

Having organised a wake up call, Mark still had a bit of a restless night wondering whether we would be getting up in time. Up and ready we got down stairs for a quick Mama's Cup (noodles) for brekkie before being taken to our boat by the driver.

The floating market was once the area where fruit and other colourful produce were sold between traders, however due to the intervention of tourism, this is not the sight that greets you today. Instead most of the colourful stalls and boats have been replaced with shops selling tourist tat, sold at massively inflated prices, and the riverways packed to the brim with camera touting tourists. However, our early start beating all of the tours from Bangkok, allowed us to get a brief glimpse of what it used to be like with clearer waterways and a more relaxed experience.

We spent an hour and a half pottering the waterways stopping for a coffee and seeing what the market was all about. Although it is not the picturesque traditional experience you think it may be we had a really nice time. It was well worth popping down to and we were really glad we got there early as it was starting to get really busy by the end of the trip.

With our feet back on dry land we packed and checked out of the hotel destined for Kanchanaburi. Two buses later - where Mark managed to squeeze in a cheeky nap - we got a rickshaw to a cheap bungalow by the river and checked in for the night.

Kanchanaburi is a town west of Bangkok where you can find the infamous 'Bridge over the River Kwai' and a large cemetery for those who died building the 'Burma to Thailand Death Railway'. Dumping our bags we first walked to the Thai-Burma Railway Museum in the centre of town housing information and artifacts explaining the atrocities surrounding the building of the Death Railway and the history behind the Bridge over the River Kwai. The curator of the musem has (and continues to) personally conduct extensive research into the railway and its constructiooin 'workers' and has put together a professional, interesting and extremely thought provoking exhibit.

After a visit to the cemetery over the road from the museum we walked across town to see the bridge (and short section of the railway) we had just read about. Having learnt about the history it was interesting to see the bridge. Visually it looks like another metal and concrete bridge over any old river, but its history tells another story.

Back to our room and we had a quick shower before having dinner and a visit to a local bar where we had previously seen a sign for 'COLD CIDER'. Chrissie just couldnt resist being the westcountry girl she is!

Day 168

Up early again we made our way to the train station to start our mammoth journey to Koh Tao, a little island off the east coast. Our first train was a little late but soon arrived taking us to Nakon Pathom where we had to wait for 5 hours for our next train (we could have got a train straight away but it didn't have the cheap seats that we wanted!)

We went for a walk around Phra Pathom Chedi, the worlds tallest buddhist monument which dominates the town's skyline, we then caught up on some diary before buying a much needed alarm clock.

After a brief spell on the internet to wile away a bit more time we got on our train (3rd and lowest class seats to save on cash) where we had a not too uncomfortable journey to Chumphon where we'd catch the ferry to Koh Tao. On the way we were treated to some amazing scenery punctuated by flocks of cranes and the odd spectacular mountain, well worth taking the train.

Ariving in Chumphon at around 9:00pm we got a tuctuc to the port for the overnight boat destined for Koh Tao. Buying our tickets and boarding the top (open) deck we found a bit of mat and bedded down for a rather uncomfortable night with the occasional wink of sleep.

---