The,River,Kwai,Festivsal,Thail travel,insurance The River Kwai Festivsal In Thailand

Torres del Paine is among the biggest of Chile’s national parks, occupying almost 600,000 acres (242,000 ha) of land in the south on the border with Argentina. It is also among the most important, receiving a significant proportion of domes Like any American, traveling occasionally is just what I love doing and I bet you share the same stuff with me. But traveling does not mean that you would be safe. Escaping from our job and other stressful activities is just something that w

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin-top:0in;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0in;line-height:115%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:"Cordia New";}Chulalongkorn Day sees the start of the spate of festivalsthat run through until the Songkhran peak next April. In six months Thailand hasits high season of public holidays and festivals. Such events as ChiangmaiFlower Festival, Loi Krathong, Yasothon Rocket Festival I and Chinese New Yearare found within this period and the celebrations kick off with a full 10 dayfestival at the River Kwai Bridge in Kanchanaburi in the last week of November,leading up to His Majesty the King's birthday on December 5.The annual festival is aimed at increasing awareness for apeaceful future. What better location?A party atmosphere prevails and amongst the many exhibits andshows is the nightly son et lumiere extravaganza at the infamous bridge.Complete with fake air attacks and explosions with lots of fireworks, theupgraded sound and light show has commentaries in various languages availablein grandstand seating on the riverside.Special trains run from Bangkok's Hua Lamphong station duringthis period and a special steam train excursion usually takes visitors on thelast day of the festival. Nowadays, the idea is to book early as it is animmensely popular event. On the bonus side is that travel to and from Bangkokhas improved dramatically over the past few years and an overnight inKanchanaburi is no longer a necessity.Don't expect to see the thick vegetation or rocky waters fromwhich Sir Alec Guiness saw "his" bridge over the River Kwai - that'sin Sri Lanka, where the movie was made portrayed in the film - and a beautifulspot indeed.It's a good time for the festival as the scenery is a lushgreen at this time, conflicting with the yellow ochre to be found in April.What you will see is the real thing and for those not havingbeen before, the Death Museum is certainly sparse and a little tacky in parts,but it is full of the articles, photos and reports from the days of the war;simply a museum with the genuine article and with no pizzazz.Naturally, don't miss the train trip. The best departure isthe 1055 from Kanchanaburi and a good idea during festival time is to board atthe town station rather than at the bridge. Here one can pay bht 200 for aguaranteed seat including coffee and cookies and receive a Death RailwayCertificate. It's probably overpriced but during this busy period it's worththe extra baht or so. The prisoners of war built wooden viaducts that nevercease to amaze as the train hugs the cliff face high above the Kwai. I'm surethat over the last few years the train service has actually become slower atthis stage of the journey, down to about 5km an hour. You'll understand whywhen you hear the wood creaking below you. The 75 minute trip from Kanchanaburitown to Nam Tok (waterfall) at the end of the line is scenic and even whenreaching the terminal, one is still 350km from Moulmein, the original terminusfor this important supply route. Vegetation has long reclaimed the old trackroute and the workers' camps along the rest of the line. At Nam Tok you are onthe edge of the Burma foothills and from here to 3 Pagodas Pass is real borderjungle country.An introduction to this can be found by taking an overnightexcursion from Pakbeng pier, near to Nam Tok station, to the River Kwai jungleRafts or Resotel. The latter is situated next to the King Lawa limestone cavesand is an upmarket cottage version of the original rafts. The rafts are greatfor a one night experience on the river and although a little sparse with noelectricity or hot water, it's a back woods feel that can be maintained for atleast one night by those in search of something a little different. There areno mosquitoes prevalent because of the fast flowing River Kwai and with therafts only being accessible by boat it is given a little more of the pioneeringexcursion value. The local Mon tribe pretty well do all the staff work andelephant trekking as well as old fashioned walking is the order of the day. The rafts are tethered to the bank and walkways are availablefor those wanting to go off into the forest. Many simply opt for tubing downthe river. No need to swim, the current simply takes you. Food is inventive andtasty and at around bht 1300/night including all meals it's a worthwhileexperience of up-country Thailand and also a way to see what those prisoner ofwar workers had to break through to build that railway.