Bridge over the River Kwai and other WWII sites

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As enjoyable as the first few days in Bangkok had been, I needed to get away for a day. Having always been interested in WWII history/relics, I decided to take a day trip to Kanchanaburi, about 2 hours west of Bangkok. This the area where Hellfire Pass and the Bridge over the River Kwai are located.

Whilst in Japan I had tried to organize a several day bike trip from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi and back, thinking that would be an interesting way to see the countryside. Apparently though I was the only crazy person who thought riding bikes in the heat and humidity of Thailand was a good idea, as the trip I had wanted to do could not go because I was the only person signed up!

So the next best thing was a day trip (in a van). Our first stop was a very quaint open air museum, with not a lot of information but many pictures of the Australians, Americans, Brits, etc. who were forced to build the pass, many of whom perished.

Next we went to the actual bridge. Quite honestly if I hadn't known what it was, I would have thought it was just any old bridge. I cannot remember if they have completely rebuilt it, but I remember thinking it looked pretty modern.

After a touristy organized lunch (sometimes I hate tours!), we went to an elephant park. Again, I'm not a massive animal rights person but like the elephant outside McDonald's the whole thing just seemed wrong, so I didn't take an elephant ride or anything.

Our last stop was the war cemetery and it was quite a somber sight to see the hundreds of westerners buried there, and looking at the tombstones and seeing that many of them were, of course, younger than me when they died.

It was quite a long way back to Bangkok and it was at the point I experienced city traffic. I thought I was never going to get back to the hostel. Sometimes the more I travel the more I realize (never thought I would say this...) Atlanta traffic is perhaps not all that bad!

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Photos

Bridge over the River Kwai cont.
As you can imagine, what with my fear of heights I was not too thrilled that you could see straight down through the openings in the bridge.

Elephant camp
No, I didn't ride an elephant; no worries PETA folks.