Pattaya-Kanchanaburi-Hua Hin-Pattaya

[Swamp Thing]

As the weather had become less torrential, last Sunday (25/10), I went on a road trip.

I wanted to find destinations that were not overfar, in case the torrential made a comeback, and I wanted a route that was roughly circular, to return on a different route to the initial one.

On studying the map, I chose Kanchanaburi as the first town to aim for, as I enjoy riding around the hills to the west of the town. I then picked Hua Hin as a second destination, as I had never been there and wanted to have a look. I thought that was enough for a short trip, so packed my bag and set off.

I took this route to Kanchanburi;

https://www.google.c...d14.0227797!3e0

which was suggested by ll2 in the 'Pattaya to Kanchanaburi and Back in the Next Few Weeks' thread. (Thanks to ll2 for this tip, if he happens to be reading this).

It's not a scenic route, mostly urban, but easy to follow and avoids riding directly through Bangkok.

I arrived in K, booked in to a guest house, went out for dinner, (less than delicious), and rested, in preparation for the next day's riding.

[Swamp Thing]

The next morning, I headed for the hills.

Taking Road 323 out of town, the scenery soon became more interesting.

It was very enjoyable riding on the well-maintained curvy roads into the hills, which were largely free of other vehicles. The scenery and fresh air were very welcome.

I sat here for some time, enjoying a bottle of water, the fresh air, the scenery, and the sounds of nature.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Swamp Thing

[Swamp Thing]

My destination on this trip up the 323 was the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum.

A pic from the road into the Museum. (Photobombed by a buffalo).

Edited November 1, 2015 by Swamp Thing

[taninthai]

Nice to see someone enjoying the roads,some on this forum will have you believe all the roads in Thailand are rubbish and dangerous,that may be the case if you only ride to locally 7/11 your local bar etc etc but once you get out the busy areas the roads are great.

Edited November 1, 2015 by taninthai

[Swamp Thing]

I had recently watched a documentary on the construction of the Thailand-Burma railway, (aka the Death Railway), and found the facts presented to be shocking. I thought I would visit the museum.

I wasn't expecting to be quite so moved by the visit. To see the photos and films of the prisoners and the Asian labourers, who were little more than living skeletons due to malnutrition, wracked with disease and given increasing amounts of work in order to get the railway finished quickly, and to have these images accompanied by text descriptions, in English and Thai, was an emotional experience.

The inhumanity of the guards was horrific. The endurance of the prisoners and labourers, who also suffered ill treatment from the guards, was admirable.

These views from the viewing platform are stunning and allowed a time for contemplation of the events which occurred in that area.

The above is the Peace Vessel, made by Peter Rushworth, who was a POW working on the railway.

[Swamp Thing]

After visiting the Museum and collecting my thoughts, I went for a walk along part of the bed of the railway.

A section of the steps leading down to the site of the railway.

In a place of such beauty, such inhumanity.

[Swamp Thing]

The Hellfire Pass itself.

The Pass was given it's name because, with the increasing workloads, work continued into the night, lit by firelight, creating an image considered to be similar to hell.

In this pic, the railway sleepers can be seen still in place in the ground. The torment of those who carried out the task of placing those sleepers is dreadful to contemplate,

A view from the site of the railway. Again, a time for thoughts of those who never enjoyed this view.

[Swamp Thing]

I then returned to Kanchanaburi and decided to have a meal.

I found a restaurant, ordered a meal and was presented with an equal first in the worst meal i have ever had placed in front of me in a restaurant. It was so bad, I thought there was a strong possibility that the staff had decided to give whitey the joke meal and were secretly watching to see if I would attempt to eat it. I didn't. After picking it over, to examine it's horror upon horror, I pushed it away and called for check bin.

It was a relief when I walked out of the restaurant and no longer had that in front of me.

I went to another restaurant and ordered a meal which was terrible but edible. I was unlucky to pick restaurants which were running a no-fail system in the kitchen.

I returned to the guest house to rest up for the following day's trip to Hua Hin.

To get to Hua Hin, I went back down the 323, heading towards Nakhon Pathom, to link up with Road 4 and go down to Hua Hin.

However, somewhere close to NP, a downpour hit, creating 30cm+ deep puddles, as wide or wider than a single lane in the road. I had put my bag in my hi-tec all-weather bin liner at the first sign of dampness, and it worked fine. I had also put on my plastic cape, which didn't work fine. It began to tear to shreds en route, with small strips of it trailing behind, flapping, rustling and whipcracking. It was better than nothing, but barely.

Due to this, and being splashed by cars, and having to steer around the worst of the puddles and a naked man carrying a rope walking along the middle of the road (!), I missed the turning to Ratchaburi, the first town on the way to Hua Hin, and found myself on the way to BKK. A u-turn rectified this, the rain stopped, and I enjoyed a quite pleasant ride on Road 4 to Hua Hin.

I booked into a guest house, which also had a restaurant. I ordered khao pad goong, which was ok. In comparison to my recent meals, it seemed delicious and I couldn't hold back on making audible satisfied sounds as i was eating it. (Which were possibly a little worrying to the people on the next table, but they didn't know what I had been through).

I had a short walk around town then went to bed.

[Swamp Thing]

The next day was drizzly, so I went out for breakfast, (which was fine), and had another walk around town.

By midday, it was brightening up, so I set off for Monkey Mountain.

There were some nice views to be had on the way to the Mountain, but when I arrived, I realised i wasn't overkeen to be surrounded by 30 or 40 monkeys scampering around, so came back to my machine and went to Cha Am for a few hours.

Then back to the guest house for rest for riding back the next day.

The following morning, I went back up Road 4 and turned right onto Road 35, toward Samut Sakhon and BKK.

Initially, Road 35 was quite rural, but this was to change, of course.

I stayed on Road 35 for some distance, until I went on to Road 303. I then followed the sign to Bhumibol Bridge 2 and went over. I had read that two-wheelers weren't allowed on the bridge, but I saw no signs there and there was a well-maintained lane alongside the the car lanes for the length of the bridge which appeared to be for bikes and was certainly well used, as I was in a line of motorbikes and scooters. (Although I was recently riding from Sri Racha to Pattaya when I came to the bridge on Road 3 on which two-wheelers are not allowed. I was prepared to use the roundabout instead, but saw a line of scooters going up the bridge. 'When in Rome...' I thought , and joined them. Up, along, then down, to get busted at a roadblock at the bottom. 200 baht. I didn't lose any sleep. But my point is, sometimes following a line isn't a good idea. We all got busted).

I then got a bit confused and lost, but found the Phuchao Saming Phray Road, went on to Road 3 to Bang Na, and along the frontage road for the Bang Na-Chonburi expressway. On to Road 3 at the end, and on to home.

[Swamp Thing]

It was a great trip, I really enjoyed it.

The roads were almost exclusively smooth and well-maintained and I had no scares at any time.

Now to begin planning the next one...

[Hugh Jarse]

The Hellfire Pass itself.

Kanchanaburi_Hua Hin Trip 010.jpg

Kanchanaburi_Hua Hin Trip 011.jpg

The Pass was given it's name because, with the increasing workloads, work continued into the night, lit by firelight, creating an image considered to be similar to hell.

Kanchanaburi_Hua Hin Trip 013.jpg

In this pic, the railway sleepers can be seen still in place in the ground. The torment of those who carried out the task of placing those sleepers is dreadful to contemplate,

Kanchanaburi_Hua Hin Trip 012.jpg

A view from the site of the railway. Again, a time for thoughts of those who never enjoyed this view.