Bridge Over the River Kwai and Surroundings

During WW2 the Japanese, using hundreds of thousands of POWs built a railway line, over very unlikely terrain between Thailand and Burma (now Myanmar). I think a 100,000 or more died during its construction. We paid a passing visit to the war cemetery in Kanchanaburi that commemorates these deaths. Very subdued. Unsettling to see how young the ages on the graves are.

From Thailand Photos

Not too far away from here is the famous bridge over the river Kwai, immortalised in that film I didn't see, ... I can't quite remember the name of it ;-). The bridge isn't really that impressive, neither is the museum.

From Thailand Photos

What was impressive, however, was the the train journey we took next. The Thai government since the war ripped up most of the railway line that was built, except for a stretch from Kanchanaburi to Nam Tok - "The Death Railway". The views were spectacular and really showed the impossible construction task faced by the soldiers.

From Thailand Photos

We would later visit "Hellfire Pass", the most notorious stretch of the railway line where there was a death for every railway sleeper.