We caught the overnight train from Bangkok, on a rickety hulk of decaying metal, in a second-class, fan-cooled, seated compartment. I slept pretty well, despite the usual hullabaloo caused by the deluge of vendors pacing up and down the train, selling dried, salted squids, fried chicken, preserved fruits and beer Chang among many other things. Behind us an old woman whose deeply creased brow formed an impenetrable scowl, breathed in disconcerting rattles, suggesting imminent respiratory breakdown. In the morning a delightful toddler engaged both of us in a relentless game of peek-a-boo. Such were the memorable elements of any long distance train journey in Thailand in anything less than first class travel. Nong Khai was not particularly remarkable. As little more than a stop off point for foreigners on Visa runs or heading into Laos, it
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