Stroking a tiger and the ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’

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Day 330: Monday 25th May - Caught up in the emotion of the ‘death railway’

The bus drops us off in Bangkok at sometime after 5am. I stumble off the bus weary after the journey with the rest of the backpackers and are immediately confronted by numerous offers for taxi rides and tuk-tuk rides on an otherwise quiet and deserted street. Most people I guess will be heading to Khao San Road, the main backpacker haunt in the city. I however, want to get a bus to Kanchanaburi - I will return to Bangkok in a few days. I manage to bargain a taxi down to 120 Baht (£2.50) which I don’t know whether it represents a good deal or not. I try a few drivers to check but that’s as low as I’ll get. I don’t wait long at the bus station for to Kanchanaburi, which lies over 100km west of Bangkok.

I spend most of the journey asleep, and when I awake towards the end of the journey I do wonder if I’ve just done a no-no in Thai etiquette. I’m sat on one of the back seats on the bus (for ease of stowing my luggage), which are normally reserved for monks, and while I’ve been sleeping two monks dressed in orange robes have boarded and are sat just in front of me. They appear more interested in sleeping though so if they’re not bothered, then neither am I. The main backpacker accommodation is a long walk from the bus station, and after a half hour walk I’m regretting turning down a 30 Baht offer of a motorbike taxi. I’m so tired after the long journey (it’s 20 hours since I left Phi Phi) and after the walk with a heavy backpack, that I’m in no mood to look around for the cheapest deal. The first place I stop at is daft money (it is funny how times change...... £9 a night is now deemed as daft money!!!) but I like both the price and the location of the second. I choose a room on the floating raft on the River Kwai for 150 Baht (£3) a night....bargain. It sounds more impressive than it actually is, the room is basic and I’ve seen cleaner but for the price I’m not complaining. The hostel also has a restaurant and there are a few people around as I get breakfast whilst working out my plan of action today.

Kanchanaburi is a medium sized provincial town famous as the location of the ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’ and a location on the infamous death railway to Burma. I’m going to spend my day visiting the bridge, the museums and the cemetery to learn and understand more about this unfortunate point in history. Before I head to the Kwai River Bridge, I get a little history under my belt at the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre. The ‘Death Railway’ as it came to be known was Japan’s plan to link Bangkok with Yangon (in Burma) via rail for transport of military supplies to assist Japan’s push further west into Burma and India. The British had thought of using this route as a trade route in the previous century but had abandoned the plan due to a lack of available labour. Japan did not have this problem. Construction started in July 1942, the Japanese using both local labour and the Prisoners of War (POW’s) they had captured during their push into Southeast Asia. Many of the POW’s that were transported from Singapore to Kanchanaburi perished en-route in cramped and harsh conditions. 28 soldiers were squeezed into each rail wagon which was 7 metres long for the 4 day journey, given little food and experienced hot temperatures in the day and then the cold of the night. The path of the ‘Death Railway’ was to follow the River Kwai, which meandered through mountainous terrain and cut through jungles. It took just 16 months to complete the 415km section of rail, a feat that was believed to be near impossible by the Japanese engineers in charge of the project (They believed 5 years was more realistic). The cost in terms of lives was great however; over 100,000 men died building the railway. The deaths were caused by malnutrition, exhaustion, sickness and mistreatment.

I find reading about the ’Death Railway’ very moving and humbling. In particular, the exhibit which depicts the loss of life in the project almost moves me to tears. Railway spikes represent 500 deaths in the construction of the railway. It is bad enough seeing the POW casualties; British 7000, Australian 3000, Dutch 3000, but the scale of the local casualties was even greater. 40,000 Malays and 40,000 Burmese died in building the railway (The Thai’s were on the Japanese side), representing about 50% of the total number of local people involved - devastating. Japanese high command caused the death toll to be higher than it would otherwise have been, by insisting that the railway was completed in a year. An example of this can be seen in the POW casualties. Between July 1942 and February 1943 when it was dry season and construction was at a ‘normal’ pace there were 400 POW deaths. Then in March 1943, the Japanese high command ordered the pace of the project to be stepped up. Working harder on the same meagre rations, 1000 more POW’s died in the next 3 months. In the last 5 months of the construction, when the men had to deal with wet season as well, when tropical disease was rife, 7000 perished.

After my museum visit I walk across the road to the war cemetery and pay my respects to the dead. I find it very emotional reading the gravestone’s of the POW’s who died in the construction of the railway. It is a touching gift from the Thai’s but after walking down just three rows I find it enough. Let us understand the horror of mankind’s past injustices, so that we do not make the same mistakes in the future.

