We had an early start yesterday morning as we visited Hellfire Pass - the site of one of the toughest areas on the infamous Thai-Burma railway. In a joint venture between the Thai and Australian Governments there is a fantastic museum there. Then you can walk down to the cutting - not easy on a full tummy with plenty of water, good footwear and concrete steps - you can't begin to fathom how difficult it must have been for the prisoners. There are no rails (the Thai's let the track go from a few kilometres South of this point) but many of the original sleepers and the ballast are still there.
To see the conditions under which they worked leaves you over-awed.
After that - we the travelled for 2 hours on a train on the actual railway constructed by the prisoners back to Kanchanaburi the highlights being traversing a massive trestle bridge alongside the river Kwae (Kwai) and then ultimately crossing the river into Kanchanaburi itself - there were actually 2 bridges built over the river during the war - a wooden one and a steel one about 200m apart. The wooden on is long gone but the steel one still stands today.
We the did a bicycle rickshaw tour - I felt guilty having this fellow taking us around but the reality is if you don't use them they can't earn any money - the tour took us to another simple museum built like the original sleeping huts the prisoners slept in.
Our rickshaw then took us to the war cemetery - I can't begin to describe this experience - row after row after row after row of Aussie boys, English lads and Dutch. Some of the inscriptions by the families were heart tearers. To be honest I'm glad we were short on time as I don't think I could have taken much more - though I was extremely gratified and felt privileged to have been able to pay my respects.
From there it was to the bridge again where we could walk across the bridge - I'm not talking about a walkway alongside the bridge - I mean actually over the tracks! They have little platforms every so often where you can jump off to the side if a train comes. And as for safety rails - the Thai's obviously don't understand the concept - I loved it!
Today was another 41 degree scorcher and w chose to just have a free day in Kanchanaburi befor heading back to the outskirts of Bangkok - I could have had a run but I elected to spend all my time with Mrs 2P just mooching about.
Tonight we are in a magnificent Teak House - everything is teak - the floors the walls, the 12' ceilings and the furniture
Absolutely gorgeous - happy 2P :-)
9 comments:
It's quite a place that war cemetery. I don't think I'll ever forget it. Glad you're having a good time.
Sounds like a memorable and special day 2P. Thanks for sharing.
The bridge walk would have been just like racing down Nellies 'no hands'.
At least you can rest easy that your rickshaw driver wasn't carrying an extra bag of cement ;)
Was that mooching or smooching with Mrs 2P ;-)
Great holidays after this huge effort at SFT, well deserved!
The war cemetry sounds like a moving place to visit.
Sounds like you are having fun :-)
PS Hope you are getting lots of rest. I got lots of crazy plans to bounce off you when you get back
:-)
My Dad's heading off to Hanoi for work on Tuesday. You won't see him running. Maybe if you know where they serve crisp, cold chablis...
Have a great holiday
Went there in April 1992 in 40 degree heat. There's also a runner's section of the cemetery.
Good travel reports.
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