Kanchanaburi, Thailand

  Kanchanaburi, Thailand
Friday, July 23, 2004

Since we had a couple of days to wait we decided to catch a local bus down to Kanchanaburi, a small river village nestled along the Khwae Yai River, which was made famous during the world war for the death railway. The bus trip down is about 2 and a half hours, there is a quicker tourist bus, but this was a great way to see Thailand as the Thais do. Arriving in Kanchanaburi we were hassled by tuk tuk drivers trying to get 300 baht to take us to a guesthouse, but knowing from the LP that they were only 5 minutes down the road we were only to happy to walk. We stayed at the Nita Raft House. What a beautiful setup. Nice clean rooms, a wonderful resturant come TV room, and most of all great owners. They will look after your every need, and the food, yum yum...... We did read about the disco boats in the LP and the first ite there we found out why. House boats go up and down the river just about all night with music pumping as loud as the speakers will allow. It was hard to get to sleep, so if you do head down that way, take some ear plugs.

Bridge over the River Khwae Yai, Kanchanaburi

Being Aussies the next day we wanted to visit the allies war museums and sites around Kanchanaburi. Heading first to WW2 Museum, then the Allied War Cemetery. The museum was filled with relics from the war, and explained the Japanese and Allies stance on the war. But it was the war cemetery that brings tears to your eyes. Having served in the Aussie army for a number of years the cemtery brings home the horrors and waste of life wars really are. Row after row of young soldiers names. What a watse of life.

Allied War Memorial, kanchanaburi

The other major attraction in town is the railway death bridge, or more commonly known due the movie the bridge over the river khai. This is where Kendall put down her camera to have her picture taken and then forgot about it. To the person that picked it up i hope you have made good use of it. 

That night sitting at Nitas Rafthouse we came across a phamlet about a tiger temple. We asked Nita about it and he gave us the direcions to get ther. We again caught a local bus from town, got dropped off at the start of a small dirt road and told to walk for about 1 km. And so we did. We arrived at the temple and donated 300 Baht each to enter. We were quite lucky as a couple of Aussie girls had a private tour going through which they had planned in advance due to time restraints in Thailand. So we had half a day to play with the tigers by ourselfs. What an experience playing anf patting with a world icon. You can not imagine how ore inspiring it is to see and touch the Tigers. The temple was set up as a refugee camp for tigers and the head monk told us the tigers came on their own terms or were rescued from owners who miss treated them. The temple is raising money for a island paradise where the tigers will roam free and hopefully be returned to the wild one day. When we visited the temple it wasnt as well known as it is now, as the great outdoors and getaway have both done specials from the temple. If you do get a chance to visit i recommend getting your own way to the temple and bet the tour busses when they come in around lunch time. 

Kendall & I at Tiger Temple, outside Kanchanaburi

The next day we hired a motorbike to see a bit of the country side around Kanchanaburi. Our first point of call was Erawan Falls. About 2 hours out of Kanchanaburi and what a beautiful place this is. With seven water falls cascading down into each other, with crystal clear water, its a perfect place to cool down from the heat of Thailand. The resturants at the carpark sell some wonderful food. It was a bit of a hike on the bike and on the way back the rain poured down and made visibilty poor. On our way back we stopped of at the tourist police office to put in a report about Kendalls camera. If you do ever have to make a insurance claim the Thai police were great, it did take some time as a English and Thai version are typed up by the police.

 

Erawan Falls, Kanchanaburi

The next day we concentrated closer to Kanchanaburi, and this is were i saw my first elephant. And it was a special elephant indeed. The elephant that we came across was the first ever in the world to ever have a artificale lower jaw. It looked very wired but the elephant was eating normal food, which it could not do prior to the sergery. Other elephants were painting pictures with water colors, which could be bought for a small cost.

We then did a short trip to Nakhon Pathom which is were you will find the floating markets. This was a real trip out. The locals have been selling their goods from small boats in the canals for years. I believe that Bangkok had alot of these canals and this style of selling, but most have been drained to allow more conventional roads to be built. We had an old lady paddling this thin canoe through the canals, battling the motorised canoes waves and josling her way through the crowds. Everything is sold from the sore line and other boats. Locals still by their fruit and veg this way. Its really a good half day at Nakhon Pathom floating markets.

All in all Kanchanaburi is a wonderful place to visit. The attractions are endless, i could talk more about hell fire pass and so forth, but it really is somewhere to visit for yourself. Just remember to bring some ear plugs, and that biting feeling on your toes at Erawan Falls is the fish you can see swimming around