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Christina and I wake to the buzz of our alarm and push through the flap of our tent at Hintok River Camp into the already steamy pre-dawn air.

It’s too early for the birds, but too late for the night noises. Everything is silent and still.

Before long, we’re clambering down flights of steel steps by torchlight to the floor of a deep gully known as Konyu Cutting — better named Hellfire Pass.

We’re in western Thailand in Kanchanaburi Province, which pushes against the border of Myanmar.

Known for its thick verdant rainforests, sprawling thunderous waterfalls and broad, wild rivers, Kanchanaburi is also famous for the Thai-Burma Railway (better known as the Death Railway) and its deadly role in World War II.

Anzac Day at Hellfire Pass, Thailand

Today is 25th April — Anzac Day — and Hellfire Pass is one of the most venerable sites in the world for the Anzac Day Dawn Service. It commemorates all who have been lost to military endeavour, but in particular those who fell here as prisoners of war in the 1940s.

Hellfire Pass got its name from the appalling conditions the POWs had to endure, but also from how it looked from the top of the cutting.

In the 1940s, paraffin lamps lit the way for POWs forced to toil throughout the night. From above, the flames in the ravine looked like the very mouth of hell itself.

This morning, the path is lit with similar lamps, giving the cutting an eerie air. Shadows move and jump across the rock walls, and silent figures in full military dress march next to us and before us.

Looking back, we see the high, narrow walls of Hellfire Pass pinching in above our heads, the sky beyond still full of the night’s dying darkness.

The path is wide (it had to be wide enough to fit a train down) and brings us to the end of the cutting, where it opens out into a broad shallow bowl. On one side is grandstand seating, on the other, giant rock steps act as more tiered seating, and both are filling up fast.

More and more people pour in from the pass until there is almost nowhere to stand, but only a low murmur of voices comes from this great gathering.

In the centre of it all is the cenotaph, the black angular marble memorial to those that war has taken.

Dawn Service in Kanchanaburi

Soon, the first crisp navy shadows of dawn show through the blackness in the sky and the service begins.

The Catafalque Party — a ceremonial guard of four armed service personnel — marches down the steps of the cutting and stand watch at the compass points of the cenotaph, their heads bowed, their weapons inverted. The soldiers maintain such incredible stillness, which adds to the solemnity of the moment.

From the opening prayers to the haunting Last Post and the two minutes’ silence, and the final dismount and retire of the four soldiers in the Catafalque Party, the service is one of those things that stay inside you.

An indelible memory.

After the Dawn Service

The walk back through Hellfire Pass is no less significant or symbolic, but there seems to be less tension in the already hot morning air.

Groups of military stop along the cutting to get photos together, and the chatter of the crowd is lighter and louder than before. But messages and motifs lodged in the rock of loved ones and comrades lost to the war effort cast a grim light darker than the shadows from the looming walls.

At the top of the cutting and in front of the excellent Hellfire Pass Interpretive Centre, we find breakfast is in full flow.

Stalls are turning out sausage sizzles, meat pies and Anzac biscuits, but also some outstanding local fair. We tuck into a pot of rich spicy green curry as the crowd relaxes and the happier side of this important day takes form.

Soon, Two-Up rings form and the British Club Bangkok Pipe Band – a marching band of pipers in full kilt regalia full the air with music.

As we finish up breakfast, we’re aware that back home, Australia’s Anzac Day celebrations would be in full flow and lunch would just be about to begin.

We travelled to Kanchanaburi as media guests of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, but our experiences and opinions remain our own.

The post Dawn Service of Hellfire Pass – Anzac Day in Thailand appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

Running down the western border of Thailand in the province of Kanchanaburi, the River Kwai is one of the most important landmarks of the historic Thai-Burma Train Line – the aptly named Death Railway.

While we were visiting this fascinating part of Thailand, we stayed at the Hintok River Camp, right on the banks of the Kwai.

Now a luxury glamping resort, Hintok is also part of the history of the Death Railway. The camp is on the site of a PoW internment where British soldiers, captured by the Japanese Imperial Army in WWII, were forced to work on the rail line.

