Prisoners of War, some old brick buildings and big cats...

My original travelling plan was to head north after seeing the southern parts of Thailand, and so far I've successfully sticked to my itinerary. Most tourists or other backpackers without that much time as me just move straight ahead to Chiang Mai (the most popular city in the north) after visiting Bangkok. But hey, in fact there's a lot more to see in the north, for example places like Kanchanaburi.

As a big history and movie buff I always was fascinated by classic World War II flicks like «A Bridge too Far» or «Cross of Iron». Although these movies are more than 30 years old, they still seduce me with a certain charme that nowadays movies simply can't overcome. One of these all-time classics is «The Bridge on the River Kwai» starring Sir Alec Guinness in his perfectly played role as Colonel Nicholson. I first saw that movie on TV when I was like 7 years old, and that motion picture still remains in my fondest memories as one the biggest cinematic classics ever produced. I mean there was splendid theatrical performance, an authentic historical context, real explosions (not like that CGI shit from nowadays) and probably one of the best military tunes ever chosen for a movie theme.

So what has this to do with my trip? Well it's a known fact that the Bridge on the River Kwai actually really exists, to be more precisely in Kanchanaburi, 109km North West of Bangkok.

To enlighten all of you who never heard of that bridge or whatsoever: From 1942 to 1943 the Japanese Army constructed a railway between Burma and Thailand to ensure their supplies by land to Burma (as before they only could use the dangerous maritime route to deliver supplies to the Japanese troops in Burma). Trouble was that the terrain in between was so unpredictable and hardly negotiable, that building a railway through all these jungles and rivers almost seemed impossible to specialists. But within only one year and the «help» of Prisoners of War from all parts of the British Commonwealth the Japanese finally were able to build such a railway, nowadays known as the «Death Railway».
 

The Burma-Thailand railway, better known as Death Railway.

The construction of the Death Railway earned its name from the extremely harsh conditions that these Prisoners of War faced when building it, resulting in the death of over 16'000 P.O.W.s and another 90'000 Asian forced labourers. Throughout that 415km line the labourers were forced to construct hundreds railway cuttings and bridges, with the most famous one being the Bridge on the River Kwai. So let us compare the present reality, the past and the movie fiction of that iconic bridge.

The bridge on the river Kwai as seen today

Still intact...

... and accessible.

That steel bridge is still the same one that the P.O.W.s constructed over 70 years ago, and nowadays serves as an iconic touristic sightseeing monument. It's noteworthy that Allied bombers bombed that very bridge in 1944 (contrary to the common belief that there was an Allied commando unit who blew up the bridge just like in the movie). Later the bridge was rebuilt and sold to the Thai government, that still operates it up to today.

An aerial photo of the steel bridge (the bottom one)...

...that got bombed in 1944.

As you may see in the aerial photo above, there was in fact another wooden bridge 300m downstream, that served as a temporary supply bridge in the event that the steel bridge would be damaged. Some sources claim that this wooden bridge was bombed and rebuilt for several times, but it seems that one day it actually got completely destroyed by heavy floodings and that it was never rebuilt again. Today there is no trace of that bridge or whatsoever. So it seems like that wooden bridge served as an inspiration for the one from the before-mentioned movie «The Bridge on the River Kwai», which was spectacularly blown up at the end of the film.

Sir Alec Guinness and Sessue Hayakawa in front...

... of the fictional bridge on the river Kwai.

The whole stay at that location proved to be a very fascinating experience for me as there were lots of museums and historical sites to visit. Partly I got a completely new viewpoint at the whole topic and I'm thankful to finally have witnessed the «real thing».

Let's take a look on a few more things I went to see:

The main train station of Kanchanaburi

A better view on the river Kwai

A recreated P.O.W. barrack at...

... the JEATH musem.

The Japanese Memorial Monument

One of two war cemeteries in Kanchanaburi

 
That Japanese Memorial Monument above is actually really interesting: It was built by the Japanese during WWII to commemorate the P.O.W.s that worked and died on the Death Railway! According to some sources the Japanese honor codex was one of the main reason the Japanese actually built this shrine for their own Prisoners of War! Pretty ironic, isn't it? This monument also can be seen in the upper left corner of the before-mentioned aerial photo.

View from the Tham Kra Sae Bridge which is
still in its original state since WWII.

Because most of these trestle bridges were destroyed during the war, it represents a very unique structure of the remaining Death Railway!

... quite impressive too!

The landscape around Kanchanaburi was actually...

Another 80km North West of Kanchanaburi, high in the Tenasserim Hills, lies also one of the most infamous construction site of the Death Railway called the «Hellfire Pass». That railway section earned its reputation from the enormous railway cuttings the labourers had to chisel through huge rock segments. It was one of the most tragic sections of the railway as most labourer fatalities actually occurred from working on the Hellfire Pass. On the former site now stands a memorial museum that partly was funded by the Australian government (note that many former P.O.W.s were actually Australian). It was a very professionally arranged museum and absolutely worth the visit. Besides of an indoor exhibition it was of course also possible to walk along the actual Hellfire Pass, where many men died over 70 years ago.

