My travel partner Clay and I had a frugal mindset on most of our six-month journey on the other side of the world. This allowed us to afford such a long excursion and experience the culture as closely as possible.
Part of the journey included a 12-hour overnight train ride from Vientiane, Laos to Bangkok, Thailand. I’m not sure exactly why, but I decided to opt for a sleeper car for an additional $16, whereas Clay decided it was not worth the money and chose the base price ticket. As we are competitive, I was of course hoping I had made the right call and he would regret his decision.
From the moment we got to the station, I knew I had a good shot. We were unsure where to get on our train and so had brought our tickets to one of the station attendants and asked where to go. The attendant assumed we were in Car 10 based on the fact that we were tourists. This was my car – but once he saw Clay’s ticket, he couldn’t help but chuckle. He pointed out my car 100 metres down the track alongside the concrete station pad. He then looked at Clay smiling and explained that he needed to continue past where the concrete stopped and continue on to the rocks beside the track until he got to the last car.
We parted ways and I headed to my car. It was about 40°C. I was relieved when I entered the clean, air-conditioned car. I was quickly impressed with my surroundings, wondering what Clay was experiencing. I had a bed complete with a blanket and pillow along with a curtain to surround myself for privacy.
Early on, the train attendants walked the aisles providing a menu if we wished to purchase food. They spoke reasonable English and were very pleasant.
The train was an express to Bangkok and had about five stops just outside the city before my stop – the last one. I was never certain where we were, but luckily the attendants walked up and down the car announcing which station was which. They even offered to wake people up who needed to get off at earlier stations, taking note of their seat numbers.
I could have slept longer but overall had a pretty restful sleep. I exited the train at my stop and waited for Clay at my car as agreed. As he got closer, he was not smiling and his face was black. I tried to hold back a smile as I could tell he was not in the best mood. Eventually, we got to our area of Bangkok and found some food. I could tell he was lightening up and braved an interrogation of what his night was like.
He was the only white person in this car as it was filled with locals only. The seats were essentially two pews facing each other and four people sat there – knee to knee with the person across from them. There was no air-conditioning but Clay made sure to state that he got a seat with a window. This explained why his face was black – he had his head as close to the open window as possible to cool down – which resulted in the train fumes blasting his face for 12 hours.
Each time the train slowed or stopped, multiple hawkers would get on his car and try to sell everything and anything. Locals would also exit and enter the train as it slowed, meaning multiple seat rearrangements occurred. There were no announcements as to where he was, and when he asked, the attendant’s English was not good enough to give a conclusive answer.
All in all, I would say that I made a pretty good decision, though to this day, Clay will not admit as much.
