On the Bangkok/Thailand trip we also visited Kanchanburi province and the Bridge On The River Kwai. Kanchanburi is about 130 kilometres from Bangkok city. The photo ‘Kanchanaburi’ was taken at the Allied War Cemetery in Kanchanburi. Thousands of Allied POW’s were captured by the Japanese during WWII and enslaved to work the ruthless Thai-Burma Railway line, also known as the Death Railway. A great number died while performing this task and are buried in the Allied War cemetery. The grounds are extremely well tended and graves are divided into nationalities. Beside each grave is a growing plant, which to me symbolises life. The woman in the photo is tending to the graves in the Australian section. I read a book about an Australian POW who worked here shortly before going to Thailand so this man’s terrible struggles were fresh in my mind as I walked somberly through the grounds. We also visited a nearby museum, which gave an excellent insight into life as a POW working on the railway. The museum is housed in replica straw thatched huts like the ones the POW’s lived in. After visiting the museum we caught a noisy but very fast longtail boat down the river to the bridge itself. We sped past some homes that were floating on the river – see ‘Floating House’.  The photo ‘River Kwai 1’ was taken from the deck of the Bridge. The original bridge was a wooden structure and was to be built about 300 metres downstream from where this photo was taken. The site there was abandoned due to the river’s fragile silt bottom – the bridge kept sinking! Photo ‘Kwai Bridge 1’ is the bridge as it stands today. It is made of steel and concrete. The angular sections were replaced after U.S. bombing during the war. We were able to walk across the bridge - which by the way has no safety netting to stop you from falling into the River Kwai should you topple over! In Australia you would not be allowed anywhere near a bridge like that due to Occupational Health and Safety issues. Whilst we were in the middle of the bridge my wife asked me, “Do you think the trains still use this bridge?” I replied, “No, I doubt it….” A few minutes later we heard a train’s whistle and we both looked back to see a train approaching slowly! Unbelievable! We managed to squeeze into a recess on the bridge and allow the train to pass. Only in Thailand! From there we had lunch in a nearby town and then caught a rickety old train for 30 minutes. The train went through the terrain and over some rickety old bridges still intact. I loved going over these ‘trestle bridges’ and hanging out the window. It was great day. If you are in Bangkok, I highly recommend this day trip.  
Kanchanaburi Floating_House River_Kwai_1 Kwai_Bridge_1 Kwai_Bridge_2 Kwai_Bridge_3 Bridge_Crossing River_Kwai_2