Kanchanaburi: Home To Hellfire

Hey folks,

So another few days have passed and I have explored an entirely new city, the smaller but no less interesting region of Kanchanaburi. We left Chiang Mai on Saturday night and took a train down to Ayutthaya to transfer into a minivan to our final destination. The train was supposed to take 11 hours but ended up taking close to 13. Luckily, because it was an overnight train, we had beds to sleep in. The set-up is quite ingenious, with the overhead compartment folding down into a bunk bed and it was large enough for someone my size to sleep in pretty comfortably. So after a long commute, we decided to treat ourselves to a little pampering at Kanchanaburi's top rated destination, Suanachaat Spa. I got a scalp massage, Thai full body massage, coffee scrub, and herbal steam room treatment, plus an amazing sandwich and smoothie and pick-up and drop-off at our hostel, for a total of 1700 Baht (about $55 CDN). After such an all-star treatment, I am feeling much more limber and relaxed and the time in relaxation gave me pause to contemplate the goings on of the past 6 months and the future that lies before me.

Tier 2 of 7 at Erawan Falls

The Bridge Over River Kwai

After a day of relaxation and rest, we were back to our busy schedule and did a full-day tour to pack in all the famous sites that Kanchanaburi has to offer. We started with a trip to Erawan Falls, the largest and most beautiful waterfall in Thailand, consisting of a total of 7 tiers and amazing pools to swim in. The pools also have plenty of fish swimming around inside, and I allowed some of them to nibble on the dead skin on my feet for the experience. It didn't take long to learn that I'm not a fan and I will be skipping the Fish Spa in Phuket... Next we headed to Hellfire Pass. We walked through the museum and learned all about the P.O.W's during the Second World War and how they were made to work 18 hours a day on the Death Railway, carving rock out of the mountain to create a passageway for supply transport from Thailand to Burma. The Japanese were ruthless in their punishment of the prisoners and even romusha, workers who were supposed to be paid from around SEA but who were treated worse than the P.O.W's and the workers had to walk for hours just to get to the work site in the morning and in the pitch black at night. Over 100,000 workers died during the construction of the railway in just a mere three year period! The history of the torture site was very interesting but a little hard to hear about knowing that I was essentially walking on the tombs of the prisoners... We took the Death Railway next, packed to the brim with French, Spanish, Russian, Israeli and American tourists and thankfully equipped with some ceiling fans. It took us most of the way to our final destination, perhaps the most famous spot in Kanchanaburi, the Bridge Over River Kwai. We got there just in time to watch the sunset and had a spectacular view of the market and the peaceful river. After a full day of touring, we still decided to go out and we met plenty of other backpackers along the way, from Canada, England, and Slovenia. Our favourite spot was a little kiosk where you could sit down on the side of the road and order 10 Baht shots (that's the equivalent of 30 cents CDN)! We also stopped at a bar to smoke some hookah, desperate for a reminder of Israel and our friends there.

My rendition of Fried Chicken with Cashews

Today, we walked next door after seeing a sign when we arrived, and signed up for a cooking course. The course started with a fantastic trip to the local market where we saw spices, fruits and vegetables, and meat of every kind being prepared and sold. The craziest was one butcher who was removing the skin off of frogs while they were still alive and squirming! Our instructor treated us to some fantastic coffee concoction served in a bag to cool our sweating brows before we headed back to her guest-house to prepare the kitchen. We got a chance to make three dishes of our selection, and we ended up choosing Pad Thai, Green Curry, and Fried Chicken with Cashews. All three were excellent, despite our lack of expertise, and I now head home with some authentic Thai cuisine knowledge!

So now it's off to a new place to explore. Tomorrow we head to Hua Hin to begin our beach vacation, with a whole afternoon free to laze in the sun. The Full Moon Party is only a few days away and we are getting more and more stoked for it every day! The trend of cool names of our guides and instructors continues to this point as well (my masseuse was named Newt and our cooking instructor was named Sugar). As always, keep reading and keep writing me back. I love to hear from you all!

Ciao for now,

Max