Butterworth to Bangkok Friday 13th May 2011

We took the 22 hour night train from Butterworth to Bangkok. When we arrived at the station I had to run straight to the ticket office and pick up our tickets. I hadn't, until that morning, seen the small print on the email, which said that we should pick up our tickets at least 12 hours before the train. We were worried!
The ticket office initially said that our seats were gone but after checking their computer systems told us that our seats were still vacant. We wandered around the station looking for a non-existent post box and found someone selling delicious banana bread. Two slices of this and two bananas cost 1 dollar AUD. As we waited in the station, gathering together a supply of snacks and water for the journey, the rain started to pour. It was torrential. thunder and lightening boomed and flashed around the area and the roof of the station started leaking. We stood inside the small seating area watching the downpour until it was time to board the train. Lightening flashed around us as we left Butterworth.
The train was a comfortable sleeper train, the type I have come to expect in Thailand. We had a double seat each which turns into a berth. The cost was 115 ringett each, about 35$aud. The train seats were comfortable and spacious. There is a removable table between the seats which is used for meals.
We reached the Thai border around 8 hours later (10.30pm) and handled all the visa stuff. This was to be our best border crossing by far! Efficiently, we were marched through a check point, handed in our Malaysian departure cards and then through another check point we got our Thai visas and off we went on the train again. The whole thing was like clockwork. Thai visas are free and available on arrival for Irish people.

Back on the train, I drifted into the semi-consciousness of a pixel puzzle book until we we ordered dinner. We were not expecting to get food on the train, so it was a pleasant surprise. We had to pay for it, of course, but the food was cheap and there was a vegetarian full menu too. We ordered dinner, drinks and breakfast. I got a beer with my meal, Paddy ordered a whiskey and coke was amazed to receive a full nagin of rum instead!
The food was better than aeroplane food.
The train trip was pleasant, travelling through lush jungle and little towns along the way. There seemed to be a lot of construction going on in Malaysia.
After the food and beers, the westerners on the train got chatting. There was only a few of us, so it really felt like being an 'expat'. There was a guy from Ireland, he was from Newcastle in Down and he was off to teach english in Laos. There was an American fellow who was working in Thailand as a voice actor and another American guy who was on his way back from spending a year in Korea. As we chatted, trading stories of our trip so far and our previous adventures, the efficient train crew made our seats into beds and we retired for the night.
It was really pleasant in the beds. They were comfortable, not too small and had a little curtain which gave you a great feeling of privacy. I love the feeling of having this little private world of the train bed, my own little reality between the curtain and the window. I fell asleep quickly as the world of green trees fluttered by.
The next morning I woke early, queued to wash up and brush my teeth and then had some breakfast.
We arrived at about 11.30 and got a tuk took from the train station to our hotel. We bargained him down to 100 baht which is good considering the distance. 31 baht is 1 aussie dollar which is 70c in euros roughly.
Being on a tuk tuk made me feel like I was really back in Bangkok again! Tuk Tuk's a ubiquitous here, especially in the tourist district. They are more expensive than a taxi but they know more of the city, always speak great English and are a lot of fun, but you have to bargain with them!