The resort has kept the name of the military prison and labour camp that once stood here, but thankfully living conditions are now quite the opposite to what the site’s original occupants had to endure.

Hintok River Camp is part of the boutique Serenata Hotels and Resorts Group. As you can see from the other sites in the portfolio, focus is on unique locations, clever construction and luxury design.

This tracks with Hintok, but I must say, some of the other hotels look incredible, and most of them are located in Kanchanaburi.

For more of our stories from Thailand, click here.

Find some of the best tours of the Death Railway and Kanchanaburi here.

Check out these other accommodation options and great rates in Kanchanaburi.

Hintok River Camp — glamping on an historic WWII site

Accommodation here is camping in name only. Our ‘tent’ — if you can call it that — has its own veranda and is big enough to house a king double and a king single as well as all the other furniture and trimmings.

It even has air conditioning.

But the best is yet to come. At the back of the tent is a full solid-wall bathroom with hot and cold running water, a flush toilet and power shower.

Out on the veranda, we can relax at the outdoor table setting or in the recliner deckchairs.

This is definitely not how I remember camping to be when I was growing up, but I tell you what, I could get used to it!

Around Hintok River Camp

A meandering path leads you through the beautifully maintained grounds to various hammocks and hang-out spots, daybeds and cabanas dotted around the lush gardens, as well as the other tents, and to astounding views over the river.

And it’s down by the river that you find some of the best parts of this resort.

Down a flight of steps, we find the rock pools, which are fed by a natural spring that emerges from the cliff. From the pools, you can look out over the flowing river and the broad forested landscape as you cool down in the refreshing spring water.

Down at the water’s edge, the hotel’s pontoon floats on the rapid eddying waters of the River Kwai. This waterside deck and the elevated cliff-edge pools give the resort an extra touch of glamour and uniqueness.

Up above, the resort bar has prime views over the jungle-edged water as the sun sets.

In the evening, as the resort’s lights come on, dinner beckons us to the camp’s al fresco dining option. Paper lanterns and broad timber tables are spread across the lawn while staff wait behind buffet carts that cover two sides of the area.

Here we find all kinds of delectable Thai dishes from soups and curries to satay and salads, it’s hard to stop ourselves going back for more.

In the morning, breakfast is under the straw roofs of the main building. This is also a buffet style situation and there are plenty of options — both western and Thai. There’s also an egg station where you can get made-to-order omelettes.

And if you feel the need for more coffee throughout the day, there’s also a stand-alone barista-style cafe in the gardens.

Hintok River Camp Museum

To pay homage to the history of the camp, there’s a small museum that tells the story of this place. This site held captive 200 British prisoners of war while they were forced to work on nearby Compressor Cutting as part of Japanese war efforts in Asia.

There are some interesting details of what life was like for the soldiers and the harrowing conditions they had to endure. But it also goes into the pre-history of the site. In the 1990s, the owner discovered a refuse pit used by the camp.

When he excavated it, he began finding neolithic artefacts that date back as far as 10,000 years, showing how important this site has been over the millennia.

Hellfire Pass and the War Memorial

The other great thing about Hintok River Camp is its proximity to Hellfire Pass.

Running for 75m, Hellfire Pass – also known as Konyu Cutting – delves 25m into the hillside and is wide enough for a train to run through.

At the end of the cutting is a dell where the Allied War Memorial and cenotaph stands. Usually, it’s quiet here, but on important dates like ANZAC Day, this area is packed with people paying their respects.

It’s a haunting feeling, to walk through the cutting. The knowledge that these cliffs that loom up either side of you were cut and moved by the hands of forced labour.

The workers — both captured soldiers and indentured civilians — suffered so much here. And all because the war demanded the Japanese needed supplies quicker to a western outpost. It’s the horrors of war in hard rock.

You’ll also find the Hellfire Pass Interpretive Centre here. This museum to the railway looks out over the jungle and river system that paid witness to the horrors of the work camps in the 1940s.

