We made it out!
Our exit from Koh Phangan to Surat Thani was actually not that bad. The rain was still pouring (I've had news from my friend, it's still raining there now too, supplies are low, she says its a dangerous walk to the shala, that 1 person's bungalow washed away into the sea and that it was smart I left.) and the swells were high but it was a proper ferry boat so we were safe. When we got into Surat Thani however, the ferry was unable to dock since the waves were so high. Instead they set up a gang plank and we exited one by one, handing over our bags first and then ourselves. Hands were held, and we were directed on where to place our feet, it was a slow process. I was so happy they were concerned with our safety and that patience was there.
From the boat we had a bus to the city center. We headed to the train station to get tickets to Bangkok and then to Chiang Mai. It was easy. No problem. Train to Bangkok left in a few hours (just enough time to get some snacks including freshly fried in coconut oil banana fritters sprinkled with sesame seeds--amazing-- for the ride and to have lunch) and when we arrived into Bangkok we only had a 3 hour wait for our train to Chiang Mai. Both train journey's would be 12 hours but the first was sleeper so, no big deal. And the second was supposed to be pretty scenery. Awesome.
We got into Bangkok with no issues. The pickings were slim on food though and we didn't have much in the way of options for our ride (dried bananas, salted peanuts, sesame seeds with honey and a few other left over snacks from the night before). It was no longer raining just cloudy and chilly (all the trains and busses blast A/C which we can't understand since everyone is clearly freezing) but we are dry and happy to be moving away from the floods. We've gotten into a rhythm and are settled rather quickly. We begin to look in our guide books and get excited about the things to see and do in Chiang Mai. About 3 hours into our ride we suddenly are shaking, and it feels like the train is hitting something. The noise is almost like going over several wooden planks. We tip a bit and the brakes are being slammed. Beth and I are grabbing each other, scared. The train settles and stops dead on the tracks. When we look to the left we see spattered blood along side our window. Beth is crying and I am hugging her hands and arms. Everyone is in shock. After a little while people are getting off the train to figure out what has happened. It's cold and windy outside but not raining. The driver and other train personal have begun to gather at the front of the train, inspecting it. I find out that we've hit 3 cows and killed them. It's awful. Beth and I both have tears and deep sadness for the animals. We are in shock. About 45 minutes pass before we all understand what is happening.
They are waiting for another car. We had backed up only a few hundred feet to the platform we'd just passed and are now all out of the damaged car with our luggage. Things seem to be getting organized. Within 1 more hour we are on a new car and moving again but we are going very slowly. Hours pass, we're freezing and hungry. All the train food is meat. I make a dinner from the rice with peanuts and dried bananas but it's not good. We have water and a toilet but we are filthy. We've been traveling for 5 days. We're really dirty, we stink. All of our clothes are wet and moldy. We don't have enough warm clothes with us to ever really feel comfortable. At about 10pm (1.5 hours after we were supposed to arrive in Chiang Mai) they tell us we're being shifted again to a bus. No one can get a straight answer as to why. There is 1 woman on the train that speaks both Thai and English, she is the translator for the 20 or so westerners, bless her. We park the train at a platform and move to the bus. About 2 hours later we pull into the Chiang Mai train platform. It's after midnight. COLD. We have called a guest house during the bus ride and have a reservation. We arrive, get into bed and finally get some rest at about 1.:30 am.
Today, we have found that Chiang Mai is vegetarian friendly. This morning we both did our yoga practice in the room, had a hot shower, dropped our moldy clothes off for washing, dried out our bags and now we've even eaten delicious vegetarian food and seen the sun.
Things are looking up.
I'll post pictures later when I have had a chance to upload them.
Our exit from Koh Phangan to Surat Thani was actually not that bad. The rain was still pouring (I've had news from my friend, it's still raining there now too, supplies are low, she says its a dangerous walk to the shala, that 1 person's bungalow washed away into the sea and that it was smart I left.) and the swells were high but it was a proper ferry boat so we were safe. When we got into Surat Thani however, the ferry was unable to dock since the waves were so high. Instead they set up a gang plank and we exited one by one, handing over our bags first and then ourselves. Hands were held, and we were directed on where to place our feet, it was a slow process. I was so happy they were concerned with our safety and that patience was there.
From the boat we had a bus to the city center. We headed to the train station to get tickets to Bangkok and then to Chiang Mai. It was easy. No problem. Train to Bangkok left in a few hours (just enough time to get some snacks including freshly fried in coconut oil banana fritters sprinkled with sesame seeds--amazing-- for the ride and to have lunch) and when we arrived into Bangkok we only had a 3 hour wait for our train to Chiang Mai. Both train journey's would be 12 hours but the first was sleeper so, no big deal. And the second was supposed to be pretty scenery. Awesome.
We got into Bangkok with no issues. The pickings were slim on food though and we didn't have much in the way of options for our ride (dried bananas, salted peanuts, sesame seeds with honey and a few other left over snacks from the night before). It was no longer raining just cloudy and chilly (all the trains and busses blast A/C which we can't understand since everyone is clearly freezing) but we are dry and happy to be moving away from the floods. We've gotten into a rhythm and are settled rather quickly. We begin to look in our guide books and get excited about the things to see and do in Chiang Mai. About 3 hours into our ride we suddenly are shaking, and it feels like the train is hitting something. The noise is almost like going over several wooden planks. We tip a bit and the brakes are being slammed. Beth and I are grabbing each other, scared. The train settles and stops dead on the tracks. When we look to the left we see spattered blood along side our window. Beth is crying and I am hugging her hands and arms. Everyone is in shock. After a little while people are getting off the train to figure out what has happened. It's cold and windy outside but not raining. The driver and other train personal have begun to gather at the front of the train, inspecting it. I find out that we've hit 3 cows and killed them. It's awful. Beth and I both have tears and deep sadness for the animals. We are in shock. About 45 minutes pass before we all understand what is happening.
They are waiting for another car. We had backed up only a few hundred feet to the platform we'd just passed and are now all out of the damaged car with our luggage. Things seem to be getting organized. Within 1 more hour we are on a new car and moving again but we are going very slowly. Hours pass, we're freezing and hungry. All the train food is meat. I make a dinner from the rice with peanuts and dried bananas but it's not good. We have water and a toilet but we are filthy. We've been traveling for 5 days. We're really dirty, we stink. All of our clothes are wet and moldy. We don't have enough warm clothes with us to ever really feel comfortable. At about 10pm (1.5 hours after we were supposed to arrive in Chiang Mai) they tell us we're being shifted again to a bus. No one can get a straight answer as to why. There is 1 woman on the train that speaks both Thai and English, she is the translator for the 20 or so westerners, bless her. We park the train at a platform and move to the bus. About 2 hours later we pull into the Chiang Mai train platform. It's after midnight. COLD. We have called a guest house during the bus ride and have a reservation. We arrive, get into bed and finally get some rest at about 1.:30 am.
Today, we have found that Chiang Mai is vegetarian friendly. This morning we both did our yoga practice in the room, had a hot shower, dropped our moldy clothes off for washing, dried out our bags and now we've even eaten delicious vegetarian food and seen the sun.
Things are looking up.
I'll post pictures later when I have had a chance to upload them.
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