Last and final sleeper train

July 2

Marion was going on a tour of Bangkok today and had to meet downstairs at 8:30 today. I was totally convinced I would be awake already because I haven't been able to sleep too late. I ended up getting up around 8am. I figured by 8am I would already be leaving for Wat Arun. Oh well.

I took my time. Like I said, I was pretty sick of the breakfast and I still had yogurt and muesli so I finished that off and some fruit Sankar had bought me for breakfast in the room. I packed my bags and moved it downstairs and checked out.

A bunch of people were downstairs and I decided to sit and chat for a bit. I talked to Rob and Joanne for a bit and Becca for a while as well. Rob and Joanne have been traveling since mid-May. They did a g trip through Europe and then were in Cambodia (just Siem Reap) for a few days. Becca has been traveling for 6 weeks now. She was in China and Vietnam on g trips. Becca had already done Bangkok too so we were going to meet up at noon to go get lunch and some food for the train. She hadnt been inside Wat Arun but she didn't want to go. She said after being in China they just aren't as good. That made me happy I did Southeast Asia first.

So around 10:40 I ventured off on my own to catch the local ferry to Wat Arun. When I had mentioned to Brett I was taking the ferry he seemed to think I was crazy. He said to do a taxi. I thought with traffic the ferry would be faster.

I don't think it was. I had to wait around for a while for the ferry. That kinda sucked. I wasn't even on the ferry until 11:20. There was no way I was going to make it back in time to meet Becca. And, of course, I had no way to contact her and let her know I would be late. I decided to take my time though because I didn't want to rush my time.

Once I got to the tat tien stop, I had to get off and switch ferries. It was 3 baht to go across the river to Wat Arun. Super cheap.

The Wat is really cool. It's the sunshine temple. That's pretty much all I know about it though. I didn't have a guide with me or anything. I'm also writing this on the beach right now so I have no Internet to look it up.

It kinda reminded me of Cambodia a little bit. It was a big pillar in the middle with super steep steps to get to the top. Like you're basically going straight up on your hands and feet. There were the little men holding the pillar up around the sides. Then there were 4 pillars on the sides as well. A golden Buddha graced the entrance (fat Buddha- Buddha isn't usually fat here). The designs on the pillars reminded me more of Vietnam. Like the palace in Hue. It had shells and bits of cups and plates and other ceramics mossaiced on it. It was also really sunny and the sun reflected off the top of the pillar in the middle while you were on the highest level. I took a lot of selfies here too. When I was leaving I saw Nadya and Simon coming in and they saw me taking selfies and offered to take a photo for me so that was nice.

I went back to the ferry to get across the river and got there just as the boat was arriving. I chose a seat and they wait until its pretty full to go back across. A guy as down near me and was continually wiping sweat off his forehead. He kept apologizing for it and we talked about how ridiculously hot it is here. He has been in Bagkok for 2 days and is traveling around for a bit. He was in Singapore, Kuala Lampur, and a few other places I don't remember now. He's from Perth. We walked for a bit. He was cute and really nice and fun to talk to. He was also quirky which i obviously like. He was going exploring and I wanted to go with him but I had told Becca I would meet her so although I didn't want to, we parted ways. I was really bummed. Of course, the one and only time I actually meet someone I'm leaving. Whatever.

I ended up waiting for a ferry for a while. I got on the one that came up and it was pretty big. I thought it was different looking. The lady came up to get my money and I have her a 20 and she said it was 40. I was so confused. After talking to her I realize I had boarded the tourist boat and it didn't even stop at my stop. She didn't make me pay and she said to just get off and take the local boat. That was really nice of her.

When I got off I looked out at the river and didn't see any boats coming soon. I figured it would probably be quicker to get a taxi to the hotel than wait for a ferry and then have to walk to 15 minutes back to the hotel. The drive took about 15 minutes and was only 43 baht. I ended up getting back to the hotel at 1pm. Becca wasn't there. Then I was like well shoot I should have stayed with that guy. But then Becca came back and she said she had to get food because she was starving which is fair enough because I said I would be back an hour earlier. I don't know why we keep sucking at time estimations. I should realize this is Thailand and things will take way longer.

I went out on my own to get Au Bon Pain. I got a chicken Caesar wrap for dinner and a chicken mozzarella tomato pesto sandwich for lunch. They were both great although on the train I wasn't too hungry but ate my wrap anyway since it would go bad if I didn't. (I ate it around 9pm and I had gotten it at 1:30ish). I just went to Si Lom, I didn't go all the way out to Siam.

From 2 to 4:15 I just chilled in the hotel and blogged. Again, wished I would have stayed out and walked around with that guy to the places I don't think I had been but I felt bad abandoning Becca. At 4:15 Brett gathered us up and we headed to the train station.

While I was uploading photos the other day, I saw a group of westerners walk by and it just reminded me of how silly we must look. Just a big glob of white people with huge backpacks. No wonder people stop and take photos.

The sleeper train we were on this time was different than the one I had taken with Matt and the Indochina group in Thailand. It wasn't as spacious. The seats were smaller (maybe half the size) and there were luggage racks to put your bags in. The side of the luggage racks also doubled as ladders to get up to the bunks. Even though it was smaller it was still nice. There was AC to the point it was actually cold. Like goosebumps all over my arms cold. It was a really strange feeling actually. I am not cold too often here... The toilet also smelled pretty bad. There was an option for a western toilet though.

It was kind of strange because I guess I was just expecting the sleeper train interactions to be like it was with my last group and it wasn't. We were all in the same cabin but not in the same area which made games hard, especially when there were a large number of people walking up and down the train selling food and the seats weren't large enough to fit a ton of us in them. I spent a lot of time blogging and a little bit of time talking to people.

On the Thai trains they come around and make up the beds for you. They're so efficient. They pull out the bottom bed and then pull down the top bed. In the top bed there are clean sheets and blankets as well as pillows and pillow cases for both beds. There were also curtains that they hooked over the rods so you have some privacy. They do it so quickly too. And for every single person on the train. It's crazy.

I also ventured back to the disco car this time. I had heard it existed last time but we were having so much fun playing our games that there was no need to check it out. It wasn't anything too exciting. I wasn't mad we hadn't gone when we were on a sleeper train in Thailand before.

It was a normal cabin car but half way down the cabin was a bar. There were also tables with pull down chairs (like sports stadium style). It was dark, like all the lights were off, but there was a disco light shining around as well. It was smelly and hot because there isn't AC there. So, I left after taking some photos. Marion was trying to take photos for me of some of us on my camera and she couldn't figure it out. It flashes so many times I think it confused her. Most of the photos were pretty blurry but it was okay.

I was pretty tired and basically went to bed after that. But so was everyone else so it wasn't bad. Brett briefed us on the next few days and it was a pretty uneventful ride.

This was however, my sixth and final sleeper train on this trip. So that's a little sad. Especially since I pretty much slept well. I only woke up one time at 1am thinking it was time to go. I got back to sleep very easily though. We got in the next morning around 5 am, only 30 minutes late! Not too shabby!