Day 13 - Dec 27 - Trains Trains, Trains, Trains

We were scheduled to be picked up by the airport shuttle at 7:30, which was 30 minutes before breakfast was supposed to begin. But the kitchen staff arrived at 7, so they kindly got us a light breakfast and then we were on our way to the lovely Koh Samui airpot, which was probably the most interesting airport I have ever been to (about 24 airports at Ari's count). It was an open air airport. This made it both pretty and interesting, but the most important part was the snack corner at the gate. There were no less than 5 finger foods (freshly made, not store bought), a coffee machine, juice, and chocolate milk -- no extra charge. It was everyone's favorite part of the airport, despite having just eaten breakfast.

To get to the airplane, we had to take a shuttle. Then they fed us again on the plane. It was a 50 minute flight. I still haven't figured out what they were fattening us up for.

Upon arriving in Bangkok, we sat around at the airport for an hour reading, then took a train into the city. Then we took the Sky Train to Siam station, where we got off and went for massages. Foot massages were something I had wanted to do since we arrived in Thailand, but we never seemed to get around to it. Finally, Myra and Ari insisted upon it. It was a nice way to burn up another hour. We got a foot/shoulder massage at 300 baht a person, which is about $10. We hope to do it again in Chiang Mai.

Afterwards we went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch. It was tasty and fun and I would like to go back, though some are of the opinion that we should stick to Thai food while in Thailand. But Thai food at home is cheaper than Japanese food at home.

After lunch, we took the Sky Train to the Metro station, where we went through the rigorous metro security: we each had to open our bags and have them shine a flashlight and look for about 2 seconds. Once we had satisfied the security guards, we got on the train and took it to the train station, where we waited to board our final train of the day, a sleeper train.

We departed Bangkok at 6:10 PM and expect to arrive alive in Chiang Mai at 8:15 AM tomorrow. Our berths are small and a wee bit dingy, but it is an adventure and we shall enjoy it.