8/2/10 (bangkok)
Jon Carr
Bangkok - Chiang Mai
This was our final day in Bangkok as we were headed out to Chiang Mai via the overnight train. These long trips are always an adventure and we were excited to try our first train ride. I woke up early to put the final touches on my New Zealand edit and Annie worked to tidy up Paul’s condo. We gathered the items to be sent back to the states including 3 autographed Principles of Thai Cookery books, a Cambodian and Bali Lonely Planet, a back up hard drive, and a canister of Malaysian tea. After a quick lunch at Top’s Market, our favorite neighborhood grocery store, we were off to seek out the Thai post office. It is rainy season and as we navigated the neighborhood streets the rain poured in sheets. Luckily Paul had two umbrellas in his condo that helped us stay dry. We found this obscure post office tucked behind a large bank and the Thai employees worked hard to bridge the language gap to help us deliver our large package to America. It cost $50 US and we have lightened the load on our travels. After the post office, Annie and I split up to run our own errands. Annie had a credit at a used book store she was going to cash in and I was off to the Emporium mall to shop for some new hiking shoes. I purchased a pair of Gore-Tex Solomon’s before leaving the US. I had used them for several session of Basic Training before leaving to break them in as well as a few hiking adventures during our travels. The problem was that because they were packed deep within my suitcase they never really had a chance to dry out and began to stink. I am sure the Gore-Tex contributed to this as well. They were not breathable. I had soaked them several times and sprayed them with Fabreze in Australia to no avail. I wanted to hold onto them because they were very expensive to replace in Asia. I had them tucked away in a plastic bag deep in my suitcase and that seemed to keep them subdued. It was very muggy in Bangkok and when we left the air conditioning off at Paul’s things began to smell a little funky. By process of elimination we determined it was the shoes and I felt pretty embarrassed that the smell was my own. I quickly decided to retire the shoes and made a trip to the mall to find some new ones. After an hour, I was unable to find a suitable replacement and decided to see if I could find something in Chiang Mai. When I returned to the condo, Annie and I completed our final clean up and made our way to the train station. We took the Sky Train to the subway and arrived in a half hour. It is always an adventure navigating the subway stairs and turn styles with a sizable amount of luggage. We arrived at the train station an hour early and had purchased our tickets a few days prior. We settled into some seats and I enjoyed some Thai music videos on a jumbotron as Annie searched out some dinner. Annie went with her customary noodle soup and I then settled for some KFC and two Dunkin’ Donuts for dessert. It was a mad dash when the time came to board the train and I waited last to step aboard. It was much like boarding an airplane as you struggle a narrow corridor trying to squeeze past people busily loading their luggage into the appropriate bins. The main difference between an airline and the train was that everyone has all of their luggage and I worked hard to roll my main suitcase around all of the obstacles. Our seats were the first in the car and after a few minutes of settling in a Thai attendant kicked us out of our seats and unfolded and made our beds. We settled in for a bumpy Thai style ride up to Chiang Mai. I took an Ambien and looked forward to exploring Thailand’s oldest city tomorrow.
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