Kanchanaburi

Good evening,

Well good evening from us anyway and good afternoon to you. We are writing this part of our blog from the small town of Kanchanaburi in western Thailand, while sipping on a fruit smoothie overlooking yet another thunderstorm happening in the distance over the River Kwai. This a much more relaxed setting compared to the non stop hustle and bustle of Bangkok.

So since we last spoke we have moved on from Bangkok for 3 nights in the lovely VN Guesthouse. We have rented a floating river raft room which literally means we are sleeping on the river. The accommodation is basic compared to our last hostel as there is no flushing toilet (The bucket supplied has been useful), you can also see the river flowing through a hole under our sink while you sit on the toilet........but the view from the balcony that we now have more than makes up for it. As im sure you will agree when you see the pictures.

Kanchanaburi has its place set firmly in the history books, well know for the Death Railway during the WW2 and is home to the famous bridge over the river kwai. Over the last few days we have learnt so much about this piece of history that we could write a book.

Firstly we visited the Thailand - Burma Railway Centre which was a fascinating place where we learnt all about the Death Railway and how the Prisoners of War were treated during there capture under the Japanese. This is located just opposite the Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery. This is a touching gift from the Thai people to remember the POW's mainly from Britain and Holland that died on their soil. Having learnt so much it made the visit to the bridge so much more meaningful.

Today we choose to visit some of the further out attractions including another war cemetery and a temple that has been built within limestone caves. Now we have finished our day out and are back safely, (not wanting to scare parents) we feel it appropriate to mention that we had to rent a scooter which was most fun and we enjoyed seeing some of the Thai countryside.

 

Having visited all the major sights in Kanchanaburi we are heading back to Bangkok for the night before we will be catching a 15 hour sleeper train to Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand, which is something that we are both very much looking forward to.

To truly understand the importance that Kanchanaburi has in British history, we feel that a visit is 100% necessary. A visit to Thailand would just not be complete without visiting this very special little town.