Our visit to Ayutthaya marks our first foray into Thailand without the benevolent guidance of our hosts who had the nerve to return to their own personal lives.
The first step involved walking several city blocks to a subway stop, buying our very own subway tokens, figuring out what to do with them (it's tricky, honest) and getting to the right subway for the Huamloughan (made up spelling) train station . Sound easy? Add thousands of people rushing to work, intense heat, transportation services that don't work in correspondence and who view adequate signage as aid to the enemy, and, of course, senility. Getting the picture?
Actually it is easy to find friendly and helpful locals and we made the train with time to spare.
The local "rapid" train...hmmmm. Part prop from old Western and part very flat wooden roller coaster, but slow ,really slow. Ventilation provided by wide open windows and oscillating fans on the ceiling. Toilet facilities ? A hole in the floor. Seats? Designed by the De Sade and well used. Hungry? Wait a second for a peddler to wander through and wave skewers of meat or styrofoam cups of green curry under your nose. The ticket explains the only rule--no animals. Yeah, as if a chicken or two would make a difference.
Actually clicking and clomping along was really pleasant and once we left Bangkok's rather depressing outskirts, scenic. Even enjoyed a 45 minute breakdown during which time us foreigners looked worried and the locals looked like they expected this. The amplification system explained the problem in Thai but with so much static and feedback no one could understand what was up and we all began not to care.
The "rapid" train got us the 75 km in three hours and we debarked, leaving behind those poor people who had. 11 more hours to go to Chiang Mai. They had my deepest sympathy but maybe if they had worked harder they could have flown.
The trip cost about 3.50 including the Tuk-Tuk to the guest house.
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