Saturday, March 04, 2006

The Bridge over the River Kwai

March 3rd, 2006:

So you travel over 10,000 kilometers to the other side of the world, and guess who sits down next to you on a bus? Yesterday it was a girl who, it turned out, works 5 minutes from where I live in Douglas (Cork, Ireland), a friend of hers who is also from Douglas and a girl from near Midleton (just outside my home town)! It was completely random: there were only 5 of us on the tour and 4 of us were from the same area in Ireland. Mad!

What tour were we doing? The Bridge over the River Kwai. It is situated about 2 hours outside of Bangkok and is definitely worth the trip. Our first stop was at a war cemetery where are thousands of British and Dutch graves It was quite sobering seeing the headstones and reading the heartfelt messages engraved on each. We spent some time looking for Irish soldiers but didn't find any.
Next up was the Museum which was a mere 80 cents to enter. Due to the tight schedule we could only give it half an hour when in reality you could spend an entire day exploring the machinery, guns, photos, and there was even a covered box with the remains of 142 POWs. The sprawling complex was fascinating and if you're in the area don't miss it.
And so, onto the bridge itself. Now, the original wooden bridge that the POWs built was built by them so as not to last very long, and it didn't. So, later a steel bridge was built to replace it and that bridge is still there today. Trains still use it and it is also VERY popular with tourists. Walking across it is not for the faint hearted as at times it will feel like you're walking a tightrope. This is due to the gaps on either sides of the narrow gauge tracks and the masses walking in the opposite direction to you forcing you to the edges of the tracks: if you fall its a long way down to the river...!

After lunch in a restaurant on a river we had a go at bamboo boat rafting, took a look at a waterfall (while trying not to stare at Russian models doing a photoshoot ;) and finished off with an elephant trek through a jungle (quick tip when being carried by an elephant: hang on tight!)
Overall, the tour (organized by River Sun Cruise of Bangkok), was a bit too rushed for the River Kwai section and I could have given the rest of it a miss without being too upset so if you are doing a tour in this area try to devote an entire day purely to the bridge.