SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA, THAILAND: The POW Experience.

Changi Prison. Selarang Barracks. Yong Peng. Batu Pahat. Parit Sulong. The Bridge on the River Kwai. Hellfire Pass. The Death Railway.

Few names conjure up more vividly the hell that was the Allies? biggest military defeat: the fall of Singapore, and the atrocious aftermath. Now there?s a tour that takes in all these significant war-time sites, viewing the past through the window of the present, as Stu narrates episodes from first-hand interviews and primary history accounts.

This unique opportunity came about when the secretly-compiled diaries of a POW, Captain H.P. Pilkington, were recovered from his son?s attic as he prepared to evacuate his bushfire-sieged home. Taken in by the depth and detail, Stu -- and Pilkington?s son -- set about retracing the footsteps of the Allies from battlefields, to POW camps, to the Thai-Burma Railway for his travelogue ?In the Shadow of a Scarecrow?. The duo did it by rail and foot, following the railway rations of largely rice and water, even sleeping on the cockroach-infested floor of a Malaysian prison. But fear not: you will be retiring to 3-5 star hotels each night.

A typical extract from Singapore?s Alexandra Hospital, the scene of one of history?s most heinous massacres, which you?ll visit, reads: ?The Japanese had thrown hand grenades wherever there was resistance, smashing theatres, dispensary and kitchen, and killing patients, doctors and even bayoneting people on the operating theatre.?

In Singapore you?ll also take in the Changi Museum, Kranji War Memorial, Fort Siloso, plus numerous other war-related sites and memorials. In addition to Bukit Timah Hill, you?ll enjoy a walk through Singapore?s seedy past where opium dens flourished in the red-light district of Chinatown.

Thailand Rail Journey

From Singapore to Thailand, POWs travelled 30 to a cattle cart ?degraded to the level of pigs being taken to market?. Your first-class train will course the identical track, stopping at key sites, and an air-conditioned bus drives you through the former battlefields of Johor, sparing you the discomfort of the Diggers who fought through mosquito-infested swamps and primary jungle defending the strategic crossroads of Yong Peng, Batu Pahat and the bridge at Parit Sulong, where a gallant force under Lt Col Anderson, V.C., was isolated, resulting in the merciless slaying of 145 wounded.

After visiting forts and museums in charming colonial-era Georgetown, Penang, you?ll fly to Bangkok and transfer to lively Kanchanaburi, site of  the now-famous ?Bridge on the River Kwai?, a steel bridge far removed from the fictive movie. Here, the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery is the resting place of 7000 allied POWs and the adjacent Thai-Burma Railway Centre vividly recounts their experience.

Original Japanese rolling stock can still be viewed as the train clatters to railway camps further north, over dramatic Wang Po viaduct, where original wooden trestle bridges improbably hug limestone cliffs a hundred feet above the river.

Hellfire Pass, where Weary Dunlop performed much of his famous life-saving surgery, is truly humbling. Pushing north, the scope and scale of the Death Railway imposes itself -- famously the Pack of Cards Bridge and Three-Tier Bridge.

The countryside, framed by the imposing Burma Ranges? irregular shapes, affords reflective bushwalks among teak forests, and soothing waterfalls further north at Sai Yok Yai. As Death Railway survivor Dick Lee said: ?It is so peaceful and quiet you think: did all that really happen??

That 12,800 POWs died on the Death Railway is horrific. That anyone survived, truly amazing. While reverential, this special interest tour is not all ?doom and gloom?: it allows you to revel in what Singapore, Malaysia (celebrating 50 years of nationhood in 2007) and Thailand have become today -- lands of fascinating cultures and flavourful foods, warm and hospitable locals, and breathtaking scenery. One of many highlights will be a night on the unique River Kwai Jungle Raft floating hotel, and a colourful Mon tribal village show.

Sign on to appreciate these ever-popular destinations from a fresh historical perspective, in respect of the POWs who went to hell ? but didn?t necessarily make it back. 

The POW Experience Tour:

Departure dates:
Tour 1: February 12, 2007 (to be in Singapore for the 65th anniversary of its fall).
Tour 2: April 14, 2007 (to be at Hellfire Pass for Anzac Day).

17 days, 16 nights from $4995 p/p twin share. Includes services of Imaginative Traveller tour leader and local guides in Singapore/Malaysia, all airfares, hotels, private coach transfers, train tickets, museum entries, and 19 meals.
Single Supplement $875.00.

NOTE: $85.00 Airfare Surcharge applicable on 14 April Departure

Call The Imaginative Traveller today (Toll Free) on 1300 135 088 to reserve your space on this limited-offer special interest tour.
For more information: email: info@imaginative-traveller.com.au