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We decided to come to Kanchanaburi, where we are now, mostly because it is the site of the infamous "Bridge Over the River Kwai." We would have come anyway because it is a part of Thailand we hadn't seen and it was reputed to be quite beautiful. After three nights at the BW Elegance we got up and walked with our carts past the Saphan Taksim Skytrain station to the Tha Sathon river boat landing to catch a Chao Phraya river ferry. There we easily caught a boat that would take us to the Tha Roi Fai landing next door to the Thonburi (or Southern) train station. The boat ride was excellent: smooth water, blue skies, a cooling breeze. We stood at the back of the boat and enjoyed the forty-five minute ride. As we went up-river we passed some familiar sites, Wat Arun being the most famous of those actually on the river. On the other, eastern bank, back from the river we also saw the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Keaw, both of which had impressed us so much in 2001. Among new sites was the Hilton Millenium Hotel, open now just a few months and dominating its section of the Chao Phraya.

As is almost always true the Thais were helpful and made sure we got off at the correct landing. From there it was but 100 m to the Thonburi Station. Unfortunately for us trains actually no longer operate from there; we had to take a songtheaw to the new station, about 1 km away. During the wait for our departure we got to know a re-incarnation of ourselves: a young lady just starting to learn to be a world traveller. She'd left Holland just three days earlier and, while appearing to us very sure and mature, undoubtedly had lots to learn. We also had a chance to be jealous, if we were so inclined: A special train was waiting on another siding; twenty minutes after our arrival about 200 Spaniards arrived in special buses and were whisked into air-conditioned comfort while we continued to sweat.

After an hour or more's wait our slow train to Kanchanaburi, with all of its windows open and ceiling fans a-whirring, left. Whistle-stop after whistle-stop we made our way slowly west. Along the way we passed the giant Wat Phra Pathom Chedi at Nakhon Pathon, said to be the tallest in the world. Until seeing it we knew nothing of it. Now it seemed to be a must stop on the way back to Bangkok.

Before coming to Kanchanaburi we had chosen the River Kwai Hotel out of a list and made a phone reservation. We walked from the station down the main street and arrived, as very usual, all sweaty and hardly looking like the kind of guest they might normally like to attract. As soon as we saw our room and then "tasted' the swimming pool we knew it was our kind of place. We are swimming twice a day and reading most of the rest of the time. The breakfast buffet, which we take after our first swim, is wonderful. We have a choice of Western and Oriental breakfast, the latter including fried rice, sauteed vegetables, and congee. We take a bit of the Oriental but primarily choose fried eggs or omelette, bacon, fried potatos, sausage, French toast, fresh fruit (watermellon, pineapple, and papaya) as well as fruit juices and milk. Once again we are going to be fighting the battle of the bulge. With our new computer, which will be Jan's alone soon, we have plenty to occupy us, in restoring the system as it was, writing some blog, and much more. TV is pretty poor but we get some French Tennis open and a few movies.

We are still holed up in Kanchanaburi, of Bridge over the River Kwai fame, We've been as unhurried as a June bug in May and lingered and lingered rather than going out to see tourist sights every day. Every couple of days the hotel staff has called the room and said "Check-out today?" and we have, until now, said no, we will stay two or three days more. But after two weeks in Kanchanaburi we decided that we really have to leave. Our visas will run out in just two more weeks and we haven't done most of our major errands. We probably have one more day (or maybe two) here and then it's back into the fray to buy replacement laptop number two, pick up the new passport, get our health exams, and do last minute shopping before heading south, first to the Burmese border at Ranong to renew our Thai visas on the exit-entry method, then to Krabbi for a well-deserved rest!

All of the sights in Kanchanaburi town and Kanchanaburi province can almost certainly be seen in three days, if not two, by taking the locally offered tours. In fact, the really important stuff can be seen in one long day that starts and ends in Bangkok. We met a tour doing just that; we estimate they must have started at 5:00 or 6:00 and will end at 22:00 or later. That, of course, is not our style: we do one thing a day, or even every other or third day.

There are two main themes to touring in Kanchanaburi: the Death Railway and nature. We thoroughly explored the first and spent one day on the second by going to Erawan falls and hiking there. It was a pleasant day and we enjoyed the prospect of swimming in any one of the pools that lie in between the seven levels of the falls/cascades until we actually got in and learned the fish nibble at you. There are several other sets of falls one can visit and innumerable caves in the karst formation, and, if one counts it as "nature", many elephant rides available. But Jan has been karsted out by China and Vietnam and after the true magnificence of Yosemite isn't much impressed by the local, immature falls.

