Most na reci Kvaj, Bridge over the River Kwai

U mirnoj provinciji Kančanaburi na oko 130 km od Bankoka, ka granici sa Burmom nalazi se čuveni železnički “Most na reci Kvaj”.

In the quiet province of Kanchanaburi about 130 km west of the capital city of Bangkok, towards Burma border, there is a famous railway “Bridge over the River Kwai”.

U drugom svetskom ratu napravljena je jedna pruga kojom se iz Tajlanda transportovalo ljudstvo i oprema na front u Burmi. Ruta pruge je išla preko dubokih dolina i planina. Sav težak posao obavljan je ručno jer je teren bio nepogodan za prevoz opreme. Radove su izvodili ratni zarobljenici uglavnom Australijanci, Englezi, Holanđani, Amerikanci i Azijati. Oko 16.000 ratnih zarobljenika i 150.000 civila izgubilo je živote gradeći ovu prugu.

During the World War II a railway was made. This railway was intended to move men and supplies from Thailand to the Burmese front. The route traversed deep valleys and mountains. All the heavy work was manually done as earth moving equipment was not possible. The workers were war prisoners mostly Australians, Dutch, British, Americans and Asians. About 16.000 war prisoners and 150.000 civilians lost their lives building this railway.




Njihovi posmrtni ostaci nalaze se danas na memorijalnim grobljima. Jedno od njih je Kančanaburi, nedaleko od ozloglašenog mosta i “Pruge smrti” na kojoj su umrli.
Their remains are reburied after war together at memorial graveyards. One of them is Kanchanaburi cemetery situated not far from notorious bridge and “Death railway” on which they died.

Pored groblja nalazi se i Ratni vojni muzej. Sva tri mesta su svedeočanstvo i opomena da je rat tragična besmislica.
Close to cemetery there is a War Museum. All three places are testimony and warning that a war is a tragic nonsense.



Prvobitni most je donešen sa Jave u delovima i rekonstruisan. Srušen je u brojnim bomdardovanjima krajem drugog svetskog rata od strane savezničke avijacije. Posle drugog svetskog rata ponovo je podignut te su danas na mostu samo lučni delovi originalni.
Originally the bridge was brought, in pieces, all the way from Java to be reconstructed here. At the end of World War II it was destroyed in numerous air attacks by Allied bombers. After the war it was rebuild so today only round sections are original parts of the bridge.



Most na reci Kvaj zapravo ne prelazi preko reke Kvaj već preko reke Mae Klong. Režiser filma “Most na reci Kvaj”, zbog kog je ovaj most postao poznat širom sveta i velika turistička atrakcija, možda nje znao (a možda je i znao) da pruga ne ide preko reke Kvaj te je nastala velika zbrka. Kada su turisti počeli da dolaze na Tajland i traže da vide most Tajlanđani su se dosetili pa su deo reke Mae Klong (ispod mosta i malo duže) jednostavno prekrstili u reku Kvaj (Kwae Yai).
The Bridge over the River Kwai doesn`t cross over the river Kwai but over the river Mae Klong. The director of the movie “Bridge over the River Kwai” didn`t know (or maybe he did know) that the railway didn`t go over river Kwai so it made a big confusion. When tourists started coming to Thailand to see world-wide famous Bridge, Thais got an idea and simply renamed part of the Mae Klong river (under the bridge and bit longer) into Kwae Yai.



Danas kada posetite to mesto priroda je toliko lepa i pitoma da ništa ne ukazuje na stravične događaje koji su se odvijali pre sedamdeset godina. Jedino je most pomalo zastrašujući, crn masivan i gvozden kao i vremena u kojima je nastao.

Today when you visit this place the nature is so beautiful and tame that nothing indicates terrible events that happened seventy years ago. Only the bridge is bit scary, black, massive and iron like times in which it was made.

Ako stupate na most treba da znate da ima neku hipnotičku moć i da ćete dok koračate njim tek negde na pola reke shvatiti da hodate po uzanom koloseku pored kog su ogromne rupe kroz koje se može propasti u ambis. Tada će na sredini mosta nastati panika jer niko neće imati hrabrosti da se pomeri u stranu kako biste vi prošli. Desiće se da ćete morati sa nekim da se zagrlite kako biste se mimoišli. Ukoliko patite od straha od visine možda će vas strah paralisati pa ćete ostati “večno” na tom mestu. A nije loše znati da je pruga u redovnoj upotrebi! Ja nisam znala!!!

If you step on the bridge you must know that it has some hypnotic power and that if you walk over it you `ll somewhere in the middle of the river become aware that you are walking down the very narrow gauge with huge holes by it side through which you can drop into abyss. At that moment in the middle of the bridge panic will get you because no one will have courage to move aside so that you can pass. At some point you will be forced to hug someone in order to swop places and pass by each other. If you suffer from fear of heights maybe the fear will paralyze you and you`ll stay on the bridge “forever”. And it`s good to know that the railway is in a regular use! I didn`t know!!!



Više podataka o ratnim događanjima može se naći u vojnom muzeju.
More details about war happenings can be found in the War museum.