The Bridge on the River Kwai

If you're like me, you've heard of the film, but you've never actually seen it. Well, now I can say I visited that bridge, rode the death railway, and paced solemnly around the remaining PoW's final resting place, but I still can't say I know the cinematic masterpiece with the same sense of intimacy.

Kanchanaburi is home to an important element of an historical buff's intrigue. But what you might not know, and we certainly didn't, was that Kanchanburi is home to a great deal more than just trains and war. Enough so that our one day stop in the town turned into a four day sightseeing extravaganza.

Our arrival commenced with an impressive dinner at Apple and Noi's Guesthouse, a stunning culinary adventure that comes highly recommended by this traveler with high standards. We topped the evening off with some drinks at an open air bar, with the highlight being three week old puppies roaming the grounds entertaining the customers. And since we had arrived only a few weeks before the start of the second high season, we had the bar, and the puppies, practically to ourselves. We then hit the hay because we had an early start to a busy day tomorrow.

In the morning, we were picked up by Good Times tour (again highly recommended) and we set off for a day of adventure. Our morning began with some elephant trekking. After boarding these massive giants, we set off on a short excursion through the jungle, alternating between riding on the chair and riding bareback on it's neck. The animal was massive and beautiful. The tusks were long and the ears acted as built-in air conditioners. Even its skin had a paper-like texture that I had never seen before. Going through canopied forests and into the swift running river, this was an excellent trek and a sweet start to a brilliant day.

Following the romp on the big guys, we marched down to the river on foot and hopped onto some bamboo rafts. Taken by guides, these rafts moved swiftly down the river. At one point, our guide gave us the go ahead to jump into the water if we wished. Not sure what other animals I would be swimming with in there, I deliberated the offer quite heavily. However, it was a hot day and the water seemed so inviting. I placed my inhibitions behind me and dove into the murky depths.


With little effort, I could swim rather quickly and make it quite far ahead of the boat. Lying on my back or twirling in this aquatic highway was relaxing, calming and above all else, a glorious experience that put me into the very depth of what Thailand is.

After our morning jungle excursions, it was time to attack the real jungle by foot. We drove over to Erawan National Park, best known for its seven-tiered waterfall, and we hiked up to the top in almost no time at all. The trail was nothing like the trails in Taiwan- most times it was a small dirt parth, or a rickety old bridge that had missing boards running across it and bent quite deeply every time you stepped on it.


But the dangers, and confusion, was well worth it because once we reached the top-tiered waterfall, we were away from most of the other day hikers and free to swim in this luxurious, all natural swimming pool. The pool itself was extremely interesting. A mineral was coupled with the water, thus turning all the leaves, branches, or fallen trees in the running stream into rock hard stone. The process must take years, but it was absolutely amazing to see caves and stalactites forming because of this. Ok, finished with the geology lesson, let's move onto the fun stuff. Jumping in, we were greeted by little, and big, fish that ran up to us and started giving us little fish kisses. Couple this massaging action with the pounding pressure of the waterfall, we were in our own little spa au naturel. However, the calm and relaxation ended quite abruptly when we exited the natural pool.


I went over to my shirt and was horrified to see that it was now covered by a swarm of massive jungle bees. I guess my body odor is as sweet as the nectar of flowers. As flattered as I was, I still wanted my shirt back and this was proving to be most annoying. After telling my friends to leave so that they wouldn't get stung, I devised a most ingenious plan.

I waded into the water and found a long branch. Then, standing quite far from my shirt, I used the branch to pick up the shirt and fling it into the pool I was in. Terrified of an impending attack, I through the branch away and dove with lightning speed away from the bees and submerged myself under the water. Again, I was greeted by fish kisses. When I was sure the bees were finally gone, I grabbed my shirt, rung out the water, and descended back down to the first tier of the waterfall where we met to continue on.

An hours drive at this point brought us to the death railway; the start of our historical immersion. We were brought to this old bridge (not the famous one) along a river and cliff side that still kept the old train tracks along with the new train tracks. Next to the start of the bridge was an entrance to an old, massive cave. During Japanese occupation and the building of the death railway, this cave was used to house supplies. Today, it is converted into a temple.


