the long train ride

this was our very first long train ride. together. or ever for now. but it wasnt actually that bad. the only thing that wasnt so good was, i thought i could still hear the bell ringing in my ears way after the rides.


we got on at the main station at hualampong for the ride to chiangmai. hungry coz it was lunch time. there's a 'food court' there on the ground floor. you have to buy coupons and use these to purchase food. there is one halal food stall there.



after lunch we waited for a while more to board that choo-choo train to chiangmai from bangkok. it departed at around 2:30pm and arrived at about 6:30am. do the maths..it WAS long..so finding own means of entertainment or killing time was of absolute importance..




i read this on the train..



a few chapters of it..but i doubt i will touch it anytime soon..errmmm..maybe on another long ride.

and of course another important thing...being able to sleep at night.

which we could. thank god. it wasnt totally suffering. in fact i thought it was probably more comfortable (because we booked sleepers) than being in a long bus ride..which could always turn out more hellish..and cramped.




of course there is option of air travel..but train ride trough countryside with the country's folks sharing your space and the chance to observe their interactions..was quite an experience. we got to talk to a monk at the station..his english was good. and we were seated next to a very nice thai family with two adorable girls during the train ride back to bangkok.



our return tickets cost us about sgd37. sleeper, non-aircon.aircon isnt really necessary if you go north.but non aircon means sometimes you may just be a unlucky to be assigned an older car..like our return trip back was in an older one which seem to be like a relic from the past or at least the 80s. meal is abit tricky. you can order onboard..but we decided to have cat food. ooops...i mean canned food. canned tuna. canned salmon. pasta salmon. bread.


all about train journeys, i learnt @ www.seat61.com . very good detailed site on train travel worldwide.

this one specifically on thai train service.