11 January 2015 - Bridge over River Kwai and beyond.

A mighty protest from Luke at 5 AM about not going to the "Choir" was sorted out as we explained we were  going to the River Kwai.  I guess it is easy to think Luke understands all the grown up talk and on the whole, he does.  The big kids had watched : "Bridge on the River Kwai" with us so they were in the know.

Platform 11 and our train

Any train spotters out there?

Our "excurtion" train

We took a metered taxi to Hua Lamphong Station (again) passing a huge marathon around Lumpini Park.  We hadn't anticipated a traffic jam so early on a Sunday morning!  Our 0630 "Excurtion" train was mostly full and we realised that Thai legs are much shorter than ours - very cramped. As the journey started the crowd warmed up and it was a jovial carriage.  James (Shine), an English chap, with his uni student son, who had been on the journey before, soon introduced himself to the handful of ex-pats on the train and outlined the journey ahead, which was helpful.  We also met Laura, from Melbourne and swapped a few travel stories and laughs.

Not much knee room

Passing the outskirts of Bangkok we saw little communities built no more than a metre from the track in various states of repair, people eating in makeshift street cafes and lazing dogs.  This soon gave way to sugar cane plantations and banana, pawpaw and occasional corn and rice crops.  The lush green of the tropics is lovely compared to the dry landscape in Southern Australia this time of year.

Our first stop was 25 minutes at a temple, Wat Pathomacchedi where the monks and locals were chanting.  The market we walked through to get to the temple came to a halt as the National Anthem was broadcast loudly.  We picked up a bit of food here including an interesting doughnutty pastry served in a plastic bag with black sesame and crushed peanuts and sugar.

The monks were chanting as we walked around

Funny faces

More funny faces?

Nice to be able to read a bit about this temple

Market stalls

Such long names

And so we rattled on, on our hard plastic seats, knocking knees and fraying tempers!  The good thing about the train is that you are free to walk up and down the entire length and even ride on the coupling plates which gave a whole new meaning to train surfing!  Windows all open, breeze in our faces, noisy as all heck and a sense of adventure.

Have dog, will travel.  This little dog traveled the whole day with us in his dog pouch!

Hanging on!

As the stone says, it all started here.

Can you see the single track in front, with sugar cane each side?

The train was running behind schedule already, not that we expected anything different, but it did mean that we didn't have as long as we were scheduled to at the various stops. It is a single gauge track with no apparent impediments!  I was standing right at the front of the train and could see the narrow track snaking ahead. Just after 10 AM we were approaching the famous bridge over River Kwai.  The river itself is impressive and snakes along the track, its brown waters reflecting the jungle surrounds. James informed us that we could have just enough time to walk over the River Kwai bridge and back before the train went, and we did just that! 

Farm land

Bridge of River Kwai - at the station

River Kwai from the bridge

Single track leading over bridge

You look straight down to the water.

The bridge from the other side.

Peaceful river

Wider than I expected

Heading back to the train

The train stopped and the crowd poured out and we joined the masses crossing the bridge both ways as well as the army and volunteers cleaning the bridge.  Quite a push and we had to be very foot sure on the uneven tracks.  It is not the original bridge but is on the original place.

We're moving again!

House boat and mountains

Train surfing

Approaching viaduct on 70 year old tracks

Very ricketty and very high

The photographer gets photographed

Still quite high

We stopped at various little stations along the way.  As the train was running so late, we couldn't hop on and off as we scheduled.  The highlight of the journey for me was going over the aqueduct.  This part was on the original tracks, built by the prisoners of war, and the train went REALLY slowly!  Again, I had a privileged spot at the front of the train, with the door OPEN, Luke standing right there with me, and loving it.  No safety standards apart from a rope cross the open doorway!

And we chugged on via Kanchanburi to Nam Tok, the end of the line, where we had two hours to explore.  Food was high on our agenda and whilst the kids opted for roti with banana and egg, I found some banana leaf parcels with a spicy egg and green red curry taste which were delicious.  The iced coffee from 7-11 is just too sweet for me.  The toilets were interesting with no flushers at all, just scoops and buckets and water everywhere!

Tummies full, we walked back up to the lovely waterfall.  It is all limestone with stalactites overhanging and jungle vines.  We took off our shoes and attempted what we thought would be a slippery smooth ascent. Surprisingly, the limestone was like fine sandpaper and not slippery except for shaded areas where there was a bit of moss. Super fun!

Can't resist walking in the water!

Tim at his happiest: exploring!

Luke at his happiest: also exploring

Hand stands at the base of the water fall.

Looks slippery but wasn't!

Bag minder - again  - Karl didn't want to get his feet wet!

End of the line

 Our two hours quickly passed and we heard the train toot so we hurried back.  We waited quite some time and the train eventually left 40 minutes late and was late all the way back!  This meant that we couldn't go to see the war graves at Kanchanburi which was disappointing.

The Man in Seat 61!

Homeward bound

Anyone for roast duck?

More pictures of the mighty river.

James had advised us to order food for the journey home when the guards came around.  We did this and were grateful for rather dried out duck, a noodle dish with fish balls, more banana leaf parcels, some spicy fried fish and a superb coconut tart.  The guards busied themselves handing out the meals they were passed from a small station en route.  And so we rattled along.  We arrived back at Hua Lamphong station over two hours late and were grateful for a taxi to our door.  Tired, oh so tired!

Very grateful for an excellent day and good beds at the end of it!