Night Rider

We felt like a couple of kids when we arrived at the Chiang Mai train station this afternoon. We are taking the overnight train to Bangkok and then onward to Siem Reap, Cambodia. People ask us why we are not flying and all I can say is that we have become enamored by our recent mode of travel and that it is our preference at this time. We reserved a sleeper car which has two upper berths and two lower berths. We got into our compartment and we were excited to get settled in. Our berth was spacious and we have the whole area to ourselves. We soon set up house. There is a dining car but we opted to have dinner in our room.

 Train travel is reminiscent of another era. There is a lot to be said about the sounds and gentle motions that the train makes as you journey out of one world and into another. Granted, it may not be the fastest way to travel but it is one of the most picturesque.  We are able to see the merging of small towns into the countryside. We experience rice field after rice field and watched the farmers with their oxen and scythe as they harvest their crops.  This travel gives us time to contemplate our journey and realize that we are traveling through Southeast Asia and seeing things we had only imagined or read about before. We are not  in a hurry, in fact we are savoring these moments as if this would be our last time to see these areas in this way.

We will soon arrive in Bangkok. We see the congestion of traffic as we move ever forward. We will head to the Northern Bangkok bus station where we will catch a bus to  Aranya Prathet which is the border town between Thailand and Cambodia.  From there we walk across the border to Poipet and catch a Cambodian bus to Siem Reap. We have slept well and comfortably and are ready to visit Cambodia and see what lies there for us. We will let you know...