'A bridge too far'

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1st Nov

Luckily, didnt feel too bad getting up at 6 today, esp as i was up before the staff, who rushed about realising i had to have breakfast before i left. Yum, they served the first Tetley's tea ive had in weeks! Walked the length of K. San road before hailing a metered taxi to take me to the station. Pleasant chap who bought this flower necklace from lady in the road as by praying with it and hanging it in the car, it gives him luck thru the day, he explained, giving the withered one from yesterday back to the vendor.

Sat opposites some French Tourists on the train who weren't particularly approachable so iPod it was. A ton of Jap tourists got on a few hrs later at Kanchanaburi and when i went for a slash, they took my seat. gah. anyway, only 5 minutes to the next stop and got off and watched the train cross the kwai bridge, though i knew not of the significance + history yet. As promised 'Bamboo house was 300m away' though he had not warned me of the pack of ferocious dogs were guarding the sidestreet (soi) i had to go down to get there. Without a neither stick, tasty treat nor rabies jab, i decided not to chance the wild dogs, so moved on and walked for what seemed an eternity in the midday sun before reaching Blue Star guesthouse. Checked into this coolstraw thatched roof bungalow on stilts - check the picture to see what i mean - over the kwai, costing only 200B. No flush; toilets emptied straight into the kwai but strangely no bad smell in the air! As i missed the tours that day, i decided to stay an extra night and booked myself on a big tour (850B). With time to spare, i hired a bike and cycled to some of the attractions not covered in 2moro's tour such as the Jeath War museum for some useful history of the 415km Thailand-Burma Death Railway, the bridge, the PoW camp based here and the people who died to complete it! Then onto the touching War cemetery the Thais set up for the British and captured allied soldiers who lost their lives constructing this railway. The 22000 who died incl thais, indonesians, malaysians, dutch, american, english and australian after they were captured following the fall of Singapore on Japanese invasion. Some of the more senior tourists looked visibly affected by the displays showing the torturous camp and the treatment of the PoWs.

Unfortunately, i missed out on the monk-run Tiger temple excursion too, getting back late, so treated myself to some maltesers from 7-eleven :) and in the evening, feeling nervous, felt like my first massage. i chickened out and went for just a back and shoulder rub, which was awesome. The lady was practically standing on my lower back when she told me to relax more - lol. The last action was a dodgy manouever in which a sharp twist of my back resulted in 4 loud clicks from my spine. OO, it was surprisingly pleasant for 100B. well it really helps accumulated stiffness and i didnt suffer any side-effects! so everyone should definitely try.

2nd Nov

Good day today! Glad to have stayed a few more days here to sample Kanchanaburi as there's a lot more to this place than a bridge...

7am start, after a sawasdee breakfast, the tour guide dragged me away from my remaining toast into a minibus already full of waiting ppl. A bit apprehensive initially as everyone seemed 1) a lot older and 2) German. There was potential when we picked up 2 Brits, though nobody spoke to each other until we arrived at our first destination: the stunning Erawan Falls. Introduced myself to this Cuban (1st Eva) lady who was kind enough to help me take photos at the first of 7 steps for this waterfall.

We lost the tour guide half way up, apprehensively crossing some dodgy rope bridges, wooden ladders and trekking thru jungle! It was well worth the hour long hike to the summit step, as the top fall was amazing though i darent climb the slippery rocks up it! Broke the ice with the Brits who were travelling for a year (Paul and Neil) after graduating and temping for two years; 'the realisation of a dream' they said. Right on! We stayed up the peak for ages taking in the fresh air pummelled out of the water by the force of the fall, which meant we had to rush down to meet for lunch as time flew by without any one noticing! wasnt fun as i had to do it barefoot as my sandals were now uselessly wet. anyway, met a cantonese speaking malay called Pang who somehow lost his timberland shoes at some stage on the hike up and a cool Austrian couple, Peter who chain smoked the day away and Erin, both doctors on holiday, who would join us on the Bamboo Raft down the Kwai and some Jungle elephant trekking whilst the others of our group went to the tiger temple, where you have opportunity to get up close and personal with some drugged up beasts...anyway, good to have at last found some people who understand what im talking about when i describe my subject/Phd :)

Settled quickly into the stench of the elephant, which was shitting football sized green poos without interrupting the slow but steady plomping action of its walk! went thru the idyllic Karen village with locals waving from their straw thatched hut homes as well as a dip in the kwai where they took a deserved drink, the suction being so strong that the animal was positively shivering. This was followed by my gift of 20baht's worth of bananas hand fed for the construed photo opportunity.

Next was bamboo rafting though contrary to what i was expecting, we wouldnt be the ones doing the paddling, but as passengers donned with bright orange lifejackets, all six of us drifted down some rapids passing by a singing elephant trainer teaching it to bathe. Am smug at how easy it is to communicate humour even if the recipients know little english.  After a pick up ride, we met with the others for the awaited trip on the Death Railway and we got to view the stunning section of track that snakes along the side of the mountain at quite a height before boarding a packed train. most of passengers hung out at dangerous distances for that perfect photo, as the train carefully negotiated the mountain pass. Talked to this aussie fella who was alived when fellow australians were PoWs here and were forced to build this torturous railway, so this was an emotional journey for him. Took ages to get to the Kwai bridge, but on arrival, we were serenaded by hundreds of camera flashes as tourists captured the moment from within the train and also outside on the actual bridge and on shore. Alighted and walked the bridge on this dodgy wooden plank that ran the entire length between the railway tracks.

After a long day, decided to brave a full muscle-melting Thai massage and it turned out to be good though she was standing full weight on the base of my back for some time as well as feeling my left knee twinge and making my spine click in several places by contorting my body in positions i didnt know were possible.  Despite this, it was good.

3rd Nov

Went out to buy some souvenirs in the blistering heat after brekky before packing my stuff to go back to Bangkok. Thought it be wise to get to Kanchanburi station early: 14.30 for a 14.51 train...though shouldnt have bothered as the friggin train in true style came in 15.30. A distinctively laborious journey from here which got me back to Bangkok no earlier than 7pm...even most UK trains dont arrive 1hr 30 later than schedule and make it seem like normal...To their credit, the train staff were friendly and smiley and the trains themselves had great character with a spine-busting jolt on each pull-away, bountiful production of face blackening soot with a loud toot to signal departure.

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