Dense jungle closed in our the railway carriage. On either side, fast growing creepers had enveloped the tall trees and even colonised the hanging lianas forming an impenetrable wall of green with the low growing broad leaved ferns and wild banana plants.  Suddenly, as the train rattled along the jungle gave way to a sheer, bare rock face, inches from the carriage window. From the other window the view plummeted down to the swirling brown waters of the river Kwai sweeping through jungle clad mountains,  which looked in the distance like moss covered boulders. We were travelling on the infamous Death Railway. This section was a massive wooden trestle buttressed against a mountain cliff on a bend in the river.

The railway was built by the Japanese Army in 1942 and 1943 to take war materials from the harbours of Thailand up through the jungles of Burma to fight the British forces defending Burma and India.  During its construction over 100,000 men died of tropical diseases, malnutrition, exhaustion and mistreatment, hence the title ‘Death Railway’. Most were local men conscripted by the Japanese from the territories they occupied, whilst 16,000 were prisoners of war from Britain, Australia, Holland and America.

As we left the mountains the jungle had been cleared from the lower land. We passed through fields and villages, stopping at small wooden stations to pick up more passengers. Vendors waddled through the moving train selling barbecued chicken, fish on sticks, cakes and doughnuts. We joined the local Thais and snacked as we leaned out of the open windows waving to children leading an elephant through a village.

A shrill train whistle warned of our approach to the Bridge on the River Kwai, made famous by David Lean’s epic 1957 film. Unlike the film the modern bridge is steel, but there was a parallel wooden bridge during the war. Both were bombed and put out of action by the Royal Australian Air Force.  The story of the horrific building of the railway and the bridge is well told in a factual and balanced way in the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre museum in Kanchanaburi.

The museum overlooks the Allied War Cemetery where 7,000 of the Allied soldiers who died building the railway are buried.  We spent a morning paying our respects. The graves are immaculately kept with some bearing a memorial phrase from the families of the departed man. Most were between twenty and thirty years old when they died. Interestingly the remains of the American servicemen who died building the railway were returned to America after the war.

The bridge and the railway are of course an important and well used local asset. It also brings in many curious visitors who want to see the bridge and ride on the railway and this has boosted the tourist industry of Kanchanburi town. 

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Seeing a fully grown male tiger walking beside an aging Buddhist monk is an astonishing sight. But Abbot Phra Acharn Phusit does just that.  We were enthralled about the story and loved the opportunity to be with and stroke adult tigers.

It all started in 1994 when villagers brought an injured jungle bird into the Wat Pa Luangta Bua Pagoda and gave it to a monk. In looking after the bird the monks inadvertently attracted other jungle birds. Since the Pagoda is near dense jungle on the Thai Burmese border near Kanchanaburi more birds started living in the pagoda complex including peacocks from the jungle.

One day an injured wild boar stumbled into the pagoda and the monks cared for him until he could be released back into the forest. The day after his return to the jungle the boar returned, followed by his family group of ten animals. Then villagers started to bring in unwanted pets and wild animals from the surrounding forest drifted in and stayed. When we visited, along with countless wild boar there are four species of deer, water buffalo, cows, horses and wild goats all roaming the grounds of the monastery.

The first tiger cub arrived in 1999 in a very poor condition. She was only a few months old when her mother was killed by poachers. When she arrived at the monastery she had been badly treated and was frail and terrified of the slightest sound.  Despite the care of the monks she fell seriously ill and died. People who knew about the incident did not want to see another cub mistreated again.

The jungle near the monastery is the largest protected area in Asia and believed to be the home of the largest surviving tiger population in the region. Unfortunately, whilst the area is protected, poaching still occurs frequently. A poacher can earn up to $6,000 for a tiger body, several years salary for a farmer. So the profit is considered well worth the risk by some. When a mother tiger is killed the cubs may be taken as a bonus but they are sometimes left to fend for themselves in the jungle.

A few weeks after the first tiger cub died two healthy male cubs were taken from arrested poachers and brought to the monastery. They were tiny, just a few weeks old. Some months later the local villagers presented another two male cubs. Soon after this a border police patrol captured a group of poachers with four female cubs and took these to the monastery for care. 

The Abbot welcomed the animals but as he had no previous experience in looking after large carnivores he had to learn on the job. At first he built some concrete pens – all he could afford, to house the growing cubs and prevent them from killing and eating the other temple animals. As the years went by the tigers grew up and to the Abbot’s surprise and delight started to reproduce. However, as the tiger family grew the Abbot became faced with the need to create more living space for his charges. In 2003 the Abbot conceived an ambitious plan to create a large open air enclosure where each tiger was given sufficient space.

We were able to walk slowly into the tiger canyon with volunteers, when the tigers were sleeping off their mid day meal of chicken. We were assured that the tigers were so used to human contact we could stroke and scratch them safely. We were amused that one precaution was not to wear sunglasses because if a slumbering tiger stirred then saw his own reflection in the sunglasses he might mistake the reflection for another, strange tiger and react badly. It was great getting up close and personal to these magnificent beasts. Tickling a tiger cub was of course a pure delight.
 
There is more information on the pagoda website;
www.tigertemple.org 

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We were used to being welcomed in guest houses in Thailand, but being cherished was a delightful experience. The two Thai sisters of advancing years who ran their wooden guesthouse, The Baan Lotus, positively took us under their wing. They were relieved to hear that we wouldn’t be arriving too late, when we booked. On our first outing to the city they went over our route in detail, twice. Then they checked that our hats were OK, the sun can be bright at this time year, you know. It was wonderful.
    
The tall towers and spires of the ruined temples compete well with the modern buildings in the provincial capital, Ayuthaya (aye uh tie ya). Once the Royal Capital, from 1350 to 1767,   this was where the European traders came to negotiate treaties. Today it is a bustling centre of commerce but the historical sites within the city have been well preserved and maintained in separate parks with well manicured grass.  At night the principal temples and monuments are flood lit. 

One of the most enigmatic sights in Ayuthaya is at the ancient ruined temple of Wat Mahathat. Here a stone statue of seated Buddha has been completely enveloped in growing tree roots until only the face is left showing through.  It is reminiscent of the tree roots growing through the temples near Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Walking between the historical sites our eyes were drawn to an elephant magnificently decked out in rich red and gold silk livery draped from its back almost to the ground.   A matching tasselled parasol shaded the occupant of the howdah, or seat, from the harsh sun. Resplendent in red and gold the mahout gently encouraged his elephant along. Only when we took our eyes from this splendid sight did we realise that there were a procession of eight or so similar elephants majestically moving up the road with the famous royal temples as their back drop.

We discovered that the elephants were looked after in a former royal elephant enclosure just outside the city. As luck would have it we met an Englishman living in Ayuthaya who worked as a volunteer with the elephants.  He introduced us to a four month old bouncing bundle of fun which actually ran across the compound to greet us. Whilst the mother elephant looked on benignly, the baby elephant dexterously untied Allan’s shoe laces with her trunk.       

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