The Bridge over the River Kwai

I have never seen the movie, but I was aware of the history of the bridge over the River Kwai, and the Death Railway. And so it was with great interest that we started out on our day tour to Kanchanaburi. I was feeling full of cold and snot again (lovely!), and so slept whenever I got the chance on the minibus…on the way there, on the way back, in between stops! But in spite of feeling a bit grotty, I really enjoyed the day, and it was nice to have a completely different kind of sightseeing day. It was all about the history…but this time, recent history. My history A’Level boffin head was on, and I was ready to absorb and learn some new stuff!

Our first stop was the Allied War Cemetery, where I was really quite astounded and moved by the number of graves for British soldiers. I wandered around the British side, and Ellen walked around the Australia side. It felt really peaceful in there, and was nice to have some time to reflect and think about what we were going to be seeing during the rest of the day. We then moved on to the museum which reported with pictures and news articles the story of the bridge, and the railway. Then it was onto another long tail boat which took us along the river to the infamous bridge. Now, the bridge is nothing spectacular…it’s not particularly pretty, and it’s certainly no Kintaikyo (heehee!)…but it’s what the bridge signified, and what it made you think about that was important. I walked across the bridge in silence…partly because I was thinking about the history of where I was walking…partly because I was feeling rough, and wanted to conserve my energy…and partly because I was making sure I didn’t loose my footing on planks and railway tracks! At the other side of the bridge, we sat down to eat some ice-cream, watch some sad-looking elephants (take them up to Chiang Mai, the ones there looked happy!! ☹ ), and wait for the train to go past on the bridge.

After a nice lunch (thai buffet…not bad at all), some friendly chat with a British couple who were in Thailand on honeymoon, and Ellen trying to make friends with a local kid on a bike, we finally boarded a train to take us on a short journey on the Death Railway. The scenery from the train was spectacular…steep hills, and rock face on the left, and beautiful plunging valleys on the right. It was great hanging your head out of the train window, and watching as we approached rickety bridges over shimmering water. The train ride was over a bit too quickly for mine and Ellen’s liking, as our tour-guide hustled us off the train, and back to our bus bound for Bangkok. But it was still a wonderful trip, and we enjoyed every second of it. Back in Bangkok we decided to go to Pizza Hut for dinner (we don’t have it in Japan, and therefore it’s allowed!). The lasagne was so-so, but was made up for by having a lovely lady-boy as our waiter. His name was Kitty-pong…which Ellen and I thought was hilarious until we discovered that it’s actually a very common Thai boy’s name, and one of Rutt’s brothers has it too! He wore pretty sparkly make-up, and when he confirmed my OJ order, he did a wonderful little hip flick which I will always remember, but never be able to mimic accurately! That’s one of things I loved about Thailand…the fact that anything seems to go…as a country they are very open and friendly towards most people, regardless of religion, lifestyle choice, sexual orientation, nationality, background…etc etc. Really refreshing!