I arrived on a bus out of Bangkok that never seemed to leave a city, which surprised me. I thought I would see a little bit of wilderness between spots.
Even Kanchanaburi was bigger than I expected. So far, nothing about this day was as expected. I got on a motorcycle taxi in Bangkok to just go a few kilometers to the Southern Bus Station for Baht.
I thought I could risk a motorcycle for just a few minutes. It turned out to be 40 minutes, with me farther away from the Southern Bus Station than when I started. Motorcycle guy must have been new, got lost, or something else. Metered taxi guy to the rescue, getting me to the bus station in the nick of time for the next bus. My taxi from the Kanchanaburi bus station was unusual, too. A pick-up truck with benches in it. Dropped me off at Heaven β the Sabai Kan. But the day was young and I wanted to explore.
Walked to the Bridge over the River Kwai. Market in full swing next to it. Historic museum waiting for the day when I can spend some time there. Next day my driver picked me up Baht for all day β anything I want to see or do. My first item was go to the Hellfire Pass Memorial. Not only is there a Hellfire Pass Memorial, maybe about 80 km outside of Kanchanaburi, and a walk through the Konyu Cutting a horrific event for the POWs involved ,there is a very well done museum great exhibits, more details in Kanchanaburi, and a lovely cemetery park.
Plenty to Google about, research, learn, maybe not for everyone when there are fun activities galore, but an important piece of history, and very meaningful if you know anyone who served in World War II. Next day was quite the opposite in terms of seriousness β ElephantsWorld. Spent a day with retired, abused and one orphaned baby elephants.
