Thailand – Travels with the Booths.blog

From Elephants to Oriental Kwai, Kanchanburi.

Travelling from Chang Mai to Kanchanburi, Thailand.

It was hard to say goodbye to ‘our’ elephants but we were looking forward to staying at our favourite place in the whole of Thailand, Oriental Kwai resort. Before then however we were stopping at a couple of places en route, just to break up the journey. The first stop was Lampang which is famous for the horse & carts which years ago were seen everywhere in Thailand as a form of transport. The town is now one of the few places where they’re used but these days they take the tourists on sightseeing trips around the town. Yes, we did do it, but it wasn’t terribly interesting though. If you go to Lampang, the place to eat is Aroy One Baht. Its absolutely manic with young waiters (and they were all young), racing around. The entertainment is free and the rice is just one Baht, which is about 2pence; the place is a magnet for tourists and watch out …the food is fiery, but delicious.

Leaving our hotel Auangkham Resort in Lampang we drove a few kilometers out of town to Wat Phrathat Lampang Luang. I loved the prayer lanterns at the entrance to this ancient Buddhist temple which is said to enshrine,(one of the many relics) of the Buddha.

**The entrance to Wat Phrathat Lampang Luang.**

Driving in this part of Thailand is so easy. The roads are good and pretty quiet. The only time we cursed was going along an area near to a sugar cane factory. There were lorries heading there in all directions, all over-loaded with sugar cane depositing quite a lot on the road. There were also small lorries with huge loads of big round bales, at least twice as wide as the lorry which virtually ground to a halt whenever there was a hill. Getting past these wide loads wasn’t easy but after a pit stop for lunch we arrived at the old town of Kamphaeng Phet. The town is famous for its Archaeological sites and historical Park and was once a massive fortress protecting the west of Thailand.

**A few of the ancient ruins in the Park.**

This historical Park is large and is a photographer’s dream. It’s located within a forest giving some degree of shade to the extensive monuments and ruins which cover the whole area. If you’re a keen cyclist you can hire bikes to cycle around the sites and explore. There is a road which takes you through the park which we drove along, hopping out along the way whenever we saw an interesting ruin. We then drove to the Visitors Centre where we paid a few Baht to wander around more of the site which has many landmarks, statues and points of interest. The light coming through the ancient monuments was superb that day, very soft which enhanced the setting.

We finally dragged ourselves away from the park as the heat had got to us so we headed to our hotel for the night. Strange place, very impersonal, even charged us for having a bottle of water out of the fridge but it had a nice pool and as we were the only people staying, we had the pool all to ourselves. I’m not going to name the hotel but I will mention that we had an excellent meal that evening by the river at the Baan Rim Nam River View restaurant. No-one could argue with the name of the restaurant, it’s right by the River Ping and has great views across to the town. This family-run restaurant is reasonably priced, the service was good and the fish, excellent.

Having paid our dues at the hotel we were on our way to Kanchanaburi and Oriental Kwai and couldn’t wait to get there. Could it really be the seventh time we’ve stayed there? The wonderful thing is …it never changes. How do you improve on perfection? It is without doubt our favourite place to stay and by that I mean anywhere in the world. The owners are lovely; the staff can’t do enough for you; the facilities are excellent; the grounds are idyllic and the food is delicious. It’s hard for us not to go back each year.

Because I’ve written about this area in my Blog before including the places of interest I have just add a few pictures and a short description of those places we went to this time.

**Wat Metta Tham Photiyan Kanachanaburi**

Watt Metta Tham Photiyan is the most famous Chinese temple in Kanchanaburi province. There are several huge halls all very fascinating, teak wood is everywhere. One houses a huge statue of a Chinese goddess with eighteen arms. The complex is expanding quickly and already in one of the halls are many statues made of carved wood ready to be erected in place. The temple is 23kilometres out of Kanchanaburi.

A great temple this one as long as you don’t mind a steep climb. Going up and through the dragon’s body enthralls the children and adults too. Great views of the river from the top, you might find a monk there, sitting by a small tent, who for a few Baht will give you a blessing. You may feel after climbing all those steps that you deserve one! Wat Ban Tham is definitely worth a visit not only for the exhilerating walk to the top and the view but along the way you can divert off to go inside a large cave full of stalactites and stalagmites.

Another temple worth a visit is Wat Tham Pu Wa which is also full of stalactites and stalagmites and buddhist shrines. Don’t let the entrance fool you, the architecture is influenced apparently by the Khmer Arts and is not the most interesting building on the site. It is however the main entrance to this huge cave which has two floors, lots of statues and winding walkways often behind the huge stalagmites. This Wat is a renowned meditation centre and attracts both Buddhist and Chinese followers who come to worship the statues depicting each of the Chinese astrological signs. This Temple is close to Watt Metta Tham and so it’s possible to visit both on the same morning.

