I Was Mauled by a Leopard...!

... but we'll get to that later.

So next stop on my travels was Kanchanaburi. And continuing the movie theme (see previous blog) Kanchanaburi is home to the the Death Railway Bridge, made famous by the film The Bridge on the River Kwai. For those not who don't have clue what I'm going on about, here's a quick history lesson: During World War Two, the Japanese sought increasing control over Southeast Asia. Getting into Burma (Myanmar) proved tricky so they decided a new rail link was needed so they began to construct the Thai-Burma railway using Prisoners of War (mostly British and Australian) as free labour. The railway became known as the Death Railway due to the amount of POW who died whilst building it because of the dreadful conditions and poor treatment by the Japanese. Class dismissed.

We visited the war museum and the allied cemetery where there were hundreds of headstones for British, Australian, Dutch and American soldiers. The British ones had badges of what regiment (I don't know if this is the right term) they had come from and I managed to find some "Sherwood Foresters" who had come from Derby and Nottingham. Quite a proud moment I think.

Enough seriousness. Now for a fun fact. The River Kwai is constantly mispronounced by, well pretty much everyone except Thai people. Speak about the river Kwae (as in "care") and not about the river Kwai (as in "pie") otherwise you'll be talking about the river Buffalo which always gets a laugh from Thais. We went kayaking on the river which was a lovely serene trip. Though we did crash into a floating restaurant causing several patrons and staff to come running. (there a lots of floating things here- restaurants, bars, guesthouses, dead kayakers) only our pride was bruised though and we made a speedy getaway under the bridge.

Kanchanaburi has turned out to be one of my most favourite places so far. There's a perfect mix of culture, history, tourism, cheap places to stay and cheap places to drink. Not that I've been testing these places out...much. But you've got to visit a bar which promises you drinks for ten Baht (20p)

Ah, yes the leopard mauling. Well I was in a market (nice, calm, supposedly leopard-free) and there was a bus. With a leopard on it. It looked young and cute though it was chained up quite shortly and the whole situation was a bit sad. I took some photos (it's not every day you see a leopard) from a safe distance before the owner came over and forced me to touch it. Literally grabbed my hand, dragged me over and put my hand on its head. It didn't like this and instantly lunged at arm batting my hand away. Luckily, its claws had been cut very short so it didn't actually cut me. But still!

Right, times up for this internet cafe so Sawat Dee Ka!

Won't you take me to MonkeyTown?

No, it's not to do with monks this time.

The summer holidays have begun. For me, this means two months of freedom to do whatever I please. Right now, I'm in the charming town of Lopburi home to some lovely ruins, former palaces, museums, but more importantly...monkeys. They're everywhere! As soon as I opened the curtains there was one peering in at me. They scramble up buildings, shimmy down drainpipes and I even saw one hitching a lift on someones car. (Though it may have unintentionally trapped itself on the roof) The locals don't give them a second glance but I could watch them all day. No one ever harms the monkeys as some believe them to be descendants of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman, others however are just staying in line with the Buddhist ideals of not harming others. And I so sound like a history book here. Anyway....

So we've soaked up the atmosphere, the culture and the history and tomorrow we'll be moving on by bus which, believe it or not, is going to be a step down from the third class train we took to get here. Cheap as chips, more comfortable and far more interesting, trains offer another glimpse of Thai life. Hawkers walk up and down the carriage selling everything from beer to talcum powder and childern hang out the windows trying to grab leaves off the passing trees. (okay sounding like a travel book here) Ahem...

Before Lopburi, we were in Khao Yai National Park. One of the biggest and best parks in the world. We slept in little more than a shack and it was freezing at night. We didn't manage to spot a tiger but we saw deer, snakes, porcupines and monkeys whilst on a night safari. We also visited the waterfall that features in the film The Beach (if you've seen it, it's the one Leonardo DiCaprio launches himself off) which was rather exciting. We also had an unfortunate attack of leeches of which Anna is actually phobic of. Not kidding. And "Fleur, get this leech off me!" is not what you really hope to hear in the middle of the jungle. We escaped unscathed and "un-leeched" though I don't think I'vr ever seen someone run away from a waterfall so fast....

Sawat Dee!