25 & 26 July
I've never been very good at early mornings and as much as I have tried to get better with age, I haven't. Therefore, getting up at 5am with a little over 2 hours sleep, meant I was probably a little grouchy to put it mildly. The bus driver eventually picked me up at. 6.30am after finding where Raj lived. I was the first to board the bus destined for Kanchanaburi. After almost 1 hour of pick-ups, we arrived at Khoa San Road to be greeted by a random lady who demanded our tickets and quite literally snatched them off us. This was yet another lesson to be used going forward; always take copies of bookings and receipts. A few mins later, she eventfully introduced herself as our tour guide. By this time, I was awake and capable of holding a conversation without jumping down anyones throat! I started talking to the guy in front of me called Mark. He had just quit his job in the City and had taken 3 weeks off to travel SE Asia before starting his new job. Although his journey wasn't quite as long as mine, it was still nice to chat to a Brit.
Our first stop was the Cemetery of the war heroes. As you'd expect, it was a very sombre affair and it still amazed me at just how large it was. Apparently, this was only 1/3. By this time, it was lunchtime so we headed off to river. We arrived at what could only be described as a raft, tied on by a piece of rope, but it was fine, we were only having dinner, how bad could it be? The thing is, I wasn't just having dinner here, I was also sleeping here. The words "you've come away for an experience and this IS an experience" were continuously repeated in my head. This was my first real taste of travelling life. Thankfully, I had got off lightly. There were another 20 people staying too, some of whom had kids. One family had even paid extra for 4 beds (family of 4, so seems logical) and AC but according to the manager, they'd booked a 3 bed room with a fan. I felt so sorry for them. Then there was another family who were American. They'd paid extra for an AC room but were given one with a fan. Nicole was my age so I offered for her to stay in my room so that perhaps her mum and Dominic could get some sleep. The room was extremely basic and I am convinced the floor was cleaner than the linen on the bed. The shower was fixed to a piece of wrought iron which separated each room and the water was of course cold. The toilet was typically Asian; a hole in the ground with a bedpan to wash down. I thought I'd left those days long behind, but sadly not. The flooring was cracked so at times, you felt like Jesus walking on water, as there was a strong possibility that the floorboard would break under your weight and you'd end up in the river. The saving grace was delicious food and excellent company.
In the afternoon, we were taken to the waterfall in Kanchanaburi. We walked up steep steps and to be honest, it was a bit of an anti-climax, not to mention the fact that I didn't have a bikini as I hadn't been told to take swimwear. Needless to say, I now take a bikini with me everywhere. We were told we'd have 1.5 hours at the waterfall, but in all honesty, 30 mins would have more than sufficed. So to kill the remaining hour, Nicole, Dominic, Celia and I took a wander to find the cave. We must've walked for about 30 mins only to find that it was shut due to a landslide. Gutted. On the plus side, we saw some beautiful scenery and butterflies.
We headed back to the bus and went onto our final destination of the afternoon; Death Railway. We arrived at this train station with no guidance as to what we were doing. We waited and waited and waited. Eventually some 30min later, a large train pulled up and we got aboard. The train was rammed so a seat was out of the question and taking photos was also difficult. It seemed that everyone had got on at the stop before us, not surprising really considering how well organised our trip was...not! Still, it was a gorgeous clear day so it meant that we got to see some of Thailand's less exposed countryside.
We headed back to the hotel, had dinner and all congregated on the benches overlooking the river. The benefit to staying in somewhere basic, is that everyone wants to hang out as opposed to doing their own thing. As a single traveller, this is something that I was very grateful for. After arguing with the hotel manager over borrowing towels (what place doesn't offer towels?!), it was time to head off to bed. The sound of the water flowing as you fall asleep is very relaxing. Perhaps if you look past the rotten wooden planks and basic facilities, this place wasn't so bad after all.
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