Pattaya -  to Kanchanaburi

 

True to form the manager of Baan Pictory Resort organised a taxi to take us into Pattaya to catch the bus to Kanchanaburi. After a hearty breakfast we left the resort with sadness as we had had such a good time here and felt like part of the family. Hugs and ‘cop in car’ (sic) all round we travelled about 40 minutes into the metropolis of Pattaya, a huge city with bars, clubs, restaurants, lady-boys and traffic. Glad we didn’t stay here. Waited at a quaint little bus depot, with a filthy squat toilet, for about 45 minutes and boarded our bus. It looked ok and was a double decker with comfy seats so the journey will be bearable. Only half a dozen other passengers on board. When the bus got going we shuffled forward into the two seats right at the front upstairs with good views of the road ahead. Well Cathie did as she was on the side, my vision was blocked by a 42” TV, but if I reclined my seat, put a rolled up blanket behind my head, twisted to the right with the weight on my right butt-cheek and peered out the top of my glasses, I had about a 50% view of the road. At the first stop, of which there were to be many, the driver came upstairs to give us a bottle of water and on seeing us in the front started to wave his arms about and gabble in Thai. I thought he wanted us to return to the allocated seats, but after some confusion he just wanted Cathie to get out of the front seat. I was able to stay. I readily moved into the right hand seat away from the TV,  put my feet up and wondered why Cathie had to move. My reasoning was that if there was a crash she would be catapulted out the front window, so it was a safety thing. I must have been either capable of surviving the crash or dispensable. A female tourist dying on their roads must be an international incident. Ah bless, that’s nice, not worried about me then? It was to be a few days later that we asked our host what the reason was, and found out that the front seats were reserved for the Monks and they could not sit with a female. Too much temptation? No control? Ah well at least I had a good seat where I could stretch out and put my feet up and actually had a wee snooze. Cathie was fine in the row behind, I heard her clicking away at everything on her camera. There were lots of stops with people getting on and off but no lunch or toilet stops. There was a very wet toilet on board as there was no flush, you had to tip a bucket of water down after your business and at 100kmph on a rough road it was impossible to get it all down the hole. It was hard enough to get your own stuff down the hole! One hand holding on, the other hand holding on to the wall. Don’t know how the ladies managed as it was too wet to sit down.

Arrived Kanchanaburi bus depot late afternoon and were instantly besieged by taxi touts. Agreed 150Bht ( about $6.50) but needed to buy some food first, Cathie was needing sustenance. He waited 15minutes and we piled onto the back of a Song Taow: - a ute with a canopy and bench seats down the side. Six minutes later we were at our accommodation, the Thai Garden Inn. What a let-down after Pictory!. It was a separate cottage in the unkempt grounds down a back lane next to a new restaurant being constructed. They could have warned us. It was tired, dirty, untidy and the room was small but had a balcony to sit out on. Yeah right!  The aircon was not efficient so asked for a fan as well. The outside light didn’t work so they bought along an extension lead and a trouble light. The mozzies ate us alive in the first 5 minutes so didn’t enjoy our beer and didn’t sit out again. I reckon the filters were missing from the aircon unit, as when the bloke next door had a fag outside, it sucked all the smoke into our room just like we were sitting with him! Turned it off and used the fan whenever we smelt it. The other thing was there were cows in the field next door and the aircon sucked in their shitty smell as well! The pool was milky and right next to the cows, so I didn’t even try to have a swim. Good ole Cathie was determined and she went in once. J

Now this sounds pretty awful, as Baan Pictory has spoilt us, but the redeeming factor was the lady owner was so helpful and the food wasn’t too bad, and we only had to suffer it for 3 nights. It is a short 15 minute walk to the bars and restaurants across a bridge.

We came to this area because it is where the Bridge over the River Kwai is. This area has huge history of the second world war, and lots of horrific things happened here. There were POW camps in Kanchanaburi and 120,000 prisoners who were sent here when Singapore fell to the Japanese. Lots of death, starvation and atrocities occurred here. They were used to build a railway from the south of Thailand right up to the border of Burma by pick and shovel, so the Japanese could transport supplies. We went by motorbike and side-car to one of the war museums which had reconstructed a hut from the POW camp with lots of photographs. NZ wasn’t involved here, just Australia, England, Holland and Thailand. And Japan of course.

