Bangkok - Part 2

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We had an early wake-up at 5 am, and headed out for our tour of the Bridge over the River Kwai. We arrived at Kanchanaburi, and visited the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre. Our guide was Andrew Snow, whose father was a POW and worked on the railroad, and died when Andrew was 4 years old. It was quite moving to see what the POW’s endured as they were forced to build the railroad. After a tea break, we walked across the street to the war cemetery, where we laid a bouquet of flowers on the graves of the 6 Canadian soldiers buried there. We then drove to the Chungkai War Cemetery, which is the original POW cemetery that was attached to the Chungkai Camp. We also laid flowers on the one grave of a Canadian there. Both cemeteries are meticulously tended by the locals, with gorgeous shrubs and trees. We went to the railway embankment and walked along the railway, continually amazed at the amount of physical labour that would have been used to construct it. We had to cross a trestle across a gully, with rickety looking boards that they assured us were perfectly safe....not my idea of fun, but I made it! We trekked up to a high point to see the magnificent view, and then got into long-tail boats and traveled down the river. We passed right under the Bridge on the River Kwai...pretty neat! We got out and walked across the bridge and back, and then had lunch and did a bit of shopping. It was super hot and humid....glad to have an air-conditioned bus and restaurant and we all enjoyed coconut ice-cream from a vendor on the street. We went to see the Wang Pho viaduct, did a bit more shopping at the market along the way, and boarded the train for a 20 minute ride on the railway built by the POW’s. Then back to Bangkok, where our tailors were waiting for another fitting. We gathered in the bar for a farewell drink with the Millars, who will be leaving us tomorrow. So glad that they were able to join us on this adventure, and we will miss them!

On Saturday we went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market for a day of shopping. We had 2 extra Destination Asia guides with us to help us with translation and guide us through the market. The place is huge, and sells anything and everything! It was extremely hot and humid and quite crowded in places. We also shopping in an air-conditioned mall where the prices weren’t quite as good but it sure was nice to be cooler! We met for lunch, and then a few of the guys went back to the hotel while the rest of us carried on with shopping. We made a stop at an exclusive jewelry store on the way home, where some bought pearls and other lovely jewelry at very reasonable prices. We all met for drinks and appies in the preferred guest lounge on the 27^th floor, then headed off for dinner in a private dining room in a Chinese retaurant. Menu included Peking duck, and a crispy roasted piglet, lobster and many other traditional Chinese dishes. Finished off the night with drinks at the rooftop lounge on the 61^st floor of the Banyon Hotel. I must admit that I jammed out on the dinner and drinks....just needed a night to chill out and catch up on some sleep!!

A quiet Sunday morning at the hotel to pack and enjoy the pool a bit, and then we said goodbye to our wonderful guide, May, and headed off to Phuket.

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