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When the train finally arrived in Bangkok (Thai times are just fabulous) we hopped on and promptly fell fast asleep. We were surrounded by women will all their market produce and various chickens and dogs but were very comfortable. In between naps we saw some beautiful Thai countryside and on the whole it was a lovely if not rather bumpy and dusty journey!
We arrived 3 hours later in Kanchanaburi rather exhausted but looking forward to seeing what it had to offer us. Our guesthouse is really sweet and feels very luxurious having our own room after such a long time in dorms! Owners of the guesthouse are really friendly and have an adorable fluffball dog too which I have fallen in love with! That afternoon we explored the town which is actually rather quiet as apparently the heat means that fewer tourists have wanted to come recently. We have a nice walk to the town from our guesthouse past the war memorial cemetery which is really pretty but tragic. It really reminded me of the cemeteries in Belgium too which is a testament to the Thai authorities for keeping it so green, clean and covered in flowers. That night we went out to eat at the night market and were rather shocked to find elephants around every corner! So much for the animal rights movement last week in Bangkok!! We did also visit every 7-11 (in case we haven't explained these they are AMAZING co-op esque shops open all hours and selling everything) in order to search for shortbread and twixes. I am mightily glad that we are off to Koh Tao again today as that 7-11 stocks walkers shortbread which makes my day!! Tess had a corn on the cob from a street stall and as I couldn't understand anything on any of the stalls I just pointed at a picture of what looked quite tasty. There were no other tourists in the market so we felt rather proud finding a tourist free zone :) my food was delicious and the family owning the stall really sweet showing us exactly what to do.
The next day we woke up bright and early and set off for the Erawan waterfall out of town. We trekked up to the 5th level (I mean trekked as it was an intense climb with steep hills and a bajillion steps and whilst everyone else was in walking boots we were in flip flood!) and then relaxed on the 2nd level by the water. The water was once again freezing and the huge fish (about 50cm long) kept eating our bodies which was rather unnerving it has to be said. We then had a quick chicken fried rice (standard!) and left to visit the hellfire pass museum on the site of the death railway. The museum was brilliant and really informative and told us loads about the horrors of the Japanese POW camps and the work on the railway. We then walked to hellfire pass which was named because the prisoners had to work day and night when it was being built and in the dark with the Japanese soldiers looming above them with whips and lanterns it looked like a scene from hell. It was a huge path through the rock and they were only given hand tools to make it! It was a rather somber experience but good to see and get a feel for the history of this area after ww2. We decided to take the hike back which included climbing the mountain (so much fun in 38 degrees at midday) and eventually made it back up very hot and thirsty. We then left to catch the death train along the remaining railway back tk kanchanaburi. It was once again a very beautiful trip with some precarious sections of railway and bridges - great fun to ride though. After that we went to visit the bridge on the river Kwai. I was very excited about this as I love the film but haven't quite got around to showing it to Tess. It was fun to be there although of course the bridge was bombed so doesn't look as impressive as the bridge from the film (which was actually set in Sri Lanka!) looks. That evening we visited a huge clothing market which was basically eBay in a square. The day was great fun but exhausting fitting it all in!
Yesterday we decided to have a down day and so relaxed and wondered around a bit, mostly dwelling far too much on our impending university decisions..eek! This morning we're setting off for Bangkok at 1 and then onto Koh Tao to complete our advanced open water certification which includes a night dive and ww2 wreck dive!! Very excited :)
Lots of love Flo and Tess x x x
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Kat The Explorer It seems you are really enjoying your adventures in Bangkok. Have a great one. Try to visit the Philippines too. There are a lot of nice places here. I'll be subscribing in your blog to be updated with your upcoming adventures. :) Here's my profile by the way, http://www.offexploring.com/travellingdamsel
Kat the Explorer Ooops. Changed my site. Here it is http://www.offexploring.com/damselontravel
YKW So many train journeys!