Jungle Waterfalls & A Piece of History

So yesterday we landed in Kanchanaburi  (also “Kan”), and I am LOVING it.   The pace of the town is perfect – not too sleepy, but very laid back.   The surrounding area is filled  with national parks chock full of waterfalls, elephant rides, and history lessons.   Kanchanaburi  is home to the Bridge Over the River Kwai  – a key location  in WWII.   Thousands of allied prisoners along with thousands of Asians across the region were conscripted to build a rail line for the Japanese connecting Bangkok with India in the Japanese take-over of SE Asia.

After a few hours on a bus from Bangkok, we arrived yesterday at the bus station (where I used my first Asian toilet, but I’ll save that for my “how it’s different from home” blog).   We haggled a bit with a few taxi drivers and ended up in a tiny chariot pulled by bike that dropped us at the Jolly Frog for 40 Baht.   Probably too much (about $1.15), but oh well!   Our hotel has a great view of the River Kwai, a quaint courtyard with hammocks, a walking path down to the river where there are floating lounges, and a nice outdoor restaurant.

We were starving, so we opted immediately for a place called “Fine.”   All the food here is GREAT, no matter where we eat, and this place was no exception.   After dropping off our duds for a washing (20 Baht – about 60 cents), we strolled through town checking out the scene and looking into cooking courses.   We made reservations for the tour we went on today, and then settled in for another Thai massage.   I was disappointed  to find my masseuse was the old woman who hadn’t returned my smile on the sidewalk in passing two hours previous. Thais are smilers, but she was an exception.   About half the time I felt relaxed and well-rubbed.   The other half was uncomfortable, ticklish, and sometimes painful.   Don’t think I’ll go back there again!

Thanks to Nicole’s (last night of) jet lag, we had some delicious tom yum soup and green curry for dinner and then hit the sack.   We lasted until nine!

The Jolly Frog doesn’t have hot water, which isn’t a huge issue when the ambient temperature never gets below 75 degrees.   It’s a lot easier to take a cold shower in the afternoon when it’s above 85, however!   I ordered a traditional Thai breakfast (rice soup with chicken) and was amused when the waitress tried to bring it to the only Thai woman in the place.

We met our tour guides out front at 8am and loaded up for the ride to Erawan  Falls.   It was about a mile and a quarter to the seventh fall at the top following the  tiered river all the way.   We clambered over tree roots and boulders, crossed slippery pools, climbed and descended rickety staircases in the jungle heat and were greeted  with one of the most breathtaking spectacles of my life.   I immediately stripped to my suit and jumped in the pale blue water.   Weeee!!!

On the way down, I indulged in three more swims (I have dreams about swimming – I love it so much), before we were fed lunch at one of the restaurant stalls – spicy rice and veggies for me!   Then it was on to the “Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum” and to Hellfire Pass itself.

Many parts of the WWII Japanese rail-line claimed thousands of lives, including the construction of  the bridge over the River Kwai.   However, the clearing of Hellfire Pass claimed more lives than any single installation on the rail line.   Because the Japanese didn’t have the skills or technology for tunneling, captured Allied prisoners had to cut down through dense jungle and limestone rock to clear a path for the train. (i.e. they had to clear a tunnel AND everything that would normally be above a tunnel – a mini canyon in the mountainside.) Hellfire Pass, so named for the fires that burned as prisoners were forced to work 18 hours of backbreaking labor at a stretch, is an incredible and shocking place.

The memorial museum was enlightening and shocking, but the audio tour walking down hellfire pass was truly illuminating.   Listening to the testimonials of the prisoners as the sharp stones underfoot pressed into my sandals, I could vividly imagine the horror of being forced to work barefoot and starving, with festering jungle sores all over my mostly naked body carrying heavy rocks for hours while guards beat me at their whim.   Oh. my. god. I also learned what Cholera is today, thanks to the tour – a nasty, horrible, and terrifying disease.   Moving on, we visited a cave along the rail line that was used  as a base camp for the Japanese Army and then rode the “Death Train” along tapioca fields before being bussed to the bridge over the River Kwai.   The bridge ended up being un-inspirational, after spending so much time before I left reading about it.

It’s been highly commercialized, and its steel structures and concrete pilings make it seem like far less a task than the awful Hellfire Pass. We returned to our hotel sweaty and still slightly damp from the falls.   After a shower, we dropped off our laundry and headed out to dinner at a fantastic Indian restaurant (hey – you can’t eat Thai EVERY night!).   Before coming here, we booked our elephant trekking and swimming trip for tomorrow.   Can’t wait!!