56. PLOY Guesthouse

This is where I stayed in Kanchanaburi - PLOY Guesthouse. It is very clean and the staff were very helpful.

Above: My room
I was in Room A 103 - the "A" building is the single storey building with an outdoor shower with private garden. I would sit on the timber seat and have a smoke, in peaceful surroundings.
There was an information sign on the wall near the mirror which I thought rather delightful. It reads -


DO'S & STOP
:DO REMIND The breakfast time is 7:00 - 10:00am After that
we have to apologise that we can't serve because a ton of work to do.
For the bar serves you until 20:30

:Don't Take Bath towel of the room, please take your towel out.
Pool towel is provided 20 BHT per day.

:DO REMEMBER everything in a room have a price DON'T RUIN them.

:DO Check-out before 12:00 or the late is 100 BHT per hour.

:DO fill the drinking water as we provide.

:DON'T smoke in a room.

:DON'T BE HESITATE to ask for something or any question. we appreciate
to serve you but please DO SPEAK EXTRA SLOWLY AND CLEARLY.
As we can speak English just a little bit.

:DO Enjoy kids with our facilities: Lego, Paint, Sand pool for free
of charges except Radio Control Boat is 40 BHT per 10 minutes.

:DO NOTE that most toilets in Thailand mean you will have to squat,
but in PLOY please sit. And DON'T PUT the toilet paper
or sanitary pads in the toilet bowl.

:DO REMOVE FOOTWEAR before getting on the bed.

Above: PLOY gardens
The gardens around the guesthouse. There are quiet spots where you can sit and just chill out. The centre photo shows the pool and the river. The swimming pool...hmm, yes.

Thou Shalt Look Where Thou Put Thy Big Foot!
I decided to take a dip in the pool, not being a swimmer, I gauged the shallow end and went in accordingly. Oh it was so refreshing sitting there, legs floating in the water, water coming up to chest high, arms weightless. Such a cooling place. Finally I decided to get out and have a drink. Now, there was no sign saying, "Caution - Slippery" and as I awkwardly climbed up the ladder and gingerly put my foot down on the ground --- WHOOSH! I slipped, lost my balance and ended up very inelegantly on my rear end. I put my right arm out to break the fall, and landed in a heap. (I'm afraid I wasn't very quiet about it either) - I couldn't move - pain shot up my right arm and my rear end was very sore. Two of the staff (both male) came over (it was so embarrassing - the top of my bathers had slipped down) and as I feverishly tried to pull them up I asked them to pass me my sarong. After several minutes, I slowly, very slowly got up, sat in the cane chair.
Ever been in situations where you wish the floor would open up and swallow you? Well, this was one of those times. That was my first (and last) adventure into a pool. Sigh........

Above: PLOY Guesthouse
Looking down from the entrance to the rooms. Note the thatched roofs

Above: Bedroom
My first experience of Thai beds - the mattresses are not just firm they are hard! And instead of it being on a bed with four legs, it was situated on the floor - the floor where the bed was, was higher then the rest of the floor. Just think of a huge step. Getting on it was fairly easy - it was the getting off that took some doing. I found the best way was to slither down to the end of the bed, dangle my feet over the edge on the right hand side and onto the chair, then put them on the ground! What a sight for sore eyes I must have been.

The little fridge was on the same level as the mattress and the window showed the "garden" outside. To the right of the narrow table and mirror is the bathroom door.

Above: Outdoor garden shower
When you go through the bathroom door, the basin and mirror are to your left, the loo is on the right and the shower faces the garden.
There is another sign, equally quaint and rather humourous which says:

DO'S & STOP
:DON'T FORGET that mosquitoes looking and flying like fighter planes will,
not may, also extend you a warm welcome even during daylight. DO BRING
some anti-mosquito-aircraft necessities along and if don't have them ask us.
Especially please DON'T FORGET to close the door.

:DON'T BE ALARMED if you find pigs trotting by or in front of you,
or big monstrous (perhaps to you) lizards wisping out their forked tongues above
your head, or others.....because this is a REAL NATURF.

:DO CONCERN that the electricity and water is the world's resources,
let's save this energy. Please DO TURN OFF when YOU DON"T NEED IT.

:DO let us know if you back from the National park as always many blood
eater come with you, we could give you a hand to clean stuff.

:DON'T KEEP your valuables in a room. And if you do think
we are decent and honest do keep your valuables in out safe deposit box.

