Introduction to today's journey
Today's journey takes me across to western Thailand to the war cemetery at Kankanaburi before heading across the famous railway bridge over the River Kwai. I travel by train up the river through a spectacular gorge before stopping at an obscure train station before heading to the nearby Tiger Temple. From there I return to Bangkok.
Today's Journey
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Heading westward out of Bangkok in the early morning, we eventually reach the Kanchanaburi Cemetery, where many Western soldiers (including many from Australasia) were buried having died during contruction of the Bangkok to Rangoon railway. |
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The famous Bridge over the River Kwai. The original wooden bridge was bombed, but this replacement bridge is still standing. Note the terrain is quite flat here unlike in the movie. |
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The train arrives to take us over the bridge and through the gorge towards the Myanmar border. |
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Crossing the River Kwai Bridge into farmland. |
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Tropical farmland under limestone mountains as we follow the river upstream. |
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The country becomes increasingly remote as the train continues heading upstream. |
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We get off the train at the tiny Thakrasae Station to explore the area. |
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Walking along the railway line through the roughest part of the gorge. This would have been very difficult to build. |
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Part way along the gorge we find a cave with a Buddhist temple inside it. The cave is illuminated with florescent lights looking a bit out of place. |
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From the station, we head to the nearby tiger temple, a very interesting monastery which adopted and raised abandoned tigers. Unfortunately they had to close down a few years later due to mistreatment. From here we head back into Bangkok. |
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