Kanchanaburi, Thailand 3

Death Railway

Tha Kilen to Ko Maha Mongkol

Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Long drive through kanchanaburi, rural Thailand. Very poor. Rustic farms. Brown rolling hills, Banana trees. Rows of tapioca crop by the thousand. Reminds me of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Mexico. The river Kwai moves fast. Dark, creepy water. Family of four pass our van on a scooter holding bags of groceries. We arrived at Thakilen Station and said goodbye to the driver.

We took the Death Railway from Tha Kilen to Ko Maha Mongkol. It follows the River Kwai through the jungle, past farms, tourist safari camps. The river was hundreds of feet below us on the left. A rock face with gaping caves was just feet away from the train on the right. At times you could reach out the window and touch the rock wall. The jungle was so thick that most times it was hard to see far through it. Branches came into the window slapping us in the face.

The old train ride had the feel of the old wooden rollercoaster at the PNE in Vancouver. Or more like the old wooden subway line in Buenos Aires. With the added factor of being on the side of a cliff in the middle of the jungle.

Miles and miles of tapioca plantations, corn, and banana trees. Some really cool resorts along the route that would be cool spots to stop if I had, say 6 months to do it, rather than just 12 days. Our stop was the fifth station, but I could’ve easily jumped off the train at any point.