:DO BE ALERT if you take NEW FRIEND in room, please take
care your personal belonging.

:DO hang on the sign "do not disturb" If you don't need us to make up
your room.

:DON'T FORGET to double lock the door by wood club.

Have a nice dream!

Above: Walkway
From my room, I walked this way to get to the restaurant - turn left after the elephants.

Above: Entrance to restaurant
The steps lead to the restaurant - on the right hand side is the bar and the area where the breakfast is cooked.

Above: Breakfast table
The tables are made of a solid piece of beautiful timber, topped with glass. The seating is also made of timber, polished to a sheen with the patina of old wood. This was my table. A free breakfast consisting toast and tea or coffee is included in the room price. The rest is extra. I had scrambled egg, 25 baht, bacon - 30 baht and orange juice 40 baht as well. It was 95 baht well spent.

Above: Antiques and Collectables
There are many beautiful pieces - timber sculptures, antiques and curios. This cabinet holds hookah pipes, lustres and candelabras. Above is an old steamer travelling trunk.

Above: Rooftop Garden
I discovered this delightful rooftop garden setting. Relaxing lounges and pillows, undercover from the blazing sun and tables and chairs - again made from nature - solid timbers and marble tops. The whole is surrounded by shrubbery and trees with a view overlooking the River.

Above: View from restaurant
My favourite view - the River Kwai as seen from my breakfast table.

All in all, I was very happy with my choice of accommodation and would recommend it to anyone visiting Kanchanaburi wanting a quiet, relaxed place where you can chill out and just listen to the birds and the gentle lapping of the river.

55. Death Railway

Namtok Railway Station to Kanchanaburi

The famous, or rather infamous Death Railway which ran for 415 kms was constructed by POW's and forced Asian labourers in WWII. The working and living conditions of those prisoners was horrific and the brutality of their captors was unmatched. At the end of the war, most of the railway was pulled up and it exists today only from Kanchanaburi to Namtok, a distance of around 50 kms.

Above: Harvesting

The views from the train are breath-taking and beautifully scenic. It is an unforgettablbe journey along the river and mountains.

Above: Tall steeple
About 25 minutes into the journey, I saw this pretty little building (a temple?) on the left-hand side.

Above: Wang Pho station
There were many passengers who alighted at this station, many of them school students.

Above: Thamkra Sae Station
The train goes past Thamkra Sae Station just before crossing the Wampo Viaduct.

Above: Wampo Viaduct
Crossing over the shaky bridge, alongside the River Kwai, or more correctly Khwae Noi, sleepers and pillars creaking, is a thrilling experience. The train slows right down and the views are spectacular. The best way to see the Viaduct is by train.

Wampo Viaduct was built in March/April 1943 and completed in "speedo" time (non-stop work). It was rebuilt and strengthened in the original design during the post war years of WWII.

Here is a real life account of building the viaduct by Leo Rawlings.

Above: The viaduct hugs the cliff
Much of the journey was spent with heads hanging out the window, hands madly trying to catch that perfect photo. At certain times however, you had to quickly pull your head back in - unless you wanted to arrive at the end of the trip headless!

Above: Man sitting on sleeper
It was quite astonishing seeing this chap sitting casually on one of the sleepers. I do hope he managed to get some good photos.

Above: Lookout Tower
This is one of the lookout towers which offer wonderful views across the river.

Above: Gardens
A little further along is this pretty garden or park.

Above: Tha Kilen Station
Although the station is small, it seems to be a popular one for people to hop on and off the train.
From Nam Tok station it is eight stops to Kanchanaburi - Koe Mahamongkol, Wang Pho, Tham Krasae, Thakilen, Baan Kao, Wang Yen, River Kwai Bridge then Kanchanaburi.

Above: Temple
I haven't been able to find out the name of this temple, but it is about 20 minutes before the train crosses over the River Kwai Bridge.

Above: Over the river

Above: Topiary
The topiary seems to have been done by a very clever artist.

Above: Kanchanaburi township
As the train approached the River Kwai Bridge, you could see lots and lots of people all out to see the train come in.

Above: Kanchanaburi Station
The journey over, I walked out through the station where the chap from my guesthouse picked me up.

Above: Death Railway map
This map shows where the train line for the Death Railway (Burma-Thailand Railway) ran.



