Train 13 to Chiang Mai

let's go on our next adventure!

Confession time. When I talked my family into trying the train in Thailand, they agreed, provided we go first-class. Things got super busy in Bangkok though, and by the time I finally got around to going to the station to book the tickets, all the first-class compartments were totally booked. I ended up getting three second-class sleeper tickets and hoping for the best.

departing from Bangkok's Hua Lampong Station

When we got to the station on the day of our trip, we found out that there had been a cancellation, and there were two first-class tickets left! Guess which one of us was left to bunk out in steerage?

Second-class is honestly fine. I've traveled second-class before, to the south of Thailand. It's nothing luxurious, but it's clean and relatively comfortable. Around 9:00 the porters turn down the comfy seats into bunks with curtains for privacy. I had a lower bunk, which is a little more expensive, but is a bit larger and has the window. I slept soundly that night.

second-class sleeper (the old train)

I woke early the next morning, drew my curtains, and watched the mountainous jungles of northern Thailand roll past outside my window. The sun rose as a fiery red ball, and I ordered a cup of train coffee from the porter.

sunrise in the jungle

train coffee

I sipped my coffee and watched the scenery go by. About an hour or two before arriving in Chinag Mai, sometime as we were passing Lampang, the porters again came by to turn up our beds and fold them back into seats.

enjoying train coffee

As we sped on to Chiang Mai, I chatted with the English guy in the seat across from me. He was headed out to Doi Inthanon National Park for some hiking. While my first-class family was enjoying breakfast in their private compartment, my breakfast consisted of my 40-baht train coffee in a paper cup and a Werther's Original that the English guy in the seat across from me had offered to me.

good morning from Chiang Mai

At 9:00 sharp the train pulled to a stop at Chiang Mai Station. We were supposed to leave at 19:35 and arrive at 8:40. We ended up leaving about an hour late, but we must have made up the lost time during the night.

I met up with my family, looking well-rested from their first-class sleep, and we headed into town. The furthest north I had ever been before was to Mae Sot; even after four years in Thailand I had never been to the kingdom's most famous northern city. I was thrilled to be going for the first time with my family!

arrived!

Visit my brother's blog to read about his experience in the first-class carriage!

first-class