The official start of the trip home was marked by long lines at the ferry terminal/pier. For all of the holiday travelers, getting back to the mainland was a primary objective without many options – seizing the opportunity the ferry company temporarily raised their rates, by 150 Baht. They also gouged us on the charge for stowing the bikes - 500 Baht. We had no choice and just paid it. The first boat was quickly filled and left (without us). Another boat arrived in 45 minutes or so.
The voyage to the mainland (Chumphon pier) was uneventful, but crowded. The pier structure at Chumphon was the ricketiest I have ever seen. It was only marginally better than the closed suspension bridge in Khao Sok that we crossed anyway. The pier supports seemed like they were only bamboo sticks that were stuck in the sand/mud. Hopefully, they were more substantial than that but I didn’t want to check it out too closely. I also didn’t stop and hold up everyone to take a picture. The oddest thing about the construction was that they had put the “planks,” which were actually small slats of rather thin wood, only halfway across the span, so that they met in the center of the walkway. If you happened to step in this center area, chances are that your foot would slip through or that the end of the slat would break. The bikes rolled across these just fine, but I was glad I didn’t have a large suitcase with wheels because the surface of the walkway wasn’t level at all. Just a little something for diversion.
The Chumphon pier, like the Surat Thani pier, is nowhere near the town itself. It is at least 20-30 km away. After some hassling, we loaded the bikes on the top of a covered pickup truck and jumped in the back. We were delivered to the Chumphon train station where we had arrived three weeks before. There were no available train tickets left for that day/night. It was already dark and we opted for a local hotel. After a couple of weeks without, the hot water shower was particularly welcome.
Now for the fun part!
I occasionally use the phrase “Getting Sidetracked,” but I came to a new appreciation of the term after our experience this day.
The first, and presumably only available train north, was scheduled to leave at 6:40am. I awoke at 5:00, got dressed, packed, and ready to go. While Chris and Caroline were getting ready, a biked to the train station and bought our tickets. Third class was the only choice available. Caroline and Chris met me there and we paid for the bikes. Our tickets were 80 Baht each (less than $3) and the bikes cost us an additional 90 Baht each. The train wasn’t going all the way to the central Bangkok station, but to another station, supposedly nearby, called Thon Buri. Hope so.
Scheduled to leave at 6:40am, but actually left more like 7:30am. Most seats were already taken, but we managed to squeeze in with some of the Thai families who were the majority, by far, of the people on the train. I shared a seat with a guy and a woman who started out sleeping on the floor under the seat. Directly across from me were another woman and a couple with an infant (maybe 8 months old?). They must have had something in his bottle, because he only cried twice during the long train ride. Caroline and Chris eventually ended up sitting together right across the aisle from me.
There are many little towns with train stations – we stopped at all of them. More people piled on the train. Eventually, the aisles were full with people sitting or standing. Other people were sitting or standing in the area between the facing seats. The car wasn’t air-conditioned, but the windows opened all the way and the fans came on in the afternoon.
Every 5-10 minutes a food vendor would somehow negotiate a path down the aisle selling a variety of food. There was rice and meat? Wrapped in plastic and then newspaper, hard-boiled eggs with rice in a container, little hard-boiled eggs of some sort, fried chicken and packets of rice, skewered meats with rice, lots of soda, juice, and water choices, some cakes, and other types of foods. We were not feeling that adventurous and only got some drinks. The food looked good after I saw what it was. When the vendor passed by, it was difficult to tell what was being sold. The only English I heard on the train, with the exception of the occasional Sorry when someone bumped into me, was from Caroline or Chris.
Ok, so what about the side-tracked reference? I’m getting to it.
The stops at the stations were understandable and interesting; however, the train would eventually just stop in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason. We’d wait for 10, 15, 20, … minutes, and then a southbound train would come barreling passed us. There was only one set of tracks for most of the way, but occasionally, there were sidings were trains could pass. Getting side tracked diverts you from your goal, delays your progress, and frustrates your expectations. That’s what happened to us. Instead of arriving around 4pm, the train arrived in Thon Buri three hours later.
The station was just five minutes across the river from Bangkok, as the Chumphon station agent had told me. Part of the short time was due to the driving skills of our tuk-tuk drivers. We strapped each bike onto the back of a tuk-tuk, asked the drivers to stay together, and please take us to Khao San Road, where inexpensive guesthouses are located. In retrospect, I wish I had pictures of all of the ways the bikes got transported, but usually the transfers between modes of transportation were fast and hectic with no time for picture-taking.
If we were looking for the fastest, most comfortable way from Chumphon to Bangkok, our journey was an utter failure. If we were interested in seeing Thai people firsthand, the day was successful. If we were interested in an incredibly cheap journey across about 500 miles of Thailand, the day was a raging success.
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