DEATH RAILWAY, NAMTOK TO KANCHANABURI
I rode the train along the Death Railway from Namtok to Kanchanaburi Station over the Bridge on the River Kwai on 9th February, 2011. The scenery is so wonderful, it is easy to forget the horror and suffering endured by the POW's and enforced Asian labourers who built it, but the beauty of the surroundings is their legacy.

54. Namtok Station

We left Hellfire Pass and made our way to Namtok Railway Station. I wanted to ride the "Death Railway" and the last train left at 3.15pm.

Above: Namtok Station
We arrived with time to spare and my driver walked to the station and stayed with me while I bought my ticket, then checked it to make sure it was the right one.

Above: My Driver
This was my driver for the day, a pleasant fellow whose car had suspension!

Above: Ticket to Kanchanaburi
This is what the train tickets look like. Namtok to Kanchanaburi is 100 baht.

Above: Namtok Station Collage
Click on the photos to enlarge.

Above: Third Class Carriages
Wooden seats with straight backs, they're not really all that bad, and it's nice sitting on the train anyway looking at the passing scenery. Vendors go up and down several times selling drinks and sometimes fruit. The fans on the ceiling at least move the air and it's surprising how pleasant it can be if you're sitting in the "breeze".

Above: Station Master
Station Master getting ready to wave the flag for the train journey.

 

Above: Ticket Inspector
"Tickets please, tickets please", called the conductor - only in Thai of course. Even though most of us on the train didn't understand Thai, we all knew what he was saying. A happy, jolly fellow, he was quite happy to have his photo taken, something which I'm sure he must be asked many times a day.

Above: Goodbye to Namtok
As the tain pulled out, this was my last view of Namtok. The station itself was quite a pretty place and had I had more time, I'd have pottered around the stall vendors and had a cuppa. There were many people milling about, quite a hive of activity.

53. Hellfire Pass

Hellfire Pass ~ Honouring the Fallen
My uncles were in the war - PNG, Palestine and Burma. At Grandma's funeral and wake, after a few beers, my uncles began reminiscing about old times. They spoke of Palestine, sang a soldier's ditty. Then Uncle Bernie said, "Jerry was alright, you could deal with Jerry, it was those little slant-eyed yellow bastards I couldn't stand."
He had been in Burma. He could not forget.

I went to Kanchanaburi not to see the tiger temple or ride an elephant or bamboo raft down the river, I went because of its history. And a brutal and terrible history.


A Life For Every Sleeper

Above: Original track work of the Death Railway





One POW died for every 32.6 metres of track.
There were 424 thousand metres of track.
13,000 died and are buried along the way.

Over 80,000 Asian labourers died.

For every sleeper laid it cost one human life
120,000 sleepers where laid.

Japanese brutality at its best.





Hellfire Pass - Honouring The Fallen

Above: Information Sign

At the beginning of doing this walk this sign reads
The railway has been cleared for a further four kilometres but no improvements have been made to steep or difficult sections. Only those persons in good physical condition should attempt this part of the trail. Walking time from this point to the end and return is 3 hours.

Above: Hellfire Pass ~ Tree of Life
This self-seeded tree grew in the middle of Hellfire Pass. Where once cruelty and death lingered, the appearance of the birth of a new tree gives hope. Tree of life is a metaphor for the livelihood of the spirit.

Above: Railbed
As you walk along this track today, it is a peaceful place with the sound of crickets and cicadas singing and the stones crunching under your walking feet. No-one who comes here shouts or yells - something about the atmosphere begs for the listener to be still and breathe in the winds of today which have overcome the trials of yesterday. It is not until you reach the memorials that you realise it is not all it seems it is not a pretty walk in the country but a living memorial to thousands of men who lived, worked and died many still in their teens or early twenties. Young men who never had the chance to live and learn about the joys of happiness which we take for granted.

So... be still take a quiet time and sit and just do nothing but listen to the wind as it ruffles your hair and the sun beats down overhead as it did oh so many years ago on others who were here first.




HELLFIRE PASS
Cuttings along the railway varied from shallow earth to deep rock. Konyu Cutting, or Hellfire Pass as it was known, is the deepest and largest on the entire length of the railway.

