Time out in Thailand

Our pulses barely had a chance to return to normal after a truly hair raising journey at rush hour into the vast city that is Bangkok. We arrived at our hotel, a stone's throw from the famous and bustling Kaosan Road and had the job of celebrating Ryan's birthday. Once again having started the celebrations the previous night and spent a long day on the road with a border crossing we were lacking somewhat in party spirit.

Our three nights in Bangkok were action packed and a near full group turn out every evening. The second night braving the seedier side of the City with a visit to Pat Pong. Pat Pong I & II are the names of the streets but suggest what lies in store, by inserting the word ping before pong one can guess. We were also persuaded to go out for a few drinks on the last night to celebrate the end of Dianne's journey, any excuse for a cocktail or three!

Bangkok, shopping central!

Di & Gill

Di's send off drinks in Bangkok

Happy birthday Ryan

Celebrating Ryan's birthday

Birthday boy Ryan

The seedier side of Bangkok

With some relief we boarded slightly more sedate minibuses and escaped the city, a couple of hours west to Kanchanaburi. The magnificent surrounding landscape and laid back charm has given it a reputation as the Chiang Mai of the South and surprised us with its offerings, activities and history.

Kanchanaburi is the location of the notorious Death Railway and the Bridge over the River Kwai, a World War II site made famous by the movie of the same name. The Death Railway was an ambitious project planned by the Japanese to link Siam (now Thailand) to Burma (now Myanmar) and give them a route across to India. With the manpower they had it would have taken 5 years, so they forced British, Australian, Dutch and other Prisoners of War and hundreds of thousands of Asians to work on the railway. They lived in camps with inadequate facilities and food rations. As the war intensified, the need for completion of the line became more urgent, their treatment worsened and many died from exhaustion, illness and disease. Over 100,000 people died during the course of building the railway. There was an excellent museum about the railway, a labour of love from one man with a passion, with excellent models and reliefs of the landscape showing how the railway was built and history surrounding the war. Just outside was a large and beautifully kept war cemetary with row upon row of headstones bringing home how many young men died not in battle, but in enforced labour camps.

The Bridge over the River Kwai

It was the perfect town for some more cycling being relatively flat and quiet, rice paddy fields, villages and attractive scenery rewarded our efforts as well as some lesser visited war cemetaries, again immaculately kept with substantial shrubs planted between every grave. On cycling over the bridge and around town you were almost guaranteed to pass another member of the group, raising a hand to wave hello to your fellow friend. Some ventured further afield to explore Wat Ban Tham, a cave temple set in limestone foothills. Stairs to the cave lead into the mouth of a big dragon.

Jim doing some exercise mid-cycle

Fresh flowers adorning to a statue

Typical shrine (resembling a bird feeder)

Betsy in the mouth of the dragon, Wat Ban Tham

Impressive entrance

Inside the temple

Laura

Yes we have!

Old train

Local lizard

There was also a chance to get up close to the normally elusive tiger at the Tiger Temple, or Wat Pha Luang. As adult tigers fell victim to poachers several clubs were given to the temple and more cubs have since been born there. Various opinions float around as to what is being achieved there and whether the monks are successfully helping rehabilitate tigers for release back into the wild. None the less, it was a great experience for those that went to get up close and personal with tigers. The town also had plenty of small eateries and bars tempting you to “Get S***faced on a Shoestring” or “Get drunk for 10 Baht”, not advertising the headache it will also give you the next day for the few that were persuaded.

Betsy

Chris

Chris

Gill

Gill larking about

Shelagh

We are now suddenly at the stage of the trip that always seemed so far away, “beach week”! Talked about in Turkey, planned as far back as China or for some not at all, waiting to see what looked good when they got here. We have a full week where everyone has a break, from each other, from the trip and from constantly being on the move, you could call it a holiday! Everyone has the opportunity to explore the islands of Koh Phangan and Koh Samui independently. We have just arrived at our beach hut after 22 hours of travelling by minibus, night bus and high speed catamaran that cut through some very choppy waters, thankfully Laura didn't need the small plastic bags that were handed out as the weather worsened. The next blog will most likely be filled with pictures of beaches, hammocks, cocktails and sunsets so if your next holiday isn't until next summer, perhaps don't check in again for a couple of weeks. On re-uniting the group will be heading for the Indonesian island of Sumatra and beginning the final leg of our journey.

Sunrise, awaiting the ferry to the islands