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Kanchanaburi is a town in the west of Thailand. It is located where the Khwae Noi and Khwae Yai rivers converge into the Mae Klong river, where in 1942, under Japanese control, the famous Bridge on the River Kwai was built by Prisoners Of War (POW). The city is also home to the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery. The cemetery, designed by Colin St Clair Oakes, was created after the war by the Army Graves Service. More than 5,000 Commonwealth and 1,800 Dutch casualties are commemorated in this cemetery. The names of eleven soldiers of the Indian Army whose graves elsewhere could not be maintained are commemorated by a name on a tablet in the entrance building. 38 km north-west of Kanchanaburi along the 323 highway, near the Myanmar (Burma) border is a temple of tigers that has now been made world famous by National Geographic and Discovery Channels. But let's start at the very beginning....... We arrived at Kanchanaburi by bus on a warm Saturday morning. The bus stand is teeming with Thais and we feel lost. Standing in a corner, dressed in a British military style, toothbrush moustache and all is someone who we make a beeline to as he can possibly guide us in English. It turns out that he is an American from San Fransico who comes to this bus stand every weekend to help people like us. When we ask him how much the taxi fares are, a wary look comes into his eyes. He looks furtively around and whispers "you could pay up to 500 Baht for a trip to the Bridge (over the river Kwai) and the Tiger Temple). We thank him and start bargaining with a thin and wiry Thai. It turns out to be quite entertaining. He knows no English and we know no Thai but we communicate quite well. He turned out to be a good chap and he gave us great service and when we left, we felt a trifle guilty at having driven his rates so low. You can read about this encounter below in the Bargaining Thai style in Kanchanaburi link. |
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War Cemetery: "Far away beneath foreign skies, in a hero's grave he lies......."
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War Cemetery: A plaque erected in memory of Indian soldiers who died in Kanchanaburi
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War Cemetery: View of the mass graves
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JEATH War Museum: Wax model of an Allied soldier dying in a makeshift hospital.
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Tiger Temple: James Hadley Chase once wrote a book entitled "Tiger By The Tail". This picture could be titled "Tiger by the head". Conditions apply!
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The Tiger Temple: We counted over ten tigers here. Most were sleeping due to the afternoon heat but a few of the tigers were restless and needed subduing.
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The tiger temple: A monk pours sprays a liquid on a tiger's face. I concluded that this was to calm the tiger. I was unable to find out exactly what the liquid was.
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The Tiger temple: Visitor's Book: "The biggest pussies I've ever touched........."
