Bangkok day 4

Our last day in Bangkok – we leave on the sleeper to Surat Thani tonight on our way to Koh Samui. We are glad we came to Bangkok , but we won’t be hurrying back. There is definitely more we could have seen – at our slowing pace four days isn’t long enough, but paradoxically it has been more than enough. Bangkok is dirty and choked with car fumes. Streets seem to be either shuttered and deserted or encroached on by stalls which take up the pavement space and make it difficult to walk with any degree of comfort. And always there is a seedy undercurrent. There are so many western men here with Thai women and none look very happy with the situation. How many times we’ve seen these couples sitting in glum silence looking for all the world as if they would rather be anywhere else. On a more positive note, there is some superb Lanna architecture and plenty of it with wats at every turn. There are interesting pockets to explore amongst the dreary buildings and walking down the Soi can throw up some interesting sights like coming across a open-sided boxing gym where a group of westerners are being taken through warm up exercises by a Thai coach or people sitting in the street watching Thai boxing on the TV. We also discover that the network of Soi that run off Samesen Road towards the river have a very different and much more charming cafe atmosphere campared to Khao San Road only a stone’s throw away. The sleeper leaves at 7.30pm and we arrive with plenty of time to spare. We have discovered that in Thailand it’s possible to board the train up to an hour or more before it departs and arriving early makes stowing luggage and settling in much easier – unless of course others have the same idea, which they do today. As we sit on the platform waiting to board three men work their way down the train cleaning the windows and sides of the carriages; one to soap it, one to wipe it down and a third to hose it down. Oh, and a fourth who comes along afterwards with a squidgy to remove excess water from the platform. The sleeper rolling stock is by the far the oldest we have travelled in and although clean has an ingrained grimy look from many years of use. The seating and sleeping arrangements are similar to those on the Chiang Mai to Bangkok train only luggage is stowed on racks in the aisles rather than under the bottom berths. Someone has a child who is spends the hour before the train leaves repeated squealing at an ear-piercingly high pitch and the Thai lady above Andy is sharing her berth with a dog, which is considerably better behaved than the child! But as on our previous journey one the berths are made up passengers retreat behind their curtains to snatch what sleep they can.