Gooood afternoon folks! Today, I depart Bangkok and head for Hat Yai! Are you ready to hop on this purple choo-choo train and travel 15 hours of train ride with me?
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| Byebye Bangkok City! |
Rok straps are honestly one of the best shitzz ever! Got all my bags firmly and neatly strapped up with it as I checked outta Bangkok and headed to Hua Lampong Railway Station!
Got to the station 1 hour before my train's departure time (15:00hrs) on this hot hot afternoon to purchase the train ticket for my bike. I couldn't find a proper entrance for vehicles to enter the railway station so.. I just rode my bike in together with everyone else walking.
After which I turned off my engine, got down and pushed my bike across the station to the ticket counter.
The ticket counter for Cargo such as bikes or other big bulky stuffs is located in front of Platform 11, different from the Passenger ticket counter.
Showed the ticket officer my Passenger train ticket and he arranged for my bike to be on the same one. There are cases where your bike and you goes up two different trains if the cargo/passenger section is full, but always try to insist for the same train if possible.
Presented my passport and vehicle registration documents (log card) for the purchase of my ticket. These documents are required for verification purposes.
Prices of tickets for bikes varies according to the engine capacity (125CC/200CC/400CC/800CC etc.) My Suzuki DR is 200CC and my ticket cost 1,400 baht (S$56).
Once I got my ticket, a young porter boy sticks a note on my bike that states "Hat Yai" as it's destination then he helps me by pushing my bike to the respective train's cargo section for loading.
Bike
We reached the cargo section, and I look at the train's platform. It's so high! How are they gonna get my bike up??
I unloaded all my bags and watched nervously by the side, telling the staffs to be careful and they just kept laughing at how anxious I looked -_-
Check out how easy the whole process is!
So all we needed is 3 strong guys who manually carried my bike up, into the train. It seemed as easy as 1,2,3! Up it goes and with their tie-downs, they firmly secured my bike with it standing upright.
So up my bike went and so am I!
Gosh, the train ride haven't started and I'm already drenched in sweat. What a delight to know that there isn't any showering facilities onboard!
Hahaha no problem. As long as there's tap with running water, we're all good.
Passenger
Carried all my bags, helmet, gears with me up the train and located my seat in the 2nd Class section as I settled in.
Ok let's see, the air con is strong, so that's good..
But wait, I purchased a "Sleepers Cabin" ticket because it's an overnight train ride. All I see is upright seats, how to sleep like that?
So I looked around and observed, I see catches and hooks, so I believe somehow these seats will transform into beds.. but how and when will it?
Guess I'll have to wait and see!
It's common for Thailand Railway trains to be delayed. After a slight 30 minutes delay, my train started to move off and we're on our way to Hat Yai :)
Toilet
Ok let's check out the loo loo.
I think it's a very important facility and based on the outlook of the train, I managed my expectations.. ahhaha but to my pleasant surprise, the toilet had ALOT of toilet paper and it was CLEAN!!
No foul smell, dry, and there's a window for ventilation.
There is a flush system but all the waste doesn't go to a sewage pipe but instead, out it goes onto the train tracks! How convenient! Hurhur.
Cafeteria
Non air conditioned, the decent sized cafeteria can seat about 30 people with huge train windows by every seat where you can look out to the view around.
Most people would just stick to the air conditioned cabins because it was pretty hot here.
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| Got my favourite Thai dish - Pork with basil minced meat and rice |
Meals and drinks are served onboard pretty often with mobile hawkers coming up the train at each train station stop. They'd walk through the cabins offering freshly cooked local meals neatly packed in baskets and would leave when the train moves off.
Prices are about the same as street foods, 25-30 baht for a packed meal though portions are slightly smaller.
Alrightie! I'm back at my seat, chilling, and let's see.. shit, I still have 14 hours more to go.
LOL.
The train is not WIFI-enabled but luckily I've got my Thai local SIM card so I have Internet access to surf the net, do some blogging on my MacBook that helped kill some time.
There are power sockets to charge appliances but it's not planted at every seat so it's best to fully charge your electronics prior to boarding.
I'm not someone who gets motion sickness easily but somehow I'm feeling a little bit from the slight bumps on the train. Closed my eyes and took a nap to ease it off.
When I woke up, it was sunset already.
Walked to the door and popped my head out to see which stop I'm now at already.
It's Chumphon! I remember that longgg road to Hua Hin from there.
Got back to my seat and was wondering what's gonna happen next.
At about 7:30PM, I hear some sounds.
I turned around and see this train staff transforming the upright seats into bunk beds!
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| Yay! I can finally lie down |
OH! So THIS is how it works! The upper deck bunk bed is kept during the day and when evening comes, there will be a train staff who will convert the bunk beds for the passengers.
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| Check out my comfy bed |
I remember asking the ticket officer which is better, upper or lower bunk and she gave me lower bunk as it's more convenient to access my belongings or to the toilet.
Clean sheets, pillow and blankets are provided to make sleeping as comfortable as possible on Thailand's Railway. Oh, and because the lights will remain on through the night, there are curtains to block out the light and also give that bit of privacy.
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| Washed up here |
With my GIVI bag placed on the rack beside, helmet hung on the ladder and valuables kept right next to me, I happily climbed into my comfortable bed for the night. Doesn't it look quite comfyyyy?
Haha.
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| The curtains are like jungle green |
Luckily my bed is situated right in the middle of the cabin, away from the train doors where the train track noise is much more noisier.
Time to sleep now. When I wake up tomorrow morning, I will reach Hat Yai and will be crossing the border from Thailand to Malaysia where once again, I'll face the monotonous North South Highway of Malaysia!
Goodnight people.
[Singapore.Thailand]
[Mileage Clocked: 8,227KM]
[Weather/Temperature: Sunny/36°C]
[Terrain: Tarmac]
Next: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia