Cruising in Kanchanaburi

We hung out at our sweet hotel this morning, had breakfast and got re-organized.

Then we rented bicycles and rode them to the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery and Wartime Railway Museum. It was quite somber, as you can imagine. They had many personal effects and anecdotal stories. Basically, as they were beginning to build the railway, they asked for the POWs to volunteer. They cited better working and living conditions, but ultimately the POWs were tricked. The Japanese also refused to inform the Allies when POWs were being transported, so a few of the carrying boats were bombed en route. Those working on the railway were mainly Australian and Dutch soldiers. The museum also had a research center, and we saw one guy taken into the records room after we heard him ask about his father.

After a fortifying cuppa (free with admission!), we hopped back on out bikes. We were riding along and stumbled upon this little open-air, isolated temple on the river bank with hardly anybody but us there.

For a 360 view of the inside, click here

We crossed the river and biked out in the Thai countryside. We were kind of looking for this temple in a cave, but we felt we didn’t have enough time to get there and back. So we just cruised, passed the odd road side stand, saw some farmers working in their race paddies and gardens and cows just hanging out.

The mountains were dark green in the distance, the sky was blue and cloudless and our immediate surroundings were a million different shades of green. There were trees and hanging vines, open fields and flowering bushes. There were chickens wandering around, birds singing and scooters zooming past. It was awesome.

We arranged for a minibus back to Bangkok, which was air conditioned (!) and should have been half the length of a train trip. Unfortunately, Bangkok traffic added a couple of hours so it took us about the same amount of time (but with air conditioning!).

Got to our New Orleans themed hotel in Bangkok and asked the receptionist about massage places in the area. So we opted for Thai massage instead of dinner – worth it!

They gave us a towel, a cup of tea and washed and scrubbed our feet with kaffir limes. We stepped up on a platform that had two pads on the floor with a pillow each and they drew curtains around us and asked us to change. I just couldn’t figure out the pants.

I know pants aren’t complicated, but it was dark!

Have y’all ever had a Thai massage? It’s rough. It’s uncomfortable. It hurts. In short – it’s wonderful.

They bend, pound, twist and pull you. They straight up comfort you. My mom and I both had bruises the next morning. After the massage, they gave us a cup of hot, sweet tea (yum!) and a coconut water cookie thing (also yum!). Luckily we were less then five minutes from our hotel so we went straight to bed.

Best way to end a long day of biking and traveling ever.

Trip Massage Total: 1 hour