Kanchanaburi day one

Saturday morning Alex, Kelly, and I woke up bright and early to catch the train the kanchanaburi. The windows were large and stayed open the whole time, but it was a nice day so the breeze was welcome. The last car of the train had a sign saying it was reserved for the monks, elderly, and disabled. However we didn't notice this until a good half hour. The rest of the train didn't have seats together so we sat in the last car. Oops. Luckily the Thai people were nice enough to let it go and the confused Americans sit in the special car.
It took about three hours to get to Kanchanaburi, once we arrived we got a taxi, aka back of a truck, to take us to our hotel, The Jolly Frog. It is known for being affordable and a nice place for backpackers. The four person room we stayed in cost 400 baht per night. Which is the equivalent of us paying $4 each in America.
Once we had gotten settled in we walked down to the death railway museum. Perhaps some of you have heard of it but the death railway took place during World War Two. The Japanese used prisoners of war as slave laborers to construct a railway and bridge connecting Thailand to Burma. The conditions were quite brutal and thousands of people died during this process. The bridge and railway are still used today although it has been debated whether or not it is ethical. After crossing the bridge we found this beautiful temple which you can see in the three pictures below.








The picture below is the view of the river when looking down from the death railway bridge.


We saw this leopard lying on a table, on the sidewalk, just chilling. Yes he is alive.


Alex and Kelly on the roof of one of the exhibits.



A mural inside the museum depicting Thai life during ancient times.


After exploring the town we went back to the hotel and relaxed in the hammock before getting Thai massages. The massage was amazing! I believe the phrase "who needs men when you have a Thai masseuse" could sum up my experience there. All for only 150 baht per hour (the equivalent of $5 in America, not to rub it in). We got dinner at this amazing vegetarian Thai place and worked on a plan for the next day when we were going to the Erawan waterfalls!