Trip to Thailand, Laos & Vietnam: Kanchanaburi & Bangkok

The lovely garden area of my hotel in Kanchanaburi, right outside my door.

I took a shuttle back to Bangkok and checked into my last hotel near Khao San Road, the backpacker area near the river. My room was small but lovely.

The bathroom had a glass door but also a fabulous shower with hot water on demand.

And a refrigerator which was nice but hardly necessary with a 24 hour 7-11 right downstairs.
There is that sink again.

I like the area because it has trees, is fairly inexpensive, has cafe's right on the street, and the streets are busy till all hours.

And its only a few blocks from the river and the river boats which take me to Chinatown.

And, of course, a Swensen's right on my block.

An entrance to a restaurant. There are more and more upscale restaurants and hotels being built in the area.

But life, as before, goes on in all the little alleys in the area.

Triip to Thailand, Laos & Vietnam: Kanchanaburi, River Kwai

The following day was devoted to sightseeing and the River Kwai Festival. My first stop was the JEATH Museum at the lower edge of town. JEATH is an acronym for the primary nations which participated in local action. These nations are: Japan, England, Australia, Thailand and Holland. The museum inside Wat Chai Chumphon has been constructed largely in the form of an Allied Prisoner of War camp which is managed by a Thai monk. The thatched detention hut with cramped, elevated bamboo bunks contains photographic, pictorial and physical memorabilia dating from the Second World War . Some of them are becoming quite faded and hard to read but the place is very moving nonetheless.

A reconstructed guard tower outside one of the huts.

My next stop was the Railroad Museum near one of the cemetaries. Since I had taken many photos of the cemetaries on my last to trips I didn't take any this time. The Railroad Museum is a beautifully organized place focusing more on the mechanics of the railroad. The Japanese had special trucks which could travel on land or on railroad rails.

The town version of a tuk tuk. Some of them had covers.

My hotel street. Deserted in the daytime.

That evening I had an almost front row seat to the River Kwai Festival. Its held every year during the last week of November and the first week of December. Here the announcers begin the program in Thai and English. There was a huge orchestra to the right of them.

The program was in three parts: Before the War, The War and The War is Over. Here monks give blessings to villagers before the war.

Fireworks going off around a statue across the River.Moving stories of three families affected by the war, Japanese, British and Thai. In the section The War is Over there was a huge display of fireworks which were right over my head which was a wonderful experience.

If you are interested, the whole program is on YouTube in four sections.

Before the War:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmmAHJP1k_Q&feature=related

The War:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unSJnIOIUfI&feature=related

The War is Over (Fireworks)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmVXpX3W804&feature=related

The Finale (Music by the Orchestra)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuSTIZ5ycN8&feature=related

Back to Bangkok and Kanchanaburi Thailand

After a really comfy overnight train ride from Nong Khai Thailand (across the river from Vientiane) I arrived back in Bangkok. The lower two seats make up into a bed with a curtain and a foam mattress. Really comfy.

Dropped off my bags and it was time to hit Chinatown for some serious shopping.

There is a Swensen's in the mall at the end of my route. What else was a hot shopper to do?

Koi in a pond at one of the hotels on Khao San Road.

After one night in Bangkok I stored my bags and headed up river to Kanchanaburi. I took a taxi to the Southern Bus Terminal in Bangkok to catch the bus. Very easy and organized. There was even a hostess on the bus who served us cold water.

Flowers in the hotel yard.

I checked in a looked around for a place to eat lunch. Most of the bars and restaurants on my strip only seemed to open later in the evening. I finally found a place called the Jolly Frog ..a big backpacker hotel..open at all hours and had some fried rice served in a pineapple.

It was quite good and only 50 baht. A real bargain these days.

Hmmmm....I wonder what that's all about?

My fancy room. The bed, fridge and tv were on a platform which made getting on a bit interesting.

My bathroom had one section with the toilet and sink and that opened out to a huge shower which included this garden!

A view of the garden part from inside the room.

The hotel pool

Elephant Ride Kanchanaburi Thailand

After our cooling rafting we were off to the Elephant Camp in a nearby town. You mount your elephant from a very handy platform.

Our mahout said he was 16 years old. As you may notice apparently you don't wear shoes when riding on an elephant.

Michael lucked out and had an elephant all to himself.

A herd of cows near the camp.

We rode for almost an hour with stops for breaks. Back at the camp.

After our ride it was possible to buy snacks for the elephants.

We had to post for the obligatory photo of course.