Kanchanaburi Thailand is home to one of the most beautiful waterfalls I’ve ever seen and a couple of other entirely unspectacular sights, like the bridge over the river Kwai and the very appropriately named Death Railway; appropriate not because it’s dangerous, but because it moves so slowly that anyone who boards past the age of fifty will die of natural causes by the time it arrives.
Of course it’s the bridge that lures the most people, probably because of the movie. I guess if they ever made a movie about the Erawan Falls they would be filled with even more people than they already are and join the other two sites on the long, long list of overrated attractions.
One of the lower pools of the Erawan Falls and probably the most popular one for swimming.
Most people seem to arrive in Kanchanaburi as part of a tour group, but if you come by public bus you will arrive at the bus station a kilometer or two from the main accommodation strip. From there you can try to bargain for a reasonable price with one of the tuk-tuk (motorized rickshaw) drivers; it’ll be difficult, but if you succeed you’ll stand a good chance of being nominated for a Nobel Prize.
Alternatively, you can get in the back of one of the many jeep taxis that ferry people up and down the main street for a couple of cents, but you’ll have to wait in the heat until the driver feels his jeep is full enough to make it worth the effort to do his job, which usually means having two Thai adults and a kid on your lap and another kid or two on your shoulders.
The largest single waterfall at Erawan.
Or you can just walk. That took me about twenty minutes. I know I wrote it’s about a kilometer or two, but I don’t really know exactly how far it is in western distances—measured in Thai distance, it’s 32 offers of “Tuk-tuk? Need tuk-tuk?” turned down. Once there, I chose one of the many riverfront rooms. They all seemed pretty much the same to me, so I just picked one of the cheaper ones where I liked the owners (The Sugarcane One—there’s a Sugarcane 2 down the road, which I heard was nicer, but I never checked it out).
I spent three days in Kanchanaburi, but only actually did something on one of them. Mainly, I went to the Erawan waterfall, since it was the reason I even bothered to make the trip from Bangkok. Most people will take a tour (not a bad idea, since it makes things simple) and some will take public transport (cheap, but slow and inconvenient), but I wanted to beat the crowds, so I rented a motorbike for the day (200 Bhat + 70 for gas) and set out early in the morning. Anyone who who doesn’t want photos full of Russians and Chinese should do the same. Alternatively, you can spend a night in one of the guesthouses near the falls.
The Erawan Waterfall has hundreds of little turquoise pools.
You can swim in most of them. This is the seventh tier pool at the very top of the falls.
The waterfall has seven tiers; the first few are pretty easy to get to, but the upper tiers require a bit more of a hike. You can swim in most of them and if you arrive early, you can basically choose the type of pool you’d like to hang out in and have it almost to yourself—deep pool, shallow pool, large waterfall, small waterfall and even one with a natural rock slide.
Two blurs enjoying the natural rock slides.
Later in the day, you don’t so much choose the type of pool as you choose the type of tourist you’d like to see bobbing up and down in the water by the hundreds—larger tourists and in larger numbers in the lower, easy to reach tiers and fitter and fewer tourists farther up. That’s the main reason I ended up leaving shortly after noon and checking out the other two sites.
This was around 11 am, when the tour groups start arriving. It quickly gets much more crowded from there.
I suppose I should mention one more thing about the waterfall. I’m reluctant to say anything, because I’m not sure I want to ruin the surprise (too late for that, I suppose, thanks to my slightly exaggerated headline), but the water is filled with flesh-eating fish; not the Hollywood-movie-piranha kind, but the recent-beauty-trend-dead-skin-cell-eating kind. People pay a lot of money for these fish spas in Bangkok (and all over the world, really) where they dangle their legs in a pool full of fish that nibble away at their dead skin, but after spending some time in the waters at Erawan, I fail to see the appeal.
As soon as you get close to the water, the flesh-eaters swarm, anxious for their next meal
The sensation is entirely unpleasant and I quickly decided to make a conscious effort to never stop moving when in the water. As soon as any part of your body is still for more than a second, the fish attack. I have no idea how to describe the feeling, other than to call it creepy. Of course you also have the occasional fish that has managed to grow to mutant proportions and what they do to you cannot be called creepy. Painful would be a better word, as they will rip off a small chunk of flesh. That only happened to me once while there, though, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Have fun!
Look at the size of some of those! Don’t believe anyone who tells you they only eat dead skin…
After the waterfall, I took the little train everyone takes and stood in the open doorway to get some good pictures of the river from above. Then I went back to town and checked out the infamous bridge. If it seems like I’m glossing over the two top sights of Kanchanaburi, I am, because let’s face it—it’s a train and a bridge.
