Kanchanaburi

Kanchanaburi is an inland river town with no sea within easy reach. The nearest proper beaches are on the Gulf coast, well over three hours away. The swimming here is in fresh water: the tiered limestone pools of the Erawan waterfalls, where fish nibble at your feet in the turquoise water, and lazy floats on the River Kwai from raft houses. That is pleasant on a hot afternoon, but it is not a beach vacation, and anyone who wants sand and salt water should add a coastal stop to the trip.

Eating in Kanchanaburi means honest Thai provincial cooking: noodle soups and rice dishes at shophouse counters, grilled meats and sweets at the evening night market near the railway station, and freshwater fish such as river snakehead and catfish served at big open-air restaurants over the River Kwai. Floating restaurants on rafts are a local habit, best at sunset. The backpacker strip along the river serves Western breakfasts and simplified Thai dishes for travellers. It is cheap and satisfying, but it is a small town: there is no fine dining, little range beyond Thai, and no food tradition that sets it apart from the rest of central Thailand.

The town's sights tell one story, the building of the Thailand-Burma railway by prisoners of war and Asian labourers during the Second World War. The Bridge over the River Kwai can be walked across, the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery holds thousands of Allied graves in neat, moving rows, and the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre and the small JEATH museum explain the history well. Chung Kai cemetery lies across the river. Beyond that there are a few hillside cave temples on the edge of town, but little historic architecture. It is a sobering, worthwhile day of sightseeing rather than a city of many sights.

Going out is low-key. A short stretch of bars along the riverside backpacker road serves cheap beer and cocktails, with pool tables and the odd live cover band, and on weekends Thai groups hire karaoke and party rafts that drift noisily down the river. Most evenings end early, after dinner and the night market, and there are no clubs of note. It suits a few relaxed drinks, not a night out.

Kanchanaburi sits at the edge of the forested limestone hills that run along the Burmese border, one of the largest protected areas in Thailand. Erawan National Park, about an hour away, is the classic outing, with a trail climbing past seven tiers of waterfalls. Further up the valley, Sai Yok has more falls and caves, and the reservoirs behind the big dams are good for kayaking and long-tail boat trips. Bamboo rafting on the river, cycling through sugarcane and paddy fields, and caves such as Lawa round out the offer.

The landscape is at its greenest just after the rains, from about October to December. The hot season before the monsoon makes long walks tiring, and the waterfalls run thin by late dry season. There are no high mountains, but there is plenty of jungle and river.

The best outing is up the line itself: the old railway runs north along cliffs above the river to Nam Tok, and further on lies Hellfire Pass, a rock cutting hand-dug by prisoners with a memorial museum and walking trail, about an hour and a half by road. Prasat Muang Singh, a sandstone Khmer temple complex by the river, makes a quieter half day.

Eastward, Nakhon Pathom and its huge orange-domed chedi are about an hour away, and the canal markets at Damnoen Saduak and Amphawa are within two hours. Bangkok is reachable for a long day, but Ayutthaya is a stretch, and the western towns such as Sangkhlaburi deserve an overnight stay.

Children tend to enjoy the outdoor side of Kanchanaburi: splashing in the Erawan pools, riding the slow train over wooden trestles, staying in a raft house over the river and seeing animals at the open safari park outside town. The town is quiet and easy-going, and Thai culture is warm towards children. On the other hand the main sights in town are war cemeteries and museums with little to hold young children's interest, the heat is draining, and almost every outing means a minivan or tour. If you visit an elephant camp, check its welfare standards first, because they vary a lot.

The town stretches along the river, with guesthouses, the bridge and the cemeteries strung out over several kilometres, so a bicycle or a short songthaew ride beats walking in the heat. Beyond town, a slow train runs up the Death Railway and local buses reach Erawan and Sai Yok, but services are sparse and journeys are long. Most visitors rent a scooter, hire a driver or join a minivan tour. Pavements are patchy and traffic on the main road is fast.

Shopping amounts to the night market, a daytime market in the centre, souvenir stalls by the bridge and a few gem shops selling blue sapphires from the province's old mines, where buying wisely takes some knowledge. There is a modest mall for basics. Nobody comes here to shop.

Kanchanaburi is one of the cheaper places to stay in Thailand. Simple guesthouses and riverside raft rooms cost very little, market and shophouse meals are cheap, and the local train and buses are almost free. The costs that do mount up are the separate foreigner entry fees at national parks, private drivers and organised tours, and the comfortable river resorts upstream, which sit at a different price level from the town.

Kanchanaburi has no theatre, concert hall or regular live-music scene. The one event worth planning around is River Kwai Bridge Week, usually held from late November into early December, when a sound-and-light show with fireworks restages the wartime bombing of the bridge, with a fair along the riverbank. The exact dates change from year to year, so check before you book. The rest of the year, live music means cover bands in the riverside bars.

The restorative side of Kanchanaburi is its pace. Raft houses and resorts along the upper River Kwai, with hammocks over the water and jungle across the bank, are made for doing very little, and the town itself is quiet. Simple Thai massage shops are everywhere and cheap, and the larger riverside resorts have spas. There is no real bathing tradition, but the small natural hot springs at Hin Dat, about two hours north, make a pleasant soak on the way to the border hills.