Kanchanaburi Off The Beaten Path

This 550sq kms. park is the most visited national park in Thailand and is one of the most beautiful parks. Once in the park, you will have to walk 2kms from the trail entrance to the end of seven levels of waterfalls (the first step is reached 700 metres from visitors' centre), which feed into the Kwai Yai River. The trails weave in and out of the numerous pools and falls, sometimes running alongside the water, sometimes leading across footbridges. The shape of the topmost fall is said to resemble Erawan, the three headed elephant of Hindu-Buddhist mythology.

The waterfalls here and elsewhere in Kanchanaburi are best visited during the rainy season or in the first two months of the cool season, when the pools are full and the waterfall is most impressive. The peak crowds at Erawan come in mid-April around the time of the Songkran Festival (when there is not much water), weekends can also be crowded. The park is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the admission fee is 25B.

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The JEATH War Museum is located on the grounds of this large temple complex. There's a huge statue of a horse pulling some kind of chariot along in the middle of the buildings plus there's the remains of an old temple building opposite this statue.

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On the day we went to Kanchanaburi from Bangkok it was very hot and this place was like a small cool oasis.
Sai Yok Noi is a waterfall in the Sai Yok district of Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, near the small town Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi. It is the most popular attraction of the Sai Yok National Park for domestic and foreign tourists alike. The immediate vicinity features a Buddhist shrine, a train and section of rail tracks of the Death Railway that once serviced the area, a highway rest stop, and a small market geared toward travellers.

About half way up the hill going to Khao Phoon cave you will come across this well fed big Buddha statue .From here you can get a good panaranic view of the river and the surrounding area .However, watch your step because you can easily fall down the steep ledge.

Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastary is better known to westerners as the "Tiger Temple".We hire a van and driver to take us to Kanchanaburi for a tour of the bridge,cemetery,lunch and then on to the monastary.
To view the tigers you have to get here after 1 pm .We gave a donation of 300 baht each at the main gate before entering .This money goes to feeding all the animals in the monastary.
To see the tigers you have abit of a hike to the "Tiger Cayon". We saw about 12 tigers most of them were asleep or just laying around mostly because of the intense heat .We were all individually led one by one by the staff to sit and take pictures with the tigers .My young niece actually sat on one with no fear.They seemed very tame however don't be fooled. I saw one jump up and had a go at the Luang Por (head monk) who had to push him away with force.This fellow was then taken to the back and chained up.
One of the young American staff then showed us around the monastary .We saw a leopard , tigers and a cub that she said was too dangerous to be let out.She said 'they don't get on well with people" and that cub had already bitten two workers that day.
In the monastary there are also ponies ,goats,wild pigs,peacocks,chickens and cows to be seen.

There are many caves to explore in Kanchanaburi.One is Khaow Phoon cave situated on a hill inside a temple .It is not far from Chongkai war cemetery and you can easily get there by longtail boat.It's a bit of a hike up the hill but the view is worth it.
The local kids guided us to the different caves so we gave them a tip .In some of the caves there were Buddha images.These caves were also used by Japanese soldiers as a hospital during Would War II . I was told they used to hide drugs in 'Yah' cave, yah meaning medicine in Thai.The way back was very hot and we were dying of thirst .Luckily there was a small shop selling cold drinks.

Muang Singh Historical Park along Route 323 houses some ruins from the early Thai Kingdom that have been partially re-claimed by the jungle. Unlike other areas of Thai ruins, they are not refurbished, so the original brickwork is laid bare. You are able to witness the large bricks that made up the area. And, due to its more remote location on highway 323, there are very few people there. Much fewer than at Sukhothai. So you have more time to explore on your own, feel as if you're an expeditionary archaeologist.

One of the best ways to see the western region of Thailand is via moped. The roads are clean, well-paved and taken care of. Highway 323 has a fascinating array of sights to visit as you wind up north towards the Myanmar border. There are ancient wats, mostly covered by jungle. There are museums and monuments to the POWs that died here in WWII trying to carve a railway through the jungle for the Japanese. There are parks with jungles, monkeys, and waterfalls. It is a beautiful land with limestone cliffs covered in jungle vegetation. Definitely worth the experience, and it gets you to places you don't normally see while traveling around Thailand.