While the story made famous by the film ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ is one of endurance, suffering and heroism, the bridge itself is just an ordinary bridge with an extraordinary history. It forms a small but strategic part on the death railway to Burma. Allied bombers destroyed the bridge in 1945 but it has since been repaired. Bomb damage is still evident on the pylons nearest the riverbank. After visiting the bridge, 3km north of the town, I decide not to visit the other two museums. The write up in the guidebook isn’t great and everything I’ve seen today has been excellently presented and helped me understand the context of what happened in Kanchanaburi and on the Death Railway six decades ago, so I don’t feel I need to see anything else. Today has been a very different experience to the last 10 days on the beach, with very different emotions but a really interesting one all the same.

I chill out for the rest of the day, the overnight bus journey has caught up with me. I also try to work out what to do tomorrow. I’ve picked up a host of leaflets throughout the day on the tours available from Kanchanaburi, but none appeal, and they’re all expensive. What I do want to do is visit the Erawan Waterfalls, which is supposedly the most beautiful waterfall in Southeast Asia in the morning and then go to the Tiger Temple in the afternoon. However, nobody is offering that tour. You can do both independently, although the cost is prohibitive for the Tiger Temple. The problem with the waterfalls is that it is 2 hours away by bus, and then a half hour walk once you get there. I would have to be back in Kanchanaburi at 2pm, so it is too tight. I really want to visit the Tiger Temple, but as for the Erawan falls, I’m not sure. I’ll sleep on it, maybe I can do it the following day, although I do want to be in Bangkok for the Champions League Final on Wednesday night.

Day 331: Tuesday 26th May - Stroking tigers

I decided to knock Erawan waterfalls on the head last night, favouring a lie in and a relaxing morning. It is almost 10am before I wake up, catching up on some needed sleep. I spend the morning relaxing in a hammock on the riverfront lawn reading my book. Just as I’m heading out of the hostel to walk to the agency I’ve booked to go to the Tiger Temple with I spot Mike and Trudi eating in the restaurant. I’m surprised to see them as although they said they were coming here, I thought that they would be a good few days behind me. Mike is feeling much better, he had bronchitis and was dehydrated but after a course of antibiotics and a few days rest he’s back to normal. I arrange to have dinner with them this evening before hurrying along to get to the agency.

At 2pm I get picked up to go to the Tiger Temple, a 40 minute ride away. I got a tip about this place from a fellow traveller I met somewhere along the way. There is no temple to be seen, but there are plenty of tigers. They are hand reared from birth, and I guess you could call the Tiger Temple a sanctuary for tigers. There are rumours that the tigers are drugged or that the monks cast some sort of ‘spell’ over them, but whatever the reason is for their placidity you cannot take away that it is an incredible experience being up so close to the tigers, one of my favourite animals. They can’t be that calm anyway, I’ve read of a tourist being mauled and when I went to the agency earlier today they told me to change my yellow T-shirt in favour of a duller colour. One of the volunteers tells us that they only feed them chicken, so they don’t get the smell of red meat, so perhaps that’s part of the explanation.

Whatever it is, the next hour is an amazing experience stroking and cuddling the cute tiger cubs before walking down to the canyon to see the fully grown tigers. I’m shaking after the first tiger cub I come into contact with....you think that they won’t bite, but you never know, and the staff of temple can’t be too sure either as you’re made to sign a disclaimer before you go in. You don’t get the opportunity to get quite so close to the bigger cats, but that is fine by me!! After visiting the canyon, I get the chance to walk a tiger and then get a picture with one as it is being fed milk. The afternoon has been an absolutely superb experience, a definite highlight on the wildlife front and for only 500 Baht (£10) well worth it.

In the evening, I meet up with Mike, Trudi and Tony, a guy from London who was on my Tiger Temple trip. Julia, also from London and a Dutch guy join us (they are staying in the raft rooms too), for what is a good night of food, a couple of beers and typical travellers talk; where we’ve been, where we’re going, what we’ve done in Kanchanaburi etc etc. When you’re travelling alone and have to endure a night or two of your own company you learn to appreciate these nights even more. I like Kanchanaburi, it is a chilled place by the River Kwai steeped in history and I could spend longer here. The rest of the group are all pretty much staying on for at least another night, but despite feeling I could spend longer in Kanchanaburi, I want to be in Bangkok for tomorrow night’s game. It will be a better atmosphere, more people and that at the moment is the top priority. Still, going to the nature park near Kanchanaburi and having an up close encounter with giraffe’s sounds pretty cool. I know what; I’ll sleep on it just like last night.

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Comments

[---River Kwai---]

http://riverkwai1.co.cc
WoW!!!!

[amy winehouse]

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