Back to Bangkok
Trip Start
Nov 07, 2006
1
100
105
Trip End
Jul 22, 2007
Chumphon, Thailand
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
We have been on buses, boats, tuk tuks and planes in Thailand and now we want to check out the Thai rail system.
After catching another rough and bouncy catamaran ride back to the Thailand mainland we decided on catching a sleeper train back to Bangkok. It was pretty expensive by Thailand standards as we went for a 1st class cabin (1000 baht each). It sounds posh but there are vast and I mean vast differences between Western 1st class and Thailand 1st class. I think one of the ways to measure it is by how few cockroaches you have. Fortunately we only had to share with 3 that night!
We hung around the town of Chumphon for about 7 hours filling in time with a bit of shopping, eating and playing on the internet. Darren also got his hair cut. It was a bit of a bargain for 100 baht as he not only got a cut but a wash and massage too. The hairdresser was made up to be cutting an Englishman's hair .The people of Chumphon seem a lot friendlier here, rather than just wanting your cash.
We were supposed to be catching 23:24 train back to Bangkok that would get us in at 8:25am the following day. The train was only 45 mins late to arrive at Chumphon and in the mean time we watched other trains come and go in the station.
There is one standing platform and if your train is leaving from platform 3 you have to walk across the train lines to get to it. There aren't any walkways and this is how it is here. Also when the trains pull into the station people walk along the side of the train selling food and drinks to the passengers through the windows. It really is quite mad to watch.
Our cabin was quite small and had two bunk beds. Niki opted for the top bunk to distance herself from the cockroaches on the floor and Darren took the bottom one. It was a noisy and rickety journey but it was quite good being able to fall asleep in one part of the country and wake up the next day in your new destination.
