Getting a Taste of Things to Come (Days 11 - 12)

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They say start off small and work your way up to bigger things. Well, we didn't. After a two hour bus journey to Bangkok we arrived at Bangkok's Hualamphong Train Station at 9pm to board our overnight train to Chiang Mai. Total journey time should have been 14 hours. We say "should have been", as this is Asia and time is not of the essence! We boarded our 2nd class sleeper car, and found our "beds". The carriage was chaotic, with mainly backpackers trying to organise their baggage and beds. The carriage was tight enough, but add to the mix a load of burly "farang" and the words "sardines" and "cans" sprung to mind. After finally getting as comfortable as we could do we set off, 45 minutes late, through the suburbs of Bangkok and out the other side into the sleeping countryside.

Sleep didn't come. It was hot. It was noisy. We resigned ourselves to not sleeping at all and, with window open, watched the early morning turn to sunrise as we clickety-clacked through the Central Thai Plains and towards the mountains. The weather didn't look great up ahead...and it turned out that the dark cloud on the horizon was just that: dark... and wet. It was 5:30 am when we pulled at a station and a guard came aboard and informed everyone that the train would not be going any further. We were to board a bus in five minutes to take us the remaining 7 hours to Chiang Mai. Luckily we hadn't slept. The same couldn't be said for the other passengers, who had five minutes to wake up, collect their belongings and step from train to bus.

We set off, five minutes on the dot, on a reasonably, yet slightly cramped coach and headed off into the hills. The weather was bad and it came as no surprise that the railway line was completely flooded. The road wasn't much better. Parts of it were washed away, rivers were at bursting point and hillsides had been collapsing. The bus made it, finally, and we pulled up at Chiang Mai train station an hour ahead of schedule. It turns out the bus was alot quicker than the train would have been!

We prepared ourselves for all the accommodation and transport touts that greet us upon disembarking and attempted to pick the best out of the bunch, a young lady with fantastic English. We settle for the Libra Guesthouse and were not disappointed. Chiang Mai, welcome!

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Comments

[dad]

nice journey
Hi Dan. Well thats what your experince is all about, taking the rough with the smooth. I like the idea of sleeping with your head out the window watching the stars. Enjoy your Chang Mai. Are you going to see the famous Bridge over the River Kwai on the Burma Railroad from WWII history? I think its near there. I'd love to see it. Take care. Love Dad

[Amy and Dan]

Hi! The Bridge over the Kwai is down south I think and yes we have made a last minute change to stay right next to the bridge next to the river. Still loads of Tuk tuks around but they seem to enjoy trying to rip you off or take you on tours somewhere. Not tried Tom Yam yet but to be honest everything we've eaten so far is just as spicy if not more!