bridge on the river kwai

We went on a little excursion out of the city to see the Bridge on the River Kwai and the Death Railway. Instead of writing anything I am going to be lazy and refer to Wikipedia.

"The Burma Railway, also known also as the Death Railway, the Thailand-Burma Railway and similar names, is a 415 km (258 mile) railway between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign. Forced labour was used in its construction. About 60,000 Asian labourers and 100,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) worked on the railway. Of these, around 9,000 Asian labourers and 16,000 Allied POWs died as a direct result of the project."

"The most famous portion of the railway is probably Bridge 277 over the Khwae Yai River (The river was originally known as the Mae Klong and was renamed Khwae Yai in 1960.) It was immortalized by Pierre Boulle in his book and the film based on it: The Bridge on the River Kwai. However, there are many who say that the movie is utterly unrealistic and does not show what the conditions and treatment of prisoners was really like."

"The living and working conditions on the railway were horrific. The estimated total number of civilian labourers and POWs who died during construction is about 160,000. About 25% of the POW workers died because of overwork, malnutrition, and diseases like cholera, malaria, and dysentery. The death rate of the Asian civilian workers was even higher; the number who died is unknown, as the Japanese did not count them."

The river was actually quite beautiful and went spent the day there wondering the bridge and area, went to a museum, ate on a restaurant over the river, and visited a POW cemetery. It was surreal to stand on the bridge an realize how many people had died due to its construction a mere 60 years ago. Apparently, there were a few instances when the allies attempted to bomb the bridge. To prevent them the Japanese had POWs strung across the bridge but often they could not be seen and were destroyed along with the bridge.

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai was a welcome change after the busyness and stench of Bangkok. Life there seems to move at a somewhat slower pace and people were there to chill and take in some of the culture. We saw of slew of "interesting" signs and had some amazing food. Most of the travelers there were excited to eat Thai food but we were excited for the American Breakfast, Mexican restaurants and Dairy Queens. Three of us caught a bit of travelers bug in Chiang Mai though we were attempting to be careful with what we ate and drank. It turns out I actually had e.coli poisoning but I am just fine so don't worry mom. Anyhow, we went around looking at more temples, rented some motorbikes, and did some touring and went on a trek. It is a great little city.

Elephants and such

We went on a bit of a tour pack in Chiang Mai which included rafting in non-existent rapids and elephant riding. The elephants were pretty interesting but it was fairly tame. The drivers sat right on the elephants' heads and balanced themselves on their ears. I wanted to give that a go unfortunately my driver was on his CELL PHONE the whole time so I was unable to ask. It was ridic as Fiona likes to say. I never expected elephants in the jungle and cell phone to come together.

The long necked Karen Tribe

It was really kind of strange visiting this tribe. They are set up purely for tourist. There is a fake rustic facade where they sell trinkets for the tourists but their real houses were behind and looked more stable than the grass hut look of the shops. Apparently more and more girls are having the rings put on due to the demand. The girls get their first set of rings when they are ten years old and every four years after they get more. Most of these tribes are political refuges from Burma so it is somewhat understandable but it was akin to a human zoo.

Ko Samui

Ko Samui was the perfect way to end the trip. We were able to relax in the gorgeous weather that didn't seem as muggy as Bangkok and eat delicious food since we were mostly over our travel bugs. We didn't get up to too much beyond lounging around, getting massages, and renting some mopeds to tour the island. It was wonderful and I would love to go back.

lazy

I am lazy at getting my Thailand pictures up because it is such a process so in the meantime here are some pictures I took with my cellphone of the fleeting but beautiful cherry blossoms.

happy birthday dad!!!

Happy Birthday Dad, I wish I could be there to celebrate though I know you are not much for birthdays. Just to be home and have a meal with the family would be nice. Oh to be rich and fly home for a couple days. Anyhow, miss you love you and hope you had a good one.

easter

It is a while past but before we took off to Thailand I had a somewhat impromptu Easter at my house. We crammed eight people in my tiny place and gorged on chickens (which were a feat to acquire) Michael's delicious mashed potatoes, Iwan's surprisingly good eggplant casserole and my amazing pies. I am quite the pie expert over here. It was nice to have a western meal and observe a little bit of western culture though I completely forgot to dye eggs. Here are some random pictures Iwan took with his cell phone.

owari!

The musical is finished with our last performance on Saturday and I happen to think it was the best. In total we made around 140 000 dollars for Papa New Guinea and the earthquake relief fund. It was a great time but I am glad it is over. The school year is coming to a close as well and many teachers will be leaving. For some ridiculous reason it is a huge secret if they leave and the rest of the staff is not made officially aware until the last day of school. I am leaving next week so I have been asking who is moving so I can give them goodbye letters. I invariably get the response " it's a big secret". It is absolutely retarded but anyhow was able to wheedle the names out anyhow. There are few I will miss but I on the whole I thinking out with the old in with the new hopefully young teachers! Most of my mind is on Thailand now though. I am going to Thailand next week and am twitchy thinking about it. It will be a bunch of firsts... 1st third world country...1st tropical climate..1st warm beautiful ocean...1st malaria (i hope not) I was going to say first time on an elephant but I remembered my circus days (not as a performer). Anyhow 6 day countdown!

graduation time again

I have to say this graduation was much more sabishi (sad) than last year. The group of kids this year were a great bunch and I will miss them alot next year! They made me cry more than once today and I have a slight headache to remind me. The ceremony was as boring as ever and it was a fight between succumbing to the chills or falling asleep. They sang a song at the end and there was a riot of tear. I think I would have been fine if they had not cried but I am a sucker that way. I often hear people say if they see someone throw up it causes them to throw up, I am the same with crying. If I see someone I care about or sympathize with cry I will often join them. A few student had been begging me to bake apple pie with them but there was never the right time, so I made pie and gave them all a piece( Japanese apple pie is quite tasteless). Koki, one of my favourites, proclaimed that he would keep my pie forever!

Be warned there is liberal use of the peace sign!