After nearly 2 days of exploring Kanchanaburi, we decided to visit Hellfire pass and take a ride on Death Railway.
The easiest way to do this is to hire a car with a driver and head towards the Burmese border. Our driver picked us up early and we headed to Hellfire Pass, stopping in a small village along the way for a local breakfast of fish and rice.
Hellfire pass is a 600 metre stretch of railway cut through rock on the side of a steep mountain. Japanese Prisoners of War spent 18 hours a day building this railway line, most were starved, suffered from malnutrition and had Cholera.
There is a memorial museum at the start of Hellfire Pass which pays tribute to those who lost their lives building the Thai Burma railway. Once you have visited this you walk down a steep set of steps on the side of the mountain to the original rail bed.
You walk along this path for about 1 kilometre until reach the infamous Hellfire Pass. You can carry on walking this route if you fancy, the total distance being 4 kms but make sure have someone to pick you up at the other side. After about a kilometre and a half we decided to turn back, dreading the thought of going up those steep stairs.
After Hellfire pass out driver took us to Erawan Waterfall, named after a 3 headed white elephant of Hindu mythology. It is a 7 tier waterfall and known for it's beautiful emerald green ponds and the top tier resembles an elephants head.
You can swim in this waterfall but we decided to walk above the first tier and visit the caves with the Buddha and elephant inside.
Back down, next to the waterfall there a lots of market stalls and places to eat and after all the walking we decided it was time for lunch. If you are more organised than we were, bring a packed lunch as there are lots of beautiful places to have a picnic.
After Lunch the driver dropped us off at Nam Tok Railway Station for us to get the train back to Kanchanaburi on the Death railway. For a more interesting ride buy your self a third class ticket on a train with wooden seats and no windows. It cost 100 baht and the trip takes about 3 hours.
The ride starts on a wooden railway built on the side of a steep mountain, and next to a picturesque river. At the start of the trip there are a lot of people on the train with everyone trying to grab a photo of this amazing scenery. After about 5 minutes you reach Sai Yok railway station where a lot of people get off, giving us more space to enjoy the ride and the views.
As the train continues, you pass through farm lands, follow some winding rivers and get some beautiful views along the way. Eventually you will pass over The Bridge over the River Kwai and into Kanchanaburi, where you simply get off the train.
I highly recommend this trip as it brings to life what actually happened during the Second World War. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes as there is a lot of walking with loose gravel under foot.
All photos are mine taken with my Samsung Prime Core Mobile Phone.
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