Trains and monsoon rains

All bundled up on the night train

Choosing transportation from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was easy. After three years of work-related frequent night train commuting between Ljubljana and Belgrade, it felt natural to take the night train to Chiang Mai instead of the bus or flying. The Thai train was much nicer compared to the Serbian trains I used to ride to Belgrade. It was spacious and clean, an orderly came to make our beds, and porters served food and drinks in the evening and in the morning. My only complaint would be the air conditioning which was set too cold for my comfort. I had to dig up my warm fleece jacket which I had packed at the very bottom of my backpack in Bangkok, believing I wouldn’t need it in the foreseeable future.

I made it to my hotel in Chiang Mai just in time before it started raining, again. October is the last month of the monsoon season so it doesn’t rain every day any more, but there are still occasional downpours. This is my first experience with monsoon rains and I can confirm that a monsoon rain is as if someone suddenly turned on the water faucet on full and then just as suddenly turned it off. It’s hot and humid before and after the rain, and it just slightly cools down while it is actually pouring. I encountered one such downpour in Bangkok a few days ago, but not to worry, there are plenty of roofed bus stations and roof overhangs where one can take cover in such situations. An umbrella isn’t helpful because the rain comes from all directions and I was wet even while standing in the shelter adjacent to this one:

Monsoon rain

There are several temples in Chiang Mai and I took a quick stroll to look around. I noticed a group of school age teenagers near the temples, taking photos of each other. The school kids around here are easily recognizable due to their uniforms. Their favorite activity seems to be taking photos of each other and of themselves. I witnessed such photographing sessions on several occasions in Bangkok as well as on the night train. I shared a compartment with a teenage girl who was traveling alone and she appeared to be constantly taking photos of herself on her mobile phone. I then asked her to take my photo with my camera (the one above) and she happily obliged.

Temples and teenagers in Chiang Mai

So far, all the Thai people I came in contact with were kind and friendly. Even if they don’t speak English they know how to smile and I can usually communicate what I want by pointing and gestures. Sadly, I can’t say the same for other tourists. Many of them prefer to mind their own business. True, I didn’t come all the way to Thailand to socialize with other European tourists especially since I’m not much of a talker myself. But some of them don't even say “Good morning” when we share a table for breakfast.