We rose at 5am for the 6am train but when we arrived at station, we were told that the train was delayed until 7am. We looked at the interestingly shaped topiary of nagar and dinosaurs and popped to 7-11 for coffee and weird croissant toasties. On the way back to the station, Matt discovered his favourite banana/sticky rice treats being freshly cooked in their banana leaves. I've got a feeling we might end up with an early start tomorrow since morning stalls are usually all packed up by 8 or 9am. After further delays and a nap on the platform of the quaint station, we set off around 8.15.
At the 'Bridge over the Kwai' stop, the train was boarded by a stream of already drunken Thais (I assume they were Thai but they did drink like Laos guys), who sang songs and chants and chatted happily for the rest of the journey.
The views of rural Thailand and the misty mountains were really quite lovely but we had to be careful not to let our fingers, elbows or faces hang out of the open window since the train fitted very snugly into the alloted space, meaning that even the slightest bit of overhang would be whipped by bushes, bashed concrete posts or risk being entagled in electric cables.
Not that the train was moving particularly fast. It had a top speed of about 45mph when all you could hear was the sound of the engine and clunking of the carriages as they swung from side to side, straining at their links. Occasionally, the Thai guys stood at the end of the carriage would all give a large cry and for one moment we'd wonder if the train had come off the track.
Passing over the viaducts, it was impossible not to marvel at what the POW's who built it had achieved. It was also a bit hair-raising when everyone rushed to one side to look out of the windows into the valleys below.
We arrived Nam Tok about 10.30 and debated paying the 600 baht taxi fare to Hellfire Pass but when the guy insisted we'd only be able to stay for an hour, we decided to jump in the shared songthaew to a nearby waterfall. It was driven by the same guy who wanted to take us Hellfire Pass and I couldn't help but wonder if he would have thrown the full truck-load of people out if we'd agreed. As we arrived and peeled ourselves out of the back seat (which was still better than the metal cage of the truck), the driver told us, "This waterfall. No water."
There wasn't actually very much water, but there was still enough for a small pool where little kids swam and played in inner tubes. There was a helpful information stand though and he confirmed that we could get a bus and wrote down the destination in Thai for us.
We completed the small circuit of the waterfall and headed across the road for the bus. We flagged down the next one that wasn't a party bus blasting out music and full of druken Thais. It wasn't the actual public bus but after a brief discussion with a local woman (probably to ascertain the price we'd normally get charged), the conducter agreed to take us for 30baht each.
We jumped on and about 20 mins later were deposit squarely outside a security fence. We followed the road, past the emus to the Hellfire Pass Museum. The museum is curated by an Australian guy and was excellent. There weren't many objects there to look at since POWs had very little and most of what they did have was burnt to try and stop the spread of cholera, but the information was interesting and there were some statues, a film and a few heartwrenching paintings by POW's.
After being given an audio tour handset and a walkie-talkie(!), we made our way down the ballast path and through Hellfire pass. The audio tour was outstanding and included insights from the POW's who had toiled to create the path through the rock. The ground underfoot was made from the blasted rock and was tough going for Dave and his flip-flops. It was impossible to imagine what walking on it barefoot while carrying a load would have been like, never mind having to do in the extreme climate when beaten, sick and starving.
Taking in the view from the top of the pass, we got a better idea of the magnitude of the task and tried to imagine what 416km of similar work in 20 months would entail. Roughly 13,000 POWs and 100,000 Asian workers died during this time. Of the POW survivors, many were tragically killed as the allies bombed Japanese ships as they transported the prisoners back. Perhaps more sad is the fact that there are no records of the Asian workers who were lured by promises of good pay and conditions, only to suffer equal cruelties.
We would have liked to continue to the end of the route bus needed to get back in time for the 3.30 train and so took the path that the prisoners used to walk and headed back to the museum.
We were out on the main road just in time to catch the local bus as it careered past. It got to our stop just as the heavens opened. Luckily, we found out that it was actually going all the way back to Kanchanburi and so not only did we get to stay dry, we avoided the clunky train, arrived back nearly 2 hours early and got dropped off near our favourite chicken stand just in time for freshly cooked food.
Out in evening. 10B bar and bus organising. Sang in pub. Home reasonably early
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