Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Goodbye Paradise, Welcome to Hell (Day 9)

By my calculations, there was no way that we could make it to the Thai border and get on a train to Bangkok from the island all in one day. We planned to make it to Khota Baru and spend the night there before continuing on to the border and ultimately Bangkok. However, while we were checking out of our bungalow, we met a guy from Australia who was also headed to Bangkok and planned to hop the next boat to shore, quickly catch a cab to the border, cross customs, get to the train station and catch the last train to Bangkok, which left at 2:20 and traveled through the night. We decided to join him as splitting the taxi would save money and we figured we would make it there faster. We said goodbye to our friends

and our view and home in paradise

and were on our way. The boat ride back took forevere because of some confusion picking up passengers from the big island and we got to shore 40 minutes later than expected. We caught a cab that drove slow, but got us to the border faster than we expected. We rushed across the border and had about 10 minutes to get to the train station. We frantically grabbed a motorcycle with a makeshift side car that looked just like this

and rode to the station. We barely fit on the plywood bench of the sidecar and were bouncing all over the place. We had no Baht for the train tickets and they would not let us pay with Ringits, so Matt (our Australian friend) offered to spot us for the tickets and we promised to pay him back in Bangkok. We had to hurry as the armed military guards were holding the train for us and looking impatient. The only seats we could get were the 1st class sleeper or the 3rd class, no aircon, seats. We went with the 3rd class seats, which were upright benches with "cushions that were supposed to seat three people each somehow.

The windows were open and a nice breeze blew in. Fortunately, we would only be riding this things for...18 hrs! Well, that's what the book told us anyway. Because the train traveled about 24 miles/hr through the night, it actually took about 24 hrs. At least the seats weren't filled...until we reached Yai, when all of the people, vendors and livestock boarded. Well, just a couple of chickens here and there, but no big deal. This made it very uncomfortable and we were literally shoulder to shoulder. My sister found some open seats in another car and we just rode and took in the views.





I sat and talked to Matt for a while and he told me about his trip so far with the two British girls and how he was finishing his trip alone, despite being only 20. We ordered some food, which was surprisingly decent for train food. I ordered the green curry chicken, which was actually spicy and very delicious

and some cashew chicken, which had very good flavors and was very refreshing.

We then just listened to music and watched the amazing scenery that is Southern Thailand.







As the sun set, we tried to find a place to sleep. The train was so crowded that most people had to sleep sitting upright. A few people were sleeping on the filthy, disgusting floor underneath the seats, but we weren't going there. I managed to find a broken seat and lay across it with my feet across the aisle at least for a little while...until I was awoken by the loud screeching sounds of Thai women selling God-knows-what at about 1 am. Oh, this was the worst sleep I have ever tried to get in my life...

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