The centre tells the story of Hellfire Pass and of other cuttings along the line. But most of all, it does well to make sense of a mindless moment in human history that makes no sense at all.

Visiting the Death Railway and staying at Hinton River Camp is a travel experience that will stay with us forever.

We stayed as media guests of Hintok River Camp courtesy of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, but our experiences and opinions remain our own.

The post Where to stay on the Death Railway Trail, Thailand — Hintok River Camp appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

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I wipe sweat from my eyes as we stare at what’s in front of us. Although we’ve been on the road for two days to get here, it’s still so striking I’m struggling to collect my thoughts.

And although we’ve just got out of the van’s air conditioning, my clothes are stuck to me and my water bottle needs another refill.

Thailand in April has a reputation.

We’re looking out at a fairly simple steel bridge about 130m long with a single gauge train track running along it. Beneath it is a fast-running but otherwise unremarkable river.

The bridge has no name in spite of its infamy. Instead, it’s the river below that takes the title.

Thais call it Kwae Yai. We know it as the River Kwai.

Bridge Over The River Kwai And The Burma Railway

Running from Ban Pong near Bangkok 415km northwest to Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar, the aptly named Death Railway was a major project of the Japanese Imperial Army (JIA) in the later stages of World War II.

Planning to create supply routes between Thailand and the west coast of Burma (now Myanmar), the JIA built a train line through mountains and jungles, and over rivers.

They used Allied prisoners of war, captured in Singapore and Indonesia, and conscripted civilians from different parts of Asia as an enslaved labour force.

Between May 1942 and August 1943, 60,000 PoWs and 200,000+ civilians from around Asia worked on the line. More than 13,000 soldiers and up 80,000 Asian labourers lost their lives here. On average, 20 men died a day in those 15 savage months.

Much of the Death Railway has gone now, but a 120km stretch of track still operates, and what remains is heavy with history.

Here are 7 points along the Burma Railway that are well worth visiting to learn about this incredible epoch that had far-reaching impacts in Thailand and the world at large.

1. Thonburi Rail Station, Bangkok – where the Burma Railway began

Historically, Thonburi Station is the start of the Burma Railway that went from Bangkok all the way up to Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar some 415km north. The station was bombed by the Allies in WWII and rebuilt in the 1950s.

You can catch a train from this station, which is still considered the 0km mark for Bangkok train systems, and it’ll take you all the way to Kanchanaburi and the Death Railway proper.

2. Ban Pong — historic Burma Railway begins

About 70km west of Bangkok’s Thonburi Station, Ban Pong is the first stop on the Namtok Line, the track on the original supply line of the Burma Railway.

Although we didn’t join the train trip here, we did stop for lunch. Highly recommended is the Rain Tree Cafe 10 minutes up the road from the station on the banks of the Mae Klong River.

One thing I really wasn’t expecting to find (or like for that matter) was a local specialty ‘coffee orange’. Half fresh orange juice and half cold brew coffee, this drink sounds pretty awful, but it’s surprisingly tasty and even better on a hot day.

I’ll be keeping this idea in my pocket for the heat of the Sydney summer for sure.

3. Bridge over the River Kwai

The Mae Klong River winds through southern Kanchanaburi to join the famous River Kwai and its bridge, and then on to the sea.

You get a solemn thrill seeing the bridge for the first time. The curved arches on either bank are the originals from WWII, but the middle square sections are replacements from where Allied forces blew it up in 1945.

You can walk across the bridge along the train tracks, which is quite a strange sensation. Especially as trains do still run along here.

It’s hard to imagine, with all the hotels, restaurants, shops and market stalls lining the river, that this was once a place of torment, struggle and death.

4. Kanchanaburi War Cemetery and Museum

A little way downstream from the bridge is Don Rak, the biggest Allied war cemetery in Thailand.

Here, 6,858 war graves mark the final resting place of Australian, New Zealand, British and Dutch soldiers lost in the construction of the Burma-Siam Railway.

