Thailand : Day 7 : Bangkok Grand Palace

Today we hit the Bangkok tourist trail once again, heading back to The Grand Palace. We had tried to get in there the other day but on that occasion had just missed the early closing time. 

We’d also heard the odd rumour that there was a dress code to enter The Palace - a very strict one at that; no bare legs. And we were all wearing shorts! But it was only as we drew closer to the royal entrance that our worst fears were confirmed. We started to see more and more people wearing an item of clothing the Stuart particularly hates... Elephant Pants! 

So of course we all ended up having to buy a pair each to cover up. Stuart was livid (much to everyone’s amusement). 

The Grand Palace itself was lovely, very ornate with lots of gold spires and domes and beautiful Thai architecture. We happily wandered round for a couple of hours taking our shoes off to go and see the Emerald Buddha statue. 

There was a museum too. And a few canons to straddle (Cher-style). 

Eventually our tired legs and the beating heat of the sun got the better of us though, so we returned to our hotel to rest up by the pool. 

Thailand : Day 6 : Private John William Hodges

Today Stuart, Andrew, Kevin and I found ourselves just outside the town of Kanchanaburi, which is 130 kilometres north-west of Bangkok, at the point where the river Kwai divides into two separate rivers; the Mae Khlong River and Kwai Noi River. 

Why were we there? To see the infamous ’Bridge Over the River Kwai’ for sure, to visit the JEARTH War Museum too, but more importantly for me, at any rate, to visit the Chungkai War Cemetery. 

The Chungkai War Cemetery is where my grandmother’s cousin Private John William Hodges is buried. 

I wanted to go there to pay my respects to John’s place of rest. 

The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the large Japanese army in Burma. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). Two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre. The Japanese aimed at completing the railway in 14 months and work began in June 1942. 

John didn’t see the completion of the line though. Like many of his fellow comrades he was one of the 13,000 who died - in his case on 29th December 1942. He was aged 33. John had only married his sweetheart Theresa Houlding earlier that year right before his deployment to Singapore where he had been captured. 

John has been held at the Chungkai Japanese POW camp which was one of the base camps on the railway and contained a hospital and church built by Allied prisoners of war. 

I don’t know exactly how John died but it was probably of malaria. That is how most of the prisoners died as the tough jungle conditions near the construction route near the bridge offered little protection from the mosquitoes. The prisoners suffered terrible malnutrition and prisoners of war were never really offered any medication should they fall ill. They were simply taken to the hospital where they were tended as best the other Allied prisoners of war could manage. They didn’t stand a chance really. 

Chungkai War Cemetery is the original burial ground started by the prisoners themselves, and the burials are mostly of men who died at the hospital. There are now 1,426 Commonwealth and 313 Dutch burials of the Second World War in this cemetery. The cemetery was designed by Colin St Clair Oakes.

It was very moving and I’m so pleased I went. 

Thailand : Day 5 : Bangkok (Tourist Trail)

Today we had a full day on the tourist trail in Bangkok. 

We had met up with the boys last night at our rather swanky hotel and this morning all 10 of us set off via Bangkok‘s mass transit system towards the river to take a cruise up and down. 

We hopped on and hopped off, we climbed all over the main spectacular temple of Wat Arun, and also Wat Pho (the temple of The Sleeping Buddha.)

We had lots of jolly japes, messing about in boats and trains and had a fantastic day in the only way that old friends do.

Thailand : Day 4 : Choo-choo Train

Today was a travel day. A ten hour cross-country  bone-shaker of a train ride from Chang Mai down to Bangkok. The Authentic #8 Express. 

The train was authentic alright; the seats were medieval, the diesel fumes over-powering, and the toilet situation best avoided. 

To add to the fun we were both a little hung over from last night. We’d had six or seven pints at ex-pat magnet The Red Lion pub with Andrew and his wife Lek. 

The ‘express’ bit was a bit misleading too. As we seemed to stop at quite a lot of small local stations en route. 

The views were great from the windows though. We climbed up into the mountains, passed extinct volcanoes, and  journeyed through lush green forests. 

Ten hours though...  it was a long day. 

