From Hua Hin to Bangkok

The old train station in Hua Hin, restored.

We spent a morning at the beach in Hua Hin, making an effort not to get too sunburned.  After a shower, we packed up and checked out of our hotel.  The train back to Bangkok was scheduled to leave at 2:10 pm, so we decided to stop at a bookstore, get some lunch, and then meander slowly to the train station.  We did just that.  Once at the train station, we discovered the train was delayed, and was not expected to depart until 3:30 pm.  So we bought our tickets, found a small cafe and ordered cold drinks.  Waiting.  Drank our cold drinks.  Waiting.  Decided that the cafe was hotter than the outside air and walked back to the train station.  We found a spot in the shade where every now and then a breeze would cool us off.  I settled into some quality people-watching.  Sometimes, I get so absorbed with watching that I forget to take photos.  So I missed a photograph of an old monk lighting a cigarette.  The younger monk with him smiled a sweet smile at me, and I found myself wishing I could paint his portrait.  Women are not supposed to sit near monks, nor are we to touch them or their belongings.  I don't know why.  We also got to watch a photo shoot with two young Thais, a young woman and a young man.  They were wearing bright yellow t-shirts that said "I'm so happy."  I did everything I could not to be in any of the photographs.  There was even MORE waiting.  3:30 pm came and went.  The train ended up being about 1 hour and 50 minutes late. 

Waiting on the pink train.

Non, tippy seats on the sunny side of the train.

At long last we were underway again.  This time, we were wise enough to look out for tippy seats like the one I sat on for the journey out.  We also made a concerted effort to sit on the shaded side of the train.  Everything played out like a reverse of the day before: uniformed ticket puncher.  (click, click)  Drink and food vendors.  Landscape and scenery whipping past.  Stops at small train stations.  Etc.  Here are some of the things I saw:

A huge patch of lotus flowers.

You would think with all this green, the cows would be fat.  ???  I have yet to see a fat cow in Thailand.

Green and more green.

Cars waiting for the train.  I felt compelled to wave at all of them.

The young food vendor we bought spicy noodles from.  He did not get on the train.

There were a few things we passed too quickly for me to photograph.  One was monkeys that M pointed out to me.  I didn't see them until the last minute, and then I had the wrong lens on my camera.  I am also quite certain I saw a couple of alligators, swimming in water.  There is some debate about what it really was.  I had my eyes peeled for more, and I am pretty sure I saw another on the return trip.  It was dark by the time we reached Bangkok, and the glittering wats (temples) were beautiful in the dark night.  The return trip didn't only leave late, but it also took nearly one hour longer than the journey out.  It was fun, but we arrived exhausted, and of course sweaty and dirty.  We are back in the bustling, steaming Bangkok.  I will be here for a few more days, and then I have the long airplane ride to look forward to.  Hang in there, Pono - I am coming home soon!!!!

To Hua Hin on the train

Bang Sue Station in Bangkok

 We took a train to Hua Hin, where we stayed for one night before coming back to Bangkok.  I love trains!  Riding trains in Thailand is a great way to see a lot of the country, but you will only enjoy it if you are blessed with infinite patience.  If you are in a hurry, don't do it.  The train leaving Bang Sue Station in Bangkok was late.  M informed me this was the norm.  We did not take the more expensive, air-conditioned train to Hua Hin.  No, my friends, this train was a windows-open, no air conditioning kind of train.  The part that will really amaze you is that we paid more to take the subway from M's condo to the train station than we paid for a ticket to Hua Hin.  Hua Hin is a city on the coast, approximately 200 km from Bangkok.  If you want air-conditioning, it is more expensive and also a little bit faster.  According to M, the train we took provided the best adventure.   He was right.

There's a lot of waiting.

 This is how the day went:  get up fairly early and hoof it over to the subway.  Ride the subway to Bang Sue Station.  Walk over to the train station and buy tickets.  Wait.  Wait a little more.  Decide to use the bathroom, as a precautionary measure.  The train arrives.  I think it was only a half hour late.  Not bad.  Climb the metal steps.  Find seats.  Sit down.  The train slowly begins.  After a while, a uniformed gentleman comes to punch a hole in your ticket.  You know he is coming because he clicks his hole puncher all the way down the aisle of the train.  "Click"  "Click click click"  "Click click" 

The ticket puncher guys.

You then discover that the vinyl seat you are sweating on is broken, and tilts down toward the floor.  M offers to trade, but you don't want to sit backwards, so you learn not to wiggle too much.  Once the train is moving, the air coming in the windows actually feels slightly cool.  There is so much to see!  I find the rhythm of trains to be infinitely soothing.  If I weren't so busy LOOKING at everything, I would look just like this man:

While chugging through Bangkok, the train stops ALL THE TIME, and it feels like we will never get anywhere.  However, once we are outside the city, the train really does pick up speed, and I am encouraged.  A chubby little boy across the aisle from me eats sticky rice out of a plastic bag.  We mutually stare.  His mother is busy with the long-legged baby, and I can tell he is missing the undivided attention that was once his.  Food vendors walk up the aisles saying things loudly in Thai that I don't understand.  Some of the food I can figure out, but some of it is a complete mystery.  M has been on the train before and tells me what he has tried.  We buy a sweating soda from the drink vendor who carries a bucket of drinks and a handful of straws.  I practice taking photographs out of the window of a speeding train. 

The further we travel from the city, the nicer the little train depots become.  People get on and off, including new food vendors with new and exciting food.  We eat really spicy noodles and a big piece of satay chicken.  We pay more for the chicken than we paid for our train ticket.  There is a tiny old lady who collects trash, and M says she is the same one he saw the last time he rode this train.  She stays on the train for the entire ride.  Some of the food and drink vendors also remain for the entire trip, although there are vendors who get on while we are stopped and quickly get off before the train starts up again.  Between each station we have the clicking of the ticket puncher.  A note of caution:  even though there are announcements before each stop, they are all in Thai.  So if you are a foreigner, it is really important that you pay attention to the signs in front of the depot.  You don't want to get off on the wrong stop.

The uniformed conductor at one small depot.

 

Our spicy noodles, wrapped carefully.

Train lunch.  I was too hungry to take a photo of the chicken.

 It was a long, hot four hours before we reached the beach town of Hua Hin.  We arrived, dirty and sweaty.  Immediately after checking in to our hotel, we donned bathing suits and walked to the beach.  We couldn't wait to get into the water (Gulf of Thailand).  I never knew ocean water could feel so warm.  Hot, one might even say.  It still felt great.  I am sorry to tell you I didn't take one single photograph of the beach or the sea.  It wasn't such an impressive beach, being quite close to Bangkok and rather touristy.   I still have plenty of photos of the journey home the next day.  You will have to wait for the second half of the journey.  I'm all worn out now!