Trains

Yesterday was spent on various trains getting to Kanchanaburi. The first one was pretty normal, if a bit dilapidated, but the second one was like stepping back in time. The benches were all wooden. The windows were wide open. I’m sure some safety rule in Canada would forbid that. No A/C but there were fans on the ceiling. As we clattered along, you could hardly talk to each other for the noise. We did manage to get our home schooling done though! The ride was a bit dusty at times and we arrived a bit late, but made it here in one piece.

Our first choice of guest houses was all booked up, so we tried a few others and eventually settled for one night in Sam’s House. It was unique in that it was right on the water, but I think the floating disco noises would have bothered us on the up-coming weekend, besides it was a bit small for us.

Sam's House

This morning’s hunt for a guest house ended when we found Thai Garden Inn. It doesn’t have Internet, but it does have a pool! I guess we’ll have to make do with Internet cafes for a little while longer.

Thai Garden Inn

This afternoon we went to Death Railway Museum. It covered a bit of the history of why the Japanese wanted to build a railway between Thailand and Burma (a safe land passage, because the seas were not in their control), and it also covered the 15 month construction period. During that time about 60,000 prisoners of war (POW) were forced to work on the railway and about 10,000 of them perished in appalling conditions – not enough food, not enough medical supplies, and unsanitary living conditions. But it wasn’t only the POWs that worked on the railway. There were many Asians that were forced to work the construction and about 100,000 deaths in total.

After the railway museum, we walked across the road to the war cemetery. Approximately 7,000 are buried there. We read many of the headstones. Things like “In the garden of memories I will meet you every day”. Very sad. In fact the whole afternoon was overwhelming. Tomorrow we are taking a tour and part of it includes seeing the Bridge Over the River Kwai and a ride on the railway. I’m glad we did the museum first as it will deepen our appreciation tomorrow.

CM