We got to the train station earlier this afternoon with plenty of time to spare, so we stashed our luggage and headed out to nearby China Town. We explored a wat with the “world’s largest golden Buddha” and snapped a few photos of the China Gate. We wandered down some interesting alleys, glanced into some old monk cells, disapproved of a restaurant selling shark-fin soup, stopped for tea and people-watching, browsed some Chinese coffins, and were thoroughly underwhelmed by the “busiest intersection in all of Bangkok.” We did this all in a little over two hours and we got back to the train still with an hour to kill.
Back at station, we noticed that we blended in quite well with the swarms of western tourists who were also headed to the beaches. While waiting for our train, we both took turns exploring the station. Ashlee scored me an issue of today’s Guardian newspaper and an English-language travel magazine for herself. I brought back a couple of stale treats from Dunkin Donuts. Since we weren’t sure about the dining facilities on the train, we also picked up dinner from KFC.
We boarded the train fine and made it to our cabin. As I mentioned earlier, we decided to spring for a first class sleeper cabin. We have a tiny place to ourselves with a couch that converts to a set of bunk beds and a sink that – don’t tell Ashlee – I just saw a small cockroach crawl out of while brushing my teeth. The AC also works in strong stints – 15 minutes of frigidness followed by 10 minutes of humid warmth. It’s ok, tomorrow we will be in paradise!
As noted above, the train does not go all the way to Phuket. At 6:30am the train should arrive in the small town of Surat Thani where we will board a bus headed to Phuket.
As for now, we just placed our breakfast orders – it should be interesting – and now it’s lights out!
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