One day Gerry went for an afternoon walk by himself. Here in his words, is what he did and saw:

My main goal was to get to see the southwest part of town. I started by walking from our hotel about a kilometer to the JEATH (Japan England Australia Thailand Holland) War Museum. Rather than going in immediately I passed it and went into the nearby Wat Chaichumphon. It is a rather fine example of Thai wat construction with its large main hall under a splendid gold roof trimmed in green. If you had never seen a Thai wat before you would be very impressed with this one. I was impressed with the fact that several hundred men, monks I suppose as they were all in orange toga-like robes, sat under a multitude of fans as they watched a Powerpoint presentation.

I then started for my next goal: to find the Kasem Island Resort, a place we had considered staying at but rejected because it was too far out of town. I walked by Wat Chaichumphon and just beyond it passed a typical Thai school, a three-storey building with open balconies outside the class room. On the road, opposite the school, were a half-dozen vendors, prepared to sell snacks to the school kids when they left classes, as they soon would. I spied some peanuts in a bag and decided I'd like them. I went up to the 50-ish woman selling them and asked the price. Not knowing how to say it in Thai, and not thinking she would know English I said "Gai daw chin?" (Cantonese for "How much does it cost?"). Why that came out of me I can't say. Even more surprised than me were the woman and her two companions. She turned to them with a look that must have meant "Can you believe what you just heard?!" And she turned to me and said, in Thai, the price, which, no coincidence, is very close to the Chinese equivalent. In Thai she said "yi sip"; in Cantonese it would be "yi sup".

Further on I saw some roasted meat that I wanted and had equal success with my Cantonese. Later, when I wanted to buy some bananas it didn't work. My guess is that it is because the banana-seller was a girl of about 16-17; for this age group Cantonese has apparently disappeared from the market place.

To get to the Kasem Guest House I had to cross the river so I found my way to the ferry, there being no bridge. This was set up to accommodate motorbikes. The ferry was a flat raft of about 3 x 10 meters. Maybe six motor bikes could be directly riden on to it and on the opposite side ridden off. One end of the ferry had a small lean-to whose roof covered the engine, around which was a bench that could seat 4-6 people. I rode across and quickly made friends with the ferry man even though we could hardly exchange a word. An hour later when I came back he greeted me with a big smile.

After a twenty minute walk I reached a place where I had a good view of the Kasem Guest House. It seemed not to be open; I didn't see anyone around. The place looked a bit like a fort in Adventureland at Disneyland: unpainted log construction suitable for romantics or backpackers but not for us.

I returned to town making sure to pass the only remaining segment of the old city walls and the Lak Muang Shrine. Kanchanaburi was established by the emerging Thai (or Siamese) empire as a first line of defense against the Burmese who considered this part of the world rightfully theirs. As such it had walls and four gates. Today the southern, or river gate and a bit of the nearby walls have been restored. By world standards it is not impressive but seeing it does contribute to understanding Kanchanaburi and Thailand. Every Thai city has a point where its "soul" is located and worshipped. This is the Lak Muang Shrine, or "City Pillar". Kanchanaburi's is attractive, under a small, open-air temple with a golden roof.

From Kanchanaburi one day we took local buses to Tha Meuang, a town on the river about 12 km away, and then motorcycle taxis to Wat Tham Seua and Wat Tham Khao Noi. Being on a motorcycle taxi took some getting used to; initially Gerry had some fear of his skull being broken open. Wat Tham Seua is a Thai-Chinese Buddhist temple built on the sides and top of a karst hill. From the top there are excellent views of the green countryside and the dam-created lake nearby. After seeing it we went in search of Wat Tham Khao Noi, a purely Chinese temple. Much to our surprise we found that it shared the hill with Wat Tham Seua; in otherwords it was next door. Gerry climbed to the top of the 10+ story pagoda.

Afterwards we walked four kilometers back to town so that we could see the countryside and inspect the dam. It is a low-rise affair, much broader than high. We were able to stand right above the sluice gates and watch the water run out. We stopped nearby to have a delicious bowl of Thai fish-ball soup, bought from a woman with a stand about the size of two bicyles. Then we walked along the main irrigation canal back to Tha Muang and took the bus back to Kanchanaburi.