Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Kanchanaburi Rail Solo Trip

my 1st solo international backpacking (bangkok-kanchanaburi-ayutthaya)
June 4-8, 2010 friday to tuesday


objective:
to visit the best tourist spots that fits my taste and budget accordingly.
additional tasks: to witness the wonders of there architectural ruins and experience the thrill of 1st lone traveling abroad

thailand, beginning of my travel addictiveness
day 1: bangkok temple trip

continued...

DAY TWO:
KANCHANABURI RAIL TRIP


Woke-up 530am, check-out on my guest house then went to hua lampong train station by foot for 10 mins. Around 0640H, the train moves, start of excursion trip, goodbye bangkok for a moment.

hua lampong station

hua lampong station trains bound to kanchanaburi

inside the hua lampong station checking the train departure times

1st stop was nakornpathom. there was a market here awesome for food trips. i bought 4 plastic packs of jackfruit and pineapple slices. it was so delicious and very cheap. while i was eating this fruits, i walked along a monastery temple with coincidentally a parade of buddhist is going on. few photo-ops then when i heard the train siren, i immediately went back to our train. i left my backpack inside the train i trust somehow it was safe and indeed it was.

2nd stop was river kwai bridge. threre are 2 drop bombs on the main entrance.  you can but lot of souvenirs here thats way too cheaper compare to bangkok. i bought a lot of items here including folding hat, figurines and shirts. after around 30 minutes, i went back and thr train continue to move.

kwai bridge

kwai bridge

river kwai
 
Last stop was the kanchanburi area.  on this site you will see the death railway, sai yok noi falls, sai yok cave and wang badan cave. the death railway is old train above the last rails before it was disconnected to somewhere else during the war (maybe going to myanmar). sai yok noi falls has a weak drops of fresh water but crystal clear and has picnic area nearby. sai yok cave is located above the falls, and has a manmade stairs so stressful to climb. there was a buddha inside. our caves are way too awesome compared to this especially sumaguing cave of sagada and kamira cave of bohol.

And the most highlight activity of my day today was spelunking the wan bah darn cave. when i entered callao cave of cagayan, i was a bit more avid fan of spelunking. i rode a 'habal-habal- worth thb40 from sai yok to wang badan area. some sightseeing on the swamp then i searched for the way to that cave. Actually the way was not accessible that time due there was no guide available. i entered the prohibited area and there was no guard that time. on my way, there were plenty of mosquitos and the trail was about over 1km. the rail uphill to the cave entrance was made of rope and mosquitos were anywhere. and take note, i was the only one human that time in that area so i dont let my guard down on any movements along 360 degrees.

sai yok noi falls

the trail to wan bah darn cave

sai yok cave

as i've told, look closely at the sweat amount i've produced...
including my backpack, my flashlight-enabled mobile phone, my shades
and the surroundings... grr, what a 1st time spelunking experience abroad
after my cave connection 2 weeks before this event
so far i don't feel any paranormal activity but of course i have to be prepared for that. as i was climbing the entrance, a pitch black area with only the dim light coming fro mthe forest illuminates so i decided to used the built-in flashlight on my mobile phone. then there was a ladder going down, and somehow i feel scared of being alone entering it while my heavy backpack adds the sweat i generated. my backpack gave a bit harder to enter the little access. but upon reaching another area, i was suprise by this big flying bat straight to my face. i suddenly fell down and immediately went up the ladder and exit the cave and run. whew, what a relief upon seeing the handrail outside.
our assembly time going back to bangkok was 1400H, imagine i have to walk again over 1 km where the trail is exactly alike in typical horror movies. i have to move in haste to bring some souvenir nearby the station. after 30 minutes, i saw the wang badan cave once more. buy soda on nearby mini-store, rest for 10 minutes then rode for habal-habal again. upon exiting sai yok area, i crossed the road to kanchanaburi market. i bought cheaper souvenir foods that is like 3 for thb100. around 1400H, goodbye kanchanaburi, what 1st time spelunking abroad. there was 1 stop-over going back to bangkok but not much to see the  area nearby, i just spent my time taking food trips along the train station.

food trip to the last stop-over station

i arrived bangkok aat 2000H due to very time consuming stop-overs and not to mention the coasters connected as we passed by. by the way, all passengers of the excursion were in 1 coaster only. i went back to baan hua lampong guest house, paid thb200 again because ihave to check-out for 0600H the following day for ayutthaya trip. took a bath then another nightlife and this time in patpong area. i went home 2330H via tuktuk.

5 comments:

  1. Question here..
    Marami naman English direction/markers no so di ganun ka confusing? I mean sa places you've been to (am not going to KANCHANABURI)

    btw, tindi ng trip mo..spelunking alone. Tapang man!
    and did I saw Patpong there? I heard... hhehehheh..

    ReplyDelete
  2. wala na gaano english markers as you went far sa main city, ilan na lang ang nakakapag-ingles..
    yup, certified spelunker ito, mala-gagamba lang, hahaha !! :) patpong night market po, lol !! :P

    ReplyDelete
  3. pards, tanong ko lang kasi naguguluhan na ko. I'll be traveling alone din kasi nagback out ung mga kasama ko. Anyway, andami ko kasing nababasa na wala na sa hua lampong station ung kanchanaburi train tri. sa may thonburi rail station na ata.

    as i read your blog, basically kapag nag-tren ka papuntang kanchanaburi area, may mga stop overs sila for several minutes. at those stop overs, dun ka magtotour by urself ne?

    ReplyDelete
  4. @bumblebeenny
    nyay, yan ang nakaka-bad trip sa kasama, naka-mindset ka na kasama sila tapos mawawala din pala :(

    tnx sa update, kung nilipat nga ...

    yup, kanchanaburi trip is a excursion trip dedicated to the stop-overs ofr tourism purposes .. magtu-tour kayo pero at most 30mins lang.. sa sa last terminal magtatagal ng around 11am-2pm kung d pa din nagbabago sked at weekend lang ino-offer ang excursion trip ha :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. yeah. special trip yung kinuha mo which is only offered on weekends sa may hua lampong station. pag weekdays, meron sa thonburi aka bangkok noi station. sababo ng gabi kasi flight ko pabalik kaya alanganin if i do the excursion trip.

    i'll also stay sa baan hualampong pero i think i'll book it for 3 whole days na. 290 lang naman e. i'll also visit ayutthaya. i'll reserve my 2 days for massage, shopping and patpong nightlife. haha. buti na lang i've been to bkk last year na kaya malakas na loob ko.

    ReplyDelete

Please support this blog by clicking those ads. Thank you.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...