It’s already time to leave the little paradise that is Koh Tao - I could have stayed there much longer and indeed I imagine quite a few travellers do, as while we were walking around the island I spotted quite a few signs advertising rooms by the month. We’ve had a lovely stay however and it was a great place to be for Xmas - a nice blend of festive and restful. Now it’s time to move on to the bustle of the capital, where we’re planning to party New Year’s Eve away!
We’re hoping to finally get on a Thai train today - a night one to Bangkok, nothing less! - and this time we have checked in advance that it is indeed running, thanks to a little translation help from the hotel’s reception. Of course, we will first need to get to the mainland - another ferry journey but this time it should be direct (and on the big boat!) from Koh Tao to Chumphon, a small port some seventy kilometres north of us. We’ve sorted out tickets with the hotel and after some quick googling revealing absolutely nothing to do in the town itself (although apparently it’s a very nice quiet beach location), we’ve decided to leave on the afternoon boat, which still gives us in theory five and a half hours spare before catching our train. I’m banking on roughly two hours delay from the ferry though (based on our experience getting to Koh Tao) so it should be just enough of a stopover to comfortably catch dinner!
Our 10:30am check-out deadline gives me enough time to go for one last early morning swim in the bay, where I get to bid goodbye to my usual shoal of lemon-yellow fish and a few of my favourite rainbow ones. We also fill up on breakfast - the next few places we booked didn’t have the option so we will be eating on the go for the next week-, before whiling away a couple of hours in comfortable pool loungers: it’s a hard life. With about two hours to go before the ferry leaves, we walk to the pier to collect our tickets and pick up some lunch, snacks and water for the road. We did well to get the tickets in advance - when we come back to leave there’s a queue of hundreds of tourists waiting to check in, and some people are complaining all the boats are full (only the ones back to the main islands though, rather than on our route).
Boarding is a stressful hour as we wait crammed in on the pier for the right boat to arrive. Although departure was advertised at 2:45pm, we see two or three other ferries come and go before ours arrives unapologetically at 3:30. It seems our destination is rather less popular as there’s less than a hundred of us on a boat built to take at least five times more - once the gangway is lowered it’s a quick affair to actually get on, and we get to spread out for the journey. The trip to Chumphon is comfortable: we’ve been very lucky with the weather as the sea is just as calm as on our way there; but does take longer than advertised and by the time we sight land we’re running about one and a half hour late already. At least we were planning on it! The bay we stop in is very pretty and completely deserted, a simple strip of sand fringed with palm trees and green jungle. Our boat glides in to the end of an incredibly long pier, which makes for a very scenic walk to the beach - and also a good occasion to stretch our legs a bit.
A van is waiting to take us to the train station - the ferry terminal is actually nearly twenty kilometres from the town, which feels like more as our driver takes what seems to be a very circuitous route there. Still, he delivers us to our destination, almost bang on my estimate of two hours late, and after checking the trains are still fine we get to work out what to do with the remainder of our stopover. Our initial Thai travel SIM card ran out just earlier today and it would be good to replace it - life without internet is hard for us millennials as we’re used to the convenience of having a map, a guidebook and a translator all in one in our pocket. After asking some of the nearby street merchants we get directed to the local 7-eleven. The ubiquitous chain has been a very handy convenience pick throughout our trip already and it seems their remit is broader than we thought! None of the cashiers speak English however and it turns into a whole endeavour - but they never lose patience and enlist the help of online translation, a local customer, a couple of managers, and end up phoning a colleague who from the sounds of it was asleep, in order to get us what we need.
After thanking them profusely, with the little joint-handed bow which we’re finding ourselves doing reflexively now (that will be a fun quirk to bring back home) we return towards the station for some dinner. There’s a night market with lots of food stalls but it seems deserted and we don’t know enough to discern the good grub from the potentially poisonous on our own so we steer clear and pop into one of the nearby seat-down eateries for a couple of simple dishes. As usual in these places, very decent for the price and everyone is lovely and helpful despite the language barrier. We still have an hour and a half before our train and go set up a base in the little bar right opposite the station - it’s run by a Thai lady who’s picked up very good English from her foreign customers, and includes a pool table, but also more unusually a gym and a boxing ring! We’re not ready to pull on the gloves, but we do have time for a couple of games of pool. It’s never been my thing but we’ve had a few occasions to play on the trip already and Ollie has been showing me the ropes. He’s a good teacher and tonight I manage to beat him (a lucky streak may have been involved) on my seventh game ever - he’s very proud.
Riding on a high, we make our way to the station to wait for the train. The attendants helpfully direct us to the right end of the platform for our coach (air-conditioned sleeper, which is the higher end of the classes available) and we witness first hand the multiple vendors getting ready to run through the train peddling dinner options - more on that later. The train slowly gets in, headlights blinding us, and we climb aboard. There’s no compartments - bunks are lined on two levels each side of a central corridor running all the way through the carriage. We didn’t get to choose our seat and so we’ve been left with two upper bunks, notably smaller: just 185cm long and only 60cm wide. I just about fit once I manage to climb up but Ollie is awkwardly bundled up in his, bracing against the ends to avoid falling out! On the plus side, we get clean sheets, a pillow and a blanket, a privacy curtain and a shelf to stow our backpacks near the ceiling, which feels like it’s just out of reach enough to discourage at least the shorter thieves. There’s also a western toilet, horribly smelly but providing paper, and sinks with soap, meeting my minimum criteria for a decent restroom set-up.
We clamber up and settle in for the night - the AC is freezing and I immediately regret my decision to change into pyjamas. Despite a silk sleeping bag, a blanket, and my towel layered on top, I’m still shivering all night and end up taking less than half my bunk as I curl up to conserve heat. Ollie has slept in his clothes, a much better plan, but he just doesn’t fit in his bunk and wakes up with crippling back pain - not the best start to our next round of travelling! It’s a short night anyway as from 5am breakfast and snack vendors start popping in and out at stations, walking through the aisle loudly advertising their wares. Even with ear plugs the constant noise is too much to sleep through and we soon give up. As the bunks get folded back to reveal very spacious seats (the lower bunks were literally twice the width of ours!) we’re one of the very few tourists in the carriage - at least this was a very authentic experience.
😂