The cemetery is beautifully maintained. Headstones are clean and polished, and the grass and pretty shrubs are in good order.

Down the road is the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre, an excellent museum that shows what the conditions were like, the purpose of the railway and many more details.

5. Hellfire Pass or Konyu Cutting — Anzac memorial and museum

For us, the most significant site of the Burma Railway is Hellfire Pass. This place brings into sharp focus the horrors and insurmountable tasks the PoWs had to endure. Hellfire Pass — or Konyu Cutting — is the deepest and longest section of excavation along the railway.

Men hacked and chipped their way through solid rock on no sleep, no food, no water, and the threat of pain and death always hanging over them. The cutting runs 25 metres deep and 75 metres long, and is wide enough for a train to fit through.

At the end of the cutting is the ANZAC Memorial where the Dawn Service is held on 25th April every year. We were lucky enough to be able to attend the Dawn Service here. Outside Europe, this is one of the few memorials that hold such a ceremony in a place that has seen active conflict.

It’s an immensely thought-provoking place that brings to life the enormity of what the soldiers who suffered here had to endure.

While you’re here at Konyu Cutting, make sure you also visit the Hellfire Pass Interpretive Centre and Memorial Walkway.

This museum has some fascinating (and haunting) exhibits, which start with sounds of steel hammers on stone and a narrow corridor representing the cutting. On the walls are the names of the men who worked on the railway.

They cover both walls, floor to ceiling.

6. Hintok River Camp

There are plenty of places to stay around the area, including in Kanchanaburi Town itself. We stayed close to Hellfire Pass at the Hintok River Camp.

Once a labour camp for British PoWs working on nearby Compressor Cutting, this site is now a glamping resort.

There are plenty of nods to its history, including the replica guard tower at the entrance, but thankfully it’s nothing like what the site’s previous occupants would’ve had to put up with.

The ‘tents’ are extremely comfortable — with a full bathroom, kingsize bed and even a/c. Breakfast and dinner are served here at the camp, there’s a pool and deck out on the river, and you can even grab a massage at the on-site spa!

A long way indeed from the conditions of the 1940s.

7. Nam Tok Station – the end of the line

This is our last stop on the Burma-Siam Railway. From here, you can board one of the old mulberry and gold carriages of a heritage train.

It’s a strange, conflicting feeling riding this line.

On one hand, you’re appalled at the brutality that occurred here. On the other, you can’t help but feel impressed by what these men were able to achieve under such conditions.

And yet still more conflicting are the views from the train windows, which are at times so beautiful, it’s easy to forget the real reason you’re taking this ride. The curve of the track shows the train’s flank and the timber trestles as it leans against the edges of cliffs.

Occasionally, the river comes into view following the train, and running fast through fields and amongst little villages that roll on by.

It’s an iconic train ride in a place that brings deep reflection.

We travelled as media with Tourism Authority of Thailand and Intrepid Travel, but our experiences and opinions remain our own.

The post 7 Points On The Burma Railway You Must See appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

April has felt a little bit like there’s a glitch in the matrix. So many parts of this month have had some remarkable similarities to March that I’ve had to rub my eyes, sit down and have a cuppa.

International football matches, boat trips on Sydney Harbour and even another trip to Asia have all happened this month – just like last.

The differences, however, have been marked and manifold. The football match was the mighty Matildas not the Socceroos, the boat trip was on a mate’s beautiful 100-year-old working boat not a cruise ship and the trip to Asia was to Thailand not Laos – and for a very different perspective.

But here’s a tast of April in out latest Flavour of the Month.

Enjoy!

Jim & Christina xx

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We kick the month off with a surprisingly fun thing to do: a photoshoot with Mira Mira.

I say ‘surprising’ because I usually hate this kind of thing. I prefer to be behind a keyboard not in front of a lens, but this is a shoot with a difference.

Mira Mira Studios is a brilliant concept where you’re the only ones in the studio. You can choose between a black or a white background infinity wall, then you get a remote control and the camera, hidden in the mirror-fronted booth, does the rest.