And finally …

The town of Kanchanaburi is definitely worth visiting. Most visitors congregate by the infamous bridge over the River Kwai, built during the Second World War by Asian forced labour and Allied POW’s. It’s easy to walk along but the majority of tourists don’t walk the whole way down the bridge or take the steps down to the Chinese temple, Guan Im Sutham Temple which is worth a visit. There are several stalls in the square by the entrance to the bridge, all selling trinkets or Tshirts for the tourists. The Floating Restaurant by there offers a wide choice of meals and is good value.

If you are wondering …we are already booked to go back to Oriental Kwai, we can’t keep away!

Visiting Chang Mai …and then onto ‘our’ elephants.

Visiting Chang Mai in Thailand

It’s a long time since we visited Chang Mai so we were looking forward to going back there again, The flight from Bangkok is just over an hour which was quite long enough having sat for eleven hours on the first plane. The airport in Chiang Mai is in the middle of the city so it didn’t take long for our taxi driver to drop us off at The Twenty Lodge, a small guest house, along a quiet back street just off one of the main roads. After a couple of hours sleep we had a wander round to get the lay of the land. Walking just a short way we passed several temples which as there are hundreds within the ancient walls of the city, wasn’t surprising. We decided however that sightseeing would have to wait as we were quite content to slowly acclimatise to the heat in an attempt to keep awake.

**The delightful boutique hotel ‘The Twenty Lodge.’**

John had researched and found what appeared to be a good place to eat on our first evening. The description of the restaurant was spot-on. The owner greeted us and after being served with a welcome glass of cool Chang beer we were shown to our table in the delightful outside garden. It was an excellent outdoor space to sit in this bustling city and the food was excellent too. Before we’d even finished our meal we’d decided to go back to ‘Link Cuisine’ a second night …which we did.

Looking at the website for The Twenty Lodge Hotel there’s one big omission …it doesn’t say what a fabulous choice there is in the buffet-style breakfast. I’m not sure what some of the dishes were but I tried most of them during the four days we were there. I gave the green curry a miss although I’m sure it was delicious but even for a curry lover like me, it was just a tad too early. The croissant and home-made jams were instant hits, also the variety of fresh fruit on offer The staff there were so helpful particulary the people on reception. Having caught up on sleep and eaten a huge breakfast we were ready to explore this ancient city.

The Buddhist temple of Wat Phra Singh was just around the corner from where we were staying. It’s one of the most revered temples in the city and houses a stunning 15th century statue of Buddha made of copper and gold. There is a lot to like about Buddhist temples. The atmosphere is very relaxed and it’s only one or two that charge an entrance fee to tourists and even then it’s only a few Baht. I always have a scarf with me as shoulders should be covered and flip flops are a good idea as they can be slipped off easily before going inside a temple. Very short, shorts are also frowned on.

**15th century Buddha resplendent in copper and gold.**

**The beautiful gardens at Wat Pra Singh**.

Moving on further down the road and already feeling the heat, quite literally, we arrived at another must-see Temple, Wat Chedi Luang.

Wat Chedi Luang is an enormous ‘Chedi’ like a stoopa, 282 feet high and 144 feet wide. The structure was damaged by an earthquake in 1545 and as it’s not structually sound it’s not possible to go inside. Having said that, it is very impressive. The stone elephants remaining on the other side of the building were a nice surprise. We thought how impressive it would have been if all the elephant scuptures had survived the earthquake. Imagine on each side the elephants looking down on you! As you can see, there are still some impressive features remaining of this ancient temple, especially the Nagas defending what would have been the main entrance. The painted warriors are probably 20th century.

There is a lot to see in the grounds including these two big ‘gongs’. The wooden ‘striker’ is as heavy as it looks but keeping with Buddhist tradition we hit the gong three times.

After sitting in the shade for a while we carried on exploring. We stopped for lunch just by the city wall before walking through into the ‘newer’ part of Chiang Mai. By the wall were quite a few of what appeared to be mostly Japanese tourists having their picture taken with hordes of pigeons flying around them. There’s certainly no shortage of these birds roosting in and on the walls but why people want to annoy them so they flap around in their pictures, I don’t know. Thankfully when you looked the other way you could enjoy the picturesque moat which runs all around the city.

**There’s always something to see as you wander around Chiang Mai.**

**Interesting statue spotted in a temple garden.**

I haven’t mentioned the variety of shops in the city as well as there is lots of choice when it comes to places to eat. This is authentic Thai food so it’s hard to make a bad choice as there’s loads of places to eat. Chiang Mai is also known for its local handicrafts and although there’s plenty of ‘tacky’ things on sale I did find a wonderful shop full of good-quality handicrafts, some locally made, and spent time and money in there although the prices were reasonable. We did walk around a couple more Wats before feeling ‘templed-out’ and going back to our hotel to relax by the pool.

The next day we were picked up from The Twenty Lodge by a minibus from Asia Scenic, a Thai Cooking School. There are a number of these schools but this one was recommended by the hotel. We picked up several other people on the way to downtown Chiang Mai where we met the rest of our group who like us had chosen to do a half day at their organic farm. They were a lovely, lively group, all ready to learn more about the real Thai cuisine and cook it too. After intros and instruction from our guide we walked to the market where she explained about the herbs, vegetables and spices we were going to cook with and showed us examples displayed on a variety of the stalls.

