The Erawan Falls near Kanchanaburi

[Thailand Explore]

The Erawan Falls near Kanchanaburi
By Meanwhile in Thailand

 

A sole passenger in a mini-van to Kanchanaburi

Visiting the Erawan Falls is the last destination of my Thailand journey. At the tourist office, it appears that I am the only one who wants to travel from Ayutthaya to Kanchanaburi by mini-van today. I am on my guard, the driver hardly speaks English, so I regularly look at the road signs, but everything turns out to be correct. I arrive in the city after precisely two hours.

 

Worn out room with a discount

The mini-van driver drops me off at an affiliated guesthouse, hoping to catch some commission for that, but I have set my mind on another place to stay, which is located next door. Fan rooms here cost little, but I find them rather desolate. I like the air-conditioned rooms better, so I take one of them, even though it is a bit worn out. Because I immediately book four nights, I get a nice discount.

 

Tours on offer but easy to visit on your own
During check-in, three youngsters hand out leaflets for excursions in the area. I kindly say that I will go through them all, but I know that everything I want to see here is entirely possible to visit on my own. The chances are small that I will book any tour with them.

 

Crossing the Death Railway Bridge over the Kwai river
 

 

I eat a nice tuna baguette before I leave for the famous Death Railway Bridge over the river Kwai (or: Kwae in phonetic Thai); it is a 2-kilometer walk from where I am staying. Once there, the place is stacked with Japanese and Taiwanese. You can freely cross the bridge on foot via a narrow aisle between the rail tracks. Quite tricky with all those oncoming traffic. I wonder if anybody ever fell into the water. While I am still on the trails, a (tourist) train passes by, at walking pace, a necessity with all those pedestrians on the bridge. Some people only make room at the last moment.

 

Continue reading: https://meanwhileinthailand.com/the-erawan-falls-near-kanchanaburi/

 

[NCC1701A]

I remember that museum. they display the flags of many countries and of course the US flag was the only one that was completely and deliberately tore to shreds with a Iranian flag draped over it. i actually looked around for someone in charge and asked them why. 

 

 

[hotchilli]

If you actually get to Erawan waterfalls 7 tiers in all, be prepared for the tourist price.

Thais= 40 baht,  foreigners 10X=400 baht.

I was taken once by Thai friends who were astounded at the price hike.

I never returned.

However a look around town in Kanchanaburi is worth a look, the bridge etc tells a story.

[IAMHERE]

I was told that that is 'a' bridge over the River Kwai; not 'the' bridge over the River Kwai. 

[hotandsticky]

3 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

I was told that that is 'a' bridge over the River Kwai; not 'the' bridge over the River Kwai. 

 

 

There is an original bridge (what is left of it) and the newer railway bridge (amongst others).

 

 

If we are being pedantic be sure to refer to it as menam Kwaire....... not Kwai.

Edited September 10, 2020 by hotandsticky

[IAMHERE]

4 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

There is an original bridge (what is left of it) and the newer railway bridge (amongst others).

 

 

If we are being pedantic be sure to refer to it as menam Kwaire....... not Kwai.

Thanks for the info, we were taken to the new bridge downtown (near a wonderful market area) and told nothing of the original Kwaire bridge that was left.

 Pedantic ? Heck thanks, that's the best I've been called on a Forum for quite some time. ????

[worrab]

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

If you actually get to Erawan waterfalls 7 tiers in all, be prepared for the tourist price.

Thais= 40 baht,  foreigners 10X=400 baht.

I was taken once by Thai friends who were astounded at the price hike.

I never returned.

However a look around town in Kanchanaburi is worth a look, the bridge etc tells a story.

I visited there 2 years ago and only paid Thai price. Mind you I did have my Pink ID card.

[Jaggg88]

1 hour ago, IAMHERE said:

1 hour ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

There is an original bridge (what is left of it) and the newer railway bridge (amongst others).

 

 

If we are being pedantic be sure to refer to it as menam Kwaire....... not Kwai.

Thanks for the info, we were taken to the new bridge downtown (near a wonderful market area) and told nothing of the original Kwaire bridge that was left.

 Pedantic ? Heck thanks, that's the best I've been called on a Forum for quite some time. ????

Lets be even more pedantic. Both bridges were built over the Mae Klong river in 1943 by POWs. There was a wooden temporary bridge and a metal railway bridge which were both used for 2 years before the allies bombed them. The wooden bridge was left but the steel railway bridge was rebuilt so the existing bridge is still part original. The author of the book 'Bridge Over the River Kwai' knew that the railway ran parallel with the river Khwae and wrongly assumed it crossed the Khwae. After the international success of the film the locals renamed the Mae Klong river, Khwae Yai (this means Khwae Big as the original river Khwae is a smaller subsidiary of the main river). There no definitive romanization of the Thai word for the rivers name so the film makers chose Kwai as it was easier than longer long translations.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Jaggg88

[Dazinoz]

16 hours ago, Jaggg88 said:

Lets be even more pedantic. Both bridges were built over the Mae Klong river in 1943 by POWs. There was a wooden temporary bridge and a metal railway bridge which were both used for 2 years before the allies bombed them. The wooden bridge was left but the steel railway bridge was rebuilt so the existing bridge is still part original. The author of the book 'Bridge Over the River Kwai' knew that the railway ran parallel with the river Khwae and wrongly assumed it crossed the Khwae. After the international success of the film the locals renamed the Mae Klong river, Khwae Yai (this means Khwae Big as the original river Khwae is a smaller subsidiary of the main river). There no definitive romanization of the Thai word for the rivers name so the film makers chose Kwai as it was easier than longer long translations.

The "original" bridge was wooden as you mention as it was quicker to build to transport material across the river. The steel bridge was actually brought from Java and reassembled in Kanchanaburi. The middle 2 sections were destroyed in bombings and rebuilt and hence the arched sides as compared to the original square sides.

 

My uncle was a POW and worked on the railway but around Hintok Cutting, north of Hellfire Pass. Scenes of the cutting where he worked can be seen in the movie "The Railwayman", which by the way, is much more authentic than the "Bridge Over River Kwai" movie.

 

The bridge in the movie "Bridge Over River Kwai"  was actually filmed in Sri Lanka.