Bermudian Robyn Skinner is in Thailand where she has discovered astonishing temples, the bridge made famous by the movie 'Bridge Over the River Kwai' and dangerous looking goldfish.....

Next Stop: Waterfalls near Kanchanburi (the town with the Bridge over the River Kwai maybe you've seen the movie?)

I had organised a tour of the surrounding area (because the town is more than just the bridge) for my first day in Kanchanburi, which required an early start. Luckily, rolling out of bed wasn't too hard with my local rooster sounding the alarm.

I love Thailand and its natural alarm clocks especially when they get too enthusiastic and sound the alarm at 4 a.m., but that's another story.....(and almost resulted in a number of rooster deaths!)

For the most part Thais seem cautious with their vehicles and take their time with motorbikes. Not the same story when driving cars, apparently. At break neck speed we made it to the Erawan Falls, which are usually about an hour and half from Kanchanburi (it took us 40 minutes).

Fully awake at this point we had to trek up at least four or five levels of the falls through dense forest before finally arriving at a suitable, natural swimming pool. I managed to pair up with a crazy Italian woman who decided to take a picture of every leaf, tree and stream we passed. At least I got to practice my Italian and I thoroughly enjoyed her antics during the two hours it took us.

If you think Bermuda is humid, well, you have no idea. Here in the forests of Thailand the water is almost visible and I stupidly wore pants that day. By the time we reached the pools I looked like I had already gone for a swim and was more than ready to dive in, until I saw the fish. To be fair, the tour guide warned us but I was envisioning little goldfish.

These things would make more than a worthy meal (and that's probably a better place for them) and they bite! Look I'm from Bermuda and I can jump in some deep water catching turtles and dodging eels, but these things were nasty looking and I heard more than enough screams to take the briefest of plunges before just watching from the sidelines.

After trudging back down through the steaming growth that hides the waterfalls it was back in the aircon van to ride to the Hellfire Pass. This is a section of the Death Railway, which is what Japan built with slave labour during World War Two and killed more than 100,000 of the labourers to connect Bangkok with Burma. The measly fires the Prisoners of War and other enslaved labourers were able to construct at night would cast creepy images around and hence the name of this railway section Hellfire Pass.

Now it is the spot tourists jump onto a train for a four kilometre lift and giggling Thai children get a lift home at the end of the day. The spectacular green countryside almost makes you forget you are riding over land that was covered by the blood of the tortured.

To finish this emotional roller-coaster of a day, we arrived at 'The Bridge'. Just for safety's sake you can walk across it as a train comes along!!! I got stuck behind the train on my way back to the thrill of the tour guide who just wanted to get home.

After picking up my Israeli translator (a vegan guy who some how learned Thai last time he was visiting and was staying in the same hostel) I went for my first graze in a Thai night market the best way to eat in this country (in my humble opinion). It's also the cheapest! From rolled rice balls with peanuts in the middle to fried rice and spinach patties and fruit shakes I was in heaven.

To work all of this off we decided to rent bicycles the next day and explore the other side of the river and the temples hidden there. It was also the best way to explore the stunning green hillsides and dramatic limestone cliffs that Kanchanburi is also famous for.

Our first stop was a cave filled with Buddha statues and children tour guides. Then it was back on the bikes to find a second cave. A half-hour later what we found was the wrong way. I'm going to blame the Israeli who had been here before (even if I had the map) cause that's the way it works:) After going almost five kilometres out of our way we backtracked and eventually found a ferry which would take us to the correct stop. Ferry! Did I say that? More floating logs with motorbikes, bicycles and pedestrians vying for room.

It was a hot 13 kilometre slog to the next temple past some interesting burial grounds with graves shaped as horseshoes and then we found ourselves in front of a dragon ready to gobble us up. Like all Thai temples it was filled with colour and at the top was a monk ready to bless us!

After the hike and the bike ride we were both covered in dust and ready to shower and reward ourselves with a tasty Thai dinner.

Choosing a local restaurant that night (the beauty of being with someone who knows the language) it was an amazing green curry to finish the evening.

It's a dangerous town, though. I met more than one person who was visiting for two days and two months later were still there. I decided rather than move in I would move on and explore more temples as I hopscotched my way to Northern Thailand. (Yes Thailand is more than beaches and Islands and since Bermuda has some of the best why would I go?).

Two buses, six hours, and covered in dust (thank you open doors of Thai public buses) later I arrived in Ayuthaya, a former Thai capital. Three rivers, Mae Nam Lopburi, Chao Phraya and Pa Sak created a natural barrier from invasion and an invitation to trade from 1350 to 1767, before the Island city fell to the Burmese. Now these only create problems for those of us who are directionally challenged (wait I was heading towards the water, now away, but again towards...ahhh...).

But more than that, Ayuthaya is known for the Wats (remember Thai temples) that impregnate the city and offer and interesting mix of new and old. The best way to see these ancient temples is by bicycle (and the easiest way to get some exercise) so that's what I did (after having the night off to scrub and relax).

This UNESCO World Heritage city has ruins both on and off the Island and of course I had to start at the old Royal Palace. The complex, which became a temple in the 15th Century used to house a 16 metre high standing Buddha covered in 250 kg of gold. Of course that didn't last long with the Burmese invaders and now the complex is seriously showing its age.

Next door, however, houses the largest seated Buddha in Thailand. Quite impressive, though made out of Bronze not Gold like it's predecessor. After circling the city enough times I eventually found my way off to see the Golden Mountain Chedi (which is actually white) and a statue of a former Thai king surrounded by roosters (apparently he was fond of these creatures and everywhere there are plastic statues of these animals).

I was finished with my self-led tour by mid-afternoon and planned to leave by train that day until I found out the workers were all on strike! Something about upgrading the train lines and the workers felt left out, which meant I crashed for a second night here and had a reunion with a Dutch couple I met briefly in Kanchanburi.

After checking the newspaper, After checking the newspaper, the news and our hostel workers the three of us were pretty sure the trains were back on so we decided to try and do a day trip to Lopburi, famous for its monkeys, before heading further north to Sukothai, famous for its temples. This, according to our guidebook, should be something we could do as a day trip.

We should have known it wouldn't work out. We had to wait two hours for a train and then Lopburi was nothing more than a few monkeys dodging motorcycles in traffic. So we booked the next ticket North at 5 p.m. and we waited. And waited. And waited some more. At 6 p.m. I asked the ticket guy what was happening. "Oh the train is coming from Bangkok and is delayed until 6.30 p.m.."

So we waited. And we waited. And at 7 p.m. I asked what was going on.

"Oh the train's not coming until 8 p.m. Maybe." So much for the end of the strike.

The three of us had had enough and rather than a possible arrival in the next town at 2 a.m., we chose to find a hotel, crash and take the first train out of this Bermuda Triangle of Thailand.

At 5 a.m. the next morning we were out the door heading straight for the train station and made our great escape to the Northern town of Phitsanulok (where we could stay to visit Sukothai)!

Next Stop: The incredible temples of Sukothai