Train back to Bangkok

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Day 18 Back to Bangkok

I wake up early to find that the elephants are being washed in the river. They seem to be loving it! They must be the ones that we saw yesterday up the road.
We look at all the options of travelling back to Bangkok - well I say all - there is the choice of a taxi or a minibus, but we decide that the train is again the best option. It will arrive, hopefully, at about 1pm and should take about 5 hours. Once we arrive at Thon buri railway station we will have to find a taxi to another station so that we can get to the airport as we fly to Hanoi tomorrow.

So we hop into the back of the pick-up truck and go to the train station at Nam Tok. As expected the train is running about half and hour late. It’s hot today so we open all the carriage windows to get plenty of air through the train.

The train stops at about 30 stations on the way back to Bangkok, and gets later and later! So we end up arriving more than one hour later than scheduled, very hot and sweaty, at Thon buri station. It is an interesting journey that takes us along the “Death Railway”, over rickety viaducts and also the Bridge over the River Kwai. But we still have to get to the airport. So we eventually get a taxi that wants to take us to the “Skytrain” station (no one seems to want a fare tonight!) and then take the super-duper new monorail which takes us directly to the terminal (and only costs 15 baht!). I absolutely stink now and I am dripping with sweat. I can’t wait to get to the hotel to take a shower and change. Unfortunately the taxi driver is determined to rip us off, and as soon as we get in he tries to overcharge us. He thinks that we have just arrived from England and tries to pull a fast one by not switching on his meter! But I make a fuss and I think he gets the message and reluctantly turns it on.

Dinner consists of a crappy McDonalds meal - the only thing we can find within walking distance of the hotel. Then it’s to bed thank goodness.

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