On Our Way Home,

we stopped here,

it is a store selling sweets, and other snacks to take back for friends,

we went in, not really wanting anything, but some how came out with bags of dried or fried bananas and other candied delicacies,

our next stop was the town of Nakon Partom, we pulled into the car park which seemed to be based around this huge tree,

and when I say huge it was, how old is it? I do not have a clue,

all around the car park vendors were selling their wares, like this lady selling sticky bamboo,

we made our way along to the local indoor market,

past lots of clothes shops,

as we went in I noticed this stall selling fish,

I had not seen fish on a stick in this 'S' shape before, but they were the catfish pla douk (spelt as it sounds), I guess a local way of cooking it,

inside there was a kitchen selling food, the girls are waiting,

so it was find a table,

order a beer or two,

and wait for the food to arrive,

I was so hungry I ate mine before I remembered to take a shot,

we had to have two tables as the kitchen was in the walk way that lead to the market, so the owner could not have large tables,

this is the kitchen,

on the way back to the car the girls did a bit of shopping for food, fresh strawberry's, yummy!

along side a tuk-tuk driver was waiting for his next fare,

the car park was in front of this temple, I am not to sure of the spelling but Kai said it was called the Jede Temple,

Diana on the steps of the temple,

there were lots of devout worshipers,

soon we were back in Bangkok dropping off Doi, S and Ell, just near to where they live there were driving pilings that are going in to the ground for the extension of the sky train railway,

work was going on at fever pitch, cranes and heavy machinery everywhere,

it was time to say 'goodbye' to the girls,

just our luck to have to stop for the east bound train at the level crossing,

and then have to wait for the west bound one as well!

barriers up and time to go, then we were back for the night life of Pattaya.

We Continued Our Travels To Hellfire Pass,

so called because of the oil burning lamps that lit it at night,

it is on the road that runs from the bridge to Sai Yok national park, the center is operated as a non profit organisation, maintained by the Australians, so the entrance is free but donations are gratefully accepted,

looking down the trail from the observation point, and across the valley,

the bowl of remembrance,

whilst there I spotted this strange looking fruit, I do not have a clue what it is,

two of the railway spikes,

Diana looking at the story of the horrors that happened here,

everything is laid out with informative plaques along the way,

maps as well, I did read the information at the start of one of the walks, from memory it said 'do not attempt this if you are unfit or have medical problems' boy I wish I took notice of that one!

it was a long way down,

the walk way seemed to go on for ever,

everything was nicely kept clean,

we started walking through the railway cutting,

some of the railway tracks were still in place,

memorials were placed along the walk,

sad indeed to think of what happened here,

this is Hellfire Pass, cut through by hand for the railway,

these are the steps that lead back to the center,

the memorial,

one of the wagons that was used to move waste from the pass,

it does not look it but these steps were steep and there were lots of them,

I had to catch my breath more than a few times, Steve on the other hand who runs marathons, had no problems at all,

then we went back to the river but stopped off on the way to buy some food,

whilst there I spotted two plants I had not seen before, the one above was growing in some damp soil near the shop,

strange looking flowers,

you could have walked past it if it was not in flower,

them I saw this one, at first I thought it was plastic,

but on closer inspection I think it is the central stem of an arum lily the outer petals fall away leaving the seed bearing stamen, so back into the mini bus and off to the river,

whilst walking back we spotted this little chap, I do not know what it is but with black and yellow markings I guess it bites or tastes unpleasant,

not very big,

Steve enjoyed his 'trip',

then the girls went into a cooking fest!

food being prepared everywhere,

the more adventurous girls decided to don life jackets and go for a swim,

the water looked so cool and inviting,

getting ready for our last meal on the river,

all those fresh vegetables have got to be good for us,

the entrance to our bedroom on the right,

the walkway leads to the next hotel complex next down river,

the sun is setting and the lights go on,

the gas lamp worked really well,

so we settled down to our last evening meal on the river,

our mini bus driver as usual joined us for the meal,

lots of food and a few drinks!

the resort on the other side of the river,

a last night time look at our bedroom,

after eating Steve decided to lay back and look at the stars,

then Kai did as well,

next morning we were up bright and early, we had a chat with the owner, he had taken this place over a couple of years ago, but had lived on the river for 20 years, his hotel is inspected every month by the government to make sure that standards of hygiene are kept as the resort is in a national park,

every thing was spick and span,

Diana waiting to go,

just as we were leaveing I noticed this huge spiders web in the sunlight,

if you look carefully at the center of the picture you might just make out the black spider that made the web, then it was into the mini bus and we were on our way home.