Entries this day: AM_leaving Day_of_Training Four_hundred_baht_to_Airport

AM leaving

7:55am ICT Friday 6 August 2010 (day 14744)

Right now I'm in the Chiang Mai train station restaurant, having been dropped off by Air, and to be met by Claire who will bring Johnny, my bear.

8:24am ICT Friday 6 August 2010 (day 14744)

Hmmm.

8:25am ICT Friday 6 August 2010 (day 14744)

Ah! Claire and Yute have just arrived.

8:41am ICT Friday 6 August 2010 (day 14744)

I'm now on the train, in a quite thoroughly air conditioned car. The seats are bigger than economy airplanes, but it looks like the doors will be closed so I can't hang outside the door like I've seen on the movies. Ah well. I *might* be able to stand between the cars, an area which is *not* surrounded by a shroud as in Japanese trains.

8:44am ICT Friday 6 August 2010 (day 14744)

We're moving now. Right on time, or a minute early (?)

I've got two seats to myself, though I just paid for one.

Day of Training

11:26am ICT Friday 6 August 2010 (day 14744)

About 20 minutes into the train ride, the novelty of riding a train kinda wore off. I slept under janette's quilt for a bit and woke up about 2 hours into the ride, and noticed that everything was pretty quiet. Hmmm! Now's my chance to stand between the cars!

I went out between the cars and watched the world whizz by around me. I saw the ladder for climbing up onto the top of the train, but have basically decided to wait until I get to India (*) to do that.

(*) I don't currently have plans to visit India, but after hearing people's stories during this trip, I've moved it higher on my list.

I took some pics, but then realized video would be possibly more interesting.

I got a slightly sweet video showing some rice fields and a train station whizzing by. The video received the designation of "sweet" because I just happened to be filming the track (rail) below me when the track for the station branched off. With a slight delay, I tracked the side track with the camera, assuming something interesting would soon appear on the track. A train station fit the bill and filled the screen with its train station goodness, and then I tracked the track back to our track.

The video got the designation of "slightly" because the station is all blurry and we can't see its name, but we can see two people standing watching the train go by.

I was between the cars for maybe 20 minutes before it started to rain, so I came inside the train, and *that* turned out to be just before the train stopped at a station with NAKHONLAMPANC written on its sign.

11:45am ICT Friday 6 August 2010 (day 14744)

We just got lunch. Only 8.5 hours to go! (( with that in mind, I don't think I recommend the train for doing the entire Chiang Mai to Bangkok trip in one shot. It's fine for doing shorter trips, esp. if one has something to see or do in the cities where it stops, but 12 hours? Let me quote Sita: "yeah nah." ))

For the record, when Air heard that I had bought a second class ticket (there were no 1st class tickets available for the train I selected), she was slightly shocked. Now I know why hahaha.

"In first class you can sleep sleep sleeping, but in second class you can only sit sit sitting."

3:54pm ICT Friday 6 August 2010 (day 14744)

We were just in Phitsanulok (sp), which looked to be about the biggest station we've visited so far.

I know "visit" isn't quite the right word, but I couldn't think of a verb that didn't require a preposition.

Four hundred baht to Airport

10:01pm ICT Friday 6 August 2010 (day 14744)

I'm at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, about 8 hours from my flight back to Narita Airport in Tokyo, where I don't really want to stay very long.

Just before the last stop on the train, a woman was like, "where you go?" and I said, "airport!" and she was too, so we shared a taxi, the details of which she negotiated. It was 400 baht total, and she didn't ask me for money as she was asked by the baggage handler for a tip, and by the taxi driver for money to get through the toll booth. Taxi driver: "I only have 5 baht." really?

I think she said her name was Akoni, and she gave me some food during the cab ride. I was in the front seat and she was sitting with her bag in the back.

We arrived at the airport (30 km?) and she paid the taxi driver. I paid her 300 baht; she said thank you, counted it, offered 100 baht back, and I said "thank you; you made this very easy for me." I also gave her my card and she gave me a kiss on the cheek. She goes, "when I miss you, I will call you."

"Yeah, email is probably better."