Jan 28 hellfire pass, kanchanaburi

Quite an experience to walk this section of hellfire pass while listening to a narrative of what happened here.....some of it told by survivors......all while dripping in sweat from the heat and humidity,

Riding in a songtauw the 50 miles from Kanchanaburi. We are beginning to feel like natives.

This museum has been put together by Australia and is really well done.

The story of the role that bamboo played was impressive. On the positive side POWs made beds, plates, medical lines, containers for water as well as ashes of cremated men, etc. On the negative side they spoke of how impenetrable it was, full of wasp nests as well as other insects, how sharp it was and the ulcers that were created by being stabbed by it... To say nothing of the whips the Japanese used on the prisoners,

Hard to understand how this passage could have been cleared by hand.... Picks and shovels. Japanese engineers estimated it would take 5 years to build. They did it in 15 months. Quite a testimony to the human spirit and will to live to work 18 hour days, walk many kilometers to the job site and get a very small amount of rice twice a day and have dysentery on top of it all. The POWs boots and clothiers quickly rotted in the heat and humidity. Most worked in bare feet and loin cloths, saving any clothes they had to keep them warm at night ... The monsoon season overfilled the latrines and made the ground incredibly slick. Just unbelievable stories.