The man in seat thirteen

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I came downstairs this morning bright-eyed and ready for breakfast, it's amazing the difference one beer can make between throbbing head and feeling fine. I was the first up and Samsee greeted me with one of her toothless wrinkled smiles. It had rained heavily last night, not that I'd noticed, so I sat in the dryness of her funny little bar. I think because I was on my own I was treated to a thick square omelette with toast this morning as she joined me to see what I was doing today. I had planned to walk to any of the sites that I hadn't had chance to get to before, but seeing as we packed so much in yesterday I was a little lost. I had wanted to see the Royal elephant Kraal where they had trained all the wild elephants for the King and his soldiers but other than that I would just be killing time.

I returned to my room to pack my bag and take down my slightly damp laundry. The weather hadn't been that great the last two days and if anything it had gotten colder so my clothes hadn't dried as quickly. I headed downstairs to leave my bag and checkout. I had been bitten, again, on my first night here and it had swollen up to give me what looked like a second knee cap! Samsee saw I was in pain and started to tenderly rub Tiger-balm into the various bites on my knees and ankles. I had always associated Tiger-balm with helping bruises and achey muscles strains, so I  wasn't entirely convinced. I felt like Samsee had been like a bit of a surrogate granny to me, and it reminded me how much I missed own back home.

As my wounds were being tended to, Shannyn appeared laden with bags from her room. We wondered off to do some of the Wat's that I had done already and she was keen to see. I was happy to wait outside as it was a pleasant, if overcast, day and it gave me chance to catch up on blogs. We wondered from Wat to Wat and I found places to perch where I wouldn't be pestered by tuc tuc drivers or vendors. I felt like Ayutthaya had really relaxed me and enthused my passion for this trip again which had wained at points in Thailand. It was a quiet place with little going on, but the atmosphere was very relaxed and it soothed me. We saw another couple of Wat's that I hadn't previously seen but both Shannyn and I felt like we had seen enough and walked back to the hostel.

After we had said goodbye and wished each other a safe trip I headed towards the street market to grab some food and supplies for the journey. I hadn't yet bought any trinkets to remind me of Thailand and I wanted to buy something to remind me of Ayutthaya. I settled on an relief of Buddha in wood as it appealed most to me of all the things that was for sale. The market remained unchanged from the previous nights which helped me decided what to eat. I fancied something sweet for the journey to Chiang Mai and spotted a stall with cakes (yes I know, cakes). Behind the stall was sat a girl who can't have been more than ten who waved the twenty baht note with delight at her mother once I had paid her for the cakes. I also purchased two omelettes for breakfast the next day, I knew they would be stone cold by then but at least it would be better than surviving on refined sugar alone!

I returned to the hostel to sit and chill before Gina took me to the station for my train. I made sure that I took a picture with Samsee as she had been massively entertaining and informative, in her own special way, about life in Thailand and how some aspects of the culture worked. At last it was time for me to go and Samsee joined me and Gina in the pickup truck to the station. She gave me a big hug and said 'Remember, Moradok Thai number one. You tell people on hostelworld. One-hundred percent!'. I smiled and told her I would and waved goodbye as I walked up the steps to the station.

Catching the train would certainly be a lot easier here as there was only one platform so I could hardly go wrong. I sat and did a bit more blogging before the train rolled into the station a little after 8pm. I was greater by the guard who checked my ticket and ushered me into seat thirteen, unlucky for some but not for me. My first experience of sleeper trains had been in India from Agra to Varanasi, and from the off I could see Thai trains were hugely different. The carriage was split down the centre with only two bunks per compartment rather than three and each bed had it's own privacy curtain. I watched as the guard turned the two grey leatherette seats facing one another into a bunk bed complete with sheets and blanket in a matter of minutes. It was a site to behold and clearly an art form he had perfected over time.

As I stowed my bag another guard came along and offered me food. I was quite taken aback to be handed a paper menu with a choice of four different set menus. I went for the one that included a red duck curry, as Shannyn had mentioned having one on her various travels. I dare say that this ready made microwaved one was nowhere near as good, but it certainly tasted pretty good with big chunks of duck and cherry tomatoes floating in the rich creamy sauce. It came with a spicy cabbage soup, chicken and cashew nuts with rice and pineapple all of which were surprisingly tasty! I sat cross-legged on my top bunk and ate the feast of train food and thought that I'd never get something this good at home on the train, let alone India. I bedded down for the night under my cosy blanket and drifted off to the clickerty clack of the train rumbling it's way to Chiang Mai.

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Comments

[Julie Barilone]

Yeah, but........
The Thai trains don't have Diane and I!!!!