From Khao San we took a 2 ½ hr minibus ride to Kanchanaburi. We checked into Pong Penh Guesthouse at 12:00pm. The pool was fantastic and so were the rooms overlooking the River Kwai. We opted for a BHT300 room with a fan only but were surprised to find we have a huge room en suite with a great view over the River Kwai. We spent the afternoon relaxing and swimming and were happy to find and LCD Plasma TV in the restaurant showing a movie at 6pm.
In the morning after a bit of a restless night due to a noisy fan an a nocturnal couple next door, we headed into town.
We found ourselves a nice beaming red scooter and headed off for the main Thai-Burma Railway museum and cemetery. Both were absolutely breathtaking, quite a mind blower to see the atrocities that happened here. About 60 000 Prisoner’s Of War (POW’S) and another 100 000 Asians died over a period of 20 months trying to construct a railway line for the Japanese. The cemetaries were immaculate with lovely mown lawns and a different plant species between every grave stone.
Quint: That afternoon we left by bus at 2pm for the Tiger sanctuary about 45kms from Kanchanaburi. Run by a monastery and more well known as “Tiger Temple” we were excited to say the least.
Much to our dismay when we arrived at about 3pm we found out it closed at 4.30pm and had been open since midday! We had missed half the day! Why our tour bus hadn’t left earlier is anyones guess! This, coupled with the possibility of heavy rain coming down at any minute, resulted in Bridge threatening to declare war on all mankind – monks included.
The mood and thankfully the rain evaporated as soon as we saw the tigers in “Tiger Canyon” (sponsored by Steve Irwin) they were absolutely enormous, with huge deep yellow eyes that seemed to just engulf you whole! Initially they were chained to the ground and we were able to go and pose next to them for photos. I was mainly giving it the half hearted nervous smile, more on my mine was, “where the hell is the closest tree!” Bridge on the other hand was like a small child in a teddy store, wanting to cuddle each one no matter how many hundreds of pounds it weighed! A lady who was part of the volunteer team approached me and asked me if we would be interested in making an extra “small donation” which would entitle us to stay after the sanctuary closed and witness the tigers up close and personal roaming free for a good photo opportunity. We gladly paid the extra US$10 each for the once-in-a-life-time opportunity.
After all the crowds left, they let the tigers roam free. There were just 15 people remaining, including ourselves. We were given a quick safety pep talk about not crouching down, not looking the tigers in the eye, not turning our back on the tigers, and not making any sudden movements as they didn’t carry weapons for safety so if a tiger were to turn bad, we were in serious trouble. Two of the volunteers carried 4 small makeshift fences down and surrounded the group. The fences were waist high and weighed about 4 kilos each – not much of a barrier if you ask me!
The tigers fought and played and swam in the canyon rock pools and waterfalls, it was just incredible – and it was all happening just a few feet from us! We snapped away for about 40 minutes or so before the volunteers lead the tigers back to their enclosures for their dinner.
All in all a very special and humbling day to be in a place of such beauty but surrounded by memories of a devastating past. The ride back to Kanchanaburi that evening was very silent, everyone just absorbing all the days information and appreciating our surroundings.
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