There’s no one watching you or telling you you’re not doing it right, and once you get into it, it’s actually a lot of fun.

This is perfect if you need a new profile photo or some nice shots of you and your sweetheart, but it can also be a fun family thing to do.

Best of all, no one sees the photos but you, they send you everything within 24 hours and Mira Mira deletes all images after a few weeks.

This photo’s one of our favourites, but if you want to see some of the others, check out our Instagram carousel here.

This evening, I’m with my buddy Anton to watch the Matildas play South Korea in a FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier.

It’s another packed stadium with an impressive 37,199 people watching (capacity is 45,500). It’s a good game and the Korean keeper stops it being embarrassing, but it’s all over with a 1-0 win to the Aussies.

Thanks once again to Destination NSW for the tickets.

This afternoon, I’m with my pal Brett to put a new brewery through its paces. This is the Pickled Monkey in Marrickville. The name comes from an interesting story of several barrels marked as ‘pure white alcohol’ that came from Oxford University to UNSW in the early 1900s.

The barrels were late, so university staff visited the docks only to find that the dock hands had ‘tested the alcohol’. The problem was, it wasn’t just booze in the barrels; the alcohol was only a preserving fluid for the cadavers of monkeys on their way to the university’s biology department.

Thankfully, this story, be it apocryphal or not, has no bearing on the quality of the beer served here. Brett and I spend a lovely late summer’s afternoon ‘testing the alcohol’ in the barrels. No monkeys were harmed in the making.

This evening, we’re excited to be showing the excellent Groundwaters around our neighbourhood. You may have seen Ben a few times before on this site or on his own platform (he’s quite good at Instagram btw), but more likely you’ve seen him on all kinds of travel-based publications such as the Sydney Morning Herald’s Traveller and Qantas Mag. Or you might’ve thought it was him but it was just me.

And as for his lovely wife Jessica, well, this is the first time we’ve met, but our shared pedantry of grammar seems promising!

Excellent evening. Groundwaters, you can come again!

Possibly the last nice day of the summer is here so my mate Michael (and confusingly our mate Michael) have gone out on his boat for some manly time on the water.

Michael (the first one I mentioned) has a penchant for old timber working boats. We chug merrily around the harbour until we’re hungry. Then we pull in at Walsh Bay for a bite at Zupano Espresso Bar.

If you’re wondering what’s good, they make their own spanakopita here. There. I’ve saved you time looking through the menu. Thank me later.

After a feed, we head back all the way to Greenwich and back to Michael’s mooring. What a way to start the long weekend for Easter.

It’s Easter Monday and Christina and I have left Australia for a very interesting trip.

We’re in Thailand on a week-long journey to one of the most famous sites in the War in the Pacific: the Bridge over the River Kwai.

But before we get there, we eat!

We’re travelling with TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) and legendary tour company Intrepid Travel, and our first dinner – in fact our first meal here – is at Thip Samai. This place is said to be the origin story of the world-famous dish and national dish of Thailand: pad thai.

The frame on the left shows before we went in. Notice how empty the street is. By the time we leave, there’s a queue winding across the pavement.

As for the pad thai, it’s well worth lining up for.

Next door, you’ll find a crispy pancake stall that makes for an excellent dessert after your spicy noodly plate of heaven.

Christina and I have travelled to Thailand with the TAT many times – in fact most of our stories on Thailand are from trips with them – but this one is proving to be the most fascinating yet.

Intrepid do such a deep dive into the local culture, and their experts and guides are so knowledgeable, you get to see and do things that most people – Thais included – never get to experience.

This is our first full day in Thailand and my goodness I mean it when I say ‘full’.

First, we drive across town in – get this – an electric tuk tuk, go through a military gate and find our way to where the royal barges are kept and maintained in the National Museum of Royal Barges.

These huge timber longboats are only brought out for important ceremonies and occasions. Most of them are reserved for those of the highest status. One of which is exclusively used by the king himself.

