More wartime atrocities, and the great outdoors

Trip Start Sep 18, 2006
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Trip End Mar 19, 2008


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Flag of Thailand  ,
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Nature was calling, and so we arrived in Kanchanaburi, home to the infamous Bridge Over the River Kwai - part of the railway the Japanese decided to construct during World War Two in order to create a supply route between Thailand and Burma. So brutal was their treatment of the PoWs used to build the railway that it is estimated that one man died for every sleeper laid - approximately 100,000. We visited the bridge first and I was surprised by how much of a tourist attraction it is. This is something it seems you have to come to terms with in Thailand - the sheer multitude of foreigners, or farang as they are unaffectionately known locally. OK, I know we're tourists too, but we're different. A class apart; enlightened and entrepid travellers(!)
We ended up spending longer than intended here as Mani, not me!, got sick. The town actually turned out to be a very pleasant place to spend a bit of time and relax as I think we're a little fatigued after the slog of the previous few months. Took in the Thailand-Burma Railway Museum - a chilling portrayal of the conditions the PoWs endured and yet another reminder of the cruelty that human nature at its worst is capable of. Another brutal example of this we saw in a day trip to Hellfire Pass, a massive engineering project that cuts a path for the railway through a section of mountain. Around 150 metres long and 30 deep, the exhaustion of the forced labourers who forged the path mainly by hand, can only be imagined.
History lesson aside, the main reason for our visit here was the spectacular outdoor scenery. We spent one morning in some kayaks paddling 12km ride down the river - very enjoyable even though it was accompanied by Mani's complaints of tiredness towards the end. This was eclipsed by the amazing Erawan Waterfalls. A series of seven falls, we spent the day trouping from one to another and splashing around in the laggoons. One of those places that makes you want to pitch a tent and stay there forever, beautiful.
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