I arrive at the train station at 5:30 hoping to squeek on the 5:50 train and get a sleeper room. Two of the people I met on my trek did the exact same thing the night before. If worse came to worse I could grab a room on the 8:30 or 9:50 train. So when I ask the guy at the front desk to get a ticket for the next available train he tells me that there aren't any sleepers for today. I told him, fine I'll take a seat, whatever is open. Looks at me again and says there are none of those either, only third class seats left. When he says this he looks away expecting me to leave, and looks quite surprise when I tell him, "3rd class is fine", I just wanted to be in Bangkok by noon today.

Now, if you have been reading Erik's blog you will note that he took a ride in third class, and said it was ok, but for a full trip he definately wouldn't recommend it. Yeah, so I was a little worried about spending 14 hours in 3rd class. When I boarded the train, I was the only farang (foreigner) in the whole car (80 people). They all looked at me quite funny, kinda like what are you doing here. Well, Erik was right, they weren't that comfy. If you ever rode a school bus while you were younger, the seats were a lot like that, with the 3 seaters with 3 people in them and the two seaters with two people in them. Luckily I was in a two seater (there are two sets of seats facing each other), and the other three people were a couple and a small child so it wasn't that cramped (in comparison).

I still don't think I slept the whole way, the seat was way too uncomfortable. I just kinda smiled at the family and the little kid. At first she seemed a little scared of me, but as the trip wore on, she seemed to be ok. If this was a 4 hour trip, I would have no problem with it. Just bring a discman and 4 CD's and you're set. 14 hours on the other hand was a little long, gonna make sure I book ahead next time, but seeing as I wasn't sure when I was leaving, it was a little hard to do this time :)

Cheers,
Drew