29th of December, 2023.
Hitchhiking in Thailand: The Death Railway (Kanchanaburi)
I get up early but go back to sleep. When it is too hot inside my tent, I come outside and sit by the shade. Miles gets up a bit later, for the same reason.
We start hitchhiking towards our first destination: The Death Railway. It is also known as Tham Krasae Railway Bridge or Cave, due to the cave being located by the railway. It is a very famous spot here in Kanchanaburi (K.), where you can have a nice view of the river Kwai from the railway bridge.
Only after a few minutes walking, and trying to catch a lift at the same time, a car stops. A young girl and a tall guy tell us they can take us. The girl seems lovely and she explains to the guy, using her phone and maps, how to drop us at the railway. I can see the ID card of the guy hanging in the rear mirror: he is a police officer. I suspected something like that. But although he is a quiet type, he also seems like a nice guy.
The entrance to the Death Railway is way more touristic than I imagined, full of small shops and restaurants. At least, most of them are small stands and seem very local.
We have our breakfast by one of them before we start exploring. Miles has an omelette and an ice coffee, while I just have some of my muesli with the yogurt I bought from 7/11 last night. In this same restaurant, I ask if we can leave our backpacks here for a while, so we can go and explore the site.
I really like this place! I think that the railway over the river looks so beautiful! It is so green and you have a great view from here! I love to walk over the railway bridge, while you can see the river down there. It is so exciting! Not dangerous at all… (sarcasm). Miles and I joke a lot, and laugh loads about the fact that we don’t know when the train will come, and it is a quite long bridge. What to do if the train comes? You can always jump in the water, of course… (sarcasm?)
In both sides of the river there are fancy resorts and other kind of accommodations. At least they keep it really green, with lots of gardens all around.
After crossing all the way to the small station, we finally see a sign with the train timetable. It’s about to come in 20 minutes! That was close! We hang around, waiting for it.
When the train is approaching, we pass by a small cabin, where a “guard” (simply a young man) is supposed to be ready for when the train is coming and let people know it. But Miles and I pass by him right at the moment when he is waking up from his nap in a hammock. What? It is hilarious if it wasn’t also possibly tragic. The good thing of travelling with a friend is that, if you are lucky as I am, and your friend is as funny as Miles, you can make jokes together about funny situations. In my case, I have always made these jokes in my head, when I am travelling alone. Among the millions of jokes we make it about this poor guy, the best is by Miles when he says: “Wake up! Get ready! Remember what happened last time…”
Crossing the bridge back, now a bit more certain and less worried (although Miles makes a joke about the train driver forgetting something, and go all: “Ops! I forgot something! Let’s go back…”), I take some photographs and make a short video, while whistling the theme song for the movie The Bridge Over the River Kwai. In somehow, I think I like the movie even more now, after being here…
10 Years Around the World 