Thailand: Trainin'

Defenders of the Italian dictator Mussolini are supposed to have said "he kept the trains running on time." My one experience with the Thai Railway: they keep the trains running on time. Without a brutal dictatorship. Or a world war.

Got to the train station in plenty of time. A cavernous building, straight out of the 1930's. Large waiting area, plenty of seats, people of all ages and luggage situations, kiosks selling everything (even Dunkin Donuts!)

Suddenly, our train is posted as having arrived. Hustle everyone and everything together, charge down the track, find the car, climb on, barely get on....and the train departs. Exactly on time. (In fact, our Habitat person barely got off before the train started moving.)

So there we are, occupying most of the car, 2nd class section (but with A/C--that was an option that Habitat apparently thought was worth the extra cost.) Car may well have been 50+ years old, but seats were comfortable, reclined, had more leg room than planes (unless you're in business class). Trainman quickly discerned that I was the leader of the group (I had all the tickets) and took me under his wing (he recognizes "dumb" when he sees it.) Each time he passed by, he gave my arm a little squeeze--the kind you give to older folks to say you'll take care of them. Which was nice, since otherwise, we were entirely on our own.

Train moved fairly slowly, with frequent stops, as it went through the density of Bangkok. Density diminished, stops got further apart, then vista changed. Rice paddies, vibrant green, some with water buffalo pulling the tiller, others with a man with a mechanized tiller.

Occasional stops at small towns with their iconic train station, complete with a photo of the smiling (and much younger) King. Flowers, some religious symbols in some of them as well.

Rice paddies ended, land dried out and got a little hilly. Clearly agricultural, but don't know what crop. And then the rice fields returned, also perhaps with fish ponds but I can't be sure.

Vendors came through the car periodically selling various kinds of food, snacks, beverages. We had (wisely) brought our own supply of water plus a box lunch that Imp had had prepared somewhere near our hotel. So we didn't have to venture/risk the food on board.

Boredom set in about 6 hours into the journey, which was problematic since the schedule called for 10 hours and Imp told us to expect more. A little later, the trainman came past and held up 2 fingers. We guessed that meant 2 more stops before ours, hoped it didn't mean 2 hours more, and knew it didn't mean 2 minutes more. Then 1 finger. Then "now." Gathered our belongings quickly, emerged from the car....to a small group of people holding a Habitat sign welcoming "John's Team" for an Adult Build. Greetings, introductions, get into the vans, short ride to the hotel. And we're here in Udonthani.

Train station was right by a large, outdoor "night" market that was quite active. Must check it out some night. Also noticed, bright as can be, a McDonald's sign.

Though a little longer than we would have chosen, everyone agreed the train was a better choice than flying--a more leisurely way to make the transition, see a little countryside, get a little sense of people and place. But no one is complaining about taking the 1-hour flight back instead....even though the Thai trains do run on time.