Blogs from Kanchanaburi, Western Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 8

Finally left Bangkok and headed west to Kanchanaburi, the city (in)famous for its Death Railway, which was built by the Japanese using POW forced labour during WWII. Literally hundreds of thousands of European and Asian labourers perished under the utterly inhumane working conditions, all to realize ambitious Japanese plans to connect Thailand and Burma by rail through otherwise seemingly impenetrable mountainous terrain, as a new transportation link for their war supplies. The Death Railway of course bridges the equally (in)famous River Khwai, whose mention must certainly bring to many a mind images of the movie of the same name. It was especially poignant to read about the plights of the labourers, and to see for myself the exact location of their efforts, in what must have literally been a living hell. Kanchanaburi today of course is ... read more

I woke up at 6:15am. I really hate getting up early and I count it as one of the best parts of my traveling days that I don't have to get out of bed until I want to. Though in the effort of living life to the fullest I try to average a 9am wake up call. So 6:15 am is quite early for me. At 6:30 a hostel employee knocked on the door and told me that they are waiting for me downstairs. I was almost ready anyway, so I grabbed my bag and hat and rushed down the stairs only to be told that I had to wait until 7am. They only sent someone to make sure I was ready. Since they are probably used to dealing with drunken backpackers I don't hold the ... read more

so i decided to go pick up my luggage on the 7th of May ... i took the train with about 30 others at 5'30am ... as they had been in this very special place the local worshippers/retreaters got their traintickets for free ... just when i felt as one i was faced again that i'm the one sticking out ... in any way you can see it and thus had to pay for the train ticket ... oh well ... c'est la vie ... and who cares ... a few dollars more on an experience of a lifetime ... when i got back to Kanchanaburi it turned out my guesthouse was full accept for the luxurious airconditioned double bed rooms for which i then had to pay 4x as much ... i respectfully declined and ... read more

as written in previous blog, 120,000 people died constructing the railway of Death of whom approx 5000 Dutchies (of whom most died during construction of bridge) ... 12,000 english and approx 75-80,000 chinese ... most deaths were related to hunger and diseases ... with SO many chinese souls departing their physical bodies on and near this spot I'm surprised it has taken them so long to build a chinese temple next to the bridge ... m not sure when they started construction however as they're only now nearing completion it must have taken at least a few decades to get a proper place of worship ... My last official temple visit was a brutal one going there ... on a bycicle up a mountain in 45C ... i did get on mi way early (round 7ish) ... read more

my first encounter with the bridge the morning after my arrival ..... after that i've kayaked underneath it and watched a few sunsets behind it ... in the distance ... anyway better to read commentary accompanying the pictures ... and no i wasn't acting ... i got a vivid imagination and almost felt at certain moments to step into a time warp ... more of that to come later ...... read more