Journey to Siamese Kingdom Part 3

Day 3

On our third day, we had the breakfast at the same place since we still spend overnight there. After the breakfast, we picked by the driver to the next destination, Samut Songkhram which located around 82km or 1hr from Kanchanaburi.

Our beautiful chalet. Goodbye and hope to see you again

We expect to reach Maeklong Railway before 11am since the train from and to Maeklong will pass by the market at 11.10am and 11.30am respectively. If you miss the time, then you need to wait for another round which is around 2.30pm. 

I attached the train schedule here for your reference. 

Finally, we reached the Maeklong Market at 11am. Just nice for the train timing. Everybody is busy at the market, either seller or buyer doing buying and selling activities. 

A few minutes before the train arrived, the guard will ring the signals and immediately, the sellers will close their shelters and parasols and cleared the selling items that may obstruct the incoming train. You can see some items being placed on the railway itself as well hehe.. 

The train will pass by the market at a very low speed (if not everything in the market will fly away haha) and stopped at Maeklong Station which located just after the market. After the train passed by, the sellers will reopen the parasols, shelters and their stalls, and the business resume as usual. All these need efforts, i think. Close and re-opened.. 

Anyway, the Maeklong Market selling all wet and dry items including seafood, foods, cloths and other households. Fried frogs also available hahaha. 

The train is coming...

Here is Maeklong Station, which located just after the market

Tourists took chances to take photos of the incoming train. Not allowed to go to near due to safety issue. 

And the business resume as usual after the train passed by

Around 12pm, we head our journey to Bangkok. This round, we rode a van from Samut Songkhram to Bangkok. Unfortunately i couldn't remember how much we pay for the van. The journey to the Bangkok took around 2 hours due to heavy traffic jem. And we are damn hungry 😩😩.

Arrived in Bangkok, the van dropped us at the BTS station and we ride a train to our hostel which located at Sukhumvit. We already spent hundreds per night for the resort hence its time for the backpackers hostel haha..

We dropped our luggage and proceeded to Chao Phraya Express Pier for evening boat ride. To reach there, just take BTS to Saphan Taksin station. The pier just next to the station.

There are few boat lines and you can differentiate by the flag of each boat. Since we headed to Wat Arun, we rode orange flag boat for THB13 per way. Refer here for details of the boat Boat Express

Inside the boat

The view along the cruise

The cruise to Wat Arun took around 30 mins with a few stops along the way. Finally, we arrived.

We bought a ticket for THB50. Wat Arun Ratchawararam ~ originally named as Wat Makok. Has existed since the period of Ayutthaya Kingdom in 17th century. The temple rename during the reign of King Rama IV. The architectural components of Phrangs reflect Buddhist ideology about the universe according to Traibhum cosmology. This temple also known as Temple of Dawn. The scenery is great during the sunset, but since the place is too crowded, we just forgot about the sunset and went to shopping mall for a dinner, before went back to hostel for a rest.

The architectural and the colours are unique

The other side of the temple

And this is part of the monument as well.. 

Final day

The final day, i am a bit lazy to go anywhere. Hence, before depart to airport, i just went to Victoria monument. The monument was erected in June 1941 to commemorate the Thai victory in the Franco ~ Thai War. To reach here, take BTS to Victoria Monument Station. There also a lot of booth selling cheap-cheap cloths as well.

After 30mins walking around without any objective, i decided to proceed to the airport since our flight is at 1pm. To get to airport by bus, rode a BTS to Mo Chit Station and take bus number A1 from there for THB30.

Goodbye Bangkok! Will come again.

Victoria Monument

Goodbye Bangkok! 

Journey to the Siamese Kingdom Part 2

Day 2

As promised in the last entry, our resort, Boutique Raft Resort River Kwai located at the bank of River Kwai, around 50km from city centre of Kanchanaburi.

Cool resort, with the sound of river flow and the balcony door that straightly opened to the river. We booked River Kwai Suites, a bamboo made room of two floating on the river with two reclined bamboo chairs at the balcony.

The room

The wash room. When you bath, the water straightly go to the river through the wooden floor

The bamboo chair for you to relax, chit chatting, reading in front of the river

Toiletteries 

The view from the room

This morning, we had a breakfast at the resort. Quite a variety of choices so we had scramble eggs, fruits, baked bean and a bread. Eating in front of the river makes you feel good.

What a colourful breakfast! 

The driver picked us at 8.30pm at hotel lobby. He brought us to the Srinagarind Dam, about an hour journey from the resort. Basically, the dam was built on the Khwae Yai River for hydroelectric power generation. The dam's power station has a 720 megawatts and was named after Princess Srinaharindra. 

We spend about 10 mins here for photos before proceeded our journey to Erawan Waterfall which located around 10 mins from the dam. 

Srinagarind Dam

The other side of the dam. Looks like a big man made lake. 

Erawan Waterfall is one of the most beautiful waterfall in Thailand, with greenish blue water flow from the waterfall to the pond at each level. The waterfall has 7 tiers in which each tiers had its own name as follows:

Level 1 - Hlai Khuen Rung
Level 2 - Wang Macha
Level 3 - Pha Namtok
Level 4 - Oke Nang Peesau
Level 5 - Buea Mai Long
Level 6 - Dong Prucksa
Level 7 - Phu Pha Erawan

We only went up to level 5, just had a simple swam and fish spa before going down to the base. We need to hike to every level and the path is very easy with stairs provided.

The entrance fee is THB200 per person and once you reached level 2, you need to left all your foods and bottled water at the counter by paying a deposit of THB20. To maintain the water quality and the cleanliness, all foods are prohibited to be carried over each level.