Japanese occupation money

Inside the museum, in front a diorama of the Death Railway

A secret foxhole radio that P.O.Ws used to receive news from BBC

Common P.O.W. working tools

While the museum was great of course, there was something that really annoyed me and almost spoiled my day. In the rear part of the museum was a small cinema section where graphic pictures (both photos and sketches) of mistreated prisoners of war were shown. Many P.O.W.s suffered from cholera, malnutrition, malaria, dysentry and other illnesses or were simply beaten to death.

Of course I had no problem with the photos themselves, but there was this huge group of American swag teenies who just were laughing at those pictures, while making one hell of a noise without interruption or any respect at all. Good for them that they simply walked away after a few moments, but this incindent clearly made losing some faith in nowadays humanity. I mean there's even no common sense in that.

Really? Is such stuff funny to look at? Seriously?!

However, I decided to move on to the original railway sections of the Hellfire Pass. The museum commitee made a very good job in preserving the railway cuttings and the walking trail through it.

Nature is trying to get back its territory...

There still are railway fragments all the way up

Some other tools like this cart were put to display

One of the many rock cuttings of the Hellfire Pass

A memorial stone the Australians set up

One of these railway cuttings back then in WWII

Because the railway cuttings were creepily illuminated in the night, this place earned its nick name «Hellfire Pass».

Earlier a trestle bridge stood here, now there's just rubble

Near the end of the trail

An original Japanese train wagon

... of horrors from bygone times. Note the remembrance poppies.

On that trail many historic artifacts still witness...

Of course I also went to see no-WWII related stuff, like the Mueang Singh Temple Ruins. These ruins were part of a bigger Khmer temple city a few kilometers away from Kanchanaburi. From an architectural point of view you can actually compare it with the more famous Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

The main temple ruins of Mueang Sing

And what fruits bears this tree?

Sadly no Durians, but Jackfruits.

Even more amazing at sunset...

  

The ruins were actually deserted, nobody around.

The ruins are still in perfect condition!

Near the ruins we find some burial sites of former settlers

Simply an amazing place!

To round things up I also went to visit the kitschy Tiger Temple of Kanchanaburi. It's in fact a Buddhist temple which holds quite a lot of tigers and other animals.

This Tiger sculpture welcomes the tourists at the gate

And what's there to see? Tigers of course.

 

... it's actually the temple monks who look after the tigers.

Along with professional staff...

Although it may look like the animals are chained all the day long for the tourists only, I guess it's still better than it looks like. While the tigers are only chained for about 3-4 hours a day, most of the time they stay in open air compounds that surprisingly remind me of the Bear Park in Berne in terms of dimensions and facilities. The tigers also get lots of exercise by staff who train them.

However, I just realized how long it takes to write a single blog post, and there's still to write about Ayutthaya, Sukhothai and Chiang Mai (where I'm at the moment). I'll try to be brief next time. :)

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Island memories, a night without much sleep and an awesome market...

After my scuba diving adventures in Koh Tao it was finally time to move on, despite the fun I had of course. During my stay at the Diving School I also made the acquaintance of Dirk and Simon, two other diving students and magnicifent discussion partners! Simon actually wanted to leave Koh Tao on the very same day, so I decided to join him on the «Express Boat» to Chumphoon on the mainland, and from there the train back to Bangkok.

So first of all the «Express Boat» wasn't that «Express» at all. It was more like a cozy cutter that arrived in Koh Tao with a delay of about 1 hour (not bad at all for Thai circumstances, read further).  But the view from the boat was actually spectacular, you could see swarms of flying fishes dodging the course of ship! And of course there still was the sunset to look at, something you can't witness so easily in the alpine parts of Western Europe...

On the boat from Koh Tao to Chumphoon...

Chumphoon itself was quite an average Thai city with nothing groundbreaking to see, but there were still plenty of things to do for bridging the waiting time. So Simon and I went to eat an excellent dish at a local food stall (for a lousy 30 Baht) and later on emptied some trusty Changs in a Thai Rock Bar, followed by some rounds of billiard.

A few hours later in the Train Station we encountered our second hurdle so far - the train seemed to have a delay of 2 hours. Great, we're getting really good at waiting. To my big surprise the train station was still very active and crowded, even after midnight. At 1 AM there still were old ladies wandering around and selling fruits. Then at 2 AM more bad news struck us like a lightning - the train was delayed for another 2 hours. It's needless to say that all bars and venues were already closed at that time, so there was nothing left to us than sitting on a chair and listening to the jabbering of some drunken/stoned Israeli backpackers. Great.