**The fascinating market in Chiang Mai followed by our tour of the organic garden.**

This company offers a variety of classes, whole or half day, in the town or on the farm. That’s the class we chose as it was a chance to get out of the city and see an organic Thai farm and learn more about the herbs and vegetables they grow there. After touring around the market we were taken by mini bus to the farm where we would be cooking in the open-air kitchen. There were twelve of us in the group; a mix of nationalities and ages. The youngest in our group was five, we were the oldest …so there was a good mix of ages, all full of enthusiasm and ready to cook. Walking around the gardens was very interesting and we learnt a lot about the plants etc. grown there. As for cooking the dishes we had each chosen, well that was great fun especially using the unfamiliar turbo gas. Before getting onto the mini bus to head back to the city we were given a recipe book so we could (in theory) produce the same dishes at home.

**The organic kitchen garden and the open air kitchen.**

That evening, which was a Sunday, we walked to the (almost) one kilometer long Rachadamnoen Road where the famous Sunday Night Market is set up. The market starts at 4.00pm until midnight and hundreds incuding locals and of course us tourists are drawn to it. The place was packed! Squeezing between all the stalls became a challenge so you just have to push your way through. I didn’t spot too many things to buy but it wasn’t for the variety of things on sale, I just felt it was too much of a hassle to stop at the stalls. It was less crowded when we walked back up the road so I did by a couple of things before diving into one of the cafes along the street. That was the best bit; sitting there drinking a beer, eating a curry and just watching the people walk by.

It’s Monday morning, our fifth day in Thailand and we’re picking up a hire car from the airport and then heading off to spend a few hours with elephants. Just typing that reminds me of the wonderful time we spent at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre Tecc at Hang Chat, Lampang. We were last there in 2006 and now we were back again to see ‘our’ elephants. More about that in my next Blog.

Holiday in Kanchanaburi & Sangkhlaburi, Thailand.

Kanchanabury to Sangkhlaburi

As soon as we land at Bangkok we head out, north-west to the town of Kanchanaburi. It takes about three hours by car. We used to stay in Bangkok and catch the early morning train but quite honestly now as soon as we land we just want to get to our favourite place – https://www.orientalkwai.com we love The Oriental Kwai Resort. It’s peaceful, the gardens are beautiful, the pool is great and the food served at the riverside restaurant is excellent. In the evening there is nothing more relaxing than walking down to the riverside to watch the calm, waters of the River Kwai flow by as the sun sets slowly behind the trees.

**Cottage no 10 at ‘Oriental Kwai’ – we’ve arrived!**

**Inside no 10 with welcoming flowers. The shrine is just by our balcony.**

**Beautiful, lush tropical gardens. Delightful swimming pool, rhs pic taken from the banks of the River Kwai.**

Getting over jet lag didn’t take us long. On our first day I walked into the nearby town of Lat Ya and John cycled. At least my legs didn’t let me down unlike the bike …a flat tyre. Both feeling hot and not yet adjusted to the heat we called into the cafe bar on the way back. We ordered a cold drink, not having a clue what was coming but it was very refreshing.

**The shady patio area at the Slow Bar cafe and a very refreshing drink.**

The owner very kindly, understanding the bike problem stored it away behind the garden gate. When we got back to Oriental Kwai, John told Evelyn, one of the owners that we’d had to leave the bike at the cafe. “No problem”, she said. “No-one around here would steal it”.

An over-energetic morning had left us rather tired so after a splendid lunch washed down with a Singha beer we spent the afternoo by the pool. A little later, as we always do, we walked down to the river to watch the sun go down.

A boat trip down from Oriental Kwai to Kanachanaburi is well worth it espcially if you can share the cost with another couple. You get a great view of the iconic bridge over the river and arrive in the city avoiding the traffic.

**A trip down the river Kwai starting from the hotel.**

**The popular floating restaurant alongside the iconic bridge over the river Kwai.**

We’ve been to the bridge many times but never seen the area so quiet. Maybe we’d got there before the tourist buses or perhaps the tourist trade just hasn’t picked up again yet?

**Great to take pictures without the bridge swarming with tourists.**

The various stalls were really quiet but I made one trader’s day when I bought three of her bracelets. She waved the banknotes around to signify she was delighted to have made a sale.

The next day we picked up a hire car and John drove to Sangkhlaburi. It’s an easy drive until you get about forty kilometres from the town and then it’s hilly with lots of bends until you arrive down into the town. Goods views of the lake but it’s not easy for the driver to look.

Sangkhlaburi is a small town, surounded by mountains and sits at the end of the Khae Laem Lake. It has an interesting mixture of cultures because of its location near the Burmese border. The people are a mix of Thai, many from the Mon ethnic group who have their own language and customs and Burmese people who have left their country and settled in the town. It’s famous for its handmade wooden bridge which although it looks old, it isn’t. Spanning the river this bridge is the longest wooden bridge in Thailand and was built to link the town with the splendid Wat Wang Wiwekaram temple. It spans the Song Kalia river from the town to the Mon village of Wang Kha. A section of the bridge was washed away a few years ago and was quickly rebuilt. The water level of the lake drops dramatically in the dry season which is a good time to take a boat trip to see the three temples which were submerged when a dam was built across the lake and completely covered the village in the valley.