The bridge itself was large and quite honestly frightening. I was surprised it could hold up my weight let alone the tons of moving steel when the train passed over. But hold us up it did as before long the train arrived and we boarded onto it. The train had marvelously ancient appeal: so old were the seats and so humble the furnishings, there was a romantic notion to be riding on this train through the jungle of Thailand along the infamous death railway.


When the train came to a stop, we all got off and drove then to the more famous of the two bridges- the Bridge on the River Kwai. The bridge itself is not spectacular in anyway, but the history surrounding it is by no means ordinary. We walked along the bridge, along with a countless number of other tourists, and all I could help but think was what if a WWII veteran came along, how was forced to build the death railway, actually arrived to find his forced labor and toil was now a very popular tourist attraction. While on one hand, he must be happy to see his story told and his friends not forgotten, but on the other hand, it must be strange to think that where he once suffered is now lined with floating restaurants, souvenir stands, and many foreigners taking lots of pictures.


That night, after the tour came to a completion, we went to the floating restaurant next to the Bridge on the River Kwai and we had an enormous feast as the bridge next to us was glowing in an eerie light; beautiful but honestly, immensely tragic.


Just how tragic, we found out the next day. Our morning began with a trip to the WWII museum that depicted very well the events that transpired here over fifty years ago. We learned about the sheer magnitude of the project, the gruesome conditions of the PoWs and Asians that led to the death of over 100,000 laborers. The museum is located right next to the final resting place of some of those PoWs in an Allied War Cemetery.


A gift from the people of Thailand, the cemetery is kept in immaculate condition and the headstones are equipped with names, dates, ages, and a personal quote like "Duty final served" or "A son dearly loved and sorely missed". It was very difficult for me, especially when men and women are serving with the armed forces just as we speak, to see young bodies buried there who were younger than me. This is a moving, and devastating contribution to Thailand's history and should not be missed by any passerby in Kanchanaburi.


With dark clouds on the horizon, we returned back to the the hotel and prepared ourselves for what we originally came to Kanchanaburi for: the Tiger Temple. At one o'clock, we were picked up by the same tour guide as yesterday (her name is Mickey, by the way, and we LOVED her) and we took off for the Tiger Temple. Upon arriving, we were delighted to see a number of animals, from camels to ostriches, roaming freely around the grounds.

We were then brought down to the canyon were the tigers were resting peacefully. Apparently, the monks who run the temple do not drug the tigers. Instead, they just wake them up really early, put them through a rigorous exercise regime, and then stuff them full of food. And, like any animal, this tuckers out the tigers very much so all they want to do is lie down and relax.


This then becomes the perfect opportunity for visitors to go up to the tigers, sit down next to them, pet them, and get their pictures taken with them. This is by far one of the most impressive photo opportunities in Thailand.

After making the rounds, the tigers are rounded up by the head monk and they are escorted back to their cages. The big male is saved for last. As he is being returned by the head monk himself, we were able to walk along next to him and get our pictures taken with the massive tiger as he was strutting his stuff. However, we were warned that he is a male and he likes to mark his territory. So, just as I was about to walk up behind him, his back tail raised up signaling to me I only had seconds to move out of the way before I became is territory.


The next day we did the cooking class, which again, I highly recommend. I talked quite a bit about this course and the food in my introduction about Thailand, so if you missed it, I highly suggest you go back and check it out. Kanchancaburi is a well-oiled tourist destination that offers fun an excitement wherever you go. We were dazzled by so much that we knew our next destination really had to come with its A-game if it wanted to beat this little town.

And thus I'll leave our next adventures for the next time, and let you instead bask in the jealousy you have for my awesome adventures thus far in Thailand. So until next time, your elephant riding, bamboo rafting, waterfall climbing, mad insect deceiving, cave exploring, death railway riding, historical buff perusing, Thai cooking, tiger charming explorer of Kanchanaburi, Michael.