Kanchanaburi - the enchanting province
Situated two hours north-west of Bangkok lies the province of Kanchanaburi - a lush, green, mountainous land best known for the foreign blood spilt during WWII. It is the place where thousands of Australian POW's died building the Thailand to Burma Railway in the early 1940s - now commonly referred to as the Death Railway. Today, Kanchanaburi, while still keeping an eerie, sad feel in parts, is made up of lush rainforest and warm locals.
We stayed at the Little Creek Valley Resort - 300 baht a night ($11au) for a gorgeous bungalow, built in African style, complete with an outdoor marble and bamboo shower. The entire property was based on an African village, with tiny huts spread over 30 acres and an open-air restaurant and swimming pool to spend many lazy hours in.
After spending an evening soaking up the lush surroundings, the four of us hired a jeep and headed out for the day to the Erawan National Park - about 65km west of town. The drive along the River Kwai was spectacular, and once at Erawan, the scenery only improved. Running through the middle of the park is a seven-tiered waterfall. Each level produces a new fresh-water pool to swim in. Each level also provides hundreds of fish, which will gladly nibble at you - causing girly shrieks - whenever you get close.
After Erawan we drove to the Tiger Temple, where monks have taken in abandoned tiger cubs into what is loosely called a sanctuary. As with all forms of animal entertainment -- whether it be a sanctuary or zoo - there are always some feelings of unease as these wild animals are clearly not-so-wild today. We did, however, do the touristy thing and enter the tiger canyon to pat some of the amazing creatures. You just wanted to cuddle up to them and give them a good belly scratch and rub their broad noses. Of course, a quick pat on the back for each of them had to suffice.
Our second day in Kanchanaburi was a teary one, as Bol and I headed to the War Cemetery. Rows of thousands of Australians - many just my age - lay stretched with headstones detailing their loved ones' last words. Unfortunately we ran out of time in Kanchanaburi and missed out on going to Hellfire Pass and doing the ride on the Death Railway. We had already booked our train for Chang Mai the following day, and so decided to return in ten weeks after we've done our south-east asia tour and end up back in Thailand, before we fly to Europe. It's a good excuse to come back to this gorgeous province. We look forward to our return.
Situated two hours north-west of Bangkok lies the province of Kanchanaburi - a lush, green, mountainous land best known for the foreign blood spilt during WWII. It is the place where thousands of Australian POW's died building the Thailand to Burma Railway in the early 1940s - now commonly referred to as the Death Railway. Today, Kanchanaburi, while still keeping an eerie, sad feel in parts, is made up of lush rainforest and warm locals.
We stayed at the Little Creek Valley Resort - 300 baht a night ($11au) for a gorgeous bungalow, built in African style, complete with an outdoor marble and bamboo shower. The entire property was based on an African village, with tiny huts spread over 30 acres and an open-air restaurant and swimming pool to spend many lazy hours in.
After spending an evening soaking up the lush surroundings, the four of us hired a jeep and headed out for the day to the Erawan National Park - about 65km west of town. The drive along the River Kwai was spectacular, and once at Erawan, the scenery only improved. Running through the middle of the park is a seven-tiered waterfall. Each level produces a new fresh-water pool to swim in. Each level also provides hundreds of fish, which will gladly nibble at you - causing girly shrieks - whenever you get close.
After Erawan we drove to the Tiger Temple, where monks have taken in abandoned tiger cubs into what is loosely called a sanctuary. As with all forms of animal entertainment -- whether it be a sanctuary or zoo - there are always some feelings of unease as these wild animals are clearly not-so-wild today. We did, however, do the touristy thing and enter the tiger canyon to pat some of the amazing creatures. You just wanted to cuddle up to them and give them a good belly scratch and rub their broad noses. Of course, a quick pat on the back for each of them had to suffice.
Our second day in Kanchanaburi was a teary one, as Bol and I headed to the War Cemetery. Rows of thousands of Australians - many just my age - lay stretched with headstones detailing their loved ones' last words. Unfortunately we ran out of time in Kanchanaburi and missed out on going to Hellfire Pass and doing the ride on the Death Railway. We had already booked our train for Chang Mai the following day, and so decided to return in ten weeks after we've done our south-east asia tour and end up back in Thailand, before we fly to Europe. It's a good excuse to come back to this gorgeous province. We look forward to our return.
posted by Bol Varga at 3:01 AM
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