What's the worst that could happen on a sleeper train?

Landing in Bangkok, I could feel the stickiness from humidity from that first step off the plane. Showering is almost useless since sweat appears immediately after a cold shower. Bangkok is a lively city filled with people, cars, shops, and everything you could possibly imagine. After a day, I wanted to ship home everything that I packed because I could basically buy anything I needed for a fraction of the price at home. I spent two days staying on Khao San Road, where backpackers basically drink and shop all day. Walking around, you see more tourists than Thai people, but I chose to stay here for easy access to tourist needs for my SE Asia introduction. A total false sense of security for me to blend in and feel safe, but it soothed my mind....
  
And since I had been craving that papaya salad before I left California, my first Thai dish from a random street stand was this lovely plate.


It was only after 5 big mouthfuls that I thought "Oh shit. How long has this shredded papaya been sitting out? Did they rinse with tap water? Will I be drowning in digestive troubles on the second day of my trip??" And since it was too late to worry, I enjoyed every last bite of that juicy wonderful heap. It really was better than any papaya salad I've had in the States.


For those of you who think traveling alone is dangerous or you could never do it, in my 6-person hostel room, all of us were traveling solo. I had the pleasure of enjoying dinner with 3 of them and two of us decided to continue into the night for my first drink in Bangkok.

Thailand has these things called buckets all over the place. I was weary of them, but Kelsey got one for herself. It's the fastest path to s***-faced and it tastes absolutely disgusting with a mix of coke, redbull, and your choice of alcohol. I decided to go with a mojito (surprising, I know, but I did end the night with some local whiskey on ice...)



The next day was spent exploring temples and Chinatown. I met two other solo girls on their way out of the hostel for their first day in Bangkok and invited myself along (hey...I asked nicely). And here's the obligatory temple picture:

 

Later that evening, I gladly left Bangkok to jump on the 12-hour sleeper train to Chiang Mai. I had booked my tickets the day before and they were out of the first-class individual compartments for that train so I had to go with a second-class train that you share with others. The worst thing that could happen besides a train wreck was that I get stuck with a crazy nomad that hasn't showered for days and decides to steal my stuff. Never did I imagine my bunkmates would be quite the opposite although it could easily be someone's worst nightmare. Introducing the terror....

And his buddies:

Getting on the train, I immediately could hear and see around 10 children running around and eating KFC. As I approached my bunk, I realized I would be sleeping amongst that family because children are only allowed to sleep on bottom bunks. My initial thought was a rather unpleasant chain of expletives due to much-needed sleep, and then I just laughed at the situation. Turns out the family is actually Thai-Chinese, so I was able to talk to one of the mothers in Chinese. They were on their way home to the rural areas of Chiang Mai after spending the holidays in Bangkok and it was the first time the children had been on the train. 

Apparently there is a huge population of Chinese in the rural areas, enough that they teach Chinese in their schools. They spend the first half of the day with lessons in Thai and the second half with lessons in Chinese. Anyway, minus the random early morning peek-a-boos with the bunk curtains, the kids were rather fun to be around. The lull of the train and the exhaustion from jet lag resulted in an awesome 7-hour night of sleep. I am now currently in Chiang Mai and will update later. I absolutely love this city.

And I'm on the board!

Mosquitoes: 16     Nancy: 1

Much Love,

~N