Kanchanaburi is best known for its WWII history. But whilst the Bridge over the River Kwai, the Death Railway and the Allied War Cemetery are its most obvious destinations for tourists, the city has more to offer.
At the end of our two-week stay in Bangkok, we had a gap of 5 days before we had booked in a hostel in Ayutthaya. A little internet research revealed that a weekend trip to Kanchanaburi, with its infamous bridge over the River Kwai, was a fairly easy option. We had not yet used Thai trains and had heard some horror stories about delays and taking much longer than expected, so this would be a perfect way to find out!
HOW TO GET FROM BANGKOK TO KANCHANABURI?
Things To Do In Kanchanaburi
Apart from the famous bridge over the River Kwai, there are enough things to do in Kanchanaburi to fill a couple of days sightseeing.
Bridge Over The River Kwai
No visit to Kanchanaburi would be complete without visiting the infamous ‘Bridge over the River Kwai‘. Google maps told us it was 35 minutes walk from our hostel so that’s what we did, despite the protests of the tuktuks that seemed amazed that tourists would walk anywhere. When we got to the Bridge, the first thing we saw was the Kanchanaburi market. This area was busier than any other area in Kanchanaburi and I suspected that there were a lot of weekend day-trippers here. However, getting on to the bridge itself was easy enough, despite reports on the internet saying it would be difficult to do so.
Bridge over the River Kwai
We were very lucky as we were on the bridge when a train came.
Traaaaiiiinnn!
Apparently people sometimes wait for hours to see a train come over the bridge so this was a great piece of luck. The train stopped for about 10 minutes whilst on the bridge (I’m presuming to allow tourists to take pictures) before moving along, heading towards the Wampo viaduct.
Death Railway Museum
Following our visit to the Bridge over the River Kwai and the WWII museum, we decided to finish our day exploring the history of this quiet Thai city with a visit to the ‘Death Railway Museum’ (map). This was a good 40 minute walk from the bridge, along the main road, and it was VERY hot so other travellers might want to take a tuktuk. The museum gives a great insight into the plight of the prisoners of war that were forced to work on the railway. It is quite expensive (150 baht for adults) but it is more than worth it. You also get a free hot drink at the end where you can sit and take in what you just experienced whilst looking out over the cemetery. I highly recommend this museum; it seems a waste to come to the town famous for the bridge without learning about the conditions that the prisoners were forced to endure.
The Kanchanaburi cemetery itself is a quite humbling experience. Please note the cemetery is free so anyone trying to charge you admission is scamming you. This didn’t happen to us but there were signs up alerting visitors. The museum is open every day from 9:00am to 4:00pm.
Death Railway Museum
Erawan National Park
We decided to use Kanchanaburi as a base to visit Erawan National Park and see the Kanchanaburi waterfalls. We’d seen local tourist companies offering travel to the park for 1000 baht but discovered we could quite easily take a bus from the station for 50 baht.
Taking The Local Bus To Erawan National Park
The bus timetables (correct in Oct 2018) are:
- Departing from Kanchanaburi to Erawan Falls: 08:00, 08:50, 09:50, 10:45, 11:50, 13:00, 14:10, 15:25 , 16:30, 17:50
- Departing from Erawan Falls to Kanchanaburi: 05:20, 06:10, 07:20, 08:30, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 17:00
We had heard from other travellers that it is better to aim for an earlier bus as sometimes the last 2 buses decide not to run and when they do, they get VERY full to the point that you might not get on at all. Always check with the bus operators for to the up-to-date timetable.
The buses are not the most comfortable but the journey is only about 90 minutes.
Arriving At Erawan National Park
The entrance fee to the park is 300 baht for tourists.
You cannot take drinks beyond level 2 without paying a deposit (you get your deposit back when you return with your bottle; this is another way your collapsible bottle comes in handy!) Food is not allowed.
At each level, you are allowed to swim in the Erawan waterfalls. We waited until level 5 before we got in. You will share the water with the considerably large fish who will come and suck and nibble at your legs. If you have never experienced this, it is FREAKIN’ WEIRD!
Joanna braves the biting fish
It took me a long time to pluck up the courage to get in and even then I had to splash like a mad man to deter the fish. The water is cool and refreshing which is very welcome as it does get very hot, the higher you climb. Beyond level 5, there is no clear path and it is quite a challenge to get to the very top. You might think it isn’t worth it but, trust me, IT IS WORTH IT. I won’t put any pictures here so not to leave a spoiler but it is a great reward for the hard work you put in getting to the top!
Erawan National Park
Once we reached the top, it was time to come back down and wait for the bus after some drinks and snacks from the shops near the entrance. 300 baht might seem like a lot in Thailand, but we had a great time there and I definitely recommend it.
Food And Drink In Kanchanaburi
Just a short walk from the VN Guesthouse is Maenamkwai Road, where you will find numerous bars and restaurants. Most of the bars offer live music. Look out for drinks offers too. This is where you want to go to experience the best of the Kanchanaburi nightlife.
Ave Thai (map) is a Thai restaurant but it also specialises in Thai craft beer. This is a very relaxing place to have a beer as they have a nice terrace and play nice jazz music as a soundtrack to your people-watching.
Gravite Drip Coffee was our final activity just before leaving Kanchanaburi. It is a very clean, air-conditioned place serving excellent coffee. It’s a little pricier than other places but you are definitely paying for the quality here. Map.
‘Sugar Member‘ (map) is located on the main bar street. It plays RnB music and has a party vibe. Look for buy-one-get-one-free-offers on beers.
Tara Guesthouse (map) doesn’t look much from the outside but they serve delicious Thai food at very reasonable prices. I had prawn in oyster sauce for 50 baht and it was excellent!
Other bars worth a mention are ‘Unrock’ which has live music that can be heard and seen from the street. The first night there was a great young, original band playing; the second night, not so great. ‘Jahmaikarn Reggae bar’ is exactly what you’d expect it to be. The sign outside said there was live music but there was no sign of any band whilst we were there.
JEATH War Museum
I had heard mixed reviews about the ‘JEATH War Museum’ (map) but it is very cheap and it is very close to the bridge, so we decided to check it out… and I’m so glad we did! The reasons many people criticised it were the very reasons I loved it. It is an old museum and it is very disorganised. One minute, you are in a war museum; the next you are looking at paintings of Miss Thailand through the years! One part of the museum even had a display showing piles of ‘Hello’ magazines for no apparent reason. It is very bizarre and for this reason is worth checking out. The museum is open 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM every day and the entrance fee is only 10 baht.
JEATH Museum: expect the unexpected
JJ Night Market
We discovered that near the railway station from 1800 hours there is a night market called ‘JJ night market‘ (map). Here we found all kinds of food for sale at very cheap prices: Japanese spring rolls, sweets, buns, seafood, sushi, vegetarian, Thai curries, various kebabs and a whole load more. After filling up on various treats, we headed back to the bar street for some drinks.
JJ Night Market
Is Kanchanaburi Worth Visiting?
Kanchanaburi is an interesting city that makes for a great break away from Bangkok. It can be done as a day trip but I recommend spending at least a couple of nights here to fully appreciate its history, its bars and its charm.
Our return train from Kanchanaburi to Bangkok was delayed by half an hour then stopped for about an hour for no apparent reason meaning our return time was 90 minutes late. Bear this in mind if you are planning on making connections to other transports.
