(By train)

We showed up an hour early for the 6:20 train just like the ticket man said to the night before, “for the bicycles.” Well, that was completely unnecessary, as the ticket window was closed. When the same guy opened the window 20 minutes later, he asked if we wanted on the train about to pull up, and we said sure. So we bought tickets: 196 baht each for us plus 80 baht per bike. We rushed our bikes out as the train came in, took the panniers off and got them to the cargo car near the front. We then noticed our seats were in car fourteen near the back of the train! Since the train was about to pull away we hopped on the first passenger car, and walked with all our panniers–getting disapproving shakes of the head from train employees–through several sleeper cars and passenger cars to the fourteenth one, which turned out to be a third class fan car. Well, at least it was early!

The ride took about five hours and was ok, though next time we’ll be sure to ask for second class air-con. We had a snack at the train station and then had a crazy, adrenaline-inducing ride to the western Banglampu area to find a guest house. The Rough Guide noted a few, and we tried our top three choices. The first two were full, then we tried Baan Sabai on a quiet, smaller road near the river off of Phra Athit.

We will spend the next few days getting visas, shopping for bike items, and getting caught up with ourselves before heading to Cambodia.