Yes, it’s just a train, but it is quite scenic. And packed with tourists.
The Bridge Over The River Kwai: good movie, average bridge
Train tracks on the River Kwai bridge
Of course, you might as well see both of them if you’re already in town, but don’t go there just for that reason. Go to Kanchanaburi for the laid back atmosphere of the town’s waterfront lodges and, of course, for the spectacular Erawan waterfall. And, I suppose, the natural fish spa, if you enjoy being eaten alive.
Bloody Nora… weren’t you afraid to be on that train?? It looks so… high and.. kind of dangerous…
If i was there i would probably be trembling all the way lol instead of looking to the beauties… ouch!
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I think if you’re afraid of heights, the train is REALLY high up there. If not, it’s just slightly above the river…
Daniel McBane recently contributed to world literature by posting..Transportation Problems in India: Why Can’t I Leave Goa?
That is a beautiful waterfall.I can see why you would focus on it rather than the bridge and train.
Yeah, it’s the most beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen. And while the train and bridge are alright, I’ve definitely seen better.
Daniel McBane recently contributed to world literature by posting..How Long Does It Really Take To Pick Ten Lychees?
Are these those same fish that they export for use in pedicure spas in Europe? We had a really nice experience with those in Budapest
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I think they’re a very similar species at least. Of course the fish in the spas are usually all the same size, whereas the ones in the waterfall come in all shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, that includes a few bigger ones that aren’t satisfied just eating skin cells.
Daniel recently contributed to world literature by posting..Dunhuang – Playing in China’s Sandbox
Slightly exaggerated headline indeed.lol I really thought it was something close to piranha. I haven’t tried a fish spa yet because I don’t really find it interesting. But to do it in that beautiful waterfall would be enticing enough. The train looks vintage too. Your photo reminds me of Hogwarts! 😀
I think you’re right actually–the fish in the waterfall and in the spas probably are related to piranha somehow. I was thinking the same thing when they were eating me alive.
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Love it, I visited and many of the shots bring back pleasant memories.
Rob recently contributed to world literature by posting..A Quick Note on Sushi & The Seawall in Vancouver
I just re-visited and updated my photos. Shocking how bad some of my old ones were.
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I’m sure the waterfalls are great and a highlight for visiting kanchanaburi, just wanted to let anyone else reading this blog that the bridge and railroad have significance for the hundreds of thousands of lives lost building it, there is also a great museum and tour at hellfire pass that educates about the history of the forced labor of pows in ww2, especially special for British, Australian, and Tamils
True, it is a historically significant bridge and if you go to Kanchanaburi for that reason, you will not be disappointed. But I got the impression most people went because they knew the bridge was famous and were expecting an impressive structure. They knew nothing of the history and didn’t much care. Those people left disappointed.
Personally, I did read up on the history, but seeing the actual bridge wasn’t high on my list of priorities. I went for the waterfall. Twice (I went back last year).
I find it quite sad that you reduced the whole bridge to its architecture and whether it’d look nice in a picture. The bridge, the pass and the whole railway killed almost 100 thousand men back in the days, from starvation, diseases and pure cruelty. Some had malaria 40 times over, cholera, dysentery, and you’re worried about how it looks like in a picture? Come on.
I’ve often considered putting a disclaimer in the header of this blog warning people who don’t get sarcasm that they’re not going to like what they read.
Also, most of those POWs and other workers died building the railway, not the bridge (which isn’t the original one anyway).
This is pretty relevant as I am currently in Thailand for the month. I’ll have to see about making a side trip over there. Thanks for the writeup and great photos 🙂
Kanchanaburi is a great place to go if you’re stuck in Bangkok for a while. It’s an easy day trip, but worth staying a few days. Much more pleasant than Bangkok and a lot cheaper, too.
Beautiful waterfalls but my friend, an attorney, got malaria there. Not good. Will pass.
Malaria is very rare in most areas of Thailand and not generally something you need to worry about. That said, a lot of visitors do take antimalarials, but they’re not really necessary.
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Hello Daniel! I’m living in Bangkok and I just came back from Kanjanaburi. Kanjanaburi is a beautiful province with outstanding natural beauty. It is definitely well worth it for visitors to visit. However, it is not an easy quick ride to get there for sure, even with the new road through Nakorn Pathom, which is along the way Kanjanaburi. The problem with the drive there is that much of the roads are closer to farm roads than interstates, so lots of obstructions and a need to make risky passes is normal. All that made my trip there and back really slow.