Nong Khai

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Well I had 9 truly amazing hours of sleep last night after being up for more than 50 hours straight. There is now no doubt that I cannot sleep on planes (or trains). Strangely, I already feel adjusted to the massive time change. I landed in Bangkok at about 1 am early Thursday morning. After clearing immigration, you must walk through this area that is almost like a red carpet at a movie premier. There is a path leading out of the airport between two hand rails, and it is packed with people calling out to you offering taxi rides. I just told myself they all wanted my autograph, and that unfortunately I had no time. I crossed over the highway on a footpath only to discover that the train station was closed until 6 am, thus I spent several hours in the airport trying to sleep, failing, then eating at the few places that were open all night. Finally, 6 am rolled around and I made my way back to the train station. I walked up to the ticket window and said "Nong Khai." The worker's eyes widened and he frantically pointed to the train behind me that was just rolling away. I flung 400 baht through the window, grabbed my ticket, and jumped on the train third to last car as the train rolled away. It was an exciting start. The train ride was amazing. There were only 4 or 5 other people on my car at any given point, and I didn't see a single other foreigener the entire trip. There were big windows on either side that stayed open, and you could walk between cars and hang off the steps as the train was going 60 mph. I was loving the complete lack of safety regulations. It was a 12 hour train ride through random towns and cities, rice paddies, and tropical forest. The train ticket only cost me $9 haha. I finally made it Nong Khai and jumped on a tuk tuk and had him take me to the Mut Mee guest house, which sits right on the Mekong river. I was going to leave the morning for Laos, but I met Annie and ... (can't remember the guy's name) and we all decided to rent bikes and ride around for the day. Although I heard it would be this way, it really is shocking just how nice most of the Thai people are. I need to get going, but like I said, I'll be headed to Laos in the morning and should have a chance to write another entry in a couple days once I make it to Vang Vieng! (I don't have time to proof this, so ignore spelling errors).

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Photos

Sunrise near Bangkok
Is that fog or pollution? Bangkok smelled like dirty eggs.

Comments

[Mom and Dad]

The adventure begins!
Glad to hear you finally got some sleep! We just received in the mail today the new Thailand Lonely Planet, so were able to read about Nong Khai and the Mut Mee guest house. Sure is great to hear where you are and what you're up to. Enjoy Vang Vieng and be careful if you venture into the caves-- bet your headlamp will come in handy!

[Ron]

Whatever!
Hey Steve - Diane was over for dinner tonight so we checked out your blog. She says that she knows exactly what you mean about Excel. I learned something from you - I had no idea that dirty eggs smelled any differently from clean eggs. Live and learn, I guess. Have fun and be careful.