Bridge on the River Kwai day. Three and a bit hours from Bangkok is Kanchanaburi, the start of the “Death Railway”. A horrific place to be at any time because of the Jungle conditions this is where 60,000 Prisoners of War and Civilians built the railway; 12,500 died. Read the Wikipedia page here.

The drive out of Town today was much more relaxing as we didn’t have so much traffic or industrial sprawl. We actually drove through connecting Towns each one a little more distinctive than the other. First stop was the Cemetery at Kanchanaburi. The final resting place to 9,300 Commonwealth personnel – 6,300 of them British.

Moving on to Hellfire Pass (wiki-Ref here) was another 90 minutes North. This place was impressive for the amount of money that has been spent preserving the site. After WW 2 the Thai government ripped up the tracks and allowed the site to revert to the Jungle. There is now an impressive Interpretive Centre and about 3 KMs of trail with preserved/ restored sections. At the end of the first trail – a small one there is a Memorial site but highlights pieces of history can be seen. One sight is a broken chisel still jammed in the rock, another is a piece of the rail bed and in another place an ore truck used to carry rocks. Some of these can be seen in the Pics page.

I took the opportunity of being here to pay respects to the fallen by leaving a few Poppies at certain places. It was the least that I could do! 

One thing should be noted to access “Hell Fire Pass” means climbing down 254 steps,, not many when you say it but harder in real life for us ‘oldies’. Well worth it!

Back to the van back up the steps just as the ‘weather-gods’ decided to visit with torrential rain. Driving back the way we came, we arrived at the Lunch stop, also where we were to board the train for the Bridge. Lunch was a setting for six  large in variety and quantity. Chopsticks are not the rule here even the locals use a fork and spoon sometimes. While waiting I explored and came across a huge cave – with a shrine in it.

The train arrived and then we set off for the Holy Grail, for me, of the trip – The Bridge on the River Kwai. It was an hour before we arrived, passing through the Countryside full of tapioca trees, sugar cane fields and some rice paddies.