They vary from where you're going, how long your going for and for what reasons.
But everyone we told that we were heading to Khon Kaen laughed in our faces, which we have to say, made us a bit nervous but we later realized it is just because tourists don't normally go there, as it's quite a bit out of the way and it isn't really a tourist destination but a great way to see the real Thailand.
The questioning isn't spying but curiosity and they seem generally interested in what these "farangs" are up to in their country.
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| Train to Khon Kaen, Hua Lamphong |
The tickets were 399 baht (10 Euro) for a 8 hour, 2nd class with air-con journey. Classic Thai time keeping, it actually took about 10 hours...
One thing we had to learn quick is that Thais don't believe in time keeping and if they are late, then this is the norm and not to be questioned..
It's Thailand - so get use to it.
The journey flew in and at every stop street food vendors came on the train and we were offered food and drinks and we have also seen some amazing surroundings and villages heading into rural Thailand away from the city, you can see a bit in the video but not easy to record while being bounced around in between carriages.
After a 30 min agitated walk through town asking everyone if they recognized the address we were given, only to be met by dumbfounded expressions so we apologized and kept walking.
The hunger took over and I exclaimed I required a toastie from the 7/11, a quick easy cheap snack (24THB), when I came out Kristine was chatting with a Thai man showing him the address using all her arsenal of Thai words we have learned to communicate. He then called over a police officer who tried his best but had to call over a Tuk Tuk driver to join the now comical group standing in the middle of the streets with 60kg in backpacks and suit cases trying to find our new home, using a method of pointing at maps and names we had written down and trying the old "Point and speak Louder" technique to no avail.
After some deliberation and a few phone calls the Tuk Tuk driver decided he knew where we were going (or so he claimed). Even Mr. Pilkington could have called that one! ☺
So what we thought would be a 20 min journey turned out to be an hour of stopping and asking people for directions every 10 mins, we finally arrived at Khon Kaen University and were brought to our new home down an dark alley way past a lot of barking and chasing dogs.
We arrived at the Mijang Mansions and were shown to our new apartment by the daughter of the owner who spoke fluent English after growing up in America, her name is Izumi and she took away a lot of fears by explaining that we are still on campus and everything is only around the corner, but at 9pm at night in the pitch darkness, we just thought we were living in a field in the middle of nowhere.
