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[ explore.dream.discover ]

your life is your message to the world. make sure it's inspiring.




Have you ever, stumbled upon a place so serene, magical and leaves a lasting impression in your travels? Yes I know, all the places you have been to are serene, magical and leaves a lasting impression;but I am talking about a lasting impression of a different kind. The kind that makes you feel safe, protected, happy and content. For me, Kanchanaburi is one such place.

I was planning to go to Kanchanaburi one weekend but I had a small argument with someone, so I decided to stay back in Bangkok to sulk. As the day progressed, I realized how stupid it can be to sulk when I can leave it behind and go exploring. Well, it didn’t take me long to pack, so I was out from the hotel in the next 10 minutes. Naturally I missed the morning train, so I had to scramble to make it for the last train departing at 2pm to Kanchanaburi. If I miss that, I can only go again the following weekend.

Getting to Kanchanaburi is well, a little bit complicated. You see, most trains in Thailand depart and arrives in the huge Hua Lampong station which you can access by tuk tuk, cab or the MRT which is directly connected. The train to Kanchanaburi, however, departs from the Thonburi station. So where is Thonburi?

I don’t know, nor did most of the tuk tuk or cab drivers.

I took the BTS to Thon Buri station, thinking that the Thon Buri Railway station should be nearby. Turned out that the station is about 1 hour away by cab! The driver told me he will try his best to make it in 45 minutes. The time was 1.20pm. 

We zoomed, raced, zig zagged and sped to glory through the ever chaotic Bangkok’s Saturday traffic. I kept looking at the time on the dashboard. At one point, I saw a signboard written ‘ Thonburi ‘ and felt relieved, only to note that the station is 5 minutes away, but we won’t get there on time because of the massive traffic jam ahead. The time was 1.50pm.

The cab driver did something unthinkable. He dashed out of his car in the middle of the traffic, shouted at one of the motorbike riders to get me at any cost to the railway station. I paid the cab fare, thanked him profusely and jumped on the motorbike. 

The ride was only 5 minutes, but it was unforgettable. He sneaked and snaked his way through the narrowest opening in the road to get to the front of the traffic jam, and made a sharp turn to his right where I saw what appears to be a market, and beyond that, a tiny railway station and signboard proclaiming ‘ Thonburi ‘.

I jumped off, paid the rider 50 baht ( he only asked for 30 ), and RAN with all my might to the ticketing counter where the staff handed me a ticket to Kanchanaburi. I ran towards the train and jumped on, just as the doors were closing and the train started moving. The time was exactly 2pm.

The train looked old with wooden seats, and not the type of 3rd class seats I was used to in my Thailand train travels. I was struck on how different this train is. Turned out, this is the train that will be passing the Death Railway in Kanchanaburi! I chose my window seat, still reeling from the adventure, and settled in for my exciting trip ahead.

We arrived at Kanchanaburi station at about 530pm, and after dropping off half of the train occupants, we moved forward. We chugged along the River Kwai Bridge, where hundreds of locals and tourists were already waiting to snap some picture of the infamous train of the River Kwai. For some reason, it didn’t strike me to get off at the Kanchanaburi station. I figured there will be another station close, where I can disembark and perhaps find a place to stay the night and go exploring the next day.

It turned out that there wasn’t any other stations close by. The closest was the last station, Tha Klien, and there isn’t any accommodation close. Sensing something amiss, I walked along the corridor and found someone who was wearing the train uniform, and asked them if the train will turn back to Kanchanaburi. He said yes. It will turn back the next day!

I was horrified. I told him I missed the station and that I need to get back to Kanchanaburi. He was really nice, because he immediately radioed someone, stopped the train in the middle of nowhere and asked me to get off and cross the track and get on into another train coming from the opposite direction, going back to Kanchanaburi. The train coming from the opposite direction stopped as well, and started moving again when I was safely seated.

Once again we stopped in the Kanchaburi station, where I got off this time. I walked into the small little town, found a guesthouse ( Tara Guesthouse ), checked in and bought a tour from them for the next day, going to the Erawan Waterfalls, Hellfire Pass, the museum and a ride back into town on the Death Railway.

