The adventure on day 4 started at the Allied War Cemetery and the Thai Burmese Railway Centre to learn more about the history of Kanchanaburi. The museum was full of information but presented in such clever and original ways. There were interactive displays, videos, actual artifacts, life sized re-enacted scenes and a real train carriage for easier imagining of what it was like. Through hundreds of pictures, displays of relics, and models the story of the Death Railway was vividly told to all visitors, conveying the struggle and the suffering of the workers.

During my visit to the museum I have learnt that during WWII, the Imperial Japanese Army had taken over South East Asia and accumulated tens of thousands of skilled and healthy prisoners of war, which were later used as laborers to support their war effort. One of the major projects that these POWs were funnelled to work for was constructing a railway. These men, along with many other Asian laborers simply looking for work, were assigned to build the railway. It originated in Thailand and cut across to the Burmese war front to aid in the Japanese invasion of India.

Originally called the Thailand-Burma Railway, it earned the nickname “Death Railway” because over one hundred thousand laborers died during its 16 month construction between 1942 and 1943. Once completed, it stretched 250 miles from Ban Pong, Thailand to Thanbuyuzayat, Burma. Many more died while remaining in the POW camps until 1945.

Miserable heat and monsoons plagued the laborers. The lack of hygiene, inadequate medical supplies, and regular beatings from Japanese and Korean guards made for abysmal working conditions. Most died from exhaustion, dysentery, infection, and malnutrition.

Approximately 80% of all deaths were Asian slave laborers consisting of Burmese, Malay, and Tamil citizens. The remaining 20% were mostly split among Americans, Australians, British, Dutch, and Indians.

Outside the museum, across the road it was the cemetery. Nearly 7000 Australian, British and Americans POW’s are honoured here. We spent quite a while wandering through the gravestones, reading the messages from families and noting the young ages of those resting here. A 30-minute stroll around the cemetery will give you a stark reality of war. When you see how young some of the soldiers were that died when constructing the railway, it’s a sobering experience.

My opinion it’s a great place for you to find out more about the history and story of all the soldiers who were forced to work on the building of the Death Railway bridge. It’s very heart-warming to see that the soldier’s family members still often come and visit their loves ones, evidences by numerous family pictures put on the tombstones.

Our tour to Kanchanaburi came to an end unfortunately, and we had to continue to drive to Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya was far away therefore we made a stop at a local market to try their traditional food. Lovely ladies trying to sell their products, others cooking, young children playing around and monks driving around, was a great scenery of a busy life at a local market.

One of the most famous dishes of Thai cuisine, if you have time, you should try Ayutthaya’s Tom Yum. A bowl of quality Tom Yum soup will have noodles cooked with crab meat, shrimp, scallops, with minced meat and boiled eggs, broth.

Another delicious dish to try is Pat Thai. It is also a famous Thai dish, although it is simply with fried noodles with eggs, tofu, shrimp, etc., but it brings a mouth-catching flavor. Accompanied by a small amount of vegetables and the slightly sour taste of lemon, do not miss enjoying Thai Pad at the ancient capital of the land of millions of elephants! I tried Pat Thai and it was super delicious!

Time to leave beautiful Kanchanaburi behind……

While driving along Thailand’s excellent highway system to Ayutthaya we made a stop to see vendors selling various food, either fresh or cooked meals. What we didn’t expected was the vendor actually selling rats, snakes and pink eggs!! The vendor was actually making a loving trapping rice field rats, called ‘noo naa’. Most people think of rats as a vile, putrid rodent that lives on garbage; however, Thai rice field rats are different. Their diet consists of rice roots, and they have plump bodies full of natural meat. In areas where rice is grown, too many rats will spoil the harvest.

Here you can see a day’s catch, the cooked rats have their feet cut off, skin removed and guts cleaned. A lot of work, now Ready to Eat!! Delicious right??? 😊

What do rice field rats taste like? Honestly I have no idea, I wasn’t really hungry….but they say it tastes just like chicken, if you ever get the chance and you are brave enough, try it!!!!

The vendor reported to us that business was so good where they trap the odd snakes and they sell them too.

I also came across some bright pink eggs. Curious, I asked them what was that. The Thai ladies joked with me that they put the eggs in a horse pee in order to last longer…I finally got the truth out of them. They are called century eggs or thousand year old eggs and are preserved according to a very old tradition in clay, salt, quicklime and rice hulls. They may be pretty on the outside, but are black and gelatinous inside. I wasn’t feeling that adventurous…

Ayutthaya …. An ancient city….

