The last time I was in Kanchanaburi, located in a neighboring province to Bangkok Thailand, was roughly 5 years ago when I visited the famous
Bridge on the River Kwai. I wrote about my trip back then via
a post dated January 2014.
I remember thinking this bridge that supported trains over the
Khwae Yai (Thai spelling), was an incredible 70 year old monument to the WWII prisoners of war who risked their lives constructing what is known as the
Death Railway under the iron fists of the Japanese. During my previous visit, I was not only able to walk to the bridge from my resort but also to the town of Kanchanaburi to visit the cemeteries of the fallen and other exhibits from the WWII era.
Bridge on the River Kwai
This year, my visit took me 45 km west of the bridge along the same river, allowing me opportunity to see another part of the 415 km (258 mi) railway line that stretches from Bangkok Thailand to Rangoon Burma. It was at the
Suan Saiyok Resort where our men’s group decided to hold a retreat and where we not only enjoyed each other’s company but the adjacent river and railway!
The
Men in Christ: Stronger Together men's retreat was wonderful in and of itself. It was SO refreshing to be able to spend time in a community of approximately 40 men from many different countries willing to invest in each other in relationship, as well as worshiping the Lord in song and studying His Word together over a three day weekend. It is comforting to know so many followers of Christ -- committed to knowing the Lord and wanting to live their lives for Him -- all share the Thai experience living in neighborhoods of Bangkok beside me!
The resort where we stayed was beautifully located along the
Khwae Yai and adjacent to one of the train stops along the railway line.
I must admit that I was nervous before attending this retreat because I heard we were to walk along a portion of the tracks that was hundreds of meters above ground without any hand rails or safety nets! Well, sure enough, that's exactly what we did having just enough room to walk along the tracks with a narrow ‘shoulder’ on either side of the rails. I also made sure the train was not scheduled to meet us on the tracks during our journey! Needless to say, we all survived and I am glad to report the experience via this post =)
Our walk led us to a cave in the side of a mountain that was used in the 1940s to hold WWII prisoners while they were working on the railway. Not surprisingly, this cave was also known to have snakes big enough to eat humans! I've seen how large Pythons can get in current-day Bangkok, so it is not much of a stretch to imagine how big they could get in the uninhabited forested areas. Just another challenge prisoners had to face in addition to risking their lives building a railway without proper tools or machines, lack of food and water, working in extreme heat, physical abuse from the guards, and so on.
I was thankful the rest of the weekend was a little more laid back after our morning walk and visit to the cave. In fact, a bunch of us decided to go to the
Mallika Village to roam around a settlement that had been restored and maintained to its former glory. Here, we had opportunity to experience what it was like living in ancient Siam during the reign of king
Rama V in the mid 1800s. I found it interesting to see the difference in clothing, transportation and even the currency from what is used in today’s Thailand!
All in all, it was quite a diverse weekend that helped challenge and encourage me physically, intellectually and spiritually!
