Kanchanaburi

We were only going to stay here fore two nights originally but we liked it so much we have are staying for four. Kanchanaburi, as you may know, is the location of the bridge over the river Kwai (pronounced like square not why) as featured in the film Bridge Over the River Kwai, making it a very cultural and historical place. however, there is also a strip in the middle full of bars, and massage places and the entire south end is full of bars that are full of prostitutes and old farang men. This has somewhat encouraged us therefore to go out for a few drinks. there is one place that serves drinks for 10 baht (20p) which was pretty much the only crowded bar in the street. we met some people here from pretty much everywhere. there were two dutch guys, a guy from canada and a girl from french canada and a new zealand guy (who plays proffessional rugby but didnt quite make it to the all blacks) and a whole bunch of australians. a lot of them were backpacker just travelling round asia by themselves for the sake of it which was quite brave. they were all very taken with how young we were. one of the dutch guys was 18 but the next closest to our age was 23. it was all very interesting to talk to them. it was an all round good night that didnt finish till 5 am. needless to say we didnt get up till midday the next day.

but the cultural stuff is all very interesting too. we went to the museum which basically told the story of the railway i came out feeling very educated. then we went to the war cemetry where a lot of the prisoners of war who died making the railway were brried. there was a whole section for the british and a few who blonged to the highland regiment. :)

in the afternoon we actually went to the bridge which was full of tourists and had a huge touristy market. there was also a van containing a leopord which was tied to the chairs inside. they guy who it belonged to ensured us it was very safe and just quite playful. it was only 7 months old. very cool.

then today we cycled for half an our to these caves that contain lots of budha images. you have to go underground and through these vary low narrow passages. eventually you would find a budha statue hidden in the corner somewhere. we got talking to a women at the market the day before who told us that each day of the week had a specific budha image, and the day of the week you are born signifies your budha. both me and fleur were apparently born on a monday so our budha is dispelling fear (disease) the only other ones i remember is tuesday is reclining budha and saturday is protected by naga. the journey home was a killer. it was the most excercise i think i have done since coming to thailand and it was far too much for me.

tomorrow we head to nakhon patom which apparently holds the biggest buddha image in the world at 127m. fun fun fun :D