The River Kwai

Oh, Mom, I am bursting with excitement and enthusiasm for where we are!!! Yesterday we made our way North from Bangkok to Sai Yok, a Thai National Park district. We are staying on The River Kwai, less than 15 kilometers from Myanmar (formerly Burma).

I write this as I sit on our floating deck, watching and listening to the day come alive. As first hints of the morning sunrise begin to turn the sky to a pale powder blue, the relief of greens in the bamboo forest are being revealed and it is as if someone suddenly turned up the volume of birds, crickets, frogs and whatever else resides in the jungle that surrounds me.

This place is spectacular. Such a rare and distinct experience. We were drawn here because of the historical significance of the area; the use of Asian slave laborers and Allied Force’s prisoners of war by Japanese Imperial Forces to build The Burma Railway during WWII. The history is jarring, including the forced efforts of more than 200,000 Asian laborers and 60,000+ POWs, with death tolls around 90,000 and 12,000 respectively. While those facts don’t leave my mind, I am simply overwhelmed by the place itself.

In an attempt to convey what we are experiencing I am including a video of our departure from the pier and one that will give you a good view of the long-boat that transported us—the car we took from Bangkok dropped us off at a pier, from which we traveled by long-boat to our accommodations—and some photos.