Day 5
We woke up rested after spending the night in the Aom's wonderful guest house. We packed up our bags and again jumped into our host's Ford Ranger 4x4 for a morning of tours. Our first stop was at a small town along the Death Railway, that had a little market and a famous buddha in a cave. We snacked on crepes as we wandered along part of the railway and to the cave. Aom again spoiled us by purchasing some grilled bananas. She was constantly worried that we were getting hungry in the sweetest way possible.
Moving along we drove about 40 minutes up the road to Sai Yok National Park. We took a short hike up to Daowadueng Cave and spent about an hour exploring the various rooms within the cave. The humidity was high outside and even higher in the cave. By the time we left we were dripping with sweat and a bit muddy from ducking through a couple smallish passes. The cave was impressive but lacked the intricate details of caves we had explored at Wind Caves national park in South Dakota just a few months ago. It was fascinating to watch the bats that were hanging around in the cave, and even with 4 of us clambering around, flashing lights, did not seem bothered.
Our third stop for the day was at Hellfire Pass. This site is named as a result of a gruesome couple of years during the second world war. As the Japanese were set on building a railway to connect thailand to Burma and avoid the American navy who controlled the Malacca strait they had to pass the mountains of western Thailand. At Hellfire Pass a pass some 40-50 feet deep had to be created through the rock. Over 90000 romusha died building the Death Railway. Many Allied prisoners of war perished as well. For more see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellfire_Pass and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Railway
Our somber visit to Hellfire Pass was finished and our hosts graciously drove us back into Kanchanaburi. We cleaned up and then headed out to find some food and see a bit of the town knowing we had to leave early in the morning. Our walk around town led us to the bridge over the river kwai and a couple temples. Some food was found and eventually a tuk tuk back to the hotel for the night.
Day 6
Today was a long day of traveling. We packed up and took a taxi - well a motorbike with a couple benches mounted on the side by side - to the bus station. We boarded the bus for the 12 hour journey to Chiang Mai and departed promptly at the schedule departure time. We quickly became caught up in a local parade but the drive was relatively smooth for the next couple hours, with brief pauses to pick up more passengers at stops along the way.
Suphan Buri had a giant golden dragon that we were to slow to snap a photo out of the bus window for. The scenery improved as some mountains and hills appeared as the day passed. The food at the bus midpoint stop was pretty good and included with the price of the bus ticket.
The 12 hours went by smoothly and we found ourselves in Chiang Mai by 9:30.
We woke up rested after spending the night in the Aom's wonderful guest house. We packed up our bags and again jumped into our host's Ford Ranger 4x4 for a morning of tours. Our first stop was at a small town along the Death Railway, that had a little market and a famous buddha in a cave. We snacked on crepes as we wandered along part of the railway and to the cave. Aom again spoiled us by purchasing some grilled bananas. She was constantly worried that we were getting hungry in the sweetest way possible.
Moving along we drove about 40 minutes up the road to Sai Yok National Park. We took a short hike up to Daowadueng Cave and spent about an hour exploring the various rooms within the cave. The humidity was high outside and even higher in the cave. By the time we left we were dripping with sweat and a bit muddy from ducking through a couple smallish passes. The cave was impressive but lacked the intricate details of caves we had explored at Wind Caves national park in South Dakota just a few months ago. It was fascinating to watch the bats that were hanging around in the cave, and even with 4 of us clambering around, flashing lights, did not seem bothered.
Our third stop for the day was at Hellfire Pass. This site is named as a result of a gruesome couple of years during the second world war. As the Japanese were set on building a railway to connect thailand to Burma and avoid the American navy who controlled the Malacca strait they had to pass the mountains of western Thailand. At Hellfire Pass a pass some 40-50 feet deep had to be created through the rock. Over 90000 romusha died building the Death Railway. Many Allied prisoners of war perished as well. For more see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellfire_Pass and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Railway
Our somber visit to Hellfire Pass was finished and our hosts graciously drove us back into Kanchanaburi. We cleaned up and then headed out to find some food and see a bit of the town knowing we had to leave early in the morning. Our walk around town led us to the bridge over the river kwai and a couple temples. Some food was found and eventually a tuk tuk back to the hotel for the night.
 |
| Hellfire Pass |
 |
| Market near Krasae Cave |
 |
| Crepes at Market near Krasae Cave |
 |
| Death Railway next to Krasae Cave |
 |
| Market near Krasae Cave |
 |
| Daowadueng Cave |
 |
| Daowadueng Cave |
 |
| Daowadueng Cave |
 |
| Daowadueng Cave |
 |
| Daowadueng Cave |
 |
| sunset over the Kwai behind our hotel |
 |
| Bridge over the river kwai |
 |
| Japanese train from 2nd world war |
 |
| Kanchanaburi |
 |
| Kanchanaburi |
 |
| Kanchanaburi |
 |
| Kanchanaburi |
 |
| Happiest buddha seen yet - Kanchanaburi |
 |
| Cemetery in Kanchanaburi |
 |
| Kanchanaburi |
 |
| Kanchanaburi |
 |
| bats |
 |
| Hellfire Pass artifact above the pass |
 |
| Hellfire Pass |
 |
| Kanchanaburi |
 |
| When the only laundry place in town doesn't have time to do you laundry. |
Day 6
Today was a long day of traveling. We packed up and took a taxi - well a motorbike with a couple benches mounted on the side by side - to the bus station. We boarded the bus for the 12 hour journey to Chiang Mai and departed promptly at the schedule departure time. We quickly became caught up in a local parade but the drive was relatively smooth for the next couple hours, with brief pauses to pick up more passengers at stops along the way.
Suphan Buri had a giant golden dragon that we were to slow to snap a photo out of the bus window for. The scenery improved as some mountains and hills appeared as the day passed. The food at the bus midpoint stop was pretty good and included with the price of the bus ticket.
The 12 hours went by smoothly and we found ourselves in Chiang Mai by 9:30.
 |
| Food at bus terminal. Nice and spicy. |
 |
| Parade to start off the day. |
 |
| Dinner, excellent beef noodle soup, once in Chiang Mai. |
 |
| Bus tickets on a bus seat. |
Comments
Post a Comment