Entrance of Erawan Waterfall

The board showing the waterfall tiers

Photos of each tiers

Level 1 - Hlai Khuen Rung

Level 2 - Wang Macha

The waterfall model

Level 4 - Oke Nang Peesau

Level 3 - Pha Namtok

Level 5 - Buea Mai Long

The steps to each level

Even we not going up to level 7, but we still spend around 3 hours at the waterfall. Cooling view, less people and the sounds of the jungle enough for you to have a me time doing nothing there. But, since we still have few places to go, we need to stop day dreaming, get a move and proceeded to the town of Kanchanaburi, about 1 hour from the waterfall. 

The driver dropped us nearby Kwai River Bridge. We walked around 5 minutes to join the crowded there. First thing that we need to know before enjoying this place is the train timing. Need to make sure that you have enough time to get out from railway when the train is coming hehe.. 

The span of this bridge is composed of nine curved-truss segments (originals dating back to WWII) and two angular-truss segments (replacements (under war reparations) from Japan after 1945). Nearby the bridge is JEATH Museum and a temple at the other side of the river. 

Kwai River

Me, on the railway bridge

A bit clear for photo session here

A market nearby the bridge. I can see a kid playing a guitar with a small tins in front of her for tips. 

How the bridge looks like, from the market

We then, walked to the JEATH War Museum which located 5 mins from the bridge. JEATH stands for primary nationalities that involved in the construction of the bridge namely Japanese, English, Australian, Thailand and Holland.

This war museum is all about the Death Railway which was built from 1942 to 1943 by Allied Prisoners of Wars under the direction of Japanese. They displayed the machines, vehicles, pictures and how the situation looks like during the construction of the bridge.

Entrance Fees THB40.

The girl became my photoboom. This old train has been used during World War 2 to transport ammunitions to expand the fight to India and Burma

Museum Building from the front. The middle statue is King Narai the great

This is how the prisoners struggled during the constructions of the railway under Japanese command. They look tired, thin and exposure to disease and death due to insufficient nutrition. 

This railway wagon is used as a prison to hold the prisoners of WW2 in Kanchanaburi 

The trishaw used by the officers 

After 1 hour tour in the museum, we visited the market in front of the museum ~ River Kwai Park.

The entrance of the market 

Jewellery sections of the market. We just window shop

This section selling cloths both for kids and adults

This is my favourite part. The jeruks and dry food sections. Variety of choices. I bought a few. 

Cheap cheap stuffs 😁😁😁

At the end of market, there is a small Muslim restaurant. Since i am Kelantanese, so i just spoke Kelantan dialect with the restaurant owner hehe. We ordered nasi goreng and soups.

The makcik Kelantan restaurant 😁

After had our lunch, we planned to visit another important place which is Maluka R. E 124. 

What is this place all about? 

Mallika R.E 124 ~ reflecting the past Siamese lifestyle in the Chao Phraya River Basin.

During the reign of King Chulalongkorn, Rama V (1873-1910 A.D.), the people’s way of life in 1905 A.D. was changed ~ the abolition of slavery. The abolition caused the slaves to live a life of self-sufficiency, self-reliant, and in harmony with all other Siamese people.

Interesting places to visit from my point  of view. You can wear the traditional Thai costume for THB200. Other than traditional houses, there are city tower, Saphan Han and ancient market zone which is worth of visits. In order to buy foods, souveniers, crafts sold in ancient market zone, you need to buy holed coins after the entrance. The markets only accepted the holed coins for buying and selling transactions. I didnt change anything. Not interested to buy anything 😬😬. 

After spending around 2 hrs here, we nake a move to our final destinations for the day, Death Railway. 

Entrance fee: THB200

The rickshaw in front of the entrance

The entrance of Malika R.E 124

Saphan Han - Turnable bridge. There are few shops selling spices, crafts and cloths inside. 

Beautiful garden lies below the Saphan Han

City Tower

Reuan Pae - a floating house for trading and restaurants. Located at the bank of the river

Reuan Hmoo - used by the rich people to welcome visitors 

The hall in the Reuan Hmoo

Traditional houses

And this. No proper sign board to describe further on these houses

The villagers drying the grains

The traditional equipment that they used to processed the paddy i.e separating paddy and rice 

Reuan Dieow - This type of house normally occupied by proletariats who's producing basic living needs such as vegetables, paddy, clothing etc. 

The crafts sold at Ancient Market Zone. 

Me, on the rickshaw hehe

The final destination of the 2nd day, The Death Railway. Sounds horror and scary but what is this place all about? 

Also known as Siam-Burma Railway, with a length of 415 km between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma.

The railway was built in 1943 by Japanese to support its forces in the Burma campaign of WW2.

Between 180,000 and 250,000 Southeast Asian civilian labourers and about 61,000 prisoner of wars were forced to construct the railway. About 90,000 civilian labourers and more than 12,000 prisoners died during the construction.

You can either ride a train to Tham Kra Sae station or reach here by road. 

We reached at the station around 5.40pm and the train scheduled to arrive at Tham Kra Sae at 6.00pm. Since it is just the time for the train to arrive, we take a chance to snap a photo around the railway. 

This time, the train reached 15mins late, the sky getting darker but we still at the railway waiting for the train. Some tourists already left since they waited for so long. But us, keep on waiting until the arrival of the train. 

The boat house, water chalet along the Kwai River

Alert the train timing to take picture like me, else you can jump into the river or run away to the safe side.

The train is coming

And getting closer.. 

And stopped at Tam Khra Sae station for minutes before leaving to Wang Pho

After the train left, we back to our chalet which located not far from the station. We ended up our beautiful journey by having a dinner and had a good rests. 

To be continued..