Finishing up and Kanchanaburi

So as you have heard, Melissa's contract is already up and she has been enjoying her free time (or getting restless with nothing to do!). I'm coming to the end of mine in two days, but I haven't had much to do for the past couple weeks.

Last Friday my boss and colleagues organised a very nice little send-off for myself and Mr. Terry (who was going back to Canada), complete with lots of food! Melissa was also invited which was nice. Ms. Montana (my boss) gave a very nice speech, and I got a really cool silver tie!

Anyway, back onto our travels:
Last Saturday (10-03-07) we finally made it Kanchanaburi. We had been trying to organise a trip there for a while. We decided in the end we would make it a day trip, but that we could stay overnight if we really wanted to or needed more time. We got the 7:45 train from the western railstation, where foreigners pay 100 baht wherever they are going on the Kanchaburi line, Lonely planet's gonna have to mention that!

So, just like the last time, when we got the train to Ayutthaya, our train stood still for almost an hour, for no apparent reason at a station along the way. Still, travelling by rail is the most romantic way to travel, and the scenery along the tracks is often much nicer than along the roads, because the roads are lined with shops and other commercial buildings for most of the way, while the train tracks are flanked by farmland. On this trip we didn't see many rice fields, but I did see lots of corn stalks and banana trees.

Kanchanburi is the capital of the Kanchanaburi province. Our principle reason for going there was because it is the location of the Bridge on the River Kwai, as portrayed in the film (and book) of the same name. Which we watched the night before of course!

The film is about a battalion of British prisoners of war that are put to work on the construction of a railway bridge as part of the railway linking Bangkok to Burma. They were building this railway to link East-Asia to West-Asia, because the seas were too dangerous to navigate. During the war the Japanese used thousands of PoWs and also even more locals to build this and other railways throughout the area. The engineers in charge were cruel and worked only towards completion of their work with no regard for the workers although in their defense they were under immense pressure from their superiors. Many thousands died while working on the railway, be it from disease due to lack of medical supplies and malnutrition, or from physical abuse. The railway and its bridges had to be completed.. In total, the construction of the "Death Railway" claimed the lives of 16000 POWS and aout 90000 locals.

After arriving in Kanchanaburi and avoiding the usual taxi touts, we walked over to the very close (but un-sign-posted) Thailand-Burma Railway museum. There we read about the history of the railway and about the conditions the PoWs lived in. They were horrible and it was a little unsettling, especially with the many pictures of emaciated and dying soldiers and the war cemetery across the street.

After this we walked down the street and we rented a motorbike (yes I can't get enough of them!). We drove down to the actual bridge over the river Kwai. For 50 eurocents we got a 15 min. train ride across and back over the bridge. It wasn't very impressive. It must have been a different sight back then. Most of the rainforest and difficult terrain has been cleared, and the backdrop isn't a lush humid forest, but a small tourist trap.

Anyway, we then drove 40 km down Highway 323. Although, I don't quite know what that is supposed to signify, as there was the odd motorbike going down the wrong side of the road! (no it wasn't us)

At the end of the road was Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery, also known as the Tiger Temple. The story of the place is that hunters killed a tigress and a rich Bangkok couple bought its cub to have it stuffed. The stuffing was botched and even though the cub was injected with formalin, it survived! It then ended up at the monastery where it lived to 7 months before dying of heart palpitations. A few weeks later two male cubs (just a week old!), intercepted from poachers, were brought to the monastery. Then two more males were presented by local villagers. Finally border police contributed four female cubs, also intercepted. You can find the full story on the website. Just go to www.tigertemple.org .

What attracted us to the place is that you can walk around with the tigers and touch them! Supposedly they have just grown used to captivity and being around humans and are not drugged, however they seemed very groggy and unresponsive! When it was time for them to go back to their cages in the evening, they had to be pushed and pulled off the ground! They are nocturnal animals though, so maybe they just wanted to sleep! Other animals adapt to living during the day, so I don't see how the tigers would more easily adapt to captivity and change their instincts than change their sleeping habits! The pictures should speak for themselves. There were also a whole host of other animals, all with no sort of barriers or cages, just running around. At feeding time you had to dodge oxen, wild boar and deer. The tiny little boar piglets were very cuddly!

Anyway, we are coming to the end of our time here. We have two trips planned before we leave. This Friday we leave for Cambodia, and the following week we will visit the Chiang-Mai in the north. More of that as it happens!