The Backpacker

You may have watched a movie  of the same name, read books on the Second World War, but nothing can prepare you for the feeling of standing on the Bridge watching history flow past.

I had a strange sense of fulfilment as I stood on the bridge watching the tourists enjoy themselves with their camera. For a fleeting moment I felt transported back in time, despite the milling public. I can admit that Kanchanaburi featured on my list of destinations to be covered only because of the River Kwai. It had been an obsession with me. Heck, for a traveller, the idea of seeing fresh water dolphins in Kratie would do just as the regular tourist would want to see the "Effiel Tower". Its the idea of seeing history that facinated...to share a moment with the world.

A train takes you across the bridge for 15THB. A good idea that, if you are looking to take videos. I did that the first time. Second time around, I decided to walk over the bridge. Its absolutely fascinating when you are the only person to do so....OK OK. Here is how that came to be.

When I landed at Kanchanaburi after that exciting train journey from Bangkok at about 11.30, I checked into Royal Knight for a night for 300THB. Their deal was that every guest is allowed a bicycle and free internet. I hadnt done that particular thing for long, so i decided this was a good time as any to begin again. I had two hours to spare before my trip to the Tiger Temple for a shot at the tigers. The hotel was about 2 (felt like a hundred) kilometers away from the River Kwai and in my eagerness to appease my senses, i cycled furiously in the sun to the river. I reached the river alright, but despite the sun being up and running, ther were many tourists...mostly come on buses from the city on a guided tour.

Thats how I came to see the bridge the first time. The second was at 5 am with not a soul in sight. This time I stole a ride with the delivery boy, who agreed to fix me coffee and bread and cheese for breakfast. It was when he was going to buy his bread that I decided to bribe him into taking me along. Heck, on a motorbike, the distance can be covered in less than ten minutes!!

Ha, since consistency in writing is missing, I am merely trying to fill gaps and thereby trying to cover everything I possibly can.

Here is the flipside! Just for my records.....

1. Nissan Sunny cars......I absolutely hate them!
2. Public toilets...too low!
3. Excess meat and fish...thats all they seem to eat!
4. No decent TEA or Coffee....Ha, nothing in comparison to the "chai" or "kaapi" Indian style!
5. Rice.....three times a day!
6. Noodles....NOT an alternative to rice! Oh, for a simple roti :-)

There is a better side to this also :-)

The excitement builds as the rains picks up speed. The air rushes in through the big, open windows and the train, after passing the first few kilometers through the shanty that inevitably springs up on the side of the railways, moves into more open grounds. Its green. Its clean. The little stagnant pools of water you see in passing are pretty with water lilies and lotus merrily co existing with the fishes... More than anything else, you can see the temples from between the cluster of trees. Suddenly, twenty minutes into the journey, you feel sleepy. The seats are not designed to stretch out comfortably, they are hard, wooden and functional and if you really must sleep, stretch over on the facing seat, it can be managed if you know how. No one will bother you and if you are traveling with the occasional Thai, chances are that he/she would be inevitably eating something: rice with shredded meat cooked in Holy Basil, rice with fish cooked in chilly and Holy Basil, or rice with fried egg (yes, with basil again) and drinking from a plastic bag with the aid of narrow straw. That was strange. Every where I went, I was given a glass of water (for that matter when you buy bottled water-Siam water is popular...costs 5THB and comes in a white plastic bottle.) and a narrow straw to drink from!!

If you dont fall asleep right away, stick your head out of the window for fantastic view of the countryside. In places, the sturdy shrubs press against the train and it feels as though the train is offending their home with its presence. They are quite purposeful, the shrubs and are not afraid of being ripped off by the speeding train. I made that one little mistake of standing by the door, quite unnecessary but out of habit, and got scratched by one such sturdy thing. It was then the whole new idea of the open window "opened". I wasnt missing much by looking out of the huge window and was probably safer there. Also the electric poles were very very close to the train so any attempt at sticking the leg out into the open space meant a collision with the poles, if the bushes didnt get you first.

The houses built around the countryside are very colourful with generous amounts of wood gone into its making. Many appear to be built on stilts for some odd reason, but perhaps due to the high ground water levels. Rivers meander through in gay abandon and paddy fields with merry farmers in pointed hats appear like a fairy tale. It was a good journey, rythmic and I didnt miss the chaos of the general compartments in Indian trains.