We walked back to our hotel, about 6km, via the river front where heaps of barges set up like restaurants were moored. You can hire them privately and they are towed by a long tail motorboat down/up the river while you eat. You can take your own food or get them to cook for you and some have loud music blaring or even karaoke. It started to rain so we once again sheltered in a bar/restaurant and had a late lunch. As with our previous places in Thailand, there are a number of fat European men with Thai partners/wives. They look so out of place and it is obvious they had no chance of getting a woman of their own race. Just a total mismatch. However it is the only way the Thai women can get out of the lifestyle they are born into and it is better for them. Just a bit creepy and sad that the men they choose are so old, fat and ugly. Don’t get me wrong, some are awesome partnerships and beneficial to both man and woman and they are well respected and treated, but there are lots that are quite frankly just sickening. Most of the women are quite stunning too.

Next day we had arranged a tour. Picked up at 8.00 and went to see a waterfall with 100’s of other tourists, surprisingly few Europeans and no Russians. Managed to get some good photos though. The railway line built by POW’s came to here and there is a steam train on display on the tracks. Also there were lots of food stalls and souvenir stalls. Next stop was a museum dedicated to the prisoners with lots of photos and video presentations. Quite interesting. Below the museum we trekked 500 meters to walk on the remnants of the track through hellfire pass on the death railway. It is a deep cutting through rock and you can still see the drill marks and some broken drills stuck in the rock, which made the holes for the explosives used for blasting the rock. 1000’s of men died here from exhaustion, starvation and disease or torture. Hard to believe on this nice day in pleasant surroundings. We just missed ANZAC day where 2000 people gathered here at dawn with candles to remember the men who died here. Gallipoli on a smaller scale. It was a hard climb up concrete steps and through bamboo, bush and rocks to follow the path that 1000’s of prisoners did every day to get back to their camp.

One part of the group, a family of 4 from Australia (although she was a Kiwi), went elephant trekking while we visited a hot springs. (we’ve both elephanted before). It was a Saturday and it was jammed. Thai style swimming is done fully clothed. The water was 40deg…hotter than our spa, and who wants to get hot on a stinking hot and humid day? The water was also murky as was the river alongside, which was full of slimy rocks. Cathie dipped her feet in while I held the bags. We had an hour to kill here so we sat on a seat and just watched. I saw a bloke suddenly drop feet first into the hot pool fully clothed and I thought he was going to swim to our side. Instead he dipped down and came up with a little boy and put him on the side. I honestly didn’t see a boy there prior to the man going in so I don’t know how long he had been under. He must have gulped water into his lungs as he was ejecting water for ages and was struggling to breathe. His father held him head down and was patting his back and was looking a bit stressed about it as he carried the boy, who was still struggling to catch a full breath, up to his car.  Cathie was so concerned we packed up and went over the river to see the family and explained that Cathie may be able to help. She listened to his breathing and looked at his vital signs and concluded that he was indeed in a bad way and told them to get him to hospital. They understood and took off immediately to a hospital 20km away. They wanted Cathie to go with them, but that wasn’t possible. We don’t know the outcome, but we hope he is ok.

Next we travelled to a rail bridge built by POW’s and walked over it. More shops and souvenirs. This is where we boarded the steam train for a half an hour journey and  travelled on the line and over bridges built by prisoners. A nice nostalgic experience.

Back in the van, picked up the trekkers and back to see the famous Bridge over the River Kwai. When the movie was made the director got it wrong, there was no bridge over the river Kwai. It was over a different river, so to keep it right they renamed the stretch of river where the bridge stood to Kwai Noi, or new Kwai. What a disappointment! 1000’s of tourists and lots of food stalls and market stalls everywhere. Cathie really thought we had pulled into a bus station as there were so many tour busses there. It was timed of course, to coincide with the second time in a day that the train went over the bridge. 100’s were walking on the bridge and we were half way along when the train hooted and puffed into sight. It only goes 2km an hour over the bridge so people were able to move aside onto platforms built for the purpose. When it passed we completed our double crossing of the famous river Kwai bridge, and went back to the van which took us back to Thai Garden.

We had found this place hard to get out of to get to Mae Sot, our next destination, and unless we wanted to go back to Bangkok and then catch another bus up to Mae Sot, it was going to be expensive. We looked at flying, training, bussing and private car.  The quickest and most expensive was to hire a car and driver…… and as we didn’t want the hassle with all our bags and changing buses and the 12 hours needed we took the car. Not saying how much it cost but it ate up a few days budget in one go.

Next stop Mae Sot.

This turned into a scary journey……