Bridge on the River Kwai

Well, we went to the river today but there aren't any pictures because the plug in I used to charge my camera was faulty. However it was a nice day-long trip. We started at Erawan National park to view the Erawan falls. The falls has seven levels which provided a few thousand meter trek up a rocky path. They were beautiful but by the time I reached the sixth level the rocks were to big to be hoping over in rubber sandals so I missed seeing number seven, except in pictures.


This elephant is near the park entrance. He is my flower of the day. (At least he is made of wood which qualifies as a plant.) He is also the last picture I took before the battery died.

The rest of the tour showed us:
1. Hellfire Pass - the most gruelling part of the work clearing a track for the railway started here.
2. Krasae Cave - a large natural cave used by the workers as a hospital.
3. Death Railway - called such because of the lives lost in building it. We road it four stops.
4. The River Kwai bridge and surrounding area which was a POW camp in WWII.

Many of the allied forces and the Thais suffered and died building that railway and bridges. A gruesome story.

But now.....have a look at my abode. This is a view of some of the rooms on land.




There are three rows of floating accommodations. This is shot from the dining area above.

My room is in the first building in this row.

The river views are lovely and I think it must cool down faster at night.

The place is called Sugar Cane 1 and I didn't know until I was already here that it was one of the ones recommended in Lonely Planet.

I have way too much stuff with me and every few days I either throw something away or give it to somebody. The next thing to go will be my metal water bottle. On Monday it set off the security alarms in every Metro station I went through. I had the idea it would be nice to be green and use the water purification drops in my own bottle. The other day one of those little bottles leaked in my luggage and removed the color from my bathing suit in big blotches. I threw the drops away too, thinking that it might not be something I want to drink.

When I get home, I will see what I have left in my pak and then I will know what I really should have taken. The books don't lie on one score, everything I need has been easily available so far.