Kanchanaburi is a small town to the west of Bangkok, and better known as the home of the Bridge over the River Kwai. The building of the bridge to transport the Burma - Thailand railway line across the river was an important part of Japan's attempt to improve their supply links during their attempts to conquer South East Asia when they entered into World War 2 in 1941. Prisoners of War from Britain, Netherlands, Australia, and India were used to construct both the railway and the bridge. Many lost their lives due to the difficult conditions, disease, malnutrition and the like. Kanchanaburi hosts three impressive cemeteries which are maintained by the Commonwealth War Cemeteries Commission, and house many of those who lost their lives here. Each burial plot is marked with a bronze plaque bearing the name, rank and age at death of the officers. Many also include a short phrase, or message from loved ones back home. We visited the main Kanchanaburi cemetery which houses 6800 graves of Commonwealth and Dutch victims. It was immaculately kept with small flowering shrubs between the plaques. A fitting resting place to those who gave their lives for their country. Overlooking the cemetery was the informative Death railway museum, which helped us to understand how the conflict came about and the various stages etc in the war. All in all a very interesting and poignant few hours.
A couple of kilometres away we were able to visit the bridge, reconstructed to emulate the original metal bridge. Walking over the peaceful river it was difficult to imagine soldiers working on its construction. There is still a train which runs across the line taking tourists further along the track, for those who want to make the journey.

Whilst we were in Kanchanaburi we sampled Asian hot pot for the second time. We had tried this concept of cooking when we were in Malaysia, and weren't completely smitten, but you can't say we don't give these things a fair trial. Asian hot pot refers to a method of cooking which takes place at your table, and is effected by the diner. Choosing for a list of ingredients, or selecting them yourself from the chilled cabinet as in Malaysia, you proceed to cook them yourself at the table. The centre if each table is equipped with a small induction cooker, or device to heat a wok of water. The one in Malaysia also had a hotplate area where you could fry food.
I'm not sure whether it's the fear of not cooking the meats sufficiently that frightens me, or the off putting sight of raw meats on the table, but I can't get enthusiastic about hotpot. In theory cooking all the ingredients in the pot of water produces delicious stock. So far our two attempts have just resulted in something resembling mucky dishwater, with a slight froth. This time I did have the advantage that once we started cooking my glasses were fogged from the steam, wafted my way by the overhead fan, so I only saw the food just before it reached my mouth. I still however remain unconvinced about the delights of hotpot.

All in all we had a great, and informative time in Kanchanaburi, and would recommend it to anyone travelling in Thailand.