Monkey Town (Lopburi) was just a stop on our way to Kanchanaburi, a peaceful little town to the west of Bangkok. Tourists head to Kanchanaburi for two main reasons: to check out the historical sights from the prisoner-of-war-camp from WWII and the bridge over the River Kwai or to hike the seven-tiered waterfall in nearby Erawan National Park. Sean and I attempted to do both and had a great time. It was interesting to see all of the history and refreshing to be in nature and in a smaller town. Being in Bangkok so much was a little overwhelming and we were much happier getting out of the big city (especially because it was much cheaper in Kanchanaburi too!)



We arrived early in the morning and found cheap bungalows on the river at a guesthouse called Sugarcane for about $1.50 a night. We asked around about the public bus that left for the national park every hour and soon we were chugging our way along the river through the limestone-peaked mountains. Erawan National Park was amazing and we had a blast hiking up the different levels of the huge waterfall, Erawan Falls. At each level you could jump in a pristine mountain pool and duck under little waterfalls for a massage. The only annoyance was that the fish in the pools liked to nibble on human skin. A lot of the tourists were happy with this and let the fish nibble away the dead skin on their feet and ankles. Sean and I weren't really that jazzed about it - it felt a little creepy and was very ticklish especially because the fish were pretty good-sized.

We spent the majority of the day at the park and then in the evening we hopped off the bus on our way back home at the place where we could see the actual bridge over the River Kwai (also called the Death Railway Bridge). In WWII, Japan controlled Kanchanaburi and wanted to connect Burma with Bangkok by rail to transport military supplies. To build the railway they used captured Allied soldiers as well as many other captives from SE Asia as the main labor force. This railway is sometimes called the Death Railway because more than 100,000 men died because of the poor working and living conditions in the labor camps.


The bridge over the River Kwai looks just like your ordinary bridge and is really just a small (but key) part of the Death Railway to Burma. It was pretty cool though because you can still see some damage by bombs from Allied planes. We also checked out the Allied war cemetery and a few of the war museums that described what went on in the area during the war and the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre which had photos of how the Death Railway was built.


Once again, Sean and I could have spent a few extra days here just relaxing and hanging out at the national park, but we were anxious to see other parts of SE Asia as well. We enjoyed the last of our time in Kanchanaburi eating at a Thai cooking school for dinner (fried duck in tamarind with kelp crispies and fried papaya with eggs, prawns and sprouts) and pancakes with honey on the river in the morning.

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