So another early morning wake up call, 5:30am today…time to pack up and move out of our Royal Genja Hotel. Bus is loaded at 7am and we are heading into the Bangkok morning ‘traffic jam’ :)
It wasn't too bad this morning as our driver took a couple shortcuts Perez said ;)
On our travels we saw the salt fields and coconut farms…the northern areas are primarily farmers and farmland. I have to admit it never dawned on me that there was such a thing as a salt field…they pump the water from the China Sea and only produce the salt during the summer months…rainy season spoils the salt which would seem like common sense only after our Tour Guide Perez said it LOL
Off to the floating market via Thai speedboats…8 people per craft and we traveled down canals, winding our way to the market…it was an interesting 20 minutes and we were able to see many traditional stilt homes and stores along the waterway. Of course the water is not the most appealing in colour as it’s a chocolate brown but we had a great breeze to keep us cool and it was partially shaded along the way.
The stilt homes varied in terms of repair but you certainly saw their pride the Thai people have in their homes as many had beautiful lush gardens and flowers. Most of the residents along the canal vend at the floating market. So every day they load up their boats and head down the canals to the market area.
I was extremely tempted to purchase the sticky rice and mango but of course we have been told to stay away from street food…spending time on a coach during the day doesn’t lend itself well to travellers diarrhea!
Like many places in the world I’ve explored, markets and souvenir shops all hold the same items, in the same country, generally speaking. You will see a variety of prices for the exact same things…this floating market is more expensive than the previous spots we’ve stopped but when you actually calculate the Canadian dollar equivalent for the item you need to remind yourself that EVERYTHING in Thailand is very inexpensive…a t-shirt for $8 and Thai elephant pants for $8-$16…if you can negotiate a good deal with the locals, as we did :)
Yes, you can even hold some animals...
I have not seen any begging, only people selling…which says quite a bit about the people and their culture here. They have free transit for low income people and homeless people as well.
Quick stop for a lunch before we saw a Cobra Show!
Lunch was, you guessed it, International Buffet again...but the restaurant was funky and it had some great signs and decor :)
Back to the bus we go as we make our way to the fourth largest province in Thailand, Kanchanaburi.
We stopped at the JEATH War Museum. The name represents Japan, England, America & Australia , Thailand and lastly Hungary...which is dedicated to the victims of the Death Railway Bridge.
We were not allowed to take pictures in the museum but this is what the area outside looked like...
We stopped at the World War II Cemetery before we reached the bridge over the river Kwai.
The bridge that is currently standing is a reconstruction of the original Death Railway Bridge, built under tortuous conditions by WWII prisoners of war to connect the segments of the Japanese empire.
The bridge over the river Kwai...
The view from the center of the bridge...
We were supposed to hop onto the Death Railway train car and travel in the direction of our next hotel...but after standing and waiting at the station for about 20 minutes in 40°C temperature...plus humidity...we discovered the train would be another 45 minutes as it was behind schedule...so we decided to get back onto our coach and get there with air-conditioning instead!
We are at the Pung-Waan resort in Kanchanaburi...which is in the rainforest and right on the river...here's my room...
A long, tiring, hot and sobering day to say the least, sawatdee ka.
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