First stop in Ayutthaya included visits to the historical sites of the old capital.

Today the historic city of Ayutthaya, which was designated as the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991, offers visitors a glimpse of the glorious but tragic history of Ayutthaya Kingdom.

Ayutthaya it is named after Ayodhya, India, the birthplace of the hero Rama and also known as ‘Pra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya’, which was the capital city of Thailand for 417 years from the mid-1300s to the mid-1700s. One can say that Ayutthaya period can be considered the golden age of the Siamese people under the governing of 33 kings. By the year of 1700, the city of Ayutthaya had become one of the world’s largest cities at that time with the total of 1 million inhabitants. However, this all came to an end in 1767, when Ayutthaya was invaded by the Burmese and almost completely burnt to the ground.

With her small town centre comprised of a mix of modern buildings and historic temples, today, Ayutthaya shows us just a fraction of the grandeur of the ancient capital. The ruins are dotted around the city, the centre of which is encapsulated by a circular canal, and were officially recognised for their cultural value in 1991 when the Historic City became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Located just 85km from the centre of Bangkok, Ayutthaya is often a stop on the backpacker route between the capital and Chiang Mai.

What to see in Ayutthaya..

Ayutthaya is a large town with so many temples that you would probably need at least a few days to see them all.  I only had one and a half day as I was heading to Chiang Mai the next.

A full day in the historic city included the below:

Wat Mahathat

Wat Mahathat, this temple is one of the landmarks of Ayutthaya, with the famous image of Buddha’s head surrounded by tree roots. We had to crouch down to take a photo as the head shouldn’t be higher than Buddha’s as a mark of respect. The Buddha head entwined within the roots of a banyan tree is one of the most recognizable symbols of Thailand. Like the other temples in the area, this one was so severely destroyed that you will see a line of headless statues.

Wat Phra Si Sanphet

Wat Phra Si Sanphet, with its three large spired, this temple is the most historically important in Ayutthaya. Two of the stupas house the ashes of King Rama Thibodi’s father and elder brother; his own are housed in the third, built by his sone, King Boromaraja IV. It was first build in the 14th century and reached the peak of its glory in the second half of the 17th century.

    Wat Chain Wattanaram

    Wat Chain Wattanaram, the site is large, with many of the original prangs and statues in tact, though most of the Buddha images have been decapitated. This Wat used to be a monastery and a cremation site for members of the royal family.

    Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit

    Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit: One of the few modern looking temples in Ayutthaya, this temple in fact dates from the 1500s like many others in the historical kingdom of Ayutthaya; it has been given several renovations. In this temple is perhaps the largest Buddha image I’ve ever seen, besides the Reclining Buddha in Wat Pho in Bangkok. The Phra Mongkok Bophit is over 41 foot high.

    Wat Yai Chai Mongkol

    Wat Yai Chai Mongkol is not as old as other temples, just over 100 years old. The staircase to the top of the stupa is very steep, almost 90 degrees, and it will be difficult to reach the stupa. Although not “old”, but many parts of this architecture bring ruinous exposed bricks inside. But because of that dilapidation, Wat Yai Chai Mongkol increased the attraction.

    Wat Ratchaburana

    Wat Ratchaburana can be regarded as the most well-preserved ruins in the Ayutthaya Historical Park area. The commissioner – King Borommarachathirat II – decided to construct the temple in 1424 on the cremation site of his two elder brothers who died in their fight for the throne. Located across the road from Wat Mahathat, it must be seen during an Ayutthaya day trip. Wat Ratchaburana can be considered to be the best preserved ruins in the area of Ayutthaya Historical Park. King Borommarachathirat II decided to build the temple in 1424 on the cremation area of his two brothers who died in the battle for their throne.

    Wat Lokayasutharam

    Wat Lokayasutharam is a famous site for Thai Buddhists and a must-visit destination for tourists. The giant reclining Buddha statue, symbolizing the Buddha when he passing into nirvana, is a familiar symbol of Buddhism. The statue was lucky to be left intact compared to other structures in Ayutthaya Historical Park.

    A beautiful yet tiring day of exploring came to an end, where we headed to the hotel to rest and have the afternoon free to explore at the night local markets…

    Stay tuned for Day 5 – Ayutthaya to Chiang Mai