If you favor historical sites & jungle tours for your vacation,
Kanchanaburi is the place that I would like to recommend.
Kanchanaburi is one of
the most beautiful provinces of Thailand. The present provincial capital is a relatively
new town built by King Rama II in 1833. It is already well-known as the site of the
notorious "Death Railway" and the "Bridge over the River Kwai". The
province also has numerous other places of interest for the nature loving visitor who
wants to spend more time here.
Kanchanaburi is about 155 kilometers west of Bangkok, approximately 3 hours by car over a
good road, or 4 hours by train.
The town of Kanchanaburi is located at the point where the Kwai Noi and Kwai Yai River
meet and form the Mae-Klong River.
All
around the city the most impressive feature is nature itself: wild waters between high
jungle terrains, caves and grottoes with what look like petrified cascades of ice and rock
beneath which you can swim, creepers, wild orchids, rare birds and butterflies of many
kinds, water buffaloes and elephants basking in the water. Long boats twist and turn just
as they would have in the days of old.
There is an uncommonly
large variety of places around Kanchanaburi, for example productive gem-mines. The
accomodations offered are very reasonably priced. Teak carvings come from Burma and
semi-precious stones and mother-of-pearl make more attractive souveniors than those from
Bangkok.