Nam Tok to Hellfire Pass (part 2)

We woke early (15th) to join the monks on their barefoot walk down to the village. A good portion of the dog pack came with (definite at one with the pack vibes) but fell back once we reached the village, as each house had its own little pack and territory. When we arrived at the drive of each home, a family member would wander down and give a bag of some Thai dish to the monk, bow, exchange pleasantries than leave us to stroll to the next home. The monk explained that by giving food they gave happiness and received happiness themselves and each person we saw did seem genuinely happy to see the monk and give some of their breakfast!

We ate seperately to the monks, packed up and prepared to leave, but they insisted we take some supplies for bites, head and stomach aches, as well as water they had stockpiled. Incredible people.

They also advised we take the highway route for a while rather then follow the railway as the path was damaged and dangerous. We privately thought we'd loop back and follow it but honestly it was difficult to without being spotted... And they'd been too nice! So we took the highway and met the railway near the river again. Seeing that our path didn't return to civilisation again for most of the day we dipped our feet in the Kwai.

And so began the hardest section of walk so far. The railway, marked as a walking path but definitely not maintained, went into small ravines, under fallen masses of bamboo, it was a struggle. From start to finish, by the time we reached the Wat we were completely destroyed... And devastated to find it under construction! Managing to sign language a taxi, we sped to the nearest hotel, whiiiiiich was closed for pest control.

We turned to our last resort, literally. Covered in dust, scratches and bites we strolled into a gorgeous raft village floating on the Kwai, trying to ignore the fat rich Russians gawping at us from all angles. Pretending we hadn't just paid 4  times more then our previous hostel, we showered and went to bed instantly. It was definitely still the afternoon. Other than briefly rising for dinner, which must have looked like a scene from the Walking Dead, we were done for the day!