History is Cool.

Visiting the Bridge over River Kwai is in competition for my most favorite moment in Thailand (along with the first time I saw the royal palace at night). So, it's pretty big stuff.

You never know how you're going to feel about something or if it will affect you until you're actually there. I for sure thought BoRK was worth visiting, but I had no idea how high it would rank. This, for me, was the freaking bee's knees. It took my breath away, and I focused all my energy on taking in everything the bridge had to offer.

Allow me to interject with a brief list of other moments (places) in my life when I was filled with wonder and awe: Red Rock (Nevada), Manhattan, The Grand Canyon, Yosemite, SF hiking.

Very rarely does something unnatural take this kind of hold on me, but I was captivated. Hooked. The story became immediately real. For me, this was more powerful than The Great Wall of China or Angkor Wat (I realize this may make me crazy and is not the norm, but it doesn't make it less true).

If you already know, it is certainly not my intent to insult your intelligence, but I was really moved by the history behind the bridge, so I'm gonna' share.

During WWII the Japanese were in Thailand and needed a way to move men and supplies to Burma, where they were fighting the British. They used Asian laborers and POWs (Australian, British and Dutch) to build what is now referred to as the Death Railway, among other things. The men worked under appalling conditions, and 1000s did not survive. Today in Kanchanaburi there are museums and two war cemeteries. I only wish I had more time to look at everything up close. It was just so powerful to be there.

The bridge itself was brought over from Java, Indonesia, and became a hot-spot for bombing. It had to be rebuilt to its current state after the war. Offering nothing more than the railroad track itself, walking across seemed, umm, perilous. With so much pedestrian traffic, someone could definitely fall if they weren't careful. This heightened the experience without a doubt. It was just so honest and true, as opposed to many things we are used to seeing where the original is lost behind caution ropes and plexiglas. No No. Here, you're really in it.

If you want to read a bit more, here is a good link. And here is the wiki, also good, and even more specific.

Looking forward, you are seeing the restored version of the bridge. Directly to the left and right is the original, with the rounded sides, as opposed to the square edges on the new section.

A map of the Thai-Burma Railway (the arrow shows my location) and some old-school photos.