Escaped the heat of the city and headed west into the coastal plains of Thailand. I was in two minds as to whether to hire a car or not as the guide books have different advice. In the end I did although I was slightly regretting it in the chaos trying to escape Bangkok. In the end I did but only by driving through a shopping mall at one point. The good news is I can make my own way and am not dependent on trains and buses. Reached the town of Kanchanaburi, centre of the notorious Death Railway. My hotel is just next to the Bridge over the River Kwai and this afternoon I want for a walk over the infamous bridge. It’s quite an adventure in itself as you have to walk up the middle of the track and hope a train doesn’t come along. Well there are refuge points at various intervals across the bridge should you get caught out. The biggest problem was trying to squeeze past over large European tourists who seem to take 30 minutes taking a picture on the middle of the bridge. The bridge isn’t the one built by POW’s, that was blown up by the British during the war, but a replica built soon afterwards. It’s not the massive structure of the film either although it does feel as rickety. I spent some time at the Death Railway museum, some chilling facts about the railways construction, which cost the lives`of 16,000 POW’s and 100,000 Asian labours. Next door to the museum is the Cemetery. Beautifully kept with row after row or markers each indicating a son or husband who would never return and whose short life had been so brutally cut short.