Originally I had planned to get the train back, but we felt we had experienced this now, and saw that mini vans run every hour. One of the drop off points was Khao San Road, so it seemed easier for us than train and taxi as we only had to walk one block. The van was quite full and we were the last to be picked up. So we had to climb over bags and boots but probably ended up with seats with more room than those in the back. The trip was uneventful, taking about two and a half hours and we were at the hotel by around 2.30. Not sure why, but this time we ended up with a room twice as big. Nothing extra in it, just a lot of space.
It didn't take us long to be out walking again. A different direction this time, and we found even more markets and food stalls. The food stalls are just amazing, we can't believe how many there are and the variety of food you find on them. Sometimes we just stop in amazement.
Wednesday morning I wanted to do something a bit different. All the tourist info I had read said the action was on the river and we are only ten minutes from it. So we jumped on a ferry, having no idea where we were heading to, gave the lady the amount of money the internet said the ferry cost. Fortunately she had a little English, asking us where we wanted to go. Considering we didn't know, we just said a few stops. As we were coming into a stop, she shooed us off. We wondered if we had underpaid or something, but no, it was the main tourist stop, near the Grand Palace, so we think she was helping us out. Thank goodness for iphones, as I could see we were only 1.5 k's from the hotel, so we headed in that direction, passing even more market and food stalls, some temples and various other sites in the area.
Bangkok water view
Thursday after breakfast it was check out time. Our room was one of the allotted day rooms, so we didn't need to check out yet, just let another couple store their bags in there. We all walked together to the waterfront where we boarded two long boats. These took us into a world we hadn't realised was there, life on the canals of Bangkok. It was just like another road system, but on the water. Housing varied from shanties barely holding together to luxurious mansions.
Choppy water from our long boat
Canal housing
No it's not flooding but street signs and power poles in the canals
More opulent housing on the water
After leaving the boat at another pier, we made the short walk to the Wat Po, a huge reclining Buddha, where our guide took us through explaining everything to us. When we had finished the tour it was free time. Some chose to go to China Town, some the Grand Palace, and others like us, just chose to walk back. We were in the same area as the day before, so knew our way around by now, taking a slightly different route back.
The Buddha's intricate base of the feet
Big reclining Buddha
Guard statue at a gate
One of four temples
Buddha statues in a row
We have got our clothing and bits and pieces down to two backpacks for the tour, leaving our large bags in storage at the hotel. As we were about to get into the lift with them, we were remarking how light they were now, when Jim suddenly wondered if we could fit one into the other. So back to the room, and sure enough, they did, so the storage only cost half our original estimate. Enough for another massage reckoned Jim.
Everyone met in the lobby for our trip to the train station. We piled people and bags into two mini vans and headed off. I had checked before hand and could see the station was a distance of about 4 kilometres, but the traffic is so slow, I think we could have walked it in not much more. Our overnight train was due to depart at 6.15, but we were able to board well before this. We had a second class carriage and were quite surprised at how good and how comfortable it was.
We each had a double seat facing the other. At meal time a table slots in between. We had all ordered the train meal, a set of five dishes for only 170 baht. It was surprisingly good, a soup, two types of meat dishes, steamed rice and fresh pineapple to finish off with. The train had left promptly on time, and our meals were brought out around seven. The biggest complaint we all had was the airconditioning - it was freezing. Everyone was grabbing whatever they could to try and warm up.
Our train carriage
The top bunk, not smiling as much
Then the staff came around to make the beds. This is where the inequality came in. The double seats facing each other drop up and down and make quite a large bed. But the top bunk that folds down is about half that width. It has two seat belts from the ceiling to the bunk so you can't roll out. There were some ongoing discussions among the group before beds were finally and in some cases reluctantly agreed upon. Both beds have their own curtains, but half the ceiling lights are left on for security, so thank goodness for eye masks, especially on the top bunk.
In the morning we all agreed it was quite an experience, but very few got a lot of sleep. We watched dawn rise as we got closer to Chiang Mai. The train even arrived a little early, and Tudto had contacted the drivers so they were waiting for us. It was only about a ten minute drive to our accommodation. Much to our delight, ours was one of the rooms available, so it was straight up for a nice long shower.
Our group alighting the train in the morning
At ten we all met in the lobby, and back into the minibuses for the trip to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. This beautiful temple is on the top of a mountain, with a long windy drive up to it. Once we arrived we then had 306 steps to climb to the temple itself. Chiang Mai is our guides home town, and this is her temple, so she was able to give us lots of information about it. It was a shame the day was very misty and not at all clear as it would have been a beautiful view to look down onto the town.
Climbing the stairs
At the top
Bells
After returning it was free time, and after some lunch Jim and I put on our walking shoes and made our way to the centre of the old town. Here is a very ancient temple, reminding us very much of what we had seen in at Angkor Wat. I'm not going to bother saying where Jim went in the afternoon or the afternoon the day before. I have cut him back to either an hour once a day or two hour every second day.
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