Night Train to Chiang Mai
The Bangkok Northern Train Station is a bustle of activity, typical of any train station. However this station boasts an enormous t.v. that blasts Thai soap operas. People continuously come and go while others, awaiting their trains, sleep on benches or enjoy the entertainment. I sit down and try to understand the plot as the other viewers around me laugh at the screen. After about 15 minutes, my train arrives and I join other passengers in line to board. The night train leaves in the afternoon and arrives the next day at around 6 a.m. Trains have always been a really great way to see the surrounding countryside and this is no exception. You find yourself chugging past shantytowns made haphazardly from corrugated metal and scrap wood. Some are on stilts since Bangkok and the surrounding area is below sea level. Laundry hangs from windows and children play in the canals, splashing each other with water so polluted that it looks like it might melt your face off. As you exit the city area the landscape turns greener, the water clearer, and there are rice paddies in every direction. Water buffalo soak lazily in the trenches and there are hundreds of birds, from egrets to storks, frozen like statues waiting for their next meal to swim by. The towns get fewer and farther between and when the train slows into the stations there is a new bustle of activity – people selling food and crafts and others greeting newly arrived friends and family.
We ride through Ayutthaya, the ancient city, where even from the train you can spot the ruins of the old temples that made up the original capital of Siam. Then through Lophburi – a city over-run with monkeys. At first none are visible but then as you sharpen your search you notice they are everywhere, hanging from power lines and relaxing on balconies – eating absolutely everything… As we rush through the countryside, children come running towards the tracks to wave and race the train as the mountains of the North appear in the distance.
We order dinner and tables are set up between the seats and food is served. I have no idea where it comes from – whether it was ordered ahead and brought to the train or whether they have a kitchen car, but it is fresh and tasty. After everyone is finished eating, the top sleeping bunks are pulled down and a man comes around to make the beds. Curtains are put up for privacy and the car settles into quiet darkness. The constant motion and din of the train engine put me into a deep sleep and I awake to find myself in Chiang Mai. Still half-asleep, I jump in a tuk tuk and make my way to my guest house for a few more hours of rest
view from the back of the night train on the way to Chiang Mai
.
Comments (2)
I found your blog recently and have been visiting it . I think your way of thinking is good. keep up the good work. If interested in link exchange please contact me.
RT @travel_tweet_: Travel Tweet: Female Alone: Night Train to Chiang Mai http://itournow.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/184/