Sleeper trains, planes and boats!

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BANGKOK

Getting off of the boat at Chumphon we were ushered to one side an told to wait in one area, so sat there waiting and chatting to the couple that we had caught the taxi from the hotel with. They were catching an earlier train to Bangkok and were nervously watching the minutes tick by. We did warn them about the little boy in the luggage compartment trick, but they seemed unconcerned.

We all hopped on the ancient bus that had very raspy and wheezing air con and were quite glad that we were only going a short distance. On arriving at the train station the other couple unfortunately found that some of the strap’s on there bag had been opened and we hoped for them that they had not been robbed, but they went running off into the distance to hop on there train which was due imminently.

We decided that as we had an hour and a half to kill before our train arrived we would pop down to a local restaurant that offered free luggage storage and free showers! We waited ages for the food, which came about ten minutes before we wanted to leave to go back to the train station. Liam quickly demolished a huge cheese burger and fries but Charlotte got given a pineapple fried rice and found when she was eating it that it was a bit crunchy! On closer inspection it turned out to be egg shell! She returned the food and although they offered to give her another one she declined as she felt a bit sick (and was actually not that hungry anyway). Just before we got up to leave the staff rushed over a take away portion with much apologies and advised us that it was free.

Off we headed toward the train station and after asking the station guards (they looked very professional and military like) we went to the correct area of the platform to await our train. We saw that there were many food stalls up and running on the platform (amongst the rats) which was a bit strange at that time of night. But as the next train pulled in we realised why. We heard the whistle of the train and the food stalls came to life. Soup’s were poured into bowls and set on trays and as soon as the train arrived the hawkers were going up and down the isles selling there wears.

The first train in and we tried to get on carriage four, but luckily a lady boy advised us that this was not our train, so we sat back down and watched the excitement going on all around us. The train was there for ten minutes and as it was pulling away we thought, what if the Ladyboy was having us on and really it was our train. Panic set in until the voice of reason remembered that carriage four can not have been ours as there were open windows, so was not the air con carriage that we booked.

The next train came along ten minutes later and the guards and even a fellow passenger on the bench we were sitting checked our tickets for us and told us in broken English that this was our train. As it pulled in the said a quick thank you and safe journey to our Chinese bench neighbours and ran off to carriage four. Well we did not know what to expect from a sleeper train, but were pleased with what we found. All of the beds had been made up and a lot were already occupied.

We found our berths, both upper bunks, and stowed our bags as best we could. We were sure that this was a much safer and more comfortable option than the bus! And were soon settled in very comfortable beds. There was much photo taking as we all settled in, so as not to feel left out, we joined in. But were soon settled in for a bit of a read and a snooze.

Charlotte managed to sleep quite well, she got a good five or six hours, although she was waking up every hour or so because of one noise or another and checking the bags were still there. Liam dozed a bit, but did not really sleep. Getting into Bangkok there were three stations and we were all up and putting away the beds, so that we could sit on the seats, which were very comfortable actually, for the last part of the journey.

Arriving at six in the morning we did not really know what to do or where to go, we decided that we would try the hotel that had been recommended to us by our friends from Koh Lanta, Nick and Danielle. So we headed off to the taxi rank and got chatting to one of the first guys to approach us. He quoted some ridicules figure to take us to the Koh San Road area, but we bargained him down to a more reasonable 80 baht.

Grabbing one of the bags he took us over past all of the taxi’s to a tuk tuk! Oh dear! No Charlotte said we are not paying that money (all £1.30!) to travel in that an off she marches to the taxi line. We jump in the next available taxi, doing as Caroline recommended and Charlotte getting in while Liam deals with the bags, so he does not drive off with our bag’s.

Charlotte had written down the address of the hostel before leaving and the taxi driver rushed off to ask the local policeman where it was. Charlotte did not however have it in Thai script and forgot to write down the phone number, which is a good idea as you will find that the driver will jump out a couple of times during the journey to check where he is going! We got close to the area that we needed to be in and the driver hops out again, but no one outside the 7/11 seems able to help. We drive along the road for a bit before Charlotte spots a petrol station and sends the driver in to check there.

The driver comes out all happy and we are soon driven down what looks like a pedestrian road and dropped outside our hotel. Now being nearly seven in the morning, we do not hold out much hope that there will be anyone at reception yet. To our relief there was and Charlotte was quickly shown a room on the top floor. It was very nice and we were able to check in right away. Yeah!

We dumped our bags and enjoyed the steady flow of cooling air coming out of the air con. Liam had a little snooze and Charlotte enjoyed the pleasures of TV for a bit. We then showered and cleaned up before embarking on our last minute shopping frenzy. Armed with a list of things that we wanted to buy before heading home we hit the streets.

Top of the list was a bag with wheels to put all of our goods in. We decided on a 500 baht budget for this item as we could post home about 5kg’s of stuff for a tenner. We tried a couple of shops an the bags we wanted seemed to be more in the region of 1200 baht. Oh poo! We found one however where we bargained her down to 700 baht, guess we will have to make it up somewhere else. And we did! Two pairs of black fisherman’s trousers for Caroline and Digs, we budgeted 300 baht each an managed to get them both for 270 baht, yeah!

Bargain hunting all over the Koh San Road & Soi Ramm Butti area our bag soon filled up. The only thing we failed to find was a set of cutlery that we saw in Langkawi and used in the steak restaurant in Koh Phi Phi. We also messaged Nick and Danielle to let them know we were in the hotel if they fancied a drink later.

