Kan-Chana-Buri

Kanchanaburi (Kan-Chan-Arb-Uree in Australian) was our destination for the first few days this week.

Our first days were spent paying or respects to the POWs who worked on the Thai-Burma railway under Japanese enforcement. The museum is well researched and provides a strong intellectual and emotional background to understand what occurred in the area. I found the POW cemetery moving, in particular the personalised epitaths. Some had quotes, many religious comments, but the ones I found most moving were the personal, immediate comments such as "In loving memory of Tim, we love and miss you, Mum & Dad". The lack of pretension and still obvious love and sadness is what I connect with.

In traveling to Hellfire Pass I learnt not to accept the advise of the Tourism Authority (the buses & trains recommended did not connect, leaving us to hire a very expensive taxi) nor to trust the Lonely Planet on prices. Still, it's all part of the adventure.

The following day we went to Erawan National Park to see the waterfall and forest. The fall's spread over seven levels ('steps') with small waterfalls, the highest about 3ms and small pools to swim in, so long as you didn't mind the fish nibbling your toes. It was peaceful after Bangkok, fresh away from the smog, and felt good to be out in the national park that felt relatively unaffected by tourists or bureaucrats.

We stayed at the Jolly Frog Guest House, whose highest virtues were its price (double room $8) , nice open area over looking the river and cleanliness. On the flip side, the roof sagged, walls were paper thin, and the neighbours noisy.