We chose to go to Sangkhlaburi at this time as we knew there was a festival celebrating young boys becoming novice monks. We were a little late getting there so we missed the boys and their families processing across the bamboo bridge but I got some pictures as the crowds went past us.

**Young novices and their families celebrating this special day.**

A little later that day we saw the young boys in their colourful robes; their hair closely cut and clearly getting used to their new attire. Traditionally the young novices serve in the temple for a minimum period of three months. These days some monks serve for as little as 15 days or a week. A family earns great respect and merit when a son becomes a monk.

**Enjoying the sights of the river before returning to the temple.**

Sangkhlaburi is not yet on the tourist’s radar but it won’t be long before it becomes a popular destination. True it’s a small town and there’s not masses to do but the Thai Buddhist temple, Wang Wiwekaram Temple is spectacular and well worth a visit; the boat trip to the sunken temples is a must and the ride through the forest to the new and huge floating Buddha which just a handful of Thai tourists have discovered makes for an interesting itinerary. We chose basic cafes on both nights where not surprisingly not a word of English was spoken (we didn’t expect it) and the menu was of course written in Thai. We managed to order beer and as we’re happy to eat most things, we were content with a rice dish. The second cafe had no pictures of the dishes but one of the diners came to our rescue having got an App on her phone which translated the menu (very handy). During our two-day stay we found the people very friendly and helpful.

On our second day we drove to a Mon-Karen village near the Myanmar border. It’s wise not to go right to the border and anyway there isn’t much to see. The road turns into a dust track before you get there which was enough to signal we should turn back.

I’ve mentioned the ‘floating’ Buddha which is a new statue built on one of the hillsides just outside of town but there is another important temple Chedi Phutthakhaya which we didn’t visit this time. It’s style is very different to that of the Wang Wiwekaram Temple and to be honest it wouldn’t look out of place on a Disney set. Lots of stalls selling tourist rubbish run alongside the car park. If you are tight for time definitely drive or walk up through the tree-lined path up to the new Buddha. The site is unfinished but even with Buddha covered in scaffolding, ‘he’ is magnificiant and can be seen ‘floating’ above the ground from miles around. It appears the temple has yet to be named. I can imagine when the temple is officially opened the celebration will go on for days. We really liked this area. It’s very peaceful and the way the route has been designed to wind through the trees is lovely. The views from the top are stunning and I particuarly liked the way you could glimpse the golden rooftops of Wat Wang Wiwekaram through the trees. The Wat was our next stop.

**The beautiful Wat Wang Wiwekaram temple**.
**Many of the monks are from the Mon ethnic group.**

The temple is open from 1.30am until 12.30pm and I should imagine whatever time you visit there will be groups of people sat everywhere along the marble corridors. When we visited there was an exhibiton of photographs hung all along the vast corridors. Brilliant pictures by various local photographers showing the lives of the local people, great portaits and group shots and Festivals. This little girl has her face decorated in traditional Burmese style with yellow ochre. (I’ve lifted this from Google) …”Traditionally, the women grind the bark of the thanakha tree on a flat circular stone with a bit of water. This creates a milky yellow liquid that dries quickly when applied to the skin. This mixture creates a powdery protective ideal not only for faces but also for the arms.” This little girl was very sweet and loved learning ‘Pat-a-cake’, no language barrier with this game.

**The temple is a sacred place for all nationalities living in Sangkhlaburi,**
**especially for Mon people**.

All this walking round made us very thirsty so we headed down to the Mon village where I bought a T-shirt from one of the many shops lining the main route then we sat and had a cold drink followed by free bananas and tea.

Ready to face the afternoon heat once more we walked to the Thai side by the Mon bridge and came across a local boatman who for 500 baht took us on the lake to see the three sunken temples: the Karen’s Srisuwan Temple, the Mon’s Wat Wang Wiwekaram temple and the Thai Wat Somdet temple.

The only structure from the submerged town that remains today is the Waat Sam Prasob shrine, also known as the Sunken Temple. Built by the Mon and Karen tribes, it was once the heart of the old town before the dam flooded the area in 1984.

As we were there in the dry season we were able to walk around and take a closer look at the inside. I was in my element taking pictures and would have stayed longer but our boatman had two more temples to show us.

**The middle picture is of the second temple -Srisuwan Karen’s temple, which we saw from all sides. (Not terribly interesting).**

He then took us across the lake to the old Wat Somdet Temple. We moored and then walked up past a small village to this ancient abandoned Thai temple. It reminded us of Angkor Wat with all the tree roots entwined amongst the stonework.

