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One of Thailand's premier tourist attractions,
Kanchanaburi, lies a
mere two hours from the capital. This proximity
means it is well
within the time constraints of most people's
itineraries and getting
there could hardly be easier. Buses leave every
half hour from
Bangkok's southern bus terminal and deliver you to
the center of this
small town in air-conditioned comfort. The lush
green scenery and
laid-back way of life mean that exploring the
towns many places of
interest is always enjoyable.
The moment we stepped from the bus we are
(politely) accosted by a
cacophony of cries. "Where you go? Where you go?"
We had both been
here before and instructed one to drive us to The
Jolly Frog, a
popular choice with backpackers. Normally, I
follow a policy of the
older the better in regards to motorcycle taxi
drivers (less
testosterone and a healthy fear of death). Somehow
though, through
same kind of oversight we ended up with a
youngster covered in tattoos
and we were promptly whisked away, with both of us
on the back of one
motorcycle. No one blinked an eye. My pleas for
helmets were met
with incredulous looks and squeezed between my
girlfriend who was
hanging on the back and the sweaty teenager it
wasn't the comfiest
of rides. I'm sure they didn't have insurance
either. 50 cents
seemed a rather large price to pay a 3k journey
and all the
accompanying danger but I paid up.
We soon found ourselves in the restaurant section
of the large
guesthouse with an extensive menu before us. There
are many other
guesthouses along the river but the food is the
reason we and many
others are here. Locals too dine at The Jolly Frog
and this surely
is testimony to its good cooking. This guesthouse
too boasts a lovely
lawn and fine views of the river. After some
delicious catfish it
was early to bed in a basic but clean room.
At about $4 a night, I thought it a bit steep and
it certainly wasn't
the cheapest option. But hell I'm on holiday and I
don't mind blowing
a bit of cash for a nice double room. Many
guesthouses of a similar
ilk line the river offering a panoramic view of
the river and the
majority are cheap and good value.
The next day, we set of early to get in some
serious sightseeing and
with the minimum of fuss we rented the ubiquitous
Honda dream (the
horse of Asia) for around $4.50 for 24 hrs. More
expense. I pay
through gritted teeth trying not to see the crisp
100 baht notes
leaving my short's pockets and we wobbled of down
the road to see the
highlight of our trip.
Most people visit Kanchanaburi for one main
reason; The Bridge and
its associated trivia, and on first impressions,
I'm not. Impressed
that is. It's too small. I'd seen the film and was
expecting something
of epic proportions. And while nice enough it
didn't really fulfill
my expectations. Incidentally I soon learnt the
bridge is not actually
over the river Kwai as most westerners pronounce
it. In the Thai
tonal language this translates as buffalo, the
stupidest animal
around and a common mammal for insults. As all
good learners of a
foreign language do I soon picked up a few common
insults and learnt
that the most insulting thing to call someone is a
giant water
monitor lizard or maybe the son of....Any way back
to my disappointing
first gaze at the bridge. My disillusionment was
compounded when
I found out during the show in the evening that it
wasn't actually
the real thing but a replica, the real one having
been blown up by
the allies of course. We strolled across, and back
again, got
very hot and sought refuge in the nearest
restaurant. The good
thing about Thailand is no matter how small the
bridges are you
are never far away from good food. A dish I always
have when I'm
by the river is yam plas muk and believe me
there's nothing like
the taste of a spicy squid salad washed down with
a cool Singa
beer. Actually Singa beer is disgusting, but it
sounds more
romantic than Heineken. (A new beer has just come
on the market
black tiger. Now that's a quality beer. Dark tasty
and with none
of the formaldehyde aftertaste and resulting
hangovers that Singa
tends to bring. Sorry boomrang brewery.)
Almost right next to the bridge and clearly
signposted is the Jeath
war museum. No not a misprint. Now I know being in
a forced labour
camp must have been pretty bad death, disease,
etc. but in the photos,
it looks like a holiday camp. Young bronzed men
walking round in
sarongs, doing their laundry, shaving, hardly any
really gave me a
sense of the horror it must have been.
That evening we hit one of the many stalls lining
the river in the
town and ate cheap delicious Issan food. With this
fiery sustenance
lining our bellies we headed into a bar opposite
the boats and enjoyed
a couple of jugs of draft beer to the
accompaniment of live Thai
music. I don't know whether it was for our benefit
or not but I
really didn't enjoy the version of Country Road.
About The Author...
Joel has lived and worked in Asia for the last
decade and has written for numerous travel
magazines. He is the chief editor of Asia Travel
Ezine (asiatravelezine.netfirms.com?kan_a5) and is
also responsible for editing and managing the
website, asiahotelbookings.netfirms.com?kan_a5.He
currently resides in Hanoi.
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