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Published: September 18th 2006
I don't know how it happened but despite drinking far too much last night (and mixing our drinks to boot) we both woke up late this mornng feeling relatively hangover free. It was midday before we left our room and with it being our last day here in Kanchanaburi, it seemed fitting to finally take in the biggest of all the tourist attractions here - the Bridge Over the Rver Kwai.
We ate lunch and then took a leisurely walk along the main road to the bridge. The road was so quiet, it was hard to believe we were in the middle of a touristy area but when we arrived at the bridge we understood why - every man and his dog had come out in the bright sunshine to enjoy the views. Nevertheless, we popped into the Jeath War Museum first to get a better understanding of the atrocities that led to this particular bridge becoming so infamous. It's hard to believe that over 60,000 people, died building the ill-fated structure. The museum was only small but had some intersting, if grubby, displays of WW2 vehicles and reconstructions of how the prisoners were treated by the Japanese.
The bridge that is now standing isn't the original one as that got heavily bombed by the Allies in the war. Parts of the current bridge are original but there's nothing to indicate which bits. Walking over the bridge is just lovely. There's wasn't a lot of room to move though so when people were coming in the opposite direction it was a little bit daunting! I was surprised to see that the bridge isn't as big and impressive as I imagined it would be but walking along it was really worthwhile.
When we got across the bridge, we spotted an elephant down by some souvenir stands. We went down to take a closer look and before long had bought some sugar cane to feed her. She was a lovely 45 year old lady, very good natured and so soft to touch. We fed her and I even got to pour some water down her trunk which she really enjoyed. Elephants are so cool!
The evening was a quiet one for a change not only because of being tired from last night but also that Sascha and Ulrike had travelled on to their next destination. We popped into the Friend Bar for a coupel of games of pool but it didn't feel the same without our friends. We miss you guys!!!
Tomorrow we leave for Phuket although we have to first travel back to Bangkok and then change buses. We'll hopefully arrive sometime in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Yikes! Ok, see you all at the beach xxx
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esther
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courageous you guys!
hey you both! very courageous - I've to admit I probably never would have the courage to touch an elephant neither to feed him...wow! now I say to you no longer little sister ;-) APPLAUSE! greetings from munich - oktoberfestival - next year you will hopefully join - cheers then - next "mass" how we call it meaning one litre strong beer - there aren't any smaller size - will be for you two okay? love you and take care :))