The Backpacker

Check this out guys.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOudtCaeCn0

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.

BangLumphu:

We returned to Bangkok when the evening had set in. I had saved myself the trouble of findind transport to Ayuthaya and back, made a friend in the process. Now Pari was worried about my hotel accomodation, but I wasnt. I mean, I was willing to spend the night at the railway station if required, it didnt really matter to me. However she dropped me off at some point, i dont remember which, but from where I paid 8baht for a bus ride to Bang Lumphu. Ah, it was heaven! This is what is also known in the backpackers circles as the "mecca" of backpackers.
After seeking out a backpacking couple who pointed out the right way to the Mecca, I found the Star Dome, with free internet facility...for 350 THB. Fair deal, I thought and by then I was sort of tired...I would be, hadnt slept a wink for two nights straight!

A quick shower (works miracles for a tired body) and was soon out to explore the night in the streets of Bang Lumphu, look for something not found else where.

It is true what is said of the BP community. They are like the 'fly-by-night' shops, come up for a short time, make friends with their immideate environs and move on...exchange few words with other BPs, share a drink in of the many roadside bars, share the stories fo the trails and move on. They dont make friends, they dont attach emotions...they come and they go...some come back again.

I did the same. Walked the streets that come alive in the nights...No. Its not the same as Silom and its famous or rather infamous Patpong. This place is a world in itself. It caters solely to the BP's. There are money exchanges, hotels, internet cafes, massage parlous and food joints in a straight row...all for the visitors. You will hardly find "family" types here. Perhaps they stick to the better places and thus miss the pulse that essentially makes Bangkok a place BP's love to come back to. I loved the anonymity...and to my surprise I found that I was the only single Indian woman backapcker around...people I struck conversations with readily told me it was a change to see Indian women traveling alone! Either I didnt see any of my kind or they didnt, but whatever it was, I enjoyed the freedom adn the security in the unfamiliar streets....

Thai food is appealing, no doubt, when treated as a luxury. Perhaps a more affluent visitor opting for the stay-breakfast option at regular hotels would be happy to eat three common Thai meals during their stay in Thailand. But when you have decided, like I did, to eat only Thai food during my entire stay, (and i had only had three such meals), the smell of fried food coming from the stalls and hittign your nose quite strongly, can shaken the strongest resolve. However, not the one to give up easily, I sat down to a meal by the roadside...well, can harldy find a regular hotel where you order meals, for one, the night shops flood the streets and its hard to look behind the rows of clothes and the thick fumes of frying meat!

A Thai meal that cost me 20THB was one of the spiciest I had eaten. By comparison, the break fast at airport and lunch with Pari was mere nothing...

Served with rice was a curry of fish...no, I have no idea what the fish was, a as extra helping, another kind of fish was added and something else. Everything was spicy...but there is something that serves as a balm. The water. I dont know why, Thai's drink water through a narrow straw...I gulped of course, I couldnt sip milli liters of ice cold water when my tongue and throat was on fire, could i? There was a peculair taste to the fish...later I learnt it was courtesy the Holy Basil..Tulasi!

The night at Star Dome was more or less like a stop...sleep hardly came...bands kept playing through the night...it was a cheerful place, savouring every minute of their short life, making merry...I cursed, however...I needed rest.

I think I managed four hours before I woke up and realised I needed to hurry to the train station on the other side of the river.

I managed. When I left the key at the counter, the sky was just getting light. The early morning streets had the same cheer in them, although a bit empty, but there was determination to return to its happy self in a few hours!

I made it on time. I was back at Tha Phra Chand...and going someplace at last :-)