We started our tour the next morning at 8am. Our first stop was the 8 tier Erawan Waterfalls, where I only managed to go up to the 3rd tier. Big, menacing fishes occupied the water, waiting to pounce on anyone who invades their territory. But invade we did, while trying to evade the fishes! The falls wee lovely with beautiful pristine turquoise waters and serene surroundings.

We spent about 1.5 hours there and had lunch at one of the stalls in the National Park compound, before heading to Hellfire Pass and the POW Museum, maintained by the Australian Government. This place is made famous for the building of the Thailand-Burma Railway line over River Kwai during World War II, in 1942. More than 200,000 Allied Prisoners of War (POWs), were made to work in the inhumane conditions by the Japanese, and about 100,000 of them died of starvation, disease, horrific working conditions and sickness. 
It was a poignant moment for everyone, when we walked into the museum and trekked down to the path leading to the place called Hellfire Pass. It was rumored that the name struck because the prisoners were forced to work at night, to speed the building of the tracks, under the glow of fire. The scene was eerily depicted and earned its nickname – Hellfire Pass.

The place was so calm, serene and so eerily quiet that it was entirely possible to imagine what took place in this area circa 1942 ; it was as though the spirits of all the departed soldiers were watching us as we descended the stairs to the remnants of the tracks. On the left and right of the rock openings there were little white crosses with flowers and teddy bears. It brought tears to our eyes.

After that, we watched a short video and viewed the exhibition before leaving Hellfire Pass to Thamkra Sae Railway station to sample our dose of riding on the infamous Death Railway. While waiting for the train to arrive, we visited Krasae Cave, which was situated next to the tracks. A small Buddhist temple situated inside the cave, and functioned as a hospital during WWII. I said a prayer for the departed, hung about on the tracks before scrambling on to the platform when we heard the whistle of the approaching train.

We boarded the train and ran to the windows to get a better view of the River Kwai. The scenery was so breathtaking; views of the countryside, forests and river. We glided effortlessly and got off the Kanchanaburi station, where our tour ended. I popped into the War Museum while I was at it, and we completed everything by 5pm.

I went back to Tara’s and packed my things – and boarded a minivan to Bangkok the same evening. I would never forget a lost world such as Kanchanaburi – it would by far be the loveliest place I have ever visited in Thailand.  




























This piece also appeared in Tripzilla Magazine Singapore/Malaysia edition





Friday night after work and I was still debating whether or not I want to wake up early on a precious Saturday morning to take the train to go to Ayutthya, the former capital of the Kingdom of Thailand. My inner demons, in all attempts to discourage me, keeps screaming in my ears on how much I deserve some sleep, how much I need some rest, the apartment’s swimming pool is a better choice. Alas, it wasn’t an easy choice but my brains won the battle. Hurray for small victories =)

I woke up early around 7am, and was at the Skytrain station going to Saladaeng. From there, I switched to MRT Silom which took me straight to Hua Lampong station. I was hoping I could get the 845am train, but the clerk gave me a ticket for 935am. Hmm mm..there’s like more than an hour to kill, which I easily could,but I wanted some action and I wanted it fast.

I walked around the busy station and my ears perked up when I heard an announcement in not so clear English. Okay, words I caught was ‘ Ayutthya ‘ and ‘ platform 11 ‘. Feeling like Harry Potter on his first year at Hogwarts, I raced to Platform 11, sans the owl, and showed the inspector my ticket. He gestured me to hop on and hop on I did. It was the 845am train going to Ayutthya.

Once aboard, I finally could sit back and relax and enjoy some countryside sceneries. I love Thailand’s countryside and I love Thailand’s train rides. They seem to be connected to everywhere. I love watching little huts that serves as stations and platforms and it never fails to amaze me each time I look at them. Eventhough after every journey, my face is caked with a layer of grime and dirt, nothing some facial cleanser cannot cure.

We picked up some other travelers along the way and soon was chugging along. It rained somewhere between Bangkok and Ayutthya and I let the rain and the wind pelt my face ( I was sitting near the window ) and it was such exhilirating experience. We pulled into Ayutthya’s railway station and half the train got off with us.

