After breakfast we headed off to explore the Kho San area. As we found on our last visit very little was open so early so we wandered aimlessly before finding a very tasty looking bakery where we purchased lunch which we had by the canal at our hotel. By the time we had finished lunch the backpackers had cleared out of 'our' pool so we cooled off for a while.
The woman in the neighbouring travel agency tried to convince us that the train to Kanchanaburi was not running but doubting Thomas's thar we are we didn't believe her. Off we went for our first tuktuk ride only to discover that she was in fact correct and that a section of the line is currently closed for maintenance. Helen was mightily disappointed as nothing in all her research had mentioned this fact! Our tuk tuk driver had waited for us and offered to take us to someone to get minibus tickets. It took about an hour of waiting and many phone calls to organise minibus return trip and taxi to airport. The agent sowed many doubtful seeds in our minds and we feel we were a little ripped off, but it was all sorted.
We returned to the Koa San area and restored the equilibrium with a foot/ leg massage before drinks and dinner. We found an establishment that made VERY strong cocktails with a buy 2 get a third one free so we did! I also convinced Helen to try pad Thai, which she did and declared it to be very tasty.
Kanchanaburi was established in the 1830s, although the ruins of Muang Singh to the west date from the Khmer period. On entering the town (called Muang Kan by most locals), visitors may notice the fish-shaped street signs. The fish in question is the yisok, a small freshwater fish and the symbol of Kanchanaburi.
Of course when we arrived we were far too early to check in so we wandered in to town. We visited the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre and the War Cemetery. The Museum is extremely well done.
Our hotel is on the corner of New Zealand St and not far from the bridge over the Kwai River so we wander up to have a look before dinner.
Our delightful hotel staff arranged for our delivery to the bus station to catch the 9.00am bus to Hellfire Pass. I think everyone thought we were a bit crazy...catching a public bus? What were we thinking! It cost a whole 37 baht ($1.60) for a 2 hour bus ride. We were of course the only western faces and the air con was the open windows with the fans being switched on when we were stationary. We both enjoyed the trip and were grateful to the conductor who indicated when we should get off as there were no obvious signs from the road.
The Museum/ walk at hellfire Pass was very moving and the headsets with POWs stories added to the atmosphere. It was very humid but we still managed some stairs without collapsing. The second transport adventure of the day was a 20km trip on the open road in a tuktuk with a non-English speaking man and his young son, the last 2km in the pouring rain! We certainly knew we were alive!
The last leg of our journey was a 2 hour train ride back to Kanchanaburi on the original Thai-Burma Railway. By the time we got back we both felt like a couple of dogs who had had their heads out in the breeze for hours...which we had...so it was a quick turn around the nightly market before eating. We realised we hadn't really eaten since breakfast, except for some Pringles and a chocolate bar washed down with a diet coke...healthy living!
We had a very lazy day on Thursday in preparation for a long day of travelling on Friday. After a sleep-in and late breakfast we wandered up to the Bridge to see the train crossing over and then through a bit of a forested area on the other side of the river. It was about then I decided I SHOULD NOT LEAVE HOME WITHOUT MY BINOCULARS! I did see a couple of birds, the ever reliable yellow- vented bulbul and also the sooty headed bulbul. I could hear a barbet but couldn't see it and we also saw a few unidentifiable little birds. It would appear that no-one here gets the idea that there are tourists that might like to do short nature walks. All the Eco treks seem to involve riding elephants and rafting on the river...perhaps an opening for someone!
After a meander through the tourist tat shops it was back home for a swim in ' our' pool before exploring the Japanese monument over the road. Then we went back to check out the train crossing the bridge again before taking a long boat ride on the river. In one direction the number of 'party boats' were mind boggling. I cannot imagine how noisy it must be in the season and what pollution they must contribute towards the river...let alone how they all make enough money.
In the other direction we went totally away from the built up areas and saw a number of birds which I could not identify due to a lack of binoculars and the speed at which we were travelling! I could see a great opportunity for an entrepreneurial nature lover to instigate a gentle tour of the river to view birds as there seems to be no shortage of them. I am fairly sure that one we saw was a malkoha and there were a number of water birds along the banks too.
We followed up our time on the water with another relaxing massage before dinner.
Friday began with a bit of excitement...while waiting for our minibus pickup I decided to have a last turn around the Japanese memorial opposite us to see if I could spot the kingfisher and barbet I could hear. Alas I could not but I did have an encounter with some Thai wildlife when I almost stepped on a Small orange snake!
The next excitement? was the lack of a minibus. Despite paying for arrangements before leaving Bangkok it didn't appear at 8 as arranged. Thankfully one of the hotel staff had excellent English and a few calls later all was arranged...or so we thought. The original arrangement had us arriving at a bus station in Bangkok to be met by a taxi, all prepaid, for transfer to the airport. In reality we left an hour later than expected, took an hour longer to get to Bangkok than the outward journey had taken and were then left on the side of a very busy road somewhere in Bangkok! After one false start in a cab...not our prepaid one, Helen went to a nearby business and found someone with rudimentary English, who obligingly called the taxi driver. After 45 minutes by the roadside we finally made it to the airport, about 20 minutes away. We had plenty of time for a game of cards before leaving on different flights for our forward journeys. Suffice to say there will be one Bangkok travel agent who will be getting a 'do not use" on TripAdvisor.
The first leg of my journey, Bangkok to KL, went by quickly spent chatting to a young American boy of Phillipino/Malay Chinese descent on his gap year. On the second leg KL to Gold Coast I had an aisle seat with a woman beside me and no one in the window seat. I suggested she might like to take the window seat so we could share the spare seat. She declined saying she wanted to lay down later! She spent quite a bit of time sitting across the two seats and trying to get comfortable. After about an hour I said to her" are you really not prepared to share the space? " to which she grunted and so no more words were exchanged!
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