Today was spent in the two valleys of the two rivers Kwai. Before today I didn’t even know there were two Rivers Kwai. But there are. To be precise The Kwai Yai and the Kwai Noi meaning large River and small River Kwai. The Kwai Yai heads up into a richly forested area, home of Srinakarind National Park and the Erawan Waterfalls. The falls are reportedly the most beautiful in Thailand and they certainly are picturesque, tabulated in seven sections, each fall descends into a bathing pool glinting in the reflected sunlight. The pools are a popular place to bathe mainly with Thai students and French tourists. Its quite a slog to the top but worth it for the views and a refreshing paddle. The signs said beware of aggressive Monkeys, but I didn’t even see any tame ones. Probably frightened off by the alarming quantities of cellulite exhibited by the more rotund tourists taking a dip in the waters. In the afternoon I trekked across to the valley of the Kwai Noi and it is this valley that the Death Railway winds its tortuous way up. It only goes as far as Nam Tok now, but 30 Km’s on from that spot is the Hellfire Pass, a walking trail and museum located and one of the most difficult sections of the track. The pass itself is a 18 meter deep canyon scraped through solid rock by prisoners using just the most rudimentary tools and under the most appalling conditions. You can’t imagine how bad their suffering must have been, working up to 18 hours a day in the hellish heat ridden by disease and malnutrition. The whole pass is now a memorial to those who died and features several moving monuments and plaques. Some veterans who have died more recently, have asked for their ashes to be spread at the pass marking how life defining their time as Prisoners of War was.