Having sailed back along by the Karen’s temple again we ended our hour-long trip with this delightful boatman by floating gently under the Mon bridge and sat for the obligatory picture with the bridge as a backdrop.

**The specatacular Mon bridge and the Booths returning from the three sunken-temple boat tour.**

It was time for a beer so we headed for the cafe on the Thai side of the Mon Bridge to watch the sun setting over the Song Kalla river. A final picture of our boat heading back was a fitting close to our two days in Sangkhlaburi. We felt we’d done the place justice on this our return visit. It is an interesting place and I’m sure it won’t be long before the town is firmly on the tourist route.

Ten days in Thailand

Holiday in Thailand

Yes we were lucky to go on holiday before Lockdown. Having flown in from Paxi in Laos to Bangkok we got a taxi straightaway after getting off the Airport Rail Link. Before now we’ve had to wait quite a while. Thankfully this driver didn’t keep falling asleep every time we stopped at traffic lights! A bit scary as the traffic in the city is quite manic.

We have stayed in Baan Manusarn, which is a small guest house a couple of times before. As Bangkok goes it’s a fairly quiet area. The pier for the ferry is at the end of the road and there’s quite a few good restaurants nearby. Once we’d dumped our bags we had an afternoon to spare so we headed for the iconic temple of Wat Arun. Last time we were there we had horrendous jet lag and just about managed to drag ourselves around. This time we didn’t pay to go into the main temple as there’s plenty of other buildings you could go in for free. I’m saying ‘could’ as now you have to pay to go into the temple complex. Can’t imagine there’s many tourists visiting there currently or anywhere else for that matter – Thailand isn’t letting tourists in at the moment. Seems to be working as since the pandemic hit the country they’ve recorded just one death. That’s the official figure …

It was a fairly early start the next day as the train to Kanchanaburi leaves Thonburi station at around 8.00. There are just two services each day. You have to allow plenty of time to get to the station as Bangkok wakes up at 4.30am every day and the roads are busy. The huge market by the station teems with life and is where the taxi drops you off. You have to have your wits about you wheeling you case through to the station. The train journey takes about three hours and is an interesting trip but the exciting part for us is arriving! A quick call to our resort and a taxi is organised and we’re on our way heading out of town.

Just a quick journey from Kanchanaburi station to Oriental Kwai Resort – heaven!

This for us is the most perfect place to stay. We love it here at Oriental Kwai. No wonder it’s Kanchanaburi’s number one hotel on Trip Adviser. It’s a 15 minute ride from the town and as soon as the taxi turns off the quiet lane into the drive, we feel at home, well our home in Asia. There are just twelve cottages and we like to stay in number 11. We enjoy the walk through the beautiful gardens, across the little bridge, past the immaculate swimming pool to the main reception area and restaurant. Late afternoon we like to sit by the river, have a drink and stay there until the sun goes down over the River Kwai.

Djo and Evelien who own and manage Oriental Kwai are lovely people and make you feel so welcome. They opened the hotel in 2007 after clearing quite literally a jungle! Together with help from their families they achieved their dream and their success story continues today. As I write this in the year of a pandemic my man and I are just hoping it won’t be long before we can go back again.

“Our’ cottage and the grounds at Orienal Kwai with the river running by.

Although we know this area well we still like to do some sightseeing and lots of walking and John did a cycle ride whilst I stayed to take some pictures in the superb gardens. We’d also decided to hire a car this time and drive up to the lake town of Sangkhlaburi in the west of the province.

Picking up the hire car in the town was very straightforward, we’d booked it before we left home. Once you get out of the town the roads are very quiet although this route continues up to Three Pagodas Pass and the Burmese border. It also takes you past the entrance to the Visitor Centre and starting point for visiting The Hell Fire Pass, the name of the infamous railway cutting on the former Burma Railway. Although we have been before we wanted to see the changes they’d made to the exhibition centre.

The Visitors Centre and the Museum had been re-vamped however we both felt that the new layout of the exhibits didn’t have the impact we remembered from our last visit. It’s quite a steep walk down to the railway cutting itself but the impact of this area never changes. It is an emotional experience and the Memorial Walking Trail following the route of the ‘Death Railway’ is a sobering hike albeit with magnificent views over towards Burma. Don’t expect to hear any birds singing as you walk along – there are none. On this visit the walk was closed which was disappointing but we have walked it a couple of times before.

Back in the car and still heading North West we started looking for somewhere to eat. After an hour or so we were beginning to wonder if we’d have lunch at all when I spotted a cafe by the side of the road. No one spoke English – well why would they (?!) and the locals having lunch pretended we weren’t there. We hadn’t a clue what was going to be served up but the main thing was it was all going to be freshly cooked. I believe we had chicken, veg and rice but I honestly can’t remember, we enjoyed it with no ill affects so that was the main thing.

Floating raft houses on the Vajiralongkorn Lake.

