Thailand - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 726

and several moving memorials to the
area's role in World War II - there are
caves and waterfalls to explore. A very
popular commemorative son-et-lumière
River Kwai Bridge Festival is held here for
ten days every November or December.

bombers in 1944 and 1945, but has since
been repaired and is still in use today. In
fact, the best way to see the bridge is by
walking gingerly across the tracks, or
taking the train right over it: the
Kanchanaburi-Nam Tok service crosses it
three times a day.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Kanchanaburi's commercial heart is a
dusty, frenetic place, while the northern
part of town is full of package tourists
snapping photos of the bridge. he main
tourist street, hanon Maenam Kwai, is
lined with guesthouses and expat bars, and,
despite the tragic history, there's an upbeat
feel to the place. But Kanchanaburi's real
charm lies in the natural sights out of
town, especially the seven-tiered Erawan
Falls, and the unusual cave temples across
the river. he Death Railway itself makes a
fascinating day-trip as it winds through
rugged terrain towards the tiny town of
Nam Tok.

10 Sights across the river

Several of Kanchanaburi's sights lie across
the river , and are best reached by bike. For
Chungkai Cemetery and Wat ham Khao
Poon, both on the west bank of the Kwai
Noi, it's best to cycle over Rattanakarn
Bridge, just south of Wat Nua. After
about 2km you'll reach Chungkai
Cemetery , built on the banks of the Kwai
Noi at the site of a former POW camp,
and final resting place for some 1750
POWs. One kilometre on from Chungkai
Cemetery, at the top of the road's only
hill, sits the cave temple Wat Tham Khao
Poon (daily 8am-6pm; B20), a fascinating
labyrinthine grotto presided over by a
medley of religious icons.
Luscious greenery and craggy limestone
cliffs make a trip across to the east bank
of the River Kwai Noi an equally
worthwhile bike trip, but the main
attraction at Wat Tham Mangkon Thong
(“show” times and prices dependent on
number of tourists), otherwise known as
the “Floating Nun Temple”, is fairly
tacky: a nun will get into the temple
pond and float there, meditating - if
tourists give her enough money to make
it worth her while. To get here by bicycle
or motorbike, take the ferry across the
Mae Khlong River at ha Chukkadon
and then follow the road on the other
side for about 4km.

The museum and cemeteries
he excellent Thailand-Burma Railway
Centre (daily 9am-5pm; B120), west of
the train station, gives a clear and
successfully impartial introduction to the
horrifying history of this line, and
features some extraordinary original
photographs and film footage shot by
Japanese engineers, as well as interviews
with surviving labourers and POWs.
hirty-eight POWs died for each
kilometre of track laid on the Death
Railway, and many of them are buried in
Kanchanaburi's two war cemeteries. Next
to the hailand-Burma Railway Centre,
the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery , also
known as Don Rak (daily 8.30am-6pm;
free), is the bigger of the two, with 6982
POW graves laid out in straight lines
amid immaculately kept lawns.

MONKEY BUSINESS
If you're given the opportunity to visit
Kanchanaburi's “ Monkey School ” as part
of a tour around Kanchanaburi, you're
strongly advised to turn it down. The
monkeys here are said to have been
rescued from abusive owners, but now
they spend their days chained up by the
neck until they are coerced into
performing circus tricks like shooting
hoops and riding children's bicycles.

The Bridge over the River Kwai
For most people the plain steel arches of
the Bridge over the River Kwai come as a
disappointment: it's commercialized and
looks nothing like as awesome as it
appears in David Lean's famous 1957
film, he Bridge on the River Kwai (which
was actually filmed in Sri Lanka). he
Bridge was severely damaged by Allied