Kanchanaburi - WW II Memorials, Temples, Tigers and Waterfalls

Kanchanaburi is famous for its death railway, still in use for regular and special tourist trains, river Kway bridge and war memorials of W.W.II.  For such a small city the nightlife is quite good and there are plenty of places to choose from.

Less known is that it is a good area to explore by motorcycle. Temples like Wat Tham Seua are built on hills and overlook the whole valley.

Caves, the Erawan national park and Erawan Falls are further from town close to the Burmese border. The falls are 7 levels high, spread over about 2 kilometres and spectacular in the rainy season. It is possible continue to the Three Pagodas Pass and cross the border for the day (if the political situation of the day allows), but you won't be allowed to travel further into Burma.

On the way to the falls is the Tiger Temple, Wat Pa Luangta Mahabua, where monks raise orphaned tigers and let them roam more or less freely in a small valley. After donating 50 baht, you can touch the tigers and have your picture taken with them and the monks. There are many other wild animals around too. The tigers don't touch them, as they have never eaten raw meat in their lives. (Jun 2016: the Tiger Temple is being closed down; see Tiger temple scandal exposes the shadowy billion-dollar Asian trade)