Our plans are to head north out of here next Monday (7th March), that requires a journey to Chiang Mai so it's either an overnight bus at £13 or the sleeper train at £17. We chose the train option and consulted a very consise railway travel website www.seat61.com.
Armed with our passports we took a taxi to Hua Lamphong railway station to book our tickets. There are two ways to get there, the slow way or the express way. Our driver asked if we would pay the toll (£1), we did and we were off. I thought he was giving us a running commentary but he was continuously talking into his phone. I thought the bar staff in the York were never off their phones but the Thais are the worlds experts!
From the raised expressway you have great views of the city where the traditional lives cheek and jowl with the modern shiny hi-rise. It's definitely a city on the up as glass, steel and cranes dominate the landscape with the incessant sound of construction filling the air. What is also surreal is a giant hoarding of Matta, Rooney and Schwiensteiger looking down at you, bloody Man Utd - they get everywhere. Cost of the taxi - £2 including the toll, always ensure he puts the meter on.
At the station it was calm and serenity personified and we joined a queue to book our ticket. It was all done efficiently as we duly paid our money for the top and bottom bunk of an overnight sleeper compartment, 2nd Class, with aircon - not bad for £17 each. Now let's talk about rip off Britain where a standard ticket on the London to Fort William overnight sleeper out of Euston would cost an eye watering £155 per person - scandalous!
My next mission after the train ticket was to get my iPhone screen fixed - time to find a tuk tuk to get us to MBK shopping emporium. Getting one was no problem, negotiating the fee was interesting but we agreed on 100 baht (£2), after a photo call ( see below), we were off. Nothing beats the experience of riding around in one of these death traps on wheels - Elf & Safety would have a field day in the UK stopping these and making then fit seat belts - just hang on and enjoy the journey.
MBK is seven floors of shopping heaven (well, for some it is) where you can buy almost anything you want. Some genuine some...well, not so, but who cares. If a dodgy Rolex lasts me a couple of months and I've only paid a few quid for it, what the hell.
I arranged to get my iPhone screen fixed for a fraction of the price either EE would charge or some of the dodgy geezers in Morecambe - it took an hour, we went to eat. ( I'm writing a piece about food so will elaborate more then).
The phone was fixed and looked like new, now to get back home to the Chatrium. We'd travelled on the train system two years ago but under the guidance of my sister and brother-in-law, this time we were on our own. Also, last time we were here there were riots occurring all over the city and protesters had virtually locked it all down. Then, you could stroll easily on the roads because cars were stopped from travelling the now busy thoroughfares, thankfully the entrance to the station was on our side of the street.
We negotiated the self-service ticket machine and our journey from National Stadium to Saphan Taksin cost us 73p each for six stops on the Skytrain. The trains are immaculate. They are so clean, air conditioned and everyone is polite to each other - the Brits could learn a thing or two here!
From the station it's a short walk to the ferry terminal where we hopped on the free shuttle to the Chatrium complex where we were staying, it's only a five minute sail.
So for a days jaunt around a capital city it's cost us a mere £5.50 between us, looks like my pension will last out at this rate.
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