Boats, bridges, Birthdays and Bye bye Bangkok

Boats, Bridges, Birthdays and Bye Bye Bangkok

Had a couple of really good days in Bangkok, even though we spent most of the time outside of Bangkok!!
On Monday we were up at sparrowfart, 0530, in order to get ready, have some breakfast and then get a cab over to the Kohsan Road for 7am. We were picked ip in a minivan, along with ten or so other people for our tour of The Bridge Over The River Kwai and The Tiger Temple. 
Unfortunately, it is quite a drive to get to the bridge, so we spent a cramped couple of hours driving there. Our First stop was one of the associated Allied War Cemetaries. Unfortunately, as we were running late, we only had about 30 minutes there, which was not long enough. It brought back memories of when I went to Normandy for D-Day commemoration in 2004, and I went to the cemetery in Bayueax. That day, I cried non stop for 30 minutes when I was walking round that cemetery. This time, I was fine, until I started reading the headstones and the words that the families had put on there in memory of their lost son/Father/Husband. Made me shed a few more tears. 
We then drove on a little further to the bridge itself. 
When we arrived, our guide gave us a little talk about the bridge, museum, train and the timetable. He had such a hilarious accent, and kept saying PWREEASE, instead of please! If I can upload the video, I will! 
We had a look around the Jeath War Museum and saw the remnants of the original Wooden Bridge. There is only a small bit of it left. We then walked up and over the Metal Bridge, which got blown up in 1944. It is still used today. We then took a train along the "death railway" for about two hours. It was bloody hot and like being on a space hopper!! Seriously, the bogies on the train are ferked!! It was bouncing up and down and all over the place. A few people, including Ju, started to feel a bit queasy!! Once we stopped, we had lunch, which was not too bad actually, then we were driven to one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Thailand. Except there was one problem. There was bugger all water!! Because it wad so hot, there was no water falling over the waterfall!! I could see that it would be nice when there was water, but there was only a trickle today!! 
After all that excitement (!) we then drove to my favourite part- the Tiger Temple. 
Again, a peed off because we did not have enough time here to do too much, but we still managed to get up close and stroke several Tigers and have our pictures taken with them. Absolutely magnificent animals. I have already decided that my next tattoo will be a tiger, because I love them, and I was born in the year of the Tiger! We even got to stroke some baby ones as well!! All too soon we had to leave and had a 3 hour drive back to Bangkok. When we eventually got back, we just had a quick bite to eat and then flomped into bed as we were so tired, and had to be up early again for the following days trip. 
Today was Ju's Birthday, and I surprised her again with a birthday card which I have had since we left home! I also arranged for the hotel to deliver a small Birthday cake to our room as well, complete with candles!!
We were up early again for another trip and this one was to the floating markets. As we left the hotel, it's was pissing down with rain, but thankfully it stopped by the time we had driven the 2 hours to the Market. Once we arrived we were shuffled onto a longtail boat with a V8 engine on the back and the whizzed along some of the canals to the main Market area where we transferred to a smaller boat, with a bloke on the back with a paddle. It was such a weird, surreal experience to be in q boat, drifting along, past all the stalls along the bank. There were other boats where people were cooking on them and selling from the boat as they drew up alongside you. It really is something you have to do if you come to Bangkok. We had just over an hour of floating and shopping and managed to grab a few more bargains as well. We made it back to Bangkok for about 2 and after lunch, proceeded to pack and have a snooze for an hour, before we checked out of the hotel, about 6. 
This evening, we are taking the overnight sleeper train up to Chiangmai. Unfortunately, all the First class Private sleeper cabs were sold out, so we have had to make do with second class sleeper bunks! For those of you that know Ju, it did not go down too well!! But fair play to her, she has enjoyed the adventure of doing something she would never normally do!! We are sharing an open compartment with 2 other beds, one of which has a Japanese version of sideshow Bob in it!! Just hope he does not mind my snoring!! We made the best we could of the evening by having several Singha Beers and a curry, watched a movie on the Laptop (Black Swan. Seen it before, still confusing but great!)
As I type this, I am on the lower bunk and Ju is, hopefully, sleeping peacefully above me on the top bunk. We both have earplugs in and sleep masks, and, surprisingly, the bed is fairly comfortable. So coupled with the imbibing of beer earlier, I should get a good kip!! 
I will post this once we get to our hotel in Chiangmai tomorrow. 
Night all!!