After our adventure in the north it is now time to go south. Destination is Koh Tao, tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand. Hiro will stay in Chiang Mai for a couple more days to settle her stuff but I left town yesterday evening.
This time my transport of choice is the train instead of the bus. Oddly enough the trains take much longer than the buses but they also offer additional comfort. I got a berth in an air-conned sleeper which basically has the size of a single bed during the night.
The “special express” left Chiang Mai at 6pm and was scheduled to arrive in Bangkok at 7am the next morning. That’s 13 hours, more than three hours longer than what the fastest bus takes.
But as already mentioned the additional travel time can be well spent with sleeping. With roughly 40 people in the car that was the biggest dorm I stayed in so far. Typical sleeping noises are not a problem though as the train is loud enough and it’s rocking is a gentle sleeping aid.
I woke up at a quarter to six and had my breakfast (sweets from the 7 eleven) while watching the sunrise. Nice!
The train was scheduled to arrive within the hour but it took almost another three until we arrived in Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong station. Special express my ass!
This evening I’ll board a train on the southern line to get to Chumphon from where the ferry to Koh Tao leaves. Right now I’m killing my time in the MBK centre, shopping and drinking coffee. They also have a huge food court and a cinema that shows English movies, plenty of weaponry to fight boredom.
In case everything goes smooth I’ll be on Koh Tao tomorrow at 9am. Hopefully the weather will be alright. It’s Thailand’s worst season at the moment (the very hot and wet one) and while I enjoy 30-35°C I don’t really need rain on a tropical beach.