Night train north to Chiang Mai

We did some on line research of train routes, fares and times.  This web site really helped - .www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm.  Here is a sample of the charts that give you times and stops.

Chiang Mai ► Bangkok
Train number:	106	112	102	12 *	52	14 *	2 *	10
Classes:	2,3	2,3	2,3	DRC	S,s,2,3	1,S,R	1,S,R	DRC
Chiang Mai depart:	-	-	06:45	08:45	14:50	16:30	17:55	21:00
Lamphun  arrive/depart	-	-	07:14	09:13	15:13	16:54	18:18	21:18
Phitsanulok  arrive/depart	08:59	10:18	14:15	15:08	22:40	00:05	|	03:51
Lopburi arrive/depart	12:27	14:48	17:47	18:05	02:50	03:32	04:04	06:30
Ayutthaya arrive:	13:28	16:05	19:14	18:53	03:49	04:40	05:13	07:21
Don Muang arrive:	14:13	17:03	20:09	19:27	04:39	05:36	06:04	08:04
Bangkok (Hualamphong) arrive:	15:05	18:00	21:10	20:25	05:30	06:40	07:00	09:10

With the distance and time involve we opted for the 1st Class sleeper at the price of $40 each.  It was well worth the cost.

Fares
	1st class sleeper  a/c express train	2nd class sleeper  a/c express train	2nd class seat a/c fast railcar	2nd class seat ordinary train	3rd class seat ordinary train
Bangkok to Chiang Mai (751 km)	1,453 (£29, $40)	881 (£18, $25)	611 (£12, $17)	431 (£9, $12)	271 (£5, $8)

Train travel in Thailand is a convenient way to travel.  A taxi to the train station is cheap and quick.  There's no security checkpoint, just jump right on the train.  The overnight train from Bangkok to Chaing Mai travels 700 kms and takes 14 hours.  Yes, that's 50 kms per hour.  Certainly not the bullet train here.  We were racing mopeds.

Bangkok train station

Our train car

There were 13 cars on this train.  Some were seats that reclined.  They were obviously the cheapest ($12) but the least comfortable-probably comparable to an airplane seat.  Next, second class compartments were for four people and they had a curtain for privacy.  We paid for first class, good thing because our two-person cabin came with a lockable door, sink and large upper and lower berths. 

Al, reclining in comfort with a nightcap

The next morning, well-rested

We thought we got our own private bathroom in a first class cabin.  We didn't.  We had to share with the other 22 people in the car.  Al went first to use it and when he came back he told me it wasn't too smelly and that it was at the end of the hall.  I went down the aisle and saw a door that said PUSH, so I did.
I found the Asian version of the toilet. 

A tricky toilet even when you're not on a moving vehicle.  I didn't use it.  I scurried back to the cabin, evaluating my options (really, thinking how can I not go for 14 more hours).  Al assured me he saw a toilet with a seat.  I looked at him like he had two heads because I only saw the hole in the floor.  I was wondering if there was some apparatus I had to set up, or a rope to hold.  Then we both figured out there were two styles of toilets-eastern and western, and the western (complete with seat and a shower if you could stand to be in it that long) was around the corner.

The train ride itself  is not smooth.  Al equated it to being dragged through the forest on the back of a trailer. The track gauge is narrow so you feel the side to side and up and down movement.  We were the last car of the train so we're not sure if that makes a difference.  The motion does lull you to sleep.  We had a great night's sleep.  So did our cabin boy.  He was passed out on the floor of the hallway.



All of the small train stations along the route were beautifully landscaped and well maintained.

 We rolled into Chiang Mai station and disembarked with an army of backpackers from all over the world.  Inside the station, it was just like on the TV show Pilot Guides.  There were many locals hawking cheap hotels and hostels which would appeal to the backpackers.  There weren't any taxi drivers inside the station.  We don't think they are allowed inside but once we got to the open air entrance they were lined up like barking dogs along an electric fence. They were all yelling, "Taxi, you want taxi?"  We thought taxi meant a 4 door car with a trunk.  Nope, not here.  In Chiang Mai they have TukTuks and songthaews, which translates as two rows.  These are all red Toyota pick up trucks. These trucks have been fitted with benches which run from front to back along the sides of the truck bed.  There is a roof and sides (with open windows) and the back is open.

Songthaew we took to the hotel
Check this out, Brad

The songthaew deposited us at the Furama hotel.  Our room is nice.  It's decorated Thai style.  The bed is a mattress perched on a wooden platform and it is the hardest mattress ever.  Al checked to make sure it really was a mattress and not just the box spring.  Now we know why Thai massage is so popular here.

Our room is equipped with a small kitchen including a fridge, and we needed to stock it.  The Thai beer, Singha, is tasty.  We spied a 7-11 and headed out.  It was 2:30 in the afternoon and hot and humid.  Inside the 7-11 the A/C was a welcome blast of cool  and the beverage fridges were fully stocked, and locked!  We both looked at the padlock and groaned.  Of course, as we learned the hard way in  Bangkok, beer isn't sold between 2-5 pm.  So sad :(

We went to the Night Market and there were a plethora of Thai massage options and no red light district.  There was lots of shopping-knock off watches and jewelry and also handicrafts from the Hill Tribes.  It's also very clean and nobody hassles shoppers.

This morning, we both woke up very well rested despite the firmness of the bed (and we're being kind when we say firm).