BKK to Mae Sai Pt 4 still traveling


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September 30th 2007
Published: September 30th 2007
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I was drifting in and out of consciousness when the porter knocked.

"Change Da Bat"

I knew what that meant and happily evacuated the cabin so he could have free movement to arrange my sleeping compartment. The Chinese gentleman who was to be my Berth-mate was displaying some unusual respiratory cadence. Internally I was preparing myself for the potential evening of snoring serenades so ingested 1 Tylenol PM and 2 Valerian Root capsules.

Only the Lower Berth was prepared for sleeping when I returned to the cabin and the Chinese gentleman's belongings were in teh hallway.

"I sleep alone?"

"Chai", was the answer with a solemn nod. WOW - things were really looking up! I get the whole cabin to myself!

Even with sleep aid it is normal for me to wake on the Overnight Train to Cahin Mai. There are many sharp turns, inclines and decline that would cause my head to make abrupt contact with the wall, not to mention the occasional full bladder that had to be addressed. I had noticed on this ride that more often than not, when I woke, the train was stationery. I'm no railroad expert, but I did know this didn't bode well for an arrival in Chaing Mai on time @ 7AM!

When projecting their voices, Thai men can have a shrill-nasal tone to their speech. I heard such a tome when I was awoken by an abrupt jolting stop that almost put me on the floor. Then it was followed by a series of starts and abrupt stops all the while narrated by the shrill-nasal Thai man's vioce "MAI DEEEEE". No Good! NA NON! I was afraid there may have been some mechanical failure in the train.

I had drifted off again for a few minutes and woke to the voices of train officials waking other passengers, but could not make put what they were saying exactly. It was 5AM and the sun hadn't fully risen yet, but the train was moving now and we were to arrive in Chaing Mai in a couple of hours. Perhaps this was the wake-up for our arrival. No one came to my cabin for the wake-up call, but I took it on myself to "clean the teeth" and have a "wash the face" in the miniscule sink in my cabin.

"I tell you 1 hour!"

He burst in my door and assurred/commanded me in an aggressive tone .... hmmm ... you tell me 1 hour ... what the heack does that mean? He wore an official looking police-type uniform - definately NOT a porter. There was a well rehearsed edge to his voice that probably was molded in military training.
"We'll be in Chaing Mai in 1 hour?", I queried as the best interpretation of his command/statement.

"I tell you 1 hour!"

And just like that he slammed the door to my cabin closed and moved on. Well ... I guess that's that!


The porter-man came to visit again with a knock on the door.

"Change Da Bat"

Well - I've heard that before so I slipped out into the hallway to give the porter room to do his work. There were way too many Farang in the hallway making their way to the exit, backpacks in tow. This was a number too great for an off-standard departure from the train before Chaing Mai - this didn't make sense anymore - something was wrong. I turned to the porter, "I have to get off?"

"Change Da Bat"

This time I heard what he meant. In Thai Language when a word ends in "s", it is actually pronounced as a "t". One of the indiosyncracies of so many languages. We have our silent "e" and the old "ph" pronounced as "f". What he was actually telling me was to get off the train and get on the "BUS" waiting for us at the station. Last night it was "Change the bed", but today it was "Change to the bus". Silly me!

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