We backpackers almost fell asleep when the train finally arrived at 4 AM, and besides of us and some funny stray dogs, the station was almost deserted. After I installed myself on my bunkbed I immediately fell asleep, and about 9 hours later I already woke up in Bangkok. That went fast!

The train station in Chumphoon

The awesome sleeper car...

 


In Bangkok it was time split ways with Simon who already was leaving for home. And to get a few more hours of sleep I decided to stay another night in Bangkok (as I still was literally destroyed due to that night in the train station)...  (-, – )…zzzZZZ

The day after I decided to do a day trip to Maeklong and Amphawa, about 70 km South West of Bangkok. Maeklong is a really small town with countless small shops and otherwise nothing much to see, but there was still the world famous Maeklong Market.

Some green stuff, anyone?

These guys will fulfill their purpose in a frying pan...

From fruits to eels there was literally everything to buy.

Not mantas, but Horseshoe crabs.

An excellent addition to any Thai Curry!

That's fine and good, but now what's so extraordinary about this market? Well see for yourself.

Well, at least that train wasn't late. :) After that inspiring spectacle I took a Songthaew to Amphawa, a town nearby. Songthaews are in fact the most preferred public transport option in Thailand, as it's cheap, fast and uncomplicated. A Songthaew is basically a covered pick up truck that drives a predefined route between several towns. As a bystanding pedestrian you can simply flag down a Songthaew and just hop on it. If you want the Songthaew to stop, you just signalize the driver to do so by pushing a button on the roof. After hopping off you simply pay the amount to the driver, and it usually costs near to nothing. That's how I like it!

The best way to get around - taking a Songthaew!

As for Amphawa, I was unfortunately one day too early to witness the famous Floating Market, so I missed quite an opportunity here. But still the town with its canal was a nice place to stay at and there were lots of other market stalls too. The highlight was by far a Night Cruise with a boat through the outskirts of Amphawa. The riversides and the nearby bushes are quite famous for being inhabited by lots of fireflies, and as we cruised by it almost looked like if some Thais installed thousands of christmas lights on these trees and bushes. Unfortunately it was too dark to take photos, but it was still nice to look at.

Amphawa, famous for its...

... floating market, which I unfortuantely missed.

 

After getting back to Bangkok I immediately caught the next train to Kanchanaburi, the location of the popular Bridge over the River Kwai...

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Scuba Diving in Koh Tao

Although visitors of this blog can more or less keep track of my current itinerary by looking at the Blogabond map above the title logo, it's still hard to make out the actual situation of the three islands I visited. Let's take a closer look at the group of islands:

As you can see, Koh Tao is really the smallest of the three main islands (note also the Ang Tong Marine National Park in the west I visited before). So while Koh Samui really was quite large and had lots to offer, why would Koh Tao attract my attention at all?

Well to be honest, I actually was quite dissappointed when I first arrived on Koh Tao. In only one day I already explored the whole island, furthermore there were no considerable culture sites like temples or historical areas. Rather everything is overbuilt with resorts and hotels. So with my empty bucket list on 'What to do in Koh Tao' I asked myself if that really was it already? A nice little island with nothing to do on it? I first considered to move on to Chumphoon (on the Thailand mainland) earlier than planned, but something kept me back.

Just when I arrived on the island I quickly noticed how many Scuba diving schools and associations were scattered throughout the island. Unlike Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, it seemed that everything in Koh Tao is marketed at diving. A little research on the internet revealed that in fact Koh Tao is quite a scuba diver's paradise and pretty much recommended for getting a diver's license. So after a brief moment of consideration I said to me 'Oh what the hell, I'm going to do this. What else is left to do on this island?' and shortly afterwards I was already taking diving classes.

Before going diving Open Water there's still training in the swimming pool...

Things got started really fast actually. After a few theoretical video lessons and some interesting reads on diving sicknesses we were already training our first Scuba skills in the school's swimming pool. I don't wanna know how many ongoing scuba divers left their piss in that pool, the visibility under the surface was just horrible. However, our group made an enourmous progress in a just short span of time, and even then the course didn't felt rushed at all. Everything was explained as clearly as possible and no question was left unanswered. So just after two days of training we were already ready for real Open Water Scuba diving!

Now things get serious!

Just like doing a driving test we students had to do some theoretical and practical exams, for example some emergency underwater skills like sharing air with each other or doing an emergency ascend. We were also teached to control our buoyancy with our own lungs or how to clear a flooded mask of water.

And again I'd like to stress out the professionality the diving instructors displayed. If we were doing something wrong, they immediately corrected us until we mastered it. They always took care of each one of us and told us exactly what to do.

But enough jabbering, you want to see how things look like 18 meters below the surface. Well watch this then, at best in fullscreen and in HD quality!

Hey, and now I can go diving everywhere around the world up to 18 metres of depth. I'm a certified Open Water Scuba Diver now, biatch. :D

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