The morning after

We woke up the next morning to an incredible feast: full American breakfast set, a 6-course teowchew porridge breakfast set, and a pot of fried rice for 4 persons. Were we dreaming ? We were almost embarrassed to start and half-heartedly insisted to the waiter that all these were too much.

What happened last night was nothing less than a beacon of luck. We had unwittingly paddled past the last of the accommodation along that stretch of the river. Then I saw a fire burning on the bank and was immediately very happy and paddled towards it. It was started by an angler who also happened to be an employee of a resort nearby - Muang Sing Resort. He recommended us immediately that we could stay there. He advised us that the next accommodation was 20km downriver and a 3 hours paddle away.

He said there was no way that we were going to make it there alive. He was sure that if we continued some spirits of the river would dragged us down. At this moment, a big tourist boat "The River Kwai" came roaring downriver and nearly capsized us. I readily believed everything he said.

"hong thawrai?", I asked the price as I knew we were in tycoon's territory.

"Mai Paeng, phan rooy bhat.", he stick out his index finger to indicate 1000 bhat. It will be the most expensive place we stayed on this trip if we agreed.

"OK pai!", I said go but I almost fell as I got out of the kayak. My legs were wobbly from sitting in the kayak for 16 hours without land rest.

I got into his motorbike to check us in, and also to call out the resort's pick-up for the rest of the gear. It was close to 11pm and I could not think of anything else than to pray that the kitchen was still open.

But first, JB had better squeezed out some shit to account for all these.

First Glimpse of the Death Railway

The way the geographical feature of the Thai-Burma border formed, it was mountains on the Burmese side and the Maenam (River) Khlong on the thai side. So between Yangoon and Bangkok, were the natural obstacles of Burmese mountains and Thai rivers. If the Japanese wanted a supply route to cart out Burmese resources to Thai ports, they would have to cut a pass through the mountains and bridged Mae Nam Khlong. And they did.

From Australian Army historical records, it was written that "The Burma-Thai railway lline crossed over the River Kwae Yai at Kanchanaburi, traversed along the bank of Kwae Noi River, cut across the Thai-Burma border at Chedi Sam Ong, continued on into Burma and joined the Burma railway line at Thanbyuzayat. The total length of line constructed was 419 kms. 303.95km being in Thailand and in Burma 111.05 kms."

Wang Po Tiered Viaduct - With the town of Kanchanaburi approaching we finally saw the first glimpse of the infamous death railway. The Wang Po section of the Death Railway as seen from the river. Two main viaducts followed the bottom of the cliff for some distance. It was recorded that a ledge had to be carved out of the cliff face to form a base for the bridge and embankment construction. photo: Huey

A River of Life

After Muang Sing, the bamboo forests and high cliffs totally disappeared. The river traveled along the kanchanaburi plains with farms and settlements along the way. The banks were fertile and choked full with tropical aquatic plants of many species. I recognized those that I had studied in school during our ecological science classes. It was like the rainforest or coral reefs of aquatic plants here.

We also passed elephant camps, fishing farms, orchards, monasteries, buddhist retreats, sand mining factories, etc. And river kwai noi supported them all; this diversity of activities.

River scenes - I was amazeded by the layering, diveristy, and balance of the aquatic plants. It looked to me like landscaping rather than nature's works. It was wonderful to get close to an elephant while paddling, except their easy toilet manners. See JB?        photos: Huey

Sing-Song Welcome at Kanchanaburi

As we were reaching the end of our river kwai noi journey, a boat house pulled up alongside us (yes, these things can be towed anywhere). This time it was a group of teenagers who had rented the boat for a couple of hours of drinks, dance, merry-making, and of course karaoke singing (out of tune again!). When they saw us some of them started whistling at us, egging us on, while others had their cameras snapping away.

The boat captain saw this and then decided to get closer, and before we knew it we were being raced! The alcohol-intoxicated teenagers were going wild and cheering for us. It was very difficult to concentrate on paddling indeed, but we were not going to lose - not infront of the girls! After half an hour we finally eased off and let the boat passed us. It was a typical thai sing-song welcome to our finishing just a few kilometers ahead.

Colorful boat houses at Kanchanaburi - The boat houses were all brightly painted with simple patterns. Tourists and Thais alike rented them for river cruises and parties along the river kwai. Alhtough I have never been to or seen Ducth canals, this scene looked "hollandnese" to me...        photo: Huey

Bridge Over River Kwai

The river kwai noi (noi means 'little' in Thai) joined river kwai yai (big) to form River Kwai at Kachanaburi town, at the berthing area. The river kwai noi was actually the true River Kwai, as the other, river kwai yai was originally the Maenam Khlong River renamed. A few decades ago, Maenam Khlong was dam and the outflow from this dam was renamed River Kwai Yai. So while the railway bridge was originally built over the Maenam Khlong, it now spans over the river kwai yai. It stood about 2km from the confluence of the two rivers, and we paddled upstream to see it.

Some curiosity many of us have with this bridge was of course from the memorable 1950s movie "Bridge over River Kwai", and the whistling song in the movie. Everyone knows why it was called the death railway, as hundreds and thousands died building it. It was a must-see place when you are in kanchanaburi. So we had decided to end our river journey here. While JB had been here before, this was my first time.

When we reached the bridge it was close to sunset. We did not attempt to land the kayaks to have a walk around or visit the museum. It was late and there were too many tourists around. A landing would not offered us a quiet moment we could have on the river. And in such places of remembrance, silence was perhaps the best respect. We sat in our kayaks watching the people traffic, watching the bridge, and the changing color of light.

 

Bridge Over River Kwai - After 3 days paddling down the river kwai noi, we reached the infamous bridge at sunset. Trains still ply through this section with regular interval. Approaching at low speed, it allow passengers inside the cabins to interact with tourists shielding themselves on observation boxes on regaular section of the railway.         photo: Huey

Lotus Garden

And so we paddled on, one final time finding accommodation for our last night. One of the most important consideration of finding the 'last night accommodation', was the space to wash and dry the kayaks, before we pack them for the flight. After asking around, finally we were glad we found Sugarcane Resort, a guesthouse nested in the middle of a lotus garden. It had a huge floating platform for washing, and with rooms on the water, we could just tied our kayaks by it.

We were lucky to find it though, as the place was accessible only via a private waterway entrace among the lotus garden. Looking at the faces of the owner, I was quite sure she did not intended guests coming in from that entrance !

Lotus Garden Stay - Our accommodation at Kanchanaburi was nested in a lovely lotus garden. We had to enter and exit using a concealed waterway among the lotus plants.         photo: Huey

River Kwai Noi has much to offer to a paddler. The upper reaches flow through dense bamboo forests and over small rapids. In the mid section, the river glistened in its most majestic glory, flowing passing beautiful waterfalls, high cliffs, and foothills of tall hills. Towards the confluence, the landscaping of its banks by numerous aquatic plants was just unbelieveablely breathtaking. It offered me something new each day, with its diverse range of sights and experience presented with a cool climate. The numerous charming boat houses along the river were ideal for our kayaks, which we tied up while we rest. The next day the kayaks were untied to continue the journey or just for a day's paddle.

Our initial plan, Plan A, was to find a North-South river route to Kanchanaburi, by using Maenam Khlong. During World War II times, Maenam Khlong flowed freely from Umphang in Northern Thailand all the way to Gulf of Thailand. Instead we were thwarted and paddled the river kwai noi instead. While I mentioned pre-expedition curses which brought about much uncertainties and anxieties, I must also agreed that the paddling at the end had so far always been sweet.

~~ the end ~~

Kanchanaburi, Thailand
28-30 oct 2006