Thailand : Day 3 : Doi Inthanon

A story of Indiana Jones, going Dutch and dodging death*. 

(*Almost)

Leaving the city behind us today we decided to travel up into the mountains. The mountains in question being the southernmost part of the Himalayas.  

And the particular mountain we were heading for was called Doi Inthanon, the tallest mountain in Thailand. Standing at 2,565 metres above sea level, it is dubbed The Rooftop of Thailand. Doi Inthanon National Park is a very popular place for a day trip from Chiang Mai, due to its great and plentiful nature. The weather at the peak of the mountain is cold and clouded with mist all year round and the temperature never exceeds 17º C. The Thais like to go there it is said, to give them an excuse to wear a coat!  

Doi Inthanon sits in a National Park with hiking trails surrounding the peak; the Park includes 1,274 plant species; the area is home to 466 animal species, and it is also dotted with a number of waterfalls of various sizes. 

Once we got there, the views from Doi Inthanon weren’t particularly rewarding from the summit due to the perpetual mist, formed by the condensation of warm humid air below, hanging around the top of the mountain. It did create a rather eerie effect though. 

Almost at the exact summit is a chedi dedicated to the last Lanna King (Inthawichayanon) and beyond is the Ang Ka Trail, a 360m platform walkway through a moss-festooned bog. It was ok. But only ok. 

Another better trail nearby was the 2.78km long Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail. Hiring a guide is compulsory due to the delicate thick forest. The guides are all local Hmong Hill Tribe people who are highly expert on the route. They needed to be. It was tough. 

The trail was less of a ‘trail’ and more of a level 5 jungle trek to be honest and we felt a bit like Indiana Jones in amongst the lush vegetation and thick dense forest.  

At the start of the trail we hooked up with a couple of Dutch lads to split the cost of the Hmong guide. Yes, we went Dutch(!)

We had a fun time swapping stories with the Dutch guys - who turned out to be gay - as we trekked together. They had just left university i.e. were in the early 20s so were asking us all about our travels and our adventures together. So engrossed were we all in our chat that about an hour in, we didn’t realise that our local guide had suddenly run off. We saw him jumping up and down from a distance but we couldn’t understand what he was shouting. The four of us turned round slowly in a rather melodramatic fashion to be confronted by a very green and (as it turned out) very poisonous snake on the bush next to where we were all standing. We decided to take photos of the snake, even some close-ups which made our guide get even more agitated and he jumped up and down even higher and waved his arms in the air. Once we moved away and caught up with him he scolded us, telling us how poisonous the snake was. We laughed at him. Which made him even more cross. We generously over-tipped him at the end by way of apology. I don’t suppose they get their Brucie bonus by bringing back dead tourists. 

Bidding goodbye to our new Dutch friends, we headed down the mountain a little bit further to two large pagodas, the Pra Mahathart Napamaythaneedol Chedi and Pra Mahathart Napapoommisiri, built as it turned out by the Royal Thai Air Force to commemorate the king’s and queen’s 60th birthdays in 1989 and 1992, respectively. 

The pagodas are made from colourful marble. Also, there is sculpture on the wall which represents Buddhist stories around the pagodas.  Surrounding these pagodas is a beautiful flower garden. Apparently the park is “one of the top destinations in Southeast Asia for naturalists and birdwatchers.” Or so it says on the sign at the entrance. 

The mist-shrouded upper slopes did seem to produce abundant orchids, lichens, mosses, and epiphytes although we couldn’t vouch for the claim of nearly 400 bird species. 

We also had time to visit the Hmong Village market. The Hmong people were really nice and offered us all sorts of freebies to try their wares and didn’t seem to be remotely pushy about us buying anything. In fact we did buy stuff; all manner of dried fruits and nuts to have as a picnic later on in our trip; probably on one of our upcoming train journeys. 

Our final stop before heading back to Chang Mai was for a spot of lunch beside the Wachirathan Waterfall. The lunch was scrumptious. The waterfall epic. A lovely end to our day of sightseeing in the mountains. 

Tonight we are going into town again to catch up with Stuart’s 2nd cousin Andrew who lives here. Then tomorrow morning we head back down south again to Bangkok to meet up with the boys who are all flying in from London.