The journey after our pit stop became more interesting as we drove up through the forest and then down to Vajiralongkorn Lake. It’s actually a reservoir that was created when a dam was built in 1982. It’s a huge expanse of water and very impressive. The other thing you notice about this area of Thailand is the diversity of the people. Sangkhlanburi is a small town, traditionally the Karen people lived there. Now there are Burmese people, many refugees having left Burma for the safety of Thailand and people from the Mon tribe and other minorities. Apparently they live together in perfect harmony although there are defined districts with some living in the hills or on floating raft houses and the Mon people who live across the other side of the lake which is spanned by a huge wooden bridge.

As usual once we’d arrived in Sangkhlanburi and found our hotel, Kingfisher House, we chilled out for a while over a well-earned beer – ‘Chang’ as it happens. Time then to walk down to the lake and check out this famous wooden bridge which is Thailand’s longest. It is quite a landmark and was built in 1986 although it looks much older. Unfortunately the bridge known as the Mon Bridge partially collapsed after bad weather in 2013. As the bridge links the main town of Sangkhlaburi with the Mon area of the town, the locals quickly got together and within weeks rebuilt it. How’s that for teamwork? Although it wasn’t late the bridge was deserted as you can see from this picture. This is a very sleepy non-touristy place.

The next day we started off by exploring the town and headed up to see the reclining Buddha. Buddhists try to do a good turn every day, especially on Friday, to gain merit and that’s what a group of locals were doing outside a temple. There was a lot of painting and chattering going on and when they saw us we were invited to do some painting too!

Gaining Merit as in performing a good deed, act or thought is a fundamental concept in Buddhism.

There wasn’t much to see in the town itself and the market was pretty unexciting so we headed down to the bridge again. By now the temperature was in the high 30’s, very hot for walking across the bridge to the Mon village. Most of the shops were just closing but fortunately we found a cafe and I discovered the refreshing merits of Lipton’s iced tea! I managed to find one souvenir shop that was still open thinking there would be lovely Mon crafts to buy, sadly that wasn’t the case but I did manage to buy one or two little things.

Walking back over the bridge the heat was unbearable hence the rather natty headgear (bottom left picture). The little girl with the decorated face is Burmese. The yellow paste is called Thanaka made from ground bark . Its a traditional cosmetic often worn by Burmese people to protect the skin from the sun. The picture top right is of two local women laying out the freshly caught fish to dry.

Very few people in Sangkhlanburi speak any English so going into a cafe or anywhere is quite an experience. Once again we had no idea what we were going to get for lunch at this family-run cafe overlooking the bridge but the omelette and chicken was delicious. The cold drink which took quite a while to make was a real sugar rush job but we drank it of course. They were so kind to us, as though we were the first tourists they’d had there for a while.

After our lunch we drove up to see this rather splendid temple with the equally splendid name of Wat Wang Wiwekaram. The picture below is my favourite from our stay in Sangkhlanburi. It was a beautiful temple and although there would have been lots of monks we didn’t see any until we drove away. There was a group down the road sweeping the street …gaining that all important merit with Buddha.

A few more people on the bridge to watch the sun setting including two monks.

When we went back to the bridge in the evening to watch the sunset the family from the cafe where we’d had lunch came out onto the balcony to wave to us. We felt very honoured.

We enjoyed our couple of days in Sangkhlanburi but felt that was long enough although we would visit again. We’d seen most of the sights and enjoyed the peace of the place and marvelled at the Mon bridge and the beautiful lake but it was time to get back to Oriental Kwai!

On our journey to Kanchanaburi we stopped at this interesting temple which was clearly a mix of Buddhist temples and Hindu. Quite unusual I think. Amazing statues and once again, no-one around.

The last part of this Blog on Thailand will include pictures from the market we went to which was fascinating and there will also be some pictures of elephants (irresistible), as we spent a day at an Elephant Sanctuary. I thought I’d do this as a separate account otherwise the Blog becomes a bit too long. I suspect this one might be so if you’ve read this to the end – thank you!

From caves to dragons to elephants in Thailand.

Thailand visit March 2018

There’s always a danger when you visit a country like Thailand that you end up getting ‘templed-out’! If you’ve visited more than three temples in a day then you’ll know what I mean. This temple though is just a shortish trip out of Kanchanaburi and it’s well worth a visit. It’s called Wat Ban Tham or The Dragonhead Temple because there’s a long staircase that leads up the hill into a dragon’s head and through its body! You then walk into a cave, up a few steep staircases and eventually you arrive at the top. And what a view! We hit the gong just for the hell of it (three times according to Buudhist tradition) as we felt we’d achieved something. Would you believe there was no one else around although someone had lit some incense sticks earlier.

Another interesting thing is that as we drove along the quiet road to the temple we noticed a huge Chinese cemetery. These large marble family graves each built into a grassy mound are like miniature mausoleums often decorated with mosaics and pictures of the deceased. We stopped and walked around for a while amazed by the opulence of it all. The design of each grave is exactly the same so when there are hundreds in one area with nothing else around it seemed a little strange …

Elephants! Several years ago we spent three wonderful days at an elephant sanctuary in Chang Mai. It was an unforgettable experience as elephants are our favourite animals. Riding on an elephant and I mean sitting on its back, not on a seat and feeling it’s lovely soft ears flapping around your ankles is just a very special experience. Contrary to what you’d think, elephants’ backs are not that strong so whenever I see tourists sat on one of those heavy wooden seats on top of an elephant it makes me shudder. I hate to think of the pain that’s causing the elephant and all for the enjoyment of the tourists.

