East to Hedon

Today, we are continuing on south. Which meant getting up at 5 AM for a 6:15 AM pick-up to get to the bus station. We left the EZ before any of the staff were up; we couldn’t find anyone to return our 200 Baht “Room Cleaning Deposit” and, since there wasn’t any drop-box, we had to just leave the key in the hotel room.

Moon over Sukhothai Bus Station.

We got tickets for the 6:40 AM Second-Class Air-Conditioned Bus from Sulkhothai to P’Lok; an incredible bargain at just 82 Baht (about $1.10 USD) for the two of us. And just like the last bus we took, they actually left the station about five minutes early. Note to self: the intercity buses seem to be the only things that run on-time in Thailand. So, don’t be late when trying to catch one of these.

The 0640 bus from Sulkhothai to P’Lok.

Front of the bus; driver sits to the right at the extreme bottom.

It was a 45 minute bus ride into Phitsanulok (known to the locals simply as “P’Lok”) and then a very short hop on a tuk-tuk to the train station (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phitsanulok_Railway_Station). This is where we bought our tickets for the Second Class Air Conditioned Train (just over 500 Baht total for both of us) for Ayutthaya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayutthaya_(city)); incidentally, this city is also sometimes called, the “Venice of the East”. Meanwhile, we had about an hour to kill. So, we found a place just outside the station for i-coffees and picked up some street-food for breakfast. The breakfast of champs; stir-fried Chinese sausage and mixed veggies over rice… very tasty; some of the best Chinese sausage I’ve ever tried.

Street-food breakfast and i-coffees.

Tuk-tuks, P’Lok-style. They look like they were taken from a children’s fair-ride.

While eating breakfast, we just generally people-watched. We also saw some new (for us) versions of the ubiquitous three-wheeled transports that seem to be everywhere in Thailand.

“New” kind of cargo-trike.

Good thing the driver has a high seating position.

Apparently people are cargo too.

After breakfast we headed out onto the platform level; we were looking for Platform 2.

Looking south from Platform 1.

Apparently, you just sauntered across the live train tracks to get to Platform 2.

Looking north from Platform 2.

… and more people-watching.

Nice to see the kids have a safe place to run and play….

A cross-dressing panhandler. Nice bra, bro… although I think the tutu is a little over the top.

The ticket staff even seated all the Farangs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farang) on the same car.

Gathering all the Farangs for Car No. 3.

This station still has Station-Masters signalling the trains using semaphore.

They still use semaphore to signal the trains.

The train, unlike the buses, was about 20 minutes late but on we got, and off we went.

Interior of the Second-Class Air Conditioned (sort of) train Car No. 3.

Country-side in motion through smokey haze and grimy windows.

Simple but effective door lock

Travelling with her mom.

We had grabbed a hurried bite in P’Lok but we apparently didn’t need to worry about going hungry during this ride; at least as long as we were willing to try street-foods. There was a constant stream of vendors going through the cars offering everything from pre-packaged snack-foods, to roasted corn, to hot or cold drinks, and even BBQ’ed meats and wrapped lunches. Other than the air-con being somewhat over-whelmed by the day’s climbing temperature there was only one thing that was of any concern. For most of the ride, I was seated next to a guy we nicknamed, “TB Terrance”. He looked generally unwell and was constantly coughing and looking like he was going to hurl at any moment; at least he had the presence of mind to cover his mouth whenever he coughed. After about 2/3 of the trip, he must have taken pity on me because he got up and moved to a newly vacated seat.

After about 4 hours, and a stop at just about every backwater town along the way, we arrived at Ayutthaya Train Station. The city is about 2 hours north of Bangkok by train.

We’re here!

Platform Level of the Ayutthaya Train Station.

From there, it was an 80 Baht (about $2.75 USD) tuk-tuk ride to Tony’s Place Bed and Breakfast (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g303897-d1314786-Reviews-s1-Tony_s_Place-Ayutthaya_Ayutthaya_Province.html). The big difference we already had noticed between this city and the parts more northern was, the oppressive levels of heat and humidity. We had thought the other cities had been hot and sticky; apparently we were mistaken – this place is the very definition of walking around in a sauna (while wearing clothing and carrying a pack or two). We were both already drenched in sweat and were very much looking forward to cooling off with a shower.

Tony’s Place even features a pool!

Once we got our core temperatures back into the merely hyperthermic range, we headed downstairs to their restaurant; I guess melting into our flip-flops didn’t manage to kill our appetites at all. Their food was a pleasant surprise with well-prepared dishes that were definitely not spiced with just the Farang-palate in mind; their Chicken with cashew nuts was one of the best we have tried in Thailand. Two of our waitresses(?) were even lady-boys. One couldn’t quite maintain her falsetto, but the only clue that gave the other away was the hint of a 5 o’clock shadow. After lunch, we retreated to the air-conditioned comfort of our room for a well-deserved siesta – after all, we did drag our sorry butts out of bed at 5 AM… and while on vacation!

In order to find dinner, all we had to was walk across the street. We found a nice little bar and restaurant called, the Chang House (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g303897-d1771066-Reviews-Chang_House-Ayutthaya_Ayutthaya_Province.html). They serve tasty food and cold beer at a great price; three dishes and two large Chang beers for 375 Baht (about $12 USD). While on the subject of beer; when we were travelling through Vietnam in 2010, we picked up their local habit of drinking beer poured over ice. I know it sounds just plain wrong; it did to us too at first. However, it is hard to beat the miraculously thirst-quenching and soul-reviving abilities of ice-cold Lager-style beer served in a glass full of ice; especially, after you’ve been melting into your shorts. And remember my mentioning the heat and humidity? You probably thought we were light-weights didn’t you? Well, we saw the local Thai waitresses fanning themselves, mopping their brows, and sitting down to rest whenever they could. Even they said it was “too hot”. How hot is too hot? How about over 40 Degrees Celsius (almost 110 Degrees Fahrenheit) with a humidex putting the felt-temperature well above that! And we haven’t actually reached the south of the country yet.

The road we were on is something of a “Farang-central” (mostly for the Flash-packer and middle-aged tourist crowd) and there were bar/restaurants on both sides of the street. It had a nice “happening vibe” but without seeming tawdry or sleazy; must have been the absence of obvious hookers and too-“friendly”-for-comfort lady-boys. The area seemed to have a pleasant “stuck in the 60’s and 70’s” kind of feel with recorded music and live cover bands playing favourites from these era’s – some of these bands were pretty damned good. It must’ve been “surf-rock night” because at least two of the bands were blasting out really decent covers of that genre. However, what really made the Chang House our choice was their music; Country… not modern pop-Country, but real honest-to-goodness twangy old-school Country music from the 50’s and 60’s. We found out later that the owner loves this stuff. I know I’ve probably over-used the word, surreal; but that was what this experience was. Sitting at a table out on the road (all the restaurants had their tables taking up a driving lane on each side of the street), drinking beer on ice, and smoking an after-dinner cigar in the tropical heat while listening to Patsy Cline, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr., The Carter Family, and the list went on and on… it’s truly hard to imagine a day that ends much better than this.

An after-dinner cigar while listening to old-school Country Music tunes.