Return to Bangkok...

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Our last night in Chiang Mai we made very relaxing as we were unsure as to how much sleep we would get on the sleeper train back to Bangkok the next night!!

After a very hot day we headed down to the Chiang Mai Saloon which since Gary's food scare had become a bit of a regular with us, offering good food, cheap drink and entertainment!!!

After a very filling dinner (Gary has got his appetite back) we played a few games of pool (a game whereby I hit the first ball within sight and wish for the best), but to my surprise after a few games, I was beginning to get the hang of it and even managed to win a few!!! Having a good time we tried out the fussball table, and then went onto the air hockey!!! A very enjoyable evening!!!

Saturday morning arrived amd we had to be out of our hostel room by 10am, and our train did not leave till 17.55, so we left our baggage with reception and headed out into the heat!!!

We walked around the City for a while and found a nice coffee house whereby we enjoyed an hour of relaxation, mulling over the trip so far and sat in wonder as to what was to come....

After the dubious food on the train on the way to Chiang Mai we decided that perhaps we should take a small picnic with us for the return journey and make sure that we had something to eat before we set off.

Surprise, surprise we headed back to our local and following a few games of pool we had our last supper and left a message on the table beside the many other travellers who had enjoyed our local over the years!!!

At last it was time for the train to depart (the anticipation of the journey ahead has perhaps made this one of the longest days so far). Apon boarding the train, I was greatly dissappointed to find that we did not have a cabin of our own (which was originally made out to us by the travel agent) and in actual fact all we had was a bench which folded down into a bed and a bunk overhead which was hidden by a curtain. I thought we were supposed to be travelling 1st class (on inspection of the ticket we realised that we were only booked for a second class ticket) Typical!!! I asked the conductor how much it would cost to change - however we decided to rough it as afterall we were backpacking now!!! I decided to inspect the toilet facilitites before the train set off - lets just say I decided I could wait till we arrived in Bangkok in 13 hours time!!

The journey was actually OK. I didnt really mind it, however Gary did not get much sleep as everytime he was drifting off the train ricketed over yet another bump in the line. Eventually, we heard the ticket women going round shouting that the next stop was Bangkok. We left the train and grabbed a taxi back to our old Bangkok haunt: Soi Rambuttri. We dived in to a hostel and caught a few hours sleep...

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Photos

Pool
I am actually getting quite good at this even if I do say so myself...I think this was one of the games I won!!!

Getting around Chiang Mai
The motor bike was too expensive and the drivers here are crazy!!!