Well, i've made it to Kanchanaburi, and i'm staying a nice place called the River Kwai Hotel. Quite happy to be here and to have settled in - i wasn't feeling terribly well earlier in the day. I suspect the culprit is the anti-malarials, so i'm ging to stop taking them for a day or two, see if that helps.
Anyway, i woke up feeling reasonably poor, and suffering from queasy stomach and associated pleasantness. I checked out of the place i've been staying in in Bangkok (yikes was it ever expensive - i got 3 nights in the River Kwai Hotel for the price of 1 night in Bangkok, plus a little change) and then caught a cab out to Thonburi Railway Station.
My cab driver was really nice, very friendly, and he seemed to be a mad soccer fan from what i could make out (his English was sporadic, and my Thai continues to not exist). I'm reasonably sure he ripped me off horribly, but hey them's the breaks.
Whatever his disposition towards Australians, he seemed to hold his fellow Thai motorists in contempt, and weaved through the traffic honking and pushing in like he owned the place. This would have been ok (actually, no) except that i didn't notice until i got in the cab that it had no seatbelts. So, i'm feeling crook and part of me is screaming "Get me to the station, i need to use the loo" and another part is screaming "I don't want to die".
Got there and was really surprised at Thonburi Station. According to Lonely Planet, it is one of Bangkok's two major railway stations, but it was tiny. To give some perspective, Canberra Railway Station would be a good deal bigger. Anyway, given the train to Kanchanaburi wasn't due to take off for about 4 hours, i dashed to the loo only to find that there was no toilet paper. Thankfully, Bob H. had advised me to travel with my own roll, so crisis was averted (thanks again, Bob!).
The train took off from the station at about 1:55, and the ride took about 3 hours. There was some interesting scenery, but i'm reasonably sure that all my attempts to capture it on film failed. We'll see if i ever find some way to upload the pics.
Anyway, got to Kanchanaburi Station and this guy comes up and asks me where i'm staying, and i lie (i hadn't actually booked in to the River Kwai). He starts telling me about how this other place is much cheaper and nicer and etc., which was a pretty standard spiel i had already gotten from a few peope on the train. When he saw that i wasn't going to change my mind, he offered to act as a taxi to the hotel. I accepted because i'm a big wuss.
We step outside the station, and he gestures to his chariot... it was a damn rickshaw! It was an interesting experience, since he was riding on the road with cars and motorbikes, but he got me here safe and sound, and i'm feeling reasonably good now.
Oh, and the place over the road sells Breezers, so Patrick has his lolly water and all's well with the world.
Tomorrow i'm going to visit some of the War Cemeteries. I'm really looking forward to that, morbid as that may sound. Talk to you all later.
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