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!
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| Bangkok, shopping central! |
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| Di & Gill |
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| Di's send off drinks in Bangkok |
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| Happy birthday Ryan |
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| Celebrating Ryan's birthday |
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| Birthday boy Ryan |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Jim doing some exercise mid-cycle |
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| Fresh flowers adorning to a statue |
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| Typical shrine (resembling a bird feeder) |
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| Betsy in the mouth of the dragon, Wat Ban Tham |
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| Impressive entrance |
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| Inside the temple |
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| Laura |
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| Yes we have! |
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| Old train |
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| 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.
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| Betsy |
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| Chris |
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| Chris |
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| Gill |
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| Gill larking about |
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| Shelagh |
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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.
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| Sunrise, awaiting the ferry to the islands |
