Well, I booked a sleeper train, second class, to Bangkok; departure time 9:50pm. I had some time to kill before it left, so I headed out on foot, with luggage, tot eh night market for one last peek. I discovered a vastly larger market than I had intitally visited. I wandered about as the shops were setting

up and just as the tourists became thick I decided I should go wait at the train station - my bag was way too wide to navigate the narrow pathways between the shops. I met a girl from Vancouver Island waiting for the 8:30 train; she was traveling alone through thailand... didn't like it very much and was eager to get to australia. She disappeared and I was left alone with my LP. A large crowd gathered on the platform and when the train arrived and we boarded it seemed that only farangs could take the sleeper cars. All the Thais took 3rd class with rigid bus-style seating. The sleeper car was cool, not many people were interested in talking, though, and pretty soon the whole car had fallen asleep. After a few hours I grew too tired to stay awake any longer and I fell asleep, amid bumps, lurches, stops and a miriade of noises. I woke up around 7 and was served "breakfast" around 8. As the train I was on didn't have a restaurant I had to sign up for "breakfast" and pay 80baht.... WAY too much for what I got. I think it was fried eggs and toast, but I'm not sure. Neither is my stomach.
I met some Japanese girls sitting opposite me and I ambitiously began speaking the 5 Japanese phrases I knew. Once I had finished, they laughed and we spoke only english.
Reading up in LP I saw that we were going to pass through Ayutthaya, a former Thai capitol that reigned for 415 years. The temples there are dated mostly from 1300-1500, and they are of very different style than those I had seen so far - more Khmer (Cambodian) influence. One of the Japanese girls who'd been there before convinced me, and when we arrived I hopped off. I wandered about for a bit before finding the main UNESCO protected sites. The ruins were amazing, and were fantastically big. The towers were slowly decomposing, and many buddha statues were headless, or otherwise dismembered. View image">An aged reclining buddha, like at Wat Pho in Bangkok, though you can clearly see this one - no building in the way...

Some more pictures (not my own)
View image">ruins
View image">buddha

After a few hours of wandering around, I found a restaurant with no english identifying it. I went in (it was semi-outdoor) and the staff scrambled to find their only english menu. I had thai soup (Yum Tom, is it?) and beefy rice... pretty tasty. That and a coke for 95 baht (3$). I walked back to the railstation and was convinced on the way to take a motorcycle taxi ride... more a groupd of guys with motorcycles selling rides to farangs. Cheap, though. I bought a ticket to BKK for 20baht and remarkably it arrived within seconds. It was a third class standing room only train, though, but luckily it was only an hour and forty minutes ride.
Two more Japanese girls befriended me, or maybe I initiated it by saying Konichiwa. They spoke english poorly, but were eager to pass the time talking about their travels, short though they may be. They had a week and spent it in Bangkok, Pattaya and Ayutthaya. short and sweet. I gave one girl Ryans contact number in Japan, she was excited that I knew someone working for NOVA... maybe she'll call for a lesson?
I arrived back in Bangkok around 4 and was immediately attacked by the smog. My tuk tuk ride to Khao San made my eyes and throat burn. I really don't like this city.

I will be here perhaps one more day, during which I will hopefully meet back up with Andrew, after that I will head south, stopping in Chumlumphon, or something like that. Until next time, then...