Kanchanaburi (located about 129km north west of Bangkok) has been an unforgettable experience. On our first day we started off by heading to a World War II war cemetery and museum and the Bridge over the River Kwai. The museum was very interesting, it gave the history of the Death Railway and the brutal treatment the prisoners of war and civilians had to endure building it. More than 5,000 Commonwealth and 1,800 Dutch casualties are buried or commemorated in the cemetery. The prisoners that died here were very young. On average, they were all less than 25 years old. Many were 18 - 19.
Later that day we got to ride a train along the Death Railway to Nam-Tok station, the last terminal of the Thailand Nyanmar railway. We upgraded to first class (150 baht for two - $6.00) which consisted of "air-conditioning" (an overhead fan), and a small snack (a cup of tea and a cream puff). While the views were spectacular there was something a bit eerie about knowing how many people died while forced to build it. Definitely an interesting experience though.
From here we checked into the River Kwai Village Resort (which reminded me of the resort in "Dirty Dancing") for our overnight accommodation, had some lunch and then enjoyed a short long-tailed boat trip up stream the Kwai Noi River to explore the Kaeng Lawa Cave (it is the biggest cave in the Kanchanaburi province). After climbing up about 400 stairs in 40 degrees, I was dripping with sweat and exhausted when we arrived at the entry of the cave.
The cave houses stalactites and stalagmites in several chambers. There's also a lot of bats in the cave, and we managed to see a very rare cave scorpion too!
Then we returned back to the hotel for dinner and to watch some Burmese dancing. It was this night that I experienced my first bowel trouble. Luckily some Imodium fixed me up and I was able to experience day 2 without a hiccup.
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