On 25th April 1943 - ANZAC Day - work commenced to excavate the cutting. A workforce of prisoners of war began the task of hacking back the jungle, removing the loose earth and drilling in rock by hand. Little machinery was available. Most of the drilling work was done by the "hammer and tap" men, a process whereby one man would hold and rotate a drill or "tap" while his mate hit the head of the drill with an eight to ten pound hammer.

 

Above: Sheer rockface - the hill was excavated by hand

'Pick up.
Carry 25 yards or more.
Up the bank.
Dump.
Walk back.'

'On jobs such as cuttings, Nips stood overhead and threw stones all the time irrespective of whether you worked or not.' - Reg Holloway, 2/40th Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force.

Above: In Remembrance

When the hole was deep enough, explosive charges would be used, the broken rock removed by hand and the process began again. The process was slow.

As work fell behind schedule and "speedo" was called, the work rate intensified. Work shifts lasting up to eighteen hours drilled, blasted and removed rock in a continuous operation. The men laboured under intense pressure from the Japanese engineers and Korean guards at the height of the wettest monsoon season for many years. Such was the brutality that 69 men were beaten to death by their guards.

Above: In Memory
Many prisoners-of-war died from cholera, beriberi, dysentery, starvation, and exhaustion. On starvation rations - a cup of boiled rice or millet three times a day - if they were lucky, malnutrition was a big killer.

At night, the cutting was lit by fires, lamps or diesel torches. The eerie light and shadows of guards and gaunt prisoners of war playing on the rock walls suggested the name the site was given - Hellfire Pass.

Above: POW - Original photo
An original photo of a POW standing beside the primitive tripod which was used for levelling the ground of the Death Railway Thailand - Burma

 

Above: Hellfire Pass, 1944
Original photo of Hellfire Pass (Konyu Cutting) which forms part of the Death Railway, was a particularly difficult section of the line to build, not only because it was the largest rock cutting on the railway, but also because of its remoteness and the lack of proper construction tools during building.

Above: Hellfire Pass today
These rails and sleepers are from the official railway and were relaid in Konyu Cutting in April 1989 by the men of "C" Company 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment.
They were relocated to the current position in 2006.

Above: Memorial
One of the most poignant memories is of a plain little wooden cross that said simply "For my Dad"

Above: Poppies of Remembrance
This humble litte poppy was known as the corn poppy because it flourished as a weed in grain fields. The Flanders poppy as it is now called, grew profusely in the trenches and craters of the war zone. (WW I)
The red Flanders’ poppy was first described as a flower of remembrance by Colonel John McCrea, who was Professor of Medicine at McGill University of Canada before World War One.

Above: The Australian Flag

Above: Hellfire Pass
The plaque on the left is dedicated to Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop (1907 - 1993) and reads ~

Patron of the Association of and Surgeon of the jungle whose ashes were scattered in this area on 25th April 1994.

From 1942 to 1945 Weary Dunlop and his medical colleagues, in the Armed Services of Great Britain, Australia, Netherlands, India and the United States of America gave devoted service to thousands of sick and dying prisoners-of-war and Asian labourers who were forced to construct and maintain the Burma-Thailand Railway.

These doctors provided leadership, helped alleviate pain and suffering and above all gave reason to live when all real hope seemed lost.

To them we all give thanks.

"When you go home, tell them of us and say we gave our tomorrow for your today"

Above: Hellfire Pass Memorial
Of the 1,000 Australian and British soldiers who took 12 weeks to clear the stretch of mountain, 700 died. They worked around the clock for 16-18 hours a day to complete excavation of the 17 metre deep and 110-m long cutting through solid limestone and quartz rock.
The Hellfire Pass Memorial and Memorial Museum were set up to commemorate these fallen.

Above: 352 Steps
This is the number of steps to reach Hellfire Pass. Many are steep and climbing down and then back up face running with sweat sun beating down I look back at what was once one of the most dreaded railways in history - the "Death Railway" and ask how could so much human suffering and atrocity be caused by one human being to another?

Above: Peace Vessel - Peter Rushforth
Peter Rushforth was a prisoner of war on the Burma Thailand Railway. In 1946 he commenced training as a potter with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. His work is represented in the Australian National Gallery and Australian state and regional galleries as well as private collections all over the world.

Above: Memorial Museum
The Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum complex is an Australian built complex decicated to the memory of all the men and women who worked and died making this railway.

Above: The Staff

 

Above: Grounds





Walk Through Hellfire Pass

In Remembrance of
All those who suffered
And all who died.