SAI YOK NOI & TRAIN TO RIVER KWAI BRIDGE & GLITZY DISCO

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Dec 28th

SAI YOK NOI

After Hellfire Pass the bus dropped me and another tourist I met at the bus stop, Hyun from South Korea at the Soi Yok Noi Waterfall about 20km down the road. I advise you to visit here closer to rainy season when there is more water because it was a fairly ordinary sight today. It is easy to find being close to the highway and not far from Hellfire Pass but does not compare to the magnificent Erawan Falls I would visit the next day. There are the usual picnic spots here on raised bamboo platforms and the touristy food and souvenir shops. Worth a visit I guess but not the best at this time of year.

NAM TOK to BRIDGE ON RIVER KWAI BY TRAIN

It was good timing as I caught a baht taxi with Hyun to the Namtok Train Station 2km from Sai Yok Noi to catch the "Death Railway" train to the Bridge over the River Kwai. It is a 3rd class train with wooden seats, make sure you sit on the right side for the best view of the magnificent scenery though this area. The train clickety clacks along and it is a really enjoyable 1.75 hour trip with many local families onboard with their children going home from school. The 1515 pm train arrives near sunset and the bridge and the surrounding area is something special to see at this time of year. I chatted with Hyun and looked for a new hat from the many street vendors as I had lost mine somewhere during the day. We then walked all the way along the street back to our guesthouses, another 3 - 4 km trek after a big day. Still it's nice to spend a little bit more time with a new friend.

GLITZY DISCO

To finish the day I caught a motorcycle taxi to the Glitzy Disco at the River Kwai Hotel, about 3 km from the VN Guesthouse and the only large live disco venue in the area. My second visit here and it is good value at 80 baht entrance and reasonable drink prices. There is about 1500 people at the disco and the band was playing loud Thai pop music with the crowd singing along, a great atmosphere.

Again some of the locals seem to like me and asked me to join them for a drink and we were soon clicking our glasses and taking photos. Be aware that sometimes if you are befriended at a disco in Thailand by a single person they are not just being friendly - think about it. In any case this was another full table of young Thais out to party being nice to me, obviously alone and they made it another special night for me. Some discos will frisk you for cameras but they don't seem to mind here so I took a couple to put in this blog.

Back to my room about 300 am after a big day at Hellfire Pass, need some rest before catching the early bus to Erawan Falls the next day.

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Photos

Sai Yok Noi
The Thais love to picnic on the raised bamboo platforms

Sai Yok Noi
This old train is on display near the entrance to the waterfall

From the train
Mummy and pups

Hyun
From Seoul - South Korea