18th - 22nd December 

Kanchanaburi Province is a really lovely place; very green and lush, the vast Kwae river cuts a lazily meandering swathe through the dense forest. There's so much to see and do here. And we have managed to bag ourselves a lovely room, on a raft on the River Kwae, for a bargain price. But there had to be a drawback... There's loads of cats around here (I am extremely allergic to cats) and I'm convinced that they let them in when we go out each day to hump my pillow or something! It's ridiculous, for the duration of our stay I don't think one air molecule passed through my nose. Anyway...

An ugly high street cuts throught the tourist suburb of the town, and along this street, with the regularity of mobile phone shops and opticians in Rugby, are dubious looking bars, always with a couple of prostitutes on the look out for business, and questionable travel agents. But through the latter we found that some of the activities on offer looked great. We had already planned on visiting Erawan National Park, and we settled on a trip that included this, followed by an elephant ride, a bamboo raft ride, and a trip on the 'death railway'. All for about a tenner, bargain.

That settled, we visited the Thai - Burma Railway Museum, small but very worthwhile. It was the type that takes forever to get through because you end up reading every last word. We learned that 16,000 allied prisoners of war died building the railway from Bangkok to Rangoon in Burma, along with 100,000 local deaths, under the charge of the Japanese army. although, thanks to the film 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' the bridge is the most famous part, the railway ran for 450 km and thousands died everywhere. It's so strange to think that the Japanese people, of whom I don't think I've ever met an unpleasant member, were capable of working all those people to death.

After the museum, we walked the 3 km to the bridge, and suddenly at the end of the road, there it was! It's quite an attractive bridge in its' own right I suppose, but it's the death and sacrifice that it represents that gives it its' sense of majesty. We spent a long time there, walking over trhe bridge - an adventure in itself as there's no path, you walk over the tracks on rickety wooden boards, and try to put out of your mind the hundreds of thousands of people who must walk the same rickety boards every year, plus the 100 ft drop to the water below...

The next morning we rose very early (well, 7.30) for our day trip. First stop was Erawan, whose waterfalls are its' main attraction. We hiked up the 3 km trail, and I do mean hike, although on occasions climb would be a more appropriate word. The day was fairly cool though and it was shady under the trees so it was nice. Attractive views were everywhere, and we stopped at each of the 7 waterfalls, all of them were beautiful. A couple were high, but the rest were cascades.

On the way back down we stopped at one of the waterfalls, planning on a swim. We didn't count on the big (2-3 ft) fish that called the pools home ("They bite but it ok" said our guide. A contradiction in terms if ever I've heard one!) Katie - ever the ecologist - wondered aloud why the fish couldn't be moved out of the pools so humans could have a nice swim! But in fairness to her, she did at least attempt to have a swim. My response to the combination of ice cold water and biting fish had better be left unwritten... But then after Katie was bitten by the fish even she gave up!

After lunch we went to the elephant centre. First was our raft ride - we were pulled up river by a speed boat (in the loosest possible sense) and then left to drift back down river, guided by an oarsman. I loved it. The silence was incredible after all the cities we had recently been through. All you could hear was birdsong and the gentle lapping of the river against the bamboo. That 20 minutes of drifting was great. We saw lots of birdlife - the highlights being kingfishers perched on branches just above the river. The riverbanks were blanketed with dense forest, occasionally broken by traditional wooden homes. The river itself was very wide, very green and very slow moving. It was so peaceful and relaxing, I could have stayed on the raft all day!

Next up was the elephant ride, an enjoyable 45 minute trek. The elephants kept stopping to scoff vegetation, and when they were told to move on they grabbed great trunkfuls to keep them going until the next stop! We splashed through the river for a while - our elephant loved it and didn't want to get out. He went so deep his eyes were underwater! We just about managed to stay dry though. Later, wek went for a ride on the Death Railway, and then visited the bridge again before being taken back to our guest house - exhausted!

We had planned to do some kayaking on the river the next day, and we were disappointed to find that we wouldn't have time. We were sad to leave Kanchanaburi, I was even sad to leave the cat fur infested room on the river! But sun, sea and sand beckoned; we had a room booked in Phuket and were planning on some serious relaxation... But first we had to get there!!!