[Kanchanaburi, Thailand] Today we decided that instead of taking a tour including the sights around Kanchanaburi, we would see if we would try to do it the old fashioned way – as ‘independently’ as possible. We did well I think. The tour would have cost B1300 and we did what we wanted in our own time for B400. We got a ride on one of those scary side saddle tak-taks to the local bus station. Our driver was cool. He told us B60 for the trip and when we agreed he haggled with himself to bring the price down to B40. We are really bad at haggling. He dropped us at the correct bus (one of those municipal red and chrome ones) and we were on our way – eventually. There was some confusion with the money tube wielding ticket collector about our destination – as soon as you are off the typical tourist route English is an issue, but he was able to find someone who could translate. Two hours later we were deposited outside the Hellfire Pass memorial centre.

The centre was built by the Auzzie veterans association. The museum is well presented and all free (including the audio guide). We walked down to the cutting and strolled along listening to the history and personal accounts. It was a great place to visit. Horrid what happened here but it was definitely an amazing achievement under the worst possible circumstances.

We managed to catch a bus going the opposite direction and got off around 2km from the Nam Tok train station (which is off the highway). We were running a little late and could hear the train hooting. A bit of speedy navigation by V and a short jog got us to the train with time to spare. The afternoon passed as we trundled from one empty platform to the next. Very few people were on the train up to the wooden bridges where a few tour groups joined us for 30 minutes. The views were wonderful and the beams of the spans below creaked as we passed. We finally crossed the Kwai river in the dark (the train was running an hour late) and hopped on the back of a motorcycle (both of us on one) to get back to our end of town.

It did feel good to be out ‘in the wild’ once again and the only honkies around. No being herded from one attraction to the next with an annoying group of kids (Gibbon and Tibet buddies excluded). The down side was being restricted by public transport schedules (there was only one train in the afternoon) and the extended travel durations – but that gave us a chance to hang out at bus stops and do some ‘local’ people watching.

[Pictures from the gallery: Hellfire pass cutting. On the ‘Death Railway’]

A short clip of the wooden bridges and views from the train on the ‘Death Railway’

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi