Bridge Over Troubled Water: Overnight in Kanchanaburi

Home to the original Bridge over the River Kwai and accompanying Thai-Burma Railway Centre, we were eager to dive deeper into this darker side of Thailand’s history.

Our ~3.5 hour train ride to Kanchanaburi was easy and enjoyable. We rode third class again, sprawling on the comfy train benches, enjoying the breeze from the open train windows.

From the train station, we made the ~15 minute walk to No. 25 Cafe & Hostel to check into our room. We encountered some strange bug carcasses on the ceiling and walls, but figured for <$20 a night, it wasn’t worth making a stink. We left the hostel grounds to find food, landing at On’s Thai Issan, a cheery vegetarian spot that did not disappoint. Each of the dishes made fresh to order by On herself, Steven enjoyed the massaman curry, while I opted for the Stir fried basil tofu. We split a papaya salad, and overstuffed ourselves with a mango sticky rice for dessert. A gluttonous but fresh meal!

In the evening we walked down the main road to see the Bridge on the River Kwai, which had been built by POWs and civilian laborers as part of a mission to connect Thailand and Burma via railway during the Japanese occupation in WWII. There were some mangy stray dogs and local skateboarders, and it was virtually free of tourists as we walked across the bridge.

On the far side there was a bizarre POW themed fairground where locals were singing karaoke - it felt Twilight Zone-esque.

We began the next day with a visit to the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre, which was very educational as it shed light on the horrific treatment of POWs and civilians by the Japanese during the construction of this rail network. The museum featured many artifacts donated by former POWs and their family members, highlighting their resourcefulness and creativity during an impossibly dark time. The stories were inspirational. We spent a couple hours here and would highly recommend a visit if you ever find yourself in Kanchanaburi.

After the museum, we walked through the heritage district and enjoyed some lattes and a slice of mocha almond cake at Baan Sitthisang, a quaint cafe in a preserved historic building.

We returned to the city center to catch a minivan to Ban Pong, to then catch an ~11 hour overnight train to Surat Thani.

Though we were only in Ban Pong for about an hour or two, we really enjoyed ourselves - no tourist attractions in sight, we enjoyed seeing the locals going about their days. We had an awesome dinner at an outdoor food court, and Steven had his first milk tea - with matcha!

We then boarded our overnight sleeper train, getting cozy in our top and bottom berth. In the morning, we would find ourselves ~400 miles south in Surat Thani, gateway to the limestone mountains of Khao Sok National Park, our next stop.