See Travel Blog

It’s our last full day of the Holiday and probably the one I have been looking forward to the most!  Originally our itinerary had today down as a temple / city tour, but we thought we would be all templed out by now, so made other arrangements instead.  

I don’t know if you’ve heard of the film Bridge on the River Kwai?  Well we’ve arranged a day trip out to the River Kwai and the surrounding area.  The main drawback though is very much the early start – we’ve had an early start nearly every day in the last two weeks, and I think the 5:50am alarm detonation this morning might just be the straw which breaks the ducks back.

Anyway, dad managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the breakfast buffet when it opened at 6am.  (Of course he did!) We had been told that pickup would be at 6:15am. 🥱 

When we came down to reception (at exactly 6:15am, I should add), there was a slightly stressed man running round the foyer looking for us.  It’s ok, I blamed dad’s breakfast for the delay!

The minibus was full – there must have been four / five couples already inside.  In fact, we were the last to be collected, before heading on to a rendezvous point.  There weren’t three seats together, so mum and dad headed to the back, and I sat beside the door.  I could hear someone rabbiting away behind but couldn’t make out much of the conversation.

The bus brought us to the River City Arts Centre (still in Bangkok), and we’re told to go see a man sitting behind a table and sign in.  We’d then be given a badge with our bus number on it.  Incidentally it was the same one we’d just arrived on.  There was just one other couple joining us though – a man and woman of Indian descent.  I should say, that she was the lady talking on the first bus journey.  

It turned out, this lady and her husband were originally from India, but living in Britain (somewhere near Birmingham – and the brummy accent was really coming through!)

The bus ride was around 2 hours in total to Kanchanaburi – and the Indian lady talked the whole bloody time.  My goodness she could talk for Britain.  I did find it funny that the husband barely uttered a single word.  It’s no wonder, he wouldn’t be able to get a word in edgewise!  I don’t wish to be disrespectful, but she was pestering our poor guide with question after question, and would usually be onto another before he’s even finished answering the last one!  The lady seemed to take great interest in Bangkok’s elevated monorail – but didn’t seem to get the fact that it didn’t go anywhere near any of the places that she wanted to visit!

Anyway, today’s tour guide was a chap named Luke – that same gentleman who was getting worked up in our hotel foyer at 6:15am!  The air con was on in the bus – I wonder how warm his fingers were?  Cool hand, Luke?

As we’ve discovered over this holiday, bus tours do like to schedule rest breaks, and this one was one of the best – it had a bakery, and a stall selling some bready eggy things. 

I have never seen these before, and have googled to find the proper name.  Honestly, I think these could be undiscovered.  These babies are eggstraordinary!  Straight out of the oven, so slightly warm with a melted chocolate filling.  

The adjacent shop was selling these – gives new meaning to the phrase Pooh Bear Ice Cream! 

Loving the pink Walls branded bin as well!

Just after 8:40am, the bus rocked up at the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.  

During World War II, Thailand vowed neutrality until the Japanese invaded Thailand in 1941.  Part of the truce agreement was that Thailand would facilitate the transfer of Japanese troops from Singapore and Malaysia to Burma (modern day Myanmar) and offer military support in exchange for peace and autonomy.

The Japanese formed prisoner of war camps all across northern Thailand with the aim of creating a railway line between Ban Pong in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Burma.  The prisoners were forced to labour on the railway’s construction and were tortured and abused by their captors.  Many died.  For that reason, it was known as the Death Railway.

While the war ended in 1945, there were still prisoners being liberated two years later.  Those who had died were either repatriated to their home countries, or buried in mass war cemeteries close to the prison camps.

The Kanchanaburi War Cemetery is the most well known of these, and contains 6,982 graves.  Around 5,000 are from Commonwealth citizens, and the rest Dutch citizens.  

Walking through the cemetery, there are rows upon rows graves almost as far as the eye can see.

I found the cemetery very moving.  Most of the victims were younger than myself when they died.  All bar a few were marked with a symbol identifying their religious beliefs – and of these, most had crosses and a nice bible verse or encouraging message from the family.  

At the far end of the site, a cemetery stands tall with a cross at the top.  At the bottom, various memorials have been recently laid.  Remembrance day in the UK was about a week ago, so I think that’s why these are here. 

My take away from this experience is that in war there are no winners.  These victims were all on the winning side – but paid the ultimate price.  What is military aggression really worth?  Japan’s aim in World War II was to erase the US as a world power but backfired spectacularly.  In another universe it could have gone the other way.

History teaches us lessons time and time again but we keep forgetting and repeating the mistakes.

Just around the corner from the War Cemetery is the Death Railway Museum and Research Centre – a privately funded museum, committed to telling the story of the Death Railway.

The building itself was formerly the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army, and was also constructed by prisoners of war.  

Among the exhibits, were a recreated boxcar – this is how captive prisoners were transported from Singapore.   

Some of the pictures showed very graphically just how badly these prisoners were treated.

Like with the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the world wasn’t fully aware of these atrocities at the time, and there isn’t much photographic evidence either, but one prisoner drew some detailed sketches of the POW camp.

On the 2nd September, the Japanese surrendered to Allied forces, and a copy of their declaration of surrender can be found up on the wall.

Best of all, upstairs is a coffee shop, and our ticket of admission got us a free tea / coffee!  What a win!

After this, we hopped back into the bus and soon reemerged at the Bridge in the River Kwai.

The Bridge on the River Kwai film is partly a fictional story, but based on the overarching events of WW2.

