This is who's with Jen and I: Jen's father, Berk; Jen's mother, Doris; and our friend from Texas, Amy, who was a teacher with us in Japan.
We arrived in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, three days ago much to my relief. As Jen says, I had the "Bangkok Blues." I was in need of a vacation from my vacation. Bangkok is filled with wonderful sights and people, but it is also filled with raw meat hanging from carts, ratty sick dogs kicked too often, trash everywhere, prostitution in broad daylight, con-artists, and everywhere, everywhere, at all times, people soliciting your money, non-stop for unneeded services. Traffic starts with booming motors at 4am and doesn't stop until 2 or 3 am. Not the best place to recover from jetlag.
Kanchanaburi, a two hour bus ride to the north from Bangkok, was heaven from the moment I set foot in the town. Lazy, quiet, I was reminded of our trip to Laos with the river coursing by just outside our hotel room(8$ a night for a double), not a sound of a motor except for the occasional tour boat or fisherman going upstream or down. Lovely. Just what I needed to recover. Caught up on my sleep and felt much much better by the next morning. Jen and I have even started excercising regularly again as well. There's a small dock by the guest house restaurant where we get up early and do yoga.
The first evening over dinner, Mr. Maddaford was talking about "the famous bridge," and I had to admit I didn't know what he was talking about. It turns out that just downriver from us, within sight of Mr. and Mrs. Maddaford's river balcony, is the bridge on the river Kwai, which the Japanese troops in WWII forced POWs to build day and night. I had no idea that's where we were. The allied nations bombed and destroyed the bridge, but it's been rebuilt and dedicated to their strength and ability. More than 100,000 POWs and civilians forced to work on the railroad, died in its construction. It was originally suppoased to take 5 years to complete, but literally under the gun of imhumane treatment and the threat of death, the POW slave labor completed the more than 400 km railroad in under 6 months.
We have been relaxing and enjoying this beautiful place. It's wonderfully peaceful and friendly. Along with that though, we've been visiting WWII museums, former POW camps, the bridge itself, and paying our respects at the cemetaries for those who died during the war. A whole heck of a lot of reconnoitering.
If you're interested in more about the bridge and the war hear in Thailand, hit the internet or read a history book. The movie, it seems, is entirely fabricated and so far from the truth as to be comical, according to an expatriot Australian we met here.
I'll put up some photos and more updates soon!
Love, Andy and Jen
