Taking The Death Railway to Kanchanaburi

At 11.30am it was deemed time to make our way to the Thonburi Train Station for our next trip leg to Kanchanaburi. This involved a short 400m walk from our hotel, then a river ferry crossing, and a slightly longer 1km walk to the station via a quick geocache find. We didn't actually know what time or how often the river crossing ferry left but turned up and only had to wait 5 minutes which made the trip much quicker than we thought it would be. We (meaning me 😉) had obviously scoped out the pier departure point the other day and knew where we had to get off even though the ferry to Chinatown that we had already used was a different route. 

Near the end of the second walk we were beside a busy road across from a large market but couldn't see the station. I was starting to doubt my navigation skills but the map insisted we were close. I decided to head through the market hoping the station was on the other side of it. It was and I should not have been so worried. But when it's so hot you really don't want to make Sarah walk any longer than necessary. 🥵

The station is tiny and only services a few places. Interestingly the next train to leave is heading to our destination that comes after Kanchanaburi but we fortunately are not leaving from here and not on an "ordinary" service train that we saw today. Or I hope we're not. 🤞

Our train today is also an ordinary service which we were expecting. Our bums will be sore after 2.5 hours on the wooden seats. We read our books while waiting for the 1.55pm departure. Today Sarah has finally remembered to break out the cooling towels for around our necks. They are so refreshing and we should have been using them before today.

Sarah decides to go check out the market to see if she can get us some snacks for the train ride. A good call as we will be skipping lunch today. She returns with two mandarins and a packet of flavoured dried pasta chips. A bit odd looking but tasty enough. The market is huge, about 150m long by 50m wide with dozens of stalls. Many are shut now so maybe they only open at night or early morning.

The train leaves bang on time and it's not very full so we can spread out a bit to make things a bit more comfy. The scenery as we go through Bangkok shows some terribly run down houses that people live in right beside the tracks. On leaving Bangkok behind there are significant contrasts as we go through various rural towns and shall cities. Houses near the tracks are ramshackle and so poor looking but just 150m further back there are some very nice and large brand new homes. 

The rural countryside is picturesque with goat herds, banana plantations, cows, rice fields, irrigation channels, and other typical rural views. However, always with the backdrop of hazy smoke in the distance which is not so pleasant. 

The train arrives on time to Kanchanaburi and we hop off at the 2nd station that services the town. The one right by the bridge. More about that tomorrow. We have an 800m walk to our hotel which is just on the acceptable end of walks in this heat. The hotel is nice, nothing super flash, but it has a roof top pool with a view and a balcony. At 2,100 Bhat per night, $110 NZD, it's better than most places we would stay at home. Oh and it includes a basic "set menu" breakfast. We will see what that is like in the morning. 

Our choice for dinner was based on proximity as there was a nice looking restaurant only 50m from the hotel. It's called Jit Sod Chuen and looks pretty funky and had a few good recent reviews. But mainly we couldn't be bothered walking into town. 🥵😂 We ordered stir fried pork belly curry with garlic and chilly, a glass noodle and vegetable stir fry dish with chicken, and two coke zeros. Total cost 339 Bhat $18 NZD. They were not very big meals but were both tasty. The pork belly curry was slightly spicy.

We were talking to a couple at the next table who were from the South of England near Portsmouth. They are just here for two nights and then are heading to the beach islands including Koh Samui. They had already been to Chaing Rai and Chaing Mai in the North of Thailand as well as Bangkok. They mentioned the bridge in town was lit up at night so we walked there after dinner to check it out before heading back to the hotel.