While the taxi drivers were busy eyeing the white skinned western backpackers, nobody seemed to notice me. Being dark skinned has some advantages I guess. I walked out of the station, crossed the road and walked straight on, where I came to a river, which I need to cross to get to the other side. The ride cost me 3B and it lasted 3 minutes.

Once the river was crossed, the adventure begin. There was a bicycle and motorcycle hire shop just at the riverside where I hired a bicycle for 40B for the day. The owner asked me to leave my passport for security, and I really wasn’t comfortable parting with my passport. I swore I would damage his bicycle when I return for all this agony he caused me ( I didn’t, naturally, because the agony of not getting back my passport would have been much too painful to handle ).

He gave me a map, showed me where the temples were and flagged me off. I happily cycled along what looked like the only main road in Ayutthya. There were shops and markets but really, it looked like a little town. There were many tuk tuks, songthaews, tourists vans and tourist buses miling around.

And the weather! Ayutthya was so dry, hot and humid I actually had sun rash on my arms. After about 15 minutes of cycling, I cam to my first ruins, Wat Mahathat. Here you have to pay 50B for foreigners, and get in. I parked my bicycle and ambled into the ruins after paying the fee. There were many camera wielding, sweat wiping tourist around. The weather was so hot and so awfully dry without any wind that soon I was sweating so profusely and began to lose interest in the ruins and wandered if I really should have stayed home instead.

Everwhere I looked, there were headless Buddha statues. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Rows and rows of them. It must’ve been a tough battle with the Burmese back then. From what I heard, thieves stole all the Buddha heads to be sold to tourists who would pay high price for them. Thus, we have headless Buddhas sitting all over Ayutthya.

Finally I came to the sight that always greeted me in travel books – the Buddha head stuck on a tree. My, the mob there was unbelievable. Every tourist wants a photograph. Everyone was jostling and shoving each other for a good spot. I clicked a few shots and after saying a prayer, I was out of there.

I went cycling again among the other ruins and other wats but it was so hot that I finally abandoned the plan and cycled to a small restaurant for lunch instead. A plate of rice, a tom yum kung and 2 small bottles of Coke cost me THB300. Was pricey for normal standard, but that was the only restaurant directly overlooking the ruins so I guess the price was OK.

I also found a small little massage centre with only 2 beds and a ferocious little terrier barking at me. The foot reflexology was heavenly, and at just 200B a session, it was a steal and I got about 1 hour out of the sun. I cycled back into the town centre and returned the bicycle and hopped on the boat, and did the whole journey again in reverse.

By the time I reached the hotel, I was so out of it, face caked with grime and dirt, and so tired. It was a worthy journey. I just wished the sun wasn’t so hot!

 

How to get to Ayutthaya cheaply from Bangkok

1. Use the BTS/MRT or take a tuk-tuk to get to Hualampong station

2. Walk to the ticket counter and purchase a ticket to Ayutthaya ( third class costs 15B, clean and comfortable )

3. The ride will take around 11/2 to 2 hours. Enjoy the sceneries!

4. Once you get to Ayutthaya, walk out of the station, cross the main road, and walk straight ahead. You’ll come to the small river, where you can cross for 3B.

5. Once you reach the other side, get off and walk straight ahead. You will see shops renting motorbikes and bicycles. Bicycles should rent around 40-50B a day.

6. Get a map, the shopkeeper should give you one. Ayutthaya Historical Park is close to the river, so just turn right, and turn left onto the main street, and cycle/ride away. It’s a straight road ahead. Wat Mahathat is the first one you will see.

7. Bring enough sunblock, drinking water and a towel to wipe your face. Enjoy the ruins!
  






















 
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(behind the scene)

When not busy collecting stamps on my passport or climbing a mountain, I spend my time dreaming up places to visit, training for an upcoming climb, writing for my not so complete blog and trying to inspire others to follow their travel dreams.

Drop by to say hello or catch up for a chat for your next travel story to be written! Contact me at kunarajandran@gmail.com.

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