Since that first camp in Chang Mai we’ve been to the Elephants World in Kanchanaburi three times. Each time we have had a great time although on our last visit we felt there were too many tourists in each group so it didn’t feel quite so special as before. A relatively new sanctuary has opened up also near Kanchanaburi, Elephants’ Haven and appears to offer a similar experience. The best thing we found was to check with the hotel owners; they are pretty knowledgeable about the organisations and have up to date news on them too.

After breakfast it’s off to the river to bathe.

Stand back, he’s on his way to the river.

Great fun cutting up food and then boiling it. Once it’s cooled you make them into balls and feed them to the older elephants who haven’t got quite as many teeth as they started with.

Wallowing in the mud is great fun.

Time to get into the river, grab a brush and a bowl and an elephant and have fun. They love their back being scratched!

Time for their final meal of the day before heading off in the jungle for the night.

Just before we left Kanchanaburi we visited one more temple. Wat Tham Phu Wa is known not just for being a meditation retreat but for the amazing temple which is actually a cave. The stalactites hanging down are really impressive and round each corner you’d see another statue of Buddha all carefully lit. If they’d lit the statues too much if would have taken away the ethereal feel of the cave. There was no chance here of getting in without leaving an offering (as if we would …) as once you’d taken off your sandals to walk down there were women collecting money. Compared to the Dragonhead Temple this one was much more touristy.

Now we’re on our way to our next stop in Thailand, Ayutthaya.

The Hellfire Pass Memorial

Thailand visit March 2018

We took a taxi from Oriental Kwai, where we were staying, to The Hell Fire Pass Memorial.

It’s known locally as the Museum of Chong Khao Kad and is the area where POW’s and labourers during WWII were forced to carve through a mountain of rock to enable a train to pass. The Japanese needed a more secure route to maintain their armies in Burma so a decision was made to construct a railway 415 kilometres long through dense jungle and mountain from BanPong in Thailand to Thanbyuzayat. (This information is taken from the booklet provided by the Australian Government’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs). Of the 60,000 Allied POW’s who worked on the railway 20% died between October 1942 and August 1945 with an estimate of 90,000 civilian labourers having perished during that time also.

Admission is free to both the Memorial museum and the walking trail taking you along part of the the Death Railway. The Museum is excellent but tough viewing with graphic stories, memorabilia, first-hand accounts and pictures of the terrible conditions suffered by the POW’s and labourers. It’s hard to imagine how anyone survived …

Many of the tourists arrive at the Museum by coach and don’t have time to walk the 4km from the Museum to the end of the walking trail. Most people therefore walk as far as the monument at the end of notorious Hell Fire Pass and walk up to the look-out which gives you a view looking down on the Pass. We carried on through to the end of the trail which is just 4km. All that time we only saw a handful of people and quite a lot of evidence of the tools used and some of the original tracks. Not one sound of a bird singing. All along where once the railway lines ran was eerily quiet.

Our taxi driver was waiting for us when we arrived at the end of the trail and took us to Namtock railway station to catch the train back to Kanchanaburi. It’s an interesting journey especially going over the wooden viaduct that overlooks the River Kwai. I sat on the outside steps by the door to take a picture of the viaduct, couldn’t do this on GWR!

The visit had been a very emotional one but we were so glad we went.

The first part of the walk has several flags and crosses of remembrance lined each side of the cutting.

The notorious Hell Fire Pass. The tree has become almost a monument to the thousands who died cutting through the rock.

The Memorial to the POW’s and labourers who suffered extreme hardship with thousands losing their lives. The smaller pictures were taken along the walking trail.

Evidence in the rocks where the explosives were placed also metal taps, sledgehammers and other tools used to break down the earth and rock. Not sure what the bamboo canes were used for in the r.h. middle picture.

Railway sleepers still marking the Burma-Thailand death railway.

This must have been a tantalising view for the POW’s as they worked. The mountains in the distance are in Burma.

More evidence of the railway line.

Thie is the end of the walking trail just past Compressor Cutting. Our driver is waiting for us, you can just make him out. We were grateful for the bottles of ice-cold water he had ready for us.

On the right is the wooden viaduct we’ve just come over on the train.

The War Cemetery in Kanchanaburi. All the POWs who died were reinterred here by the Commonwealth Graves Commission apart from the American POWs whose remains were returned to the U.S.

Oriental Kwai Resort by the River Kwai.

Thailand visit March 2018

The train journey from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi takes about three hours and like most train journeys in this part of the world there’s never a dull moment. There’s always someone coming along with hot and cold drinks, fruit, unimaginable things in plastic bags and complete meals in foil containers. The vendors hop on and off the train as it saunters into the station (this is not a fast train) so the variety of food and sellers changes all the time. You can go by bus which we’ve done a couple of times or hire a taxi but the 7.50 train from Thonburi station in Bangkok is definitely our first choice. Oriental Kwai is just a short ride away in a Songthaew.

