Travels in Thailand part 9 Railway Viaduct
No Comments »25th July, 2006; Category: Thailand
Railway viaduct near the River Kwai, Thailand
Our final stop during the bus trip to the River Kwai was the railway viaduct. This was an impressive engineering feat for the day and the conditions. What amazed me were the harsh conditions forced upon the Australian (and other) prisoners of war. In the oppressive heat, energy sapping humidity and terrible illness they continued on with the construction. How some survived astonishes me. When I visited it was mild, low humidity and with a slight breeze. I tried to imagine what they went through. Their amazing resilience and courage was incredible.
True heroes are made in times like that.
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Railway viaduct near the River Kwai, Thailand
Travels in Thailand part 8 River Kwai
1 Comment »23rd July, 2006; Category: Thailand
The bridge over the River Kwai, Thailand
After my visit to the War Memorial we continued on to visit the bridge over the River Kwai. I was not sure what I expected. What disappointed me was the commercial aspect to everything. T-shirts, caps, tea-towels, postcards, jewellery, food stalls and all sorts of tourist oriented items.
Boat trip on the River Kwai, Thailand
After a train trip over the bridge we had an exhilarating boat ride on the river. At the end of the ride we visited the JEATH Museum. This was a sad and run down building much in need of renovation. The paintings, memorabilia and newspaper cuttings on display showed the abject horror of the sufferings of the soldiers, all prisoners of war, who constructed the Death Railway. How they suffered. Sombre, sad, and confronting.
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Travels in Thailand part 7 War Memorial
No Comments »21st July, 2006; Category: Thailand
Australian War Memorial and Cemetery, Thailand
On my last day in Thailand I went on a very long bus trip to the River Kwai. We had a very interesting tour guide. He was a lad when the Death Railway was being built by prisoners of war from Australia and several other countries.
Our first stop was at the War Memorial and Cemetery near the River Kwai. The vast majority of soldiers buried here were from Australia. They died during the construction of what became known as the Death Railway. This was a very sombre experience. No-one in my family is buried here.
I was very impressed with the standard of upkeep of this cemetery. The lawns are immaculately kept, as are the gravestones.
You can read more about my time in Thailand by clicking on the archives link.
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Travels in Thailand part 6 Elephant Ride
Elephant ride in Thailand
After the walk to the waterfall in the Khao Yai National Park, we continued our drive through the park to a lodge just off the main road. Here we had a wonderful traditional Thai lunch, complete with the fruit we had purchased at the market in the morning.
After lunch we went on a ride on an elephant through the rainforest. This was very relaxing and a good way to see the forest up close. An elephant’s back is not a great bird watching platform because it is continually lurching from side to side. Despite that I was able to identify a few species as we stumbled our way back to the bus.
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Travels in Thailand part 5 Khao Yai National Park
Waterfall in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand
After we visited the rice farm and that uncomfortable ride in a buffalo cart, we travelled up into the mountains to visit the beautiful Khao Yai National Park. As we drove through the rainforest we were on the lookout for various animals, like elephants and tigers. We didn’t see any but elephants had been walking on the road just a short while before us, as evidenced by the huge blobs of their droppings everywhere.
At one point we stopped at a little shop and picnic ground. After a short break we went for a long walk down the valley to a waterfall. The walk was very interesting but the waterfall wasn’t worth all the effort – especially the walk back out. The steep climb out was quite demanding. It was also quite still and humid and I was saturated by sweat by the time I arrived back at the bus.
I was quite disappointed by the lack of flowers and birds. I saw very few of either. I guess we were there at the wrong time of the year.
Okay – so the above photo is a bit dorky. I tried to take a shot of myself with the falls in the background. I managed to cut off half of my face. Oh well, never mind.
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