Back to the hotel and a little lay down was in order before a swim in the pool. Whilst up there we heard a big marching band and some sort of parade down on the Koh San Road. We headed out for supper that evening and came across a bit of a live band thing going on in the street. All to do with Labour day celebrations we think. Liam treated us to a last night meal at a very nice restaurant called ‘999 West’ that we had spotted down a side street on our shopping expedition.

As it was still quite early it was fairly quiet in the pub/restaurant, but there was a Thai man and a guitar who was not doing too badly with a selection of English songs. It turned out however that we were about the only people clapping, which at least he appreciated! When the food came Liam’s dish looked like it had come straight out of Flintstones! The rib’s he had ordered were huge, they looked more like a Dinosaurs rib’s than a pigs! Charlotte had some very tasty prawns on a skewer.

We went back and repacked all of our bags to try and distribute the weight more evenly for the journey home. We got caught by the tailor again an although we could not afford a new suit we decided to order Liam a fitted shirt in black, with red buttons. We can pick it up tomorrow, just before we leave. We waited up until past midnight to check in online, only to find that for some reason it would not allow us! The next morning we were up and out of the room before the 12noon check out time.

We stored our bags, tried to check in again, but to no avail. We went up to the bank to get some more cash and bumped into one of the Ozzy’s that we had met in the pool of Coral Bungalows on our last day. He had just left Mag’s his friend getting dreadlocks put in on the Koh San Road. They had arrived on a sleeper train that morning, but not had much sleep as they had the fan only carriage.

We took a walk down the Koh San Road and found some sun glasses that were in pretty good nick, we had found that most of them in Thailand were scratched to hell and not even worth looking at! We also picked up a very nice pair of Poi with tails on. We bumped into Mag’s who was very pleased at the 700 baht price she had got for the services of two Thai lady’s creating her dreadlocks. She had been sitting there for three hours by then and was starting to flag. But they had hot through half her head of hair, though she did look a bit like medusa at this point.

We carried on looking around and walked all the way to the end of the road and back just in case we had missed something. We passed Mag’s on the way back and a couple of blokes in the hotel opposite had taken pity on her after watching from there hotel balcony for a bit and come down and brought her food and beer to help keep her going.

Heading back to the hotel we decided to waste a couple of hours on a tuk tuk for a little sight seeing. We were amazed how quickly they went in comparison to the other ones we had been on. We were whizzed off to our first point of call which was the standing Buddha, which we went in and had a look at. Charlotte released some birds in the temple (for 90 baht) for good luck, we snapped some pictures and were back in the tuk tuk before the driver had had a chance to finish his ciggie.

The next point of call was the marble temple, which Charlotte had seen before and cost money to go in, so again a couple of quick pictures and we were on our way again. We had the obligatory stop at the Gem factory, for the driver to get a petrol coupon, which was quiet interesting and Charlotte did find a very nice ring, but unfortunately in was only available in yellow gold, although they did offer to dip it in white gold for no extra charge. But we did feel the 43,000 baht price was a bit above our budget.

En route to the Golden Mount the driver persuaded us to look in another Gem store. This one was a little rougher around the edges although Charlotte did find a couple of nice rings there too, this time in white gold, but still too much at 10,000 baht.

Onwards to ‘The Golden Mount’ and a walk up the steps going around the mound, ringing all of the bells on the way for good luck. There were some wonderful views of the city from the top. Also a couple of Buddha’s. After that again we had our arms twisted and were taken to a tailors on the way back, but a quick 5 minute sit down, before Liam was taken into another room to look at the cloth, including a Lime green that had been made into an unusual suit. A mistake as Charlotte sat there and got board. She was soon up realising the time and the fact we had to get back within 10 minutes, before 6pm to see off our friends, Nick and Danielle, who were leaving that evening. We did actually hear from them and they had got an earlier flight and left the night before we arrived!

Back at the hotel we picked up Liam’s new shirt, which we both agreed looked amazing. We packed this carefully along with the other goodies we had picked up that day. We sat in the corner, charging Liam’s phone which had run out of battery that day and reading magazines before heading out to find a taxi for the airport.

The hotel offered taxi’s for 400 baht plus the 70 baht express way toll, however we had been advised that we could get a metered taxi off of the street for more like 270 baht plus the 70 baht express way fee. Approaching the main road we were accosted by a taxi man, who promised the use of the meter, so we followed him and jumped in. His English was not great but he was very interesting, trying to inform us of what was happening with the red shirts and how corrupt the current president was. Dropping us at the airport we found the meter had crept up to nearly the 400 baht that was being offered at the hotel. Well at least we had an interesting drive.

On checking in, we were lucky enough to be able to do an early check in, so there were not too many people there. They took all three bags even though they were way above our luggage allowance, much to our relief and we headed through passport control and airport security with no problem. A little light supper at Burger King, then, on to the shopping! Well what else do you do with the left over Baht!

First point of call was a new G-shock watch for Liam. We went to every shop in the airport and finally Liam settled on a very nice black and gold affair. Next up was a pair of skull candy headphones for Liam and we found a pair with a mini bottle opener in them at half the price they charge in the UK. Finally Charlottes turn and she found two bottles of Absolute vodka and some DKNY perfume and Hugo Boss aftershave. We were nearly tempted by a box of fresh Orchids, but decided against it.

We went to the gate and found a queue there, but finally grabbed a seat. We sat chatting to a very nice older deaf couple from Devon. They had been stuck in Australia for an extra couple of week after a 6 week cruise around Oz. Liam delighted in remembering and practicing some of his sign language. We saw all of the air crew coming down to the gate with boxes of Orchids and immediately felt we had missed a trick there. We were called to our seat and we headed home.

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