Just as the train approcaches Kanchanaburi, the geography changes. From the plain fields and ribbon rivers, it chanegs to undulating hills and gets more green. Suddenly there is a chill in the air, as though you have finally arrived. Its a good feeling to get off the train at this little place with much historic importance.

The train continued its journey to Nam Tok and I, along with 90 per cent of the BP's alighted at Kanchanaburi.

It was close to 12 pm. Hunger gnawed.

I always thought, mornings were best begun early. There is much charecter about the place that is seen and felt in the absence of man and traffic. The night is making a great deal abotu going away and the light is just showing of its power of the dark and slips in with as much grace as it can muster, despite the stiff resistence from the dark.

This is how Tha Phra Chand looked first thing in the morning. There was life here, near the pier. The pier itself excerised its importance because of its place among the traveling public. Anyone attempting to reach the "wrong side of the river" (note, this is where the famous Wat Arun is situated too) must pass through its sacred corridors.

I was shooting the river when the ferry whistled and set sail. Thank God for my experiences in India and elsewhere I had learnt the art of jumping on to moving trains and buses and had no difficulty in leaping from the pier on to the ferry moving away rapidly. I saw the dark river between me the board of the ferry and without a thought jumped over. The few early morning passengers whooped in delight. Thai's are mild and friendly and not given to sudden leaps and anything that distracts them form their customary sedantry pose or shakes their concentration them from their food packets, is for them a "shock".
(Ticket cost...3THB)

I left the shores of the city for the slightly more old fashioned and business-like areas of Thonburi. If Thonburi could be described in one word, I should call it the "Market." For spread in front of me with the biggest fruit-veg-meat market I have seen...looked like the whole of Bangkok came here for their supplies. I noticed several things at once...

The number of women vendors was more than men, I didnt have to swat a single fly, I could hardly believe I was in the market (it didnt smell like one...no sotting meat or veg matter, no yucky piles of left over meat or fruit, no dogs scavenging for their morsel, no cats fighting over fish bones)...and it was right opposite the Thonburi railway station too!

It was when I reached the station past the market that I realised I was too early. No wonder I hadnt met any other BP on the ferry. I had managed to forget the correct time the train left for Kanchanaburi. I had an hour and a half to kill. I cant imagine how I thought 7.45 to be 6.30 but that gave me time to wander around the market. I got a ticket. 100 THB.

That was the standard fare for the tourists. But a local wanting to travel the same route to an even farther distance (Nam Tok which is past Kanchanaburi) is 39THB. Well, one cant argue over this, can one?

Had I been late, I should ave missed much of the early morning Thai ritual. Thais love dogs and many women can be found walking one. I cant recall the breed, but they got smaller and more colourful with each passing minutes. The Thai dogs, like their owners, were mild and they only fierce when their long curly hair fell over one of their eys and they bared their little white teeth at another more elegant dog. The station suddenly seemed too full, there was another train to another destiantion and the wave of people that appreaed suddenly, vanished with the train just as suddenly. It was quiet. Thonburi is a cute little station. Functional. Old. Has seen decades of tourists and locals alike, makes no bones about its importance. Its also clean. There are no papers on the tracks, no waste food, plastic as one is apt to find in some other developing countries. In fact the loo's (2THB) are also well kept. I had been told by someone before I left, that in Thailand I needed to carry a roll of or two of toilet paper, spread them in several layers over the toilet seat before use and do nothing short of sterlising myself after. All this was probably the imagination of someone who hadnt stepped into Thailand.

The first comparison was with India, for it is there that I have travelled far and wide on trains. That, I should say, is nightmarish. I can say that, because there is rarely any running water, loos are never washed, the carriage walls are lined with betel juice, beggars and fakirs travel ticketless, raise a stinking hell, food is sold uncovered, and there are fiar chances of losing your baggage if you are not too careful.

In Thailand, you could leave your BP unattended and come abck to find it sitting where you left it...even on trains...and these trains have no grills on the window either!!

When I was in Thailand, the nation was celebrating the 80th birthday of their beloved King Bhumibol and there was some election campaign going on. Neatly dressed men and women shouted into the mikes as their cars cruised past the market and the railway station, but luckily it wasnt followed by fire crackers or police men. Thais' were peaceful people. Even in their electoral campaigns, there was order.

The train left at 8 am. A little behind schedule, no doubt, but heck, this was mostly a "tourist" train and you would harld find any BP sticking the railway with complaints for not sending their trains off on time.