Don’t let Christina’s look of serenity fool you. Yes, we’re enjoying a lovely cruise along one of Bangkok’s many canals in a peaceful electric longtail boat, but to get here has been a mission. From the barge shed, we motored through a tour of Thonburi district before stopping at the Baan Bu bronze work community where the last family in Thailand still to use traditional methods make beautiful bronze bowls.

Next we visited the temple featured in the credits of Season Three of White Lotus. From there, we hurtle through traffic to historic Thonburi Train Station and Locomotive Depot where many of the old steam engines are kept and maintained.

After that, we head to Wang Lang Market, a commotion of noise and stalls even in the late morning heat of an April day. Sadly we don’t have a lot of time here – just enough to grab a tea – before we’re back on the e-tuk tuks zooming toward the canal port for our cruise.

Behind us is the enormous reclining Buddha of Wat Pho. He stretches out to 46 metres and is about 15 metres high. Impressive.

And before we got here, we disembarked our e-longtail boat for an excellent lunch at Natura Cafe – a surprisingly green and leafy spot in the middle of Bangkok.

After we give alms to the hundreds of collection tins in the temple and explore the huge pagodas of Wat Pho, we drive across town, across the river, to Chetawan Traditional Massage School. This is what I’ve been looking forward to all day.

May I recommend the somewhat awkwardly named ‘Oriental Head Massage With Oil’. It lasts an hour and isn’t just your head and neck; you also get your arms, hands, back, feet and calves squeezed to bits. It’s absolutely outstanding.

It’s been quite the first day, but dinner tonight has views to die for. We’re at Eat Sight Story. This place not only does outrageously tasty traditonal Thai fare it also looks across the river at Wat Arun – Temple of Dawn. What a beautiful sight.

After dinner, we head across town to Buddha & Pals, a very sleek jazz bar where we meet up with a few of the crew from Intrepid Travel and get to hear a very talented Cuban jazz singer and her band. What a way to finish our first full day here!

We’re up and about quite early this morning as we have a long drive ahead of us.

As I mentioned, we’re heading for the region where the Rivers Kwai run (there are two) called Kanchanaburi. It’s northwest of Bangkok and takes about three to four hours to drive it if you don’t stop.

Our guide, the absolutely indefatigable and brilliant Nai, loves to stop. Loves it! And so the drive takes much longer.

Our first stop of the day is at CBT Baan Don Kai Dee – a workshop where masters pain porcelain. Some of their work is worth tens of thousands of dollars, and has received the humbling royal seal. These ladies make this work look really quite easy, boasting they can finish the little pots they’re painting in about five minutes.

It takes me around an hour to paint my cup, lid and little saucer. I don’t think I have a career in this if I’m honest.

Anyway, the brown lines will turn gold when the pots are fired. We should see these beauties again when we’re back in Bangkok.

After the porcelain painting, our next stop is at Phra Pathom Chedi. This is the biggest Buddhist stupa in the world and I tell you, it’s a whopper!

It’s insanely hot here about an hour west of Bangkok, but the culture and ceremony of this place completely makes up for it. Our guide Nai gives us gold leaf to put on the Buddha statues where you can also ask for a single wish as you make the offering.

Next stop is lunch at the Rain Tree Cafe near Ban Pong, the start of the Burma Railway and the key to our quest here in Thailand.

Thanks to the lovely Elise and Isaac, who we’re travelling with, for the photo. You should check out their Instagram @elises.traveldiary – such clever, creative people and annoyingly lovely to boot.

We’re finally here! This is the Bridge over the River Kwai – the same one (rebuilt after the war) that featured in the book and its consequent film – where PoWs of the Japanese Army were forced to build under horrible conditions and that was subsequently blown up by the Allies.

This is one of the most famous parts of the aptly named Death Railway, a train line that was to run supplies from Ban Pong, not far from where we had lunch earlier, to Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar some 415km north.

This is a solemn sort of place and oddly commercialised. There’s an open-air mall and a big car park on one side of the river, and hotels and restaurants line the banks. I was expecting things to be much less developed here, but things are quite the opposite.

