Bridge over the River Kwai

We took a two day tour out of Bangkok, to visit the site of the Bridge over the River Kwai and other historical sites related to it. A lot of people know about the bridge because of the famous film about it but for those of you who don't, it was a railway that was built by prisoners of war in Thailand. The prisoners of war were mainly British, Australian, American , Canadian and New Zealand but  Asian people were also recruited to help in the construction. Thousands died being badly mistreated by their captors, the Japanese, either through illness, beatings or sheer exhaustion. Women and children were also taken prisoner but did not help with the railway. 

  

We travelled by minibus along with tourists from other hotels who had also booked the trip. The bus was full, so full that me and David had to sit up front with the driver. There was also a group of 9 Australians on the bus who were right behind us and behind them was another group of people  behind them. The Australians were a group of family and friends so they were very vocal in a nice way, with friendly banter going on between them. They were also chatting away with us, initially because they found it funny where we were sitting as it was very squashed up, I had no seat belt and was on basically the last resort seat that is only used when there is no more room. So very uncomfortable! As the journey continued and conversation between us and them finished they started to discuss what would be better, being a chicken or a cow, oh my lord, that discussion went on for ever, then when a decision was made, which was a cow, they then said a dairy cow or a beef cow! Was actually quite funny to listen to and passed the time. 

Being sat next to the driver was actually quite good because as things caught your eye you could ask him questions, he was also very good at pointing things out along the way. We learnt more from him in that one trip than we learnt from our Indian guide all the time with him. It was a a long journey and I was longing for a cushion but eventually we reached our first destination. 

First of all we went to the war cemetery where around 7000 bodies were buried. This was a lovely calm place which has been beautifully tended by the local people. 

We could have spent longer here but sadly the tour group had to move on. 

A five minute drive away saw us at the War Museum, from here you can see the bridge that now stands over the River Kwai. 

In the museum we saw this railway carriage that they used as prisons for some of the prisoners. 

Conditions in the camp were very bad, the prisoners were given rice and salted vegetables to eat twice a day so quickly lost weight. There was very little medical help and the doctors that were there had very little resources to work with. 

This is one of the trains that used to run along the tracks. The prisoners of war were put to work building the railway which of course would have helped the enemy so they tried to sabotage the railway in subtle ways, such as not shoring up the foundations properly or putting termites nests next to the wooden struts in the hope that they would eat through the wood. 

After the museum we walked to the bridge and right along it to the very end.

Nowadays the scene is very calm and peaceful, in the background you can see a statue of Buddha. 

We were lucky enough to see a train going over the river, there are platforms on the bridge that you can stand on as the train goes over.  The train is a tourist train which runs along part of the railway which we also got to do. 

 The original bridge was blown up by the Allies, sadly the Japanese Army forced some of the prisoners on to the bridge to try and protect it, but the pilot who was flying the plane blew it up anyway as that was the orders he was given, in doing so he killed many of his comrades. The original parts of the bridge which remain are now in the museum and can be seen in the photo below.