The twittering of birds and faint hoots of howler monkeys greeted the dawn today. The river had calmed overnight so it felt more like sleeping in the hull of a ship last night rather than in a washing machine. We have a full day here in the jungle today starting with a visit to Hellfire Pass after breakfast.

Named for the torturous and hellish-like conditions in which the WWII prisoners toiled away building the Thai-Burma railway, Hellfire Pass is where the workers were made to cut through several kilometers of solid rock here in the Tenasserim Hills using only hand tools. Originally the Japanese had planned years to build the 415km of railroad but the pressures of war and their brutalization of POWs & civilians meant it was finished in 15 months.

We visited an excellent interpretive center sponsored by the Australian government and walked the 5km trail through Hellfire Pass and other “cuttings” made for the railway. We each had an audio guide that while it offered some facts, the majority of it was recordings of Aussie POWs recounting their painful experiences. Very moving….

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their visit, commenting how extremely well-done, informative and moving it was. Some found the walk on the rough stones difficult which brought home to all how minor our inconveniences were and how utterly inconceivable the conditions the prisoners faced were.

Next was a 20 minute drive back to the river which gave us time to process our experience before loading back into the longtail to be ferried up to our kayaking adventure. Luckily we mostly had only to steer as the current was once again very strong as we cruised downstream to our lunch at a sister hotel.

We had the rest of the day free after lunch. Some stayed to enjoy that hotel’s pool while others (like me) returned to our resort to relax riverside on our own private porches.

A very early start tomorrow as we’re off to Chiang Rai!