You can walk across the bridge here and there’s also a tourist train that runs across from time to time. To be honest, we find it hard to have fun in a place like this – somewhere that’s seen such horror and hardship.

After our visit to the bridge, we head upstream of the Kwai (formally known as Khwae Noi) to an SUP company. We hop on our stand-up paddle-boards and float peacefully down the river for about an hour.

And yes, I do have a photo of me falling in.

Dinner is at the beautiful Keeree Tara Retreat with a restaurant out on a deck out over the river. The food is only surpassed by the truly splendid sunset and views of the famous bridge just down stream. Once again, our guide Nai has outdone himself.

Tonight, we sleep in real luxury – a riverfront villa at the Raintree Boutique Hotel with its own private pool and outdoor bath, and even a lawn that runs right to the riverbank. The only thing bad about this place is that we’re only here for one night.

This morning, we head into the jungle for a fascinating experience with OurLand Project. Promoting co-existence between humans and surrounding wildlife, this sanctuary allows animals – especially wild Asian elephants – to find safe passage from the forests north of the facility down to the banks of the River Kwai.

This ‘corridor’ is heavily used by all kinds of wildlife and we explore it with co-founder Vijo Varghese, spotting evidence of elephants and other animals as we go.

OurLand is all about education, and Vijo is so engaging with the way he shares his knowledge.

We also indulge in a bit of ‘forest bathing’. the project sets up little flyscreen tents along the trail where you can sit and absorb the peace of your natural surroundings.

Vijo also has a passion for rescuing snakes from the land and releasing them elsewhere for their safety as well as the project’s visitors (both human and pachyderm – elephants don’t like snakes).

Two of the more dangerous residents of Vijo’s hut (yes, he just has them in containers in his room) are the white lipped pit viper and the rather terrifying and quite angry monocled cobra.

After our sweaty time in the forest, we’re excited about our next stop – the beautiful Erawan Waterfalls about 70km from Kanchanaburi and 200km from Bangkok. This national park is immensely popular and also has surprisingly strict rules about everyone wearing life jackets.

Sure, you can jump off the edge of waterfalls onto rocks or slide down wet boulders into the water, which is full of nibbling fish by the way, but you have to wear a life jacket.

There are seven levels to this waterfall complex, each one offering different sights and experiences. Nai tells us that, above level four you can’t really swim, so we head to four and work our way down. It turns out that three and two are the best bets for space and views, but it’s all very lovely.

It’s been a lot of outdoorsy stuff today, so we’re excited about relaxing in our new home for the night: Hintok River Camp a luxury glamping resort very close to our ultimate destination: Hellfire Pass.

We’re in bed early tonight. Tomorrow is an especially early start.

Quite possibly one of the most haunting photos I’ve ever taken.

The dark march through Konyu Cutting – better known as Hellfire Pass – surrounded by military personnel in full uniform is surreal. This was considere by all to be the worst place to be a PoW in the War in the Pacific.

The deepest and longest cutting, which goes through a mountain, Hellfire Pass was hand-dug by Allied troops and many subjugated civilians for the Japanese and their supply line.

It’s here that the Anzac Day Dawn Service is held every year. The terrible walls of this dreadful chasm are decorated with flowers, notes and poppies, remembering those who lost their lives in forced labour here. Bamboo torches flicker and burn, lighting the way to a clearing and the cenotaph.

At the end of Hellfire Pass, the crowd gathers around the war monument and we wait for dawn to strike its first light while Anzac soldiers stand at guard.

It’s a noble yet sad ceremony and one we feel deeply honoured to have been able to attend.

The rest of our day – Anzac Day indeed – is spent at museums.

First, we check out the Hintok River Camp museum where we’re staying. This area was once a British PoW camp, home to 300 and grave of 79. The men worked on Compressor Cutting, a similarly brutal project as Hellfire Pass.

Next, we visit the Hellfire Pass Interpretive Centre – a museum with reconstructions and artefacts from the cutting as well as a huge library of audio tracks from survivors of the camp telling the horrors of their experiences.

