Darryl woke up fairly early so headed to the hotel reception for a cup of coffee. He got talking to 2 friendly Thai people eating their breakfast. They very kindly asked him to join them. It turns out that they were from Bangkok and having a golfing holiday. Darryl asked lots of questions about the king's birthday celebrations as it was on TV in the room. The man spoke great English and had travelled all over Europe, been to university in America and had dinner with the king several times, the world's longest surving monach! He was possibly one of Thailand's top doctors and a really friendly man! You never know who you might be sharing toast and peanut butter with! Whilst we were talking, the owner of the hotel turned up dressed in an immaculate white Government uniform for the celebrations. She looked really smart!
Eventually rather later than scheduled, we left town and headed for Hellfire Pass. The famous cutting through the mountain built by the prisoners of war for the railway to run from Burma. We called, what we thought was the office, to make sure it was open. But, although they said it probably was - it was closed for the king's birthday celebrations.
We waited for the bus which is every hour and jumped on to the next town of Nam Tok. Quickly found a place to stay and headed to a local waterfall. Nam Tok means waterfall and there are many nearby! We both ventured into the cool water and joined the Thai people enjoying the national holiday and bus loads of Russian tourists! It was really interesting watching the Russian tourists pose and pout for every photo. Something very culturally different from English people. The Thai people often entered the water fully clothed and often in their yellow (King's colour) t-shirt they were wearing for the celebrations.
In the evening we enjoyed our meal with an incredible view of the mountains. We watched a fireworks display, from a distance and many Chinese Lanterns launched into the night!
Eventually rather later than scheduled, we left town and headed for Hellfire Pass. The famous cutting through the mountain built by the prisoners of war for the railway to run from Burma. We called, what we thought was the office, to make sure it was open. But, although they said it probably was - it was closed for the king's birthday celebrations.
We waited for the bus which is every hour and jumped on to the next town of Nam Tok. Quickly found a place to stay and headed to a local waterfall. Nam Tok means waterfall and there are many nearby! We both ventured into the cool water and joined the Thai people enjoying the national holiday and bus loads of Russian tourists! It was really interesting watching the Russian tourists pose and pout for every photo. Something very culturally different from English people. The Thai people often entered the water fully clothed and often in their yellow (King's colour) t-shirt they were wearing for the celebrations.
In the evening we enjoyed our meal with an incredible view of the mountains. We watched a fireworks display, from a distance and many Chinese Lanterns launched into the night!
