Story / 30 Sep 2016 / 0 COMMENTS

A train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai

After four months without leaving Bangkok, I was in dire need of a break and traded in the concrete jungle for the real deal in Northern Thailand.

The ten day trip started off without any particular plan. I just turned up at Bangkok’s Hua Lampong Railway station and bought the next best ticket on a sleeper train up to Chiang Mai.

Unusual for Thai trains, we left the station right on time. I had settled myself in the restaurant carriage prior to departure and was now watching the urban landscape of Bangkok slowly give way to the countryside through the open windows.

As the train picked up speed, so did the intensity of the wind rushing into the oddly decorated interior of the carriage. Garish red, green and yellow lights were illuminating the forest patterned wallpaper, making it hard to work out the colour of my glass in front of me. I took one last sip of my coke and headed back to my cabin.

The next morning I woke shivering from the ice cold air of the air conditioner. One of my two cabin mates Andrew was already awake and watching the lush green jungle and countryside passing by.

Wanting to breathe in some real fresh air, I made my way back to the restaurant car and found myself a seat from which to take photos and videos. As we approached ever closer to our destination, the jungle gradually gave way to rice paddies, villages, streets and finally the train station of Chiang Mai.