Day Three-
For me Remembrance Day [11/11] will forever bring back memories of our trip to Kanchanaburi in 2012. So many Allied Soldiers and civilian labourers died building the Death Railway for the Japanese in 1942-43. Ofcourse there were many survivors who have all had to carry the burden of witnessing such evil cruelty for the rest of their lives.
Today is the 12 November 2013. I've been giving a lot of thought over the last few days, not only to those brave souls that died in such desperate circumstances, but also to those who endured that living hell and made it home, only to live on wondering why they had been spared.
To truly understand what some of the Allied POWs were put through you have to visit Hellfire Pass, about an hour's drive north west of Kanchanaburi. Here over 400 lives were lost excavating rock and soil so that track could be layed in a cutting some 75 metres long and 17.5 metres deep. Prisoners used basic tools, working around the clock, to complete this stretch which was literally hacked out of the side of small mountain. All soil and rock had to be carried away from the site using baskets. The heat must have been unbearable with so little air under the thick canopy of trees. Daytime temperatures regularly exceeded 35C and a lot of work was done during a particularly heavy monsoon season.
Hellfire Pass got it's name because at night those working above the cutting could see down into what they considered to be the jaws of hell. What they could see was in fact other prisoners working by oil lamp at the the rock face at the bottom of the Pass. Note the tree now growing in the middle of the Pass.[see below]
In 1988 the Australian Government built the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum as a
testament to those who died and those that survived. The plaque below can be found in the Pass. The museum is by the car park.
If you visit Hellfire Pass don't make the mistake that we did. We should have gone into the museum first before venturing down the 300 steps that take you to the bottom of the Pass. We would have understood more and we could have hired some headphones from the museum that would have allowed us to stop at each of the viewing platforms that are built amongst those 300 steps, and listened to the commentary that describes each part of the construction. We would also have known what to expect and bought extra water before our trek.
We had no idea what we were doing when we headed straight down those steps in a searing 40C heat.
Thankfully our driver, Simnot, decided to accompany us and when he realised how desperate we were for water he virtually ran back to the top and fetched a load. A schoolboy error on our part.
Just so pleased Simnot came along.
We had walked down to the cutting once. A journey that many POWs made more than once every day for weeks on end and without Simnot to rescue them.
Earlier that day, on the sound advice of our Hotel manager, we had been to Saiyok National Park, a few miles north of the pass. The River Kwai runs through the park and presents you with some dramatic photo opportunities, particularly from the suspension bridge that was recently built there.
Many local people live on houseboats moored along the river.
Other houseboats travel up and down the river pulled by motor boats.
You can take your own journey on one of these houseboats.
This fella looked like he was doing a bit of fishing from a moving houseboat. Very brave!
Water pours into the river from mountain streams creating stunning waterfalls.
It really is a beautiful part of Thailand.
After Hellfire Pass we were all drained. What a day.
Day Four-Nichigo Golf and Country Club
The drive from Pung Waan Resort to Nichigo was about 30 minutes. The course was in great condition with some very challenging holes. There are 27 holes on the complex so three sets of nine holes. Plenty of water to negotiate but undoubtedly the most difficult part was the greens. They were very quick and virtually unreadable, even for my caddie. No wonder, as I discovered later, she was only 14 and this was her first full round as a caddie.............and she got me!
I might have putted better if one of the local monkeys had caddied. We had quite a following and all after food for their young family.
JC decided after 14 holes that his trek down 300 steps at Hellfire Pass the previous day had got the better of him and he was most keen to get back to the clubhouse for a lie down. Despite our concerns he insisted that we carry on playing and his caddie drove him away.
To our surprise as we walked off the 18th green there was JC sat in the terrace bar with beer bottle in hand, smiling and waving. Another empty bottle was on the table. What an amazing recovery!
The view from the clubhouse terrace at Nichigo is magnificent.
That evening we ate at CR12, a fabulous restaurant alongside the floating one we'd been to earlier in the trip.
The CR12 was by far our best eating experience in Kanchanaburi.
Day Five-Bangkok
Simnot drove us the 90 miles to Bangkok and dropped us off at the Rembrandt Hotel around lunchtime.
What a great choice of Hotel for your last night in Thailand. I just wish I'd spent more time there.
Would you believe that of all the golf tours I have arranged to Thailand in the last ten years this was my first night sleeping in the capital. The Rembrandt is excellent and I would go back any day.
Our determination to thoroughly enjoy our final night of the holiday lead us to the Queen Vic Pub and onward to Soi Cowboy. The rest is a blur as was the flight home the following day.
All our thanks go to Ian Lewins for making our last five days so memorable.
By the way I'm still counting-It's now 65 days to lift off.
Next week we are on a mini tour again.
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