The Train to Chiang Mai

Our train left Bangkok at 10pm and didn't pull into the Chiang Mai station until 1:30pm the next day, so it felt like another day of travelling.

Here is one of our bottom berths. Heather reported that with the window open, it even got a little chilly at night. One downside to having the window open is that when she got up to use the bathroom at one of our stops, she came back to find a large green insect on her bed. It looked a little like a praying mantis but it didn't have those mantis forearms and it's head was attached to it's body more like that of a grasshopper. I threw it back out the window and suggested to her that it might not have flown in while we were stopped, but that she may have been sleeping with it the entire time (not likely, but I thought Heather might get a kick out of the idea).

The top bunk was a little warm at night but it is right next to the ceiling fan so, not too bad.

This is how the car looked with all of the beds made up. We all slept great but woke up feeling a little grimy.

We ordered two of the overpriced "western-style" breakfasts and shared them. I used quotation marks because what they called sausages turned out to be two quarters of a boiled hot dog. Despite this, the kids still thought it was a better breakfast than the one they had on the airplane.

After the porter came and converted all of the beds back into seats, we spent a lot of time staring out the window. At various stops people would get on the train with food to sell. From these venders we bought fried chicken and sticky rice, watermelon, and some little rice cakes with honey.

In hindsight we should have booked the 7:35pm train from Bangkok as we were just killing time anyways and it would have put us in Chiang Mai sooner. I would still recommend either that one or our 10:00pm passage because both routes allow you to sleep while it is dark and then be up in time to see some of the amazing Northern scenery in the daylight. We watched as the ricefields gradually gave way to mountains (or the equivalent here). Some hillsides had been planted with what looked like corn crops, but most of the scenery was thick jungle.

Upon arriving at the train station in Chaing Mai, we were immediately recruited by a taxi driver who said he would take us to our hotel for 200Baht. I have no idea if that is a good price or not but he told me that he would take us directly there and even drop us off before the other passenger who was already waiting in the back of his pickup truck. I think that our taxi ride to the airport back home really helped to put things in perspective when it comes to transportation costs here in Thailand. Compared to that $90, it doesn't seem reasonable to haggle over what works out to be an $8 trip here.

Besides, when else could the kids ride on benches in the back of a pickup while watching traffic follow along behind us? I am used to seeing these "song taew" trucks operating like a bus route between two points where people get on anywhere along its route and then tap a 10Baht coin on the metal railing to signal the driver when they want to get off. It was good for the family to experience yet another form of transportation here in Thailand.

There was a bit of a delay at the front desk of the hotel and I started to worry that they didn't have our room, despite the fact that I booked it long in advance and then confirmed it more recently. Fortunately, everything worked out and the room was just what I was expecting and a lot more spacious than what we had in Bangkok.

And the outdoor pool helped to wake everyone up after riding the rails.

After Bangkok, Chiang Mai is such a nice change, the streets are wider, everything is less busy, the air feels nicer, and only occasionally do you encounter a wiff of unpleasant odor. It didn't take us long to find the local roti maker and we have also learned his schedule and daily locations. For their second roti, the kids tried theirs with either strawberry or pineapple jam.

I'll finish with this blurry photo I tried to take of this railway policeman who could not walk past our seats without stopping and trying to talk to Deacon.

- C