It's an early start to catch the 7.45 train from Bangkok. I take only a day pack for my trip and its sooo nice to be traveling light! I'm traveling with Meghan; a Canadian I met at my guesthouse last night. We get to Kanchanaburi about 11 and find a room a jolly frog. It's only 200 baht for a twin fan and it's a delightful setting, right on the river with a gorgeous palm shaded lawn with deckchairs surrounded by the wooden rooms.
Kanchanaburi is the setting for the famous 'Bridge over the river Kwai'. We wander down the main strip to where the railway line crosses the river. It's a very beautiful lush green landscape which fringes the wide sparkling river. The bridge stands iconicaly spanning the river. It's hard to beleive such tragedy occurred here. What did happen? We all know they made a movie about it and it was in the war, but i myself have not seen the movie and neither has Meghan. Minus points for historical knowledge! So we take a tuk tuk type moto taxi with side car thing to the Jeath Museum. Here we discover the brutality of the Japanese and how many POW's died here along with many forced Asian laborers , whilst constructing the railway from here to Burma. They died from starvation, mistreatment, illness and brutality. The town holds many of the bodies in war cemeteries. After learning the tragic events that occurred in this tranquil paradise we are feeling subdued.After spending some time getting lost looking for the bus station and TAT (these things are never where they claims to be) we give up and hire a motorbike taxi to take us back to jolly frog. The two of us: Meghan and I on the back of a scooter is fun. . . funny at least!
20.01.12
The following day we have a plan and catch a mototaxituktuk to the bus station and seek out a bus to Erawan National Park. Erawan waterfall comprises of 7 tiers over one and a half kilometers, which actually have mini-tiers in between the marked ones. It's one trail that follows the long course of the waterfall as it tumbles over rocks, flows over smooth stones and pauses in fish filled pools. There are tons of fish - those sort that eat your dead skin apparently- that's a bit scary some are quite big! We clamber up to the 6th tier in around an hour, longer than expected, where we stop and absorb the beauty of the turquoise waters and serene forest. There are many school children here presumably on school trips, they frolic and giggle and splash in the pools, destroying the tranquility but filling the falls with laughter. We swim in some of the pools, well not exactly swim. Some of those fish are massive! I linger around the edges mostly just allowing the little ones, which are still bigger than the ones in spas, to nibble my feet and legs. It feels weird, their bodies tickle but their scouring mouths are rough, i feel them eating me up, hehe! I don't want to leave the funny fishes behind but we have to catch the last bus back at 4 so reluctantly we trek back down the hill. As the local bus trundles back across the countryside I gaze out the window, the sun; low in the sky, casts long shadows and colours the bronze leaf carpet with an orange glow. It looks like autumn, but it doesn't feel like it! Here the air is hot and dry.
In the evening Meghan and I decide to hit the town! We go to a small thai cafe on America street for a delicious and of course cheap dinner before wandering along the main strip of bars. Unfortunately, friday night in Kanchanaburi isn't as pumping and lively as we'd hoped. Most of the bars are either deserted or sprinkled with a few middle aged tourists, even the fairy light bar Meghan was sure would be the place to party holds only a few boozers. We settle at an American themed bamboo bar where a lie musician is courting a relatively large audience. This is the place then! We sit at a wooden table with stools which is actually situated in the road where taxi's frequently whizz by. We consume a couple of drinks and enjoy the music. We notice a bar across the road boldly claims 'get drunk for 10 baht'! hmm I'm skeptical, maybe one poisonous drink for 10 baht. There's a fair crowd outside which seem to be drifting to somewhere a couple of doors down form us so after our drinks we check it out. It's an odd looking bar with it's doors half closed but a man beckons us inside. We obtain drinks at the bar plus a free shot of hideous Thai whiskey mixed with red stuff which I have just been wisely advising Meghan never to consume! We down them. There's a cliquey crew inside and after a chat and a drink we make for home. Abandoning our big night out in Kanchanaburi.
21.01.12
Meghan isn't feeling well today (Thai whiskey) so I say my goodbyes and set out on our plan alone. I take a bus to Sai Yok Noi waterfall, near the end of the train line. The falls are not as impressive as Erawan but I'm here before the crowds and it's nice to wander around for a while. I get the train from Nam Tok station; the end of the line all the way to Bangkok. Much of the line between Nam Tok and Kanchanaburi claimed many of the POW's lives. It's a beautiful ride through the Thai landscape with a mountainous backdrop. At times the river flows through the valley alongside us as the train clings to the hillside on ancient wooden supports. The landscape is so pretty that it's hard to imagine what it was like for peole here during the war. The people that lost their lives here to build this very track. It's an old train by which I mean one with a fuel engine. clack-a-tee-clack, clack-a-tee-clack, we chug along the line, clack-a-tee-clack, we pass over bridges, clack-a-tee-clack, we pass through fields, clack-a-tee-clack, we pass through villages. Dogs howl and chase the train and children wave. The stations and stops along the way are so quaint, they inspire a sense of antiquity and history with their potted plants and flag signalers. Hawkers get on all along the line selling all sorts of consumables, from ice cream to crackers to chicken and rice. I hang my head out the window like a dog, the breeze flowing across my face! The sun sinks as we trundle down the line and it's dark just before we reach Thonburi Station. Back in Bangkok.
