Monday, September 24, 2012

Train, planes, and automobiles…

We find that we are becoming familiar with the many forms of travel here in Thailand and each form  gives a different perspective of life and of the area. We opted to go into 'modern' Bangkok the other day and took a long tail boat up the river so that we could catch the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) and explore the city.  Traveling by boat one could see life from the waters edge. Their are  floating markets, where peddlers place their wares in small boats and one shops from boat to boat. People live on the waters edge in  houses built on stilts and as our boat travels by we are able to see life on the water. It looks hard to us but people maneuver around with a sense of familiarity and ease.

We got off the boat at the last pier on the route and crossed the street into the MRT world. Everyone moves quickly here and people come from…everywhere to hop aboard the sky train. We purchased an all day pass which allowed us to hop on and off at any stop. This was a good choice for us as we opted to get off at anyplace that looked interesting to us. We moved quickly from station to station and when we got off we were in the middle of the modern shopping area of Bangkok. It looked a lot like San Francisco. We had lunch at a chic cafe. We looked around at what other people were ordering and picked what looked interesting. We are still trying to eat something new each day and find we have a long way to go before we run out of new things to try.
The sky train is air conditioned so it is a comfortable way to travel. It rides on a track above the city  so you can see the enormity of the city from an elevated position. It is also fascinating to watch the vast number of people who come on and off the train. Young and old all enroute to somewhere.

We left Bangkok yesterday via the train. We heard that the countryside is very beautiful and the best view is from the train so we are heading Northward.  We rode second class which is the most comfortable way to travel. Reclining seats and air conditioning makes for a lovely adventure. We are heading to Chiang Mai with a few stops along the way…we are embracing all that is new to us and are excited to see where our journey leads us.

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