We got the afternoon train from Thonburi station in Bangkok, headed to Nam Tok for 100 baht each (£2.22 so in budget😁) and throughly enjoyed the 4 and a half hour journey. We watched the flat land around Bangkok change into mountains and we were very surprised to pass through so many fields filled with marijana plants (ganga, weed, hemp or what ever you want to call them). In fact, the air smelt very much like the student union in the 90s which could be why we enjoyed the trip so much! We had seen many weed shops in Bangkok and read that it is legal here as long as it is not sold to the underage or pregnant women and is consumed at home (though the Thai government has just done an about face on this as it is causing too much trouble and in 6 months it will only be available for medical purposes).

We chose a to stay in a homestay in Nam Tok and though it only had 4 rooms, it was so friendly with Poom, the owner, chatting with us every night over delicious food cooked by the older ladies of the family as locals popped in and out of her little shop. We had a lazy day the next day as I still wasn’t feeling great and the following day rented a scooter from Poom heading to Hellfire Pass.

Hellfire Pass

Hellfire Pass is known as the place with the worst conditions along the Death Railway that was built by POWs and Romusha (local Thai, Burmese and Tamil people) in 1942. The 415km railway was built so the Japanese would have a supply route to Burma through Thailand as they were worried about the attacks from allied submarines with their sea routes. It was called Hellfire Pass because, at night when work continued, it looked like hell as the prisoners hacked away at the cutting with hammers and nails in order to make the space for sticks of dynamite. Initially, Japanese’s surveyors thought it would take 5 years to construct the railway but with forced labour it took just over a year. Conditions were brutal, to say the least, as the men were forced to work in 18 hour shifts with very little food, water or shade. Their clothes literally fell apart and they were eventually bare footed wearing just loin cloths that they were provided with. We had enough trouble walking the 5km path with trainers and water so goodness knows how any of them survived at all. Many died of: starvation (eating around 600 calories a day) , cholera, being shot/beaten, snake bites and ulcers despite their doctors efforts to save them. Seeing the poppy tributes and the photos on the cutting was sobering and a real juxtaposition against the beauty of the place especially as the area was so quiet and full of bird song.

We really learnt a lot here as we found that despite the heavy focus on WW2 in our school history exams, it was so European focussed that our knowledge of this aspect of the war was definitely lacking. The Australian government funds this free to visit place with excellent free audio guides and walkie talkies to keep you safe with regular check-ins on the route. All was fine until Callum thought he’d wave at the camera at the end, Hintock Station, before we started back and they quickly contacted us concerned we had an issue! Note to others, don’t try to funny here they were very concerned for number 4!

Amazing waterfalls

The next day, despite the rain, we decided to still head to Erawan Falls, a series of 7 waterfalls an hour away on our moped so we donned our sexy ponchos and took our time. The rain, thankfully, stopped as we arrived and though we didn’t have the bright blues of the brochures (as we were missing the sunshine), the national park was really beautiful. That is, once we managed to negotiate a rather confusing entry procedure; we didn’t know we needed to book online, then the signal wasn’t great and it was all in Thai – travel agent fail here!. We walked to all 7 falls and went in at the top with our mandatory life vests on in waist deep water! The many fish ( some quite large) there had a good suck on any part they could reach so keeping moving was very necessary to prevent tickling- Callum swore they were feasting on a small cut of his which after a good suck from the fish healed much quicker! Unfortunately, we got very wet going back and spent one more night with the Yayee homestay. On our final morning, Poom sent us up the hill next to homestay to see a small cave and Buddha used by locals. A really peaceful spot that looked over the valley.

Temple hopping

We woke up the next morning in a rather lovely hotel near the River Kwai. As the sun was shining, and with memories of wet scooter rides earlier in the week, we decided to visit the recommended temples first. We spent the day temple hopping with them all being quite different. The first had two parts, an old Chinese inspired pagoda built in 1883 next door to Wat Tham Sua, a large Buddha finished quite recently. Both were up 157 stairs and rather beautiful. Next, we visited the Crystal Cave which really did have crystals on the walls and contained stalagmites and stalactites. The small cave, that Callum only just fit into, activated his fear of small spaces so we didn’t stay long! The last temple of the day was up even more stairs and through the dragon’s mouth to Wat Tham Khao Pun (we could have climbed the 700+ stairs but decided we weren’t fit enough and stopped at the cave). We met some very, very smiley monks here who though they didn’t speak English and our 3 words of Thai didn’t help, were very encouraging and kind.

3 Museums and a cemetery.

We spent the following day in Kanchanburi itself first stopping at the war cemetery which was very sad especially as we read the ages and inscriptions on the plaques. Some of the bodies of the soldiers buried along the railway were moved to this cemetery along with others ashes. It is thought that in excess of 100,000 people died in the construction of the railway that took just over a year to complete with the numbers rising in its “speedo” period when prisoners were pushed even harder. Shockingly, it is thought that one prisoner died for every sleeper that was laid on the track. We visited several museums which were a bit bizarre and then the one next to the cemetery which was by far the most informative.

We spent the afternoon by the glorious pool at the hotel and then had a delicious, if very spicy, meal overlooking the bridge. Back to Bangkok next and then we hop on a plane to Laos and Luang Prabang.