Death Railway and Namtok

I had read that the Kanchanaburi to Nam Tok train ride along the Death Railway was scenic and interesting. I also read that it only took two hours and was a common day trip from Bangkok. Let me get this out there right off the bat – it was not terribly scenic or interesting. As for being only two hours? I had been lulled into a false sense of security: Thailand is still a developing nation and time is not linear here.

We spent more than ten long hours on the train today. It is ten hours of our lives we will never get back.

Yes, there were interesting moments, like watching the big trestle bridge go past as we rounded a bend in the river (note, this is only less than 5 minutes of the entire train journey) and watching a group of ladies doing aerobics in a railway station carpark. But the scenery was the same as we have at home and there were certainly plenty of better things we could have done with our day.

As I wrote the first part of this post this we were still an unknown distance from Bangkok on the train back from Nam Tok. It was almost 8pm and we had boarded the beast at 10:30am in Kanchanaburi to travel out to Nam Tok where we hopped back on board to travel back to Bangkok via Kanchanaburi. The train was to arrive in Bangkok at 5:30pm, leaving us an evening of ferry rides, dinner, massages and a nice hotel.

I guess this is all part of the travel adventure. One day when we are more experienced at this travel caper, we will look back and laugh. But I can tell you this: I am not a railway man. Give me planes, motorbikes, cars and bicycles any day of the week. I want to choose where I travel and when without finding myself stuck to someone else’s timetable (or lack there-of).Read more