Bangkok Galore!!

Thursday 26Oct2006

We headed to the imfamous Kao Sahn Road in Bangkok today. On the way back- to the hotel to get our bags and then straight to the train station- this was the plan! BAM!! Traffic Jam!! And not just any traffic jam. Whoa! 3 lane road with 6 lanes of traffic- no lights- no cops- just mass confusion- soo much so that our driver asked us to get out of the tuk-tuk and walk to the hotel to get our bags. Pollution- Exhaust fumes were soo bad!! Not only can you see it but you enhale it, taste it! Yuck!!

Overnight First-Class Sleeper Express Train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai
We opted for the first class sleepers- didn't know what we were in for- not what you would expect but definitely comfortable enough. Pretty comparable to the first class Chinese train except cleaner, I think...
Shawn uses the toilet and comes back with two observations...
1- He couldn't see how in the world a female could use the toilet as it is a metal squatter that could get quite slippery and there was no handle to hold onto-- he so graciously offered to be support for me in the event that I needed to use the facilities!
2- On the brighter side the squatting- especially when the train was moving- would be good exercise for the upcoming ski season!!
I was reluctant- but couragously attempted to use the facilities on my own- not bad at all- no sweat- I've been in worse- trust me!

Jet Lag Makes Me Feel Old
The train was scheduled to leave at 19:35, we queued up and boarded about 19:00 and were asleep before the train even left the station!! The good thing was that we were up at 4 to see the sunrise and a bit of the countryside! Beautiful!! Too many rabid dogs!! It was quite interesting to see that they manually change the tracks.