Finally, we head to Nam Tok Station to board a beautifully maintained heritage train that runs from here all the way back to Bangkok along the route of the Death Railway – though we’re only staying on until Thakilen Station half an hour south.

The views from the tracks are at times very dramatic as it winds alongside the river, through forests and alongside ravines.

Comfort wasn’t of high priority when the trains were built and the air conditioning (windows and small ceiling fans) isn’t doing much to improve things. But it’s such an interesting experience to be on the track that was originally built by PoWs and forced civilian labour during WWII. As we watch the rugged scenery roll past, we’re also struck by just how tough conditions must have been for the poor workers.

This morning, we’re on the other side of the River Kwai at the beautifully maintained Allied War Cemetery. It’s an awful and humbling sight to see all these graves laid out across the land. A sign of the futility and horror of war.

While we’re here, we do find our neighbour Bec’s great uncle, who lost his life at the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army. We’re glad to have laid flowers at his grave and to honour the fallen.

Across the road is the Kanchanaburi War Museum, which is well worth visiting. Cleverly crafted displays add yet another layer of detail to what happened here.

This is our final stop before we high-tail it back to Bangkok.

It’s a long drive to the city and we all reflect on the experiences we’ve had here in Kanchanaburi.

We finally hit the craziness of Bangkok, stopping for lunch in one of the most unexpected spots in the city. Ban Ban Bang Kachao is at the very edge of an oxbow loop of the Chao Phraya River surrounded by mangrove forests and little houses. But its rooftop terrace looks out over the river and across to the city.

Finally, we head to the ‘Ancient City’. This is a recreation of all the best bits of Thailand. It’s an interesting idea though a bit theme park-y, and when we spot an elephant being paraded around in chains, it turns us right off. A big thumbs-down on a trip that’s been brilliant otherwise.

Our guide Nai has saved this place up for our last meal together and what an experience it is.

First, I’d like to draw your attention away from the delicious whole seabass, pork satay, kai hor bai teoy, and sweet and sour chicken and cashew. Check out the table. That’s right – it’s decorated with condoms. Prophylactics. Johnny bags. That’s because we’re eating at Cabbages and Condoms, a brilliant concept started by Mechai Viravaidya, whose name is now local slang for condoms.

Mechai has worked in family planning, for the Thai government and now the not-for-profit Population and Community Development Association, for over 50 years, championing the cause of safe sex.

His efforts became even more important with the rise of HIV and AIDS in the ’80s, and his work educating people on birth control has helped stabilise population growth in the country.

The food at Cabbages and Condoms is excellent, the cause is even better and the atmosphere is a lot of fun. Between courses, we’re all just giggling like kids.

And to reinforce that, we find a face-out too! Christina and I love these things and hop behind one anytime we spot one.

Today, we have Bangkok to ourselves and spend the day wandering around the city, checking out markets, hunting down knom krok and relaxing.

Before we said goodbye to Nai, he gave us a few tips on what to do in the area we’re in today. We check out a couple of galleries and a riverside cafe before heading to our final destination for the evening: BKK Social Club.

This absolutely beautiful bar is in the Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River in the Sathon District.

Everything in this art deco style bar has been meticulously designed, from the towering ceilings and their curved pillars to the cinematic bar and the marble floors.

Drinks here are inspired by the classics with a lean towards tequila, mezcal and chic Mexican fare. If there’s a more glamorous bar with better food and drink anywhere in the city, I’d like to see it because BKK Social Club has set a very high bar indeed.

Back in Sydney, we’re in Parramatta with mixed emotions. It’s our nephew Anthony’s enrolment day today; he’s joining the Royal Australian Air Force!

The ceremony has a positive, happy edge to it and I’m sure he’ll be great in the RAAF. We’ll miss him and his quiet confidence and charm, but we’re also looking forward to seeing how this career shapes his future. Good luck, lad.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this taste of April. Let’s see what May holds in store for us!

Cheers

Jim & Christina xx

The post A Photoshoot, a Military Enrolment and an Anzac Day Trip to Thailand appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

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