We’ve stayed at Oriental Kwai four times and yes … we love it there! Djo and Evelien are so welcoming and the cottages are superb. There’s only twelve of them and they’re tucked away in a stunning tropical garden, each cottage well-spaced from the next. There’s lot to do in the area including visiting Hellfire Pass which you can get to by train and taxi. I’ll write about this in my next Blog and include some of the pictures I took. It’s a very atmospheric walk with no bird song.

There are two Elephant Sanctuaries close by, Elephants World and Elephants Haven. Yes there’s another Blog coming up with pictures of our visit with the elephants.

Erawan National park & waterfalls is another great place to visit. You can spend hours walking and swimming in the beautiful green jungle with its stepped waterfalls. There are caves and temples to visit, fantastic landscapes, stunning views, walks, cycle rides and of course going into town by boat on the River Kwai is a must. The boat stops just by the (in)famous bridge which is always full of tourists walking across it.

Here is a selection of pictures taken at Oriental Kwai. It really is perfection and so peaceful, we can’t wait to go back!

A beautiful sunset to round off the day, followed by a few beers and another excellent meal. What more could you ask for?

First stop …Bangkok

Thailand visit March 2018

A trip along the canal in a revamped boat used previously for collecting rubbish probably wouldn’t be near the top of the ‘must-do’ list for visitors but it’s a great free way to see the city. Yes there’s no charge and it’s good fun. We discovered it the first time we stayed at Baan Manusarn, an inexpensive family run B & B in a quiet part of Bangkok down from Thewet Pier on the Chao Phraya river. There’s an interesting Thai market opposite the B & B(they are always worth a wander through) and a good cafe down the road serving cold lager with entertainment from a very friendly cockatoo.

The Chao Phraya river flows through the middle of Bangkok, it’s a river that never seems to sleep. Apart from the ferries which are cheap, full of locals and a good way to get around, there are numerous tourists boats, river taxis and longtail boats criss-crossing the river, like a constant armada. It’s the huge commercial barges that I find the most fascinating. These boats seem to go on for ever and when full float silently along this huge river dragged by a tug boat. Mostly I think they are carrying sand or rice and once unloaded they seem to bounce back up river behind their little towboats.

Early evening is when the tourist cruise boats start. You can’t miss them with their garish lights and loud music. I shouldn’t knock them as I know friends who enjoyed their two-hour trip and the ‘international cuisine’, but it’s not for us. We’d rather go down to the pier, chat with the locals, share an offering to the fish and watch the sun go down.

The nearest Buddhist temple (Wat Devaraj Kunchorn Warawihan) is quite near to our B & B and is a beautiful building, hidden down a narrow side street. On our second evening walking past we were drawn inside by the chanting of the monks. I love the sound but I’m always amazed at how the monks can sit that long without changing their position. Needless to say we eventually had to leave as we were both getting cramp!

There are of course lots of places to visit in Bangkok. Most tourists go to The Grand Palace and Wat Arun also called The temple of Dawn. A word of warning about visiting The Grand Palace – check out the dress code, the guards are very strict. If you show up improperly dressed there is a booth near the entrance where for a deposit you are issued with a wrap round long skirt. No problem like that at Wat Arun, our only problem was that we were suffering from jet lag and the heat as we’d only arrived a few hours earlier. We found it hard to drag ourselves around.

These people in the picture below at Wat Arun have hired their costumes. You see groups like this dressed in national costume at all the main tourist places. Turns out they may not even be Thai! I have more pics like this which you’ll see in further Blogs. You’ll probably notice too that no-one takes the trouble to wear the ‘right’ shoes!

Whether The Grand Palace is always crowded with tourists I don’t know. Looking at the number of coaches parked outside I think it’s pretty impossible to go there without having to jostle with everyone. I gave up trying to get some clear shots of the amazing architecture and instead did the same as everyone else, sharpened my elbows and darted in front of anyone with a camera who was taller than me!

We quickly worked out that The Grand Palace is divided into two main areas; the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the Royal residence. The place is still used for hosting royal ceremonies and welcoming the king’s guests and other foreign dignitaries.

The elegant statues of Buddha are beautiful but there are so many features here it’s no wonder everyone is clicking away in every direction. It was a bit of a bun-fight and after a couple of days in Bangkok we were looking forward to escaping to the country.

Reading this back it sounds as though we didn’t enjoy Bangkok but we did. We’ve been there a number of times now and have generally avoided the centre as we prefer just wandering around the streets to see what we come across. China town is fun though, you can buy lunch for a ridiculously cheap price. Travelling up and down the river on the ferries is what we enjoy doing and going into the Wat’s (Buddhist temples) which are everywhere. Bangkok is a buzzing, lively city and a real attack on the senses and apparently has more visitors than any other city. It’s not difficult to see why.

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