Alec Guinness plays Colonel Nicholson who commands a troop of British soldiers who have been captured by the Japanese.  They are forced to work on the construction of the death railway – particularly a bridge crossing the River Kwai.

Nicholson is adamant that army officers are exempt from manual labour due to the Geneva convention and the British prisoners make a protest.  This doesn’t end well, as Col. Nicholson gets turfed in ‘the oven’ a small metal box.

The bridge is beset with problems, and the camp commander Colonel Saito is forced to concede to Nicholson.  Nicholson insists that the bridge must be built under his command – as it’s the only way they will meet the deadline with sufficient quality.

The bridge gets made and spirits are good in the camp, but once it is completed, a group of commandos come in to liberate the camp with the aim of destroying the bridge that their allies have just created.  I’ll not spoil the ending but it’s a fantastic film and worthy of all the accolades it went in to receive.  It’s often referred to as the greatest film ever made.

The real life bridge on the River Kwai isn’t the same as the one in the film – in fact the film was actually shot in Sri Lanka.  Same idea though.  

After the war, most of the railway was lifted up, leaving just a small section for tourists.

We head to the platform, waiting for the train to arrive.  Unfortunately it is running late (just like being back at home).  It’s ok though, mum is otherwise occupied…

The train arrives and we board at the far end of the platform.  That’s a top tip… always go as far away as possible to board a train – it’s less busy there!  Luke thinks there won’t be that many seats, so tells us to move fast.  He’s not wrong! I choose to stand to get a good view out the window.  

The train slowly sets off and the sound of a busker fades in and out – she smiles and nods as we pass.

There’s a lot of people around the bridge area, but fortunately dedicated areas for tourists to safely wait as the train goes past.  Others are ushered off the bridge by a security guard.

The train isn’t going that fast over the bridge, but it’s a nice moment that evokes memories of the film, where the train passes for the first time.  

The journey lasts a smidgeon over an hour, and there are some nice views out over rather non descript fields.  Many of these once contained prison slave camps, but now lie as wasteland with the mountains marking the Myanmar border in the distance.

Spirits are lifted mid journey with the appearance of a man carrying a tray of donuts and pancakes.  The donuts were nice, but the pancakes fell a little flat!  😂 

I wonder if he knows the muffin man who lives on Drury Lane?

At the end of the journey, the train track curves to the left and we catch a glimpse of the iconic section of the death railway that appears in all the photos.

The train grinds to a stop just beyond that, and we’re given the opportunity to walk up the line for a few photos.

Some of the engineering works looks very precarious and there are more than a few gaping holes in the floor underneath the tracks.

There’s a little grotto in beside this section of the railway track, with a large golden Buddha – honestly it’s not that impressive, but an interesting aside from the other interesting stories of the day.

Lunch today was at a wee restaurant near the town of Sai Yok.  It was a pretty tame salad & chicken risotto.

On the way back, we stopped at yet another service station – this one had the Golden Gate Bridge in the car park!  Pretty unremarkable apart from that.  There wasn’t even a shop!

The bus dropped us off at the MKB shopping centre (which was a bit crap), so I promised mum a better shopping centre tomorrow and persuaded the fam to hot foot it over to the King Power Mahanakhon tower to catch what was left of the sunset.  We were cutting it very fine!

Thankfully the tuktuk driver understood the assignment and was really pressing on.  The three of us were being flung from side to side around every corner.  I’m surprised I didn’t fly out the side at one point!

When we arrived at the tower, there was quite a bit queue at the ticket desk.  But I spotted a ticket machine, and we were able to skip the queue 🙌  I think it was about £30 for a ticket, and I wasn’t in the mood to hang around!  

King Power Mahanakhon was completed in 2016, and at the time was Thailand’s tallest tower.  That’s no longer the case, albeit on a technicality.  Iconsiam down by the river in Bangkok is now officially 1 meter taller, but as it has a sizable mast on the roof, KPM is the tallest building from floor to roof.

There are 78 floors, which the lift whizzes up in mere seconds, and I hear a brilliant rooftop terrace and bar.  Let’s see shall we?

I’d call that a success – and the pressed penny machine the cherry on top of the cake!  Hallelujah, I’ve gone two and a half weeks without finding one and thought that ship had sailed.

Bangkok looks its best from the sky at sunset.  The golden hues reflecting from the sky over the Chao Phraya River are just beautiful.

There is a such a lovely buzz up there at this time.  A DJ is playing some ambient music, while a seated grandstand like viewing area, looks out over the (obligatory) glass walkway and the city skyline.  For some reason, we’re instructed to wear hair nets around our shoes.  As if a thin layer of fabric will protect the glass!

In the time we’re up on the skywalk, the sun sets and darkness falls.  The golden sky fading into black as the artificial lights in the city centre shine through.

Heading back, the queue for the lift is quite long.  Mum spots a man wearing a woman’s skirt from the company she works for.

The gift shop is one floor down from the top, and it’s pretty sweet!  A postcard vending machine, games, ornaments and Lego! (Well not Lego, you know, but same idea!)  It comes in four colour options, all black, all white, the Thai colours (red, white and blue), and rainbow colours.  I was hoping for all black, and wasn’t fussed with the rainbow version.  Trust my luck on the lucky dip!

We weren’t really that hungry so just headed back to the hotel.  I went up to the rooftop bar for a drink, and discovered the MotoGP was on – the last race of the season with a championship on the line.

Loved the vibes… so, so chilled watching Moto Gp sipping a Fanta with the skyline of Bangkok behind me and Ed Sheeran playing on shuffle in the background.  Think my life might just have peaked right there!

Bangkok got off to a shaky start but today has completely redeemed it.