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Published: January 30th 2013
Arrived back in Thailand after our family get together in Perth and started our trip around Central Thailand. Our first stop was in the garden province of Samut Songhkhram which included visits to a unique country market along the railway tracks, several floating markets, a paddleboat journey through the canals and of course a Buddhist temple.
The next stop was in the district of Kanchanaburi and here we spent lots of time visiting the various memorials dedicated to the those who worked and lost their lives in the construction of the Thailand to Burma Railway during WW2. We walked the bridge over the River Kwai which has now been restored after the original bridge was destroyed by Allied bombers. Particularly moving was the Hellfire Pass Memorial which included a well laid out museum and a trail along the original track leading to Hellfire Pass which cost so many lives in its construction. It is estimated that over 100,000 lives were lost in the construction of the railway including 12,400 Allied POWs.
After sober reflection we took a short train ride along the infamous "death railway" which was crowded with locals and tourists.The views of the surrounding hills, jungle and
River Kwai were magnificent.
Whilst in the area we visited the Erawan National Park and I met the challenge of walking up the track by the 7 tiered Erawan Waterfall. A steep climb of over 1500 metres in a temperature of 30c plus. Hopefully a good way of losing some weight.
Our final stop was the ancient city of Ayutthaya where the temples and ruins of this once great city have now been declared a World Heritage Site. I have worked out that in the time we have been here we have visited about half a dozen temples in various states, shapes and sizes and I could say I have seen plenty of Buddhas to last a lifetime. In amongst the temples we also managed a visit the Royal Family's Summer Palace and take a long tail boat ride down the wide and winding river.
An exhausting week but well worth the effort especially as we have a week to recover at Khao Lak on the island of Phuket.
I should mention that this is my 100th blog and since I started "travel blogging" on this site it has had over 12,000 hits. Thanks for your
support.
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George
non-member comment
Wow!
100th blog and still going strong, a grand achievement indeed. Looks fantastic, love the floating market, shame the photos don't have an olfactory option, I'd love to be able to smell it! Like the name of the guide 'oui', imagine be quite a positive started in life to have such an affirmative name. All love.Gxxxx