Trains, Trains and Boats

I had such a brilliant day last Thursday. C and A organised a day out to Mae Klong market. You might have seen it already on YouTube but if not you can watch my video below (edited to not show the mind numbingly stupid thing I did with my camera whilst filming.)

I met my friend at 7am at Asoke BTS station. We made our way over the Chao Phraya River to Wongwian Yai station where we met up with a group of twenty or so women. We all live in Thailand so squat loos are often the norm (but it doesn’t mean we have to like them) at the station most of us braved both the loos and the local coffee (sweet but drinkable which is way more than I can say for the men’s loos*.) If you factor in the swaying of a train, squats are even harder to manage. * Edited to note that I used the men's loos as directed by the loo attendent!

Our first train, bound for Mahachai, an old fishing port, was ‘local class’ which meant hard bench seats and no air con but the windows were open and ceiling fans whirred; it was hot but not intolerable. The journey was fine. Then we caught a ferry across the Chin River bound for Bahn Laem Railway Station. After a short wait, and some drinks in a plastic bag and a straw, we caught our second train, also local class, bound for Mae Klong. The scenery was fantastic; lots of it was salt marsh and you could see the fields of salt production from the train.

The end of this train trip was the point of our journey. The last couple of hundred yards of the tracks is through the town’s market. Every time a train comes through – several times a day – the market traders move their wares off the track, and pull up the awnings so that the train can come through. Then once it’s sitting in the station, they unpack their wares again. It’s quite one thing to be on the train for this, but to see it from the market was one of the most bonkers things I’ve ever seen.

Now, let's hope my first YouTube video works!