OVERNIGHT TRAIN TO CHIANG MAI

Waiting for our train at Hua Lampung Train Station in downtown Bangkok, dripping sweat on a humid evening. My mother has quickly caught on to the routine for using public toilets: Pay the lady at the counter 3 baht, go through the turn style, squat down over a hole in the ground, take care of business, spray off with a hose and nozzle, shake-shake-shake your booty, and finally drip dry... all finished.

Cramming into a train car with bunk bed style sleeping births, we use our backpacks as body pillows and our bug spray as a weapon of mass destruction (there are cockroaches everywhere). We munch on sour mangos and stir paper cups of instant coffee. Thankfully the view from the window far surpasses the train's dining menu.

Arriving in Chiang Mai, the ancient Lanna Kingdom of one of the former kings of Siam: we immediately take off on rented bicycles to better explore the markets, night bazaars, history museums, and the one-thousand year old Buddhist temples that line almost every street. After all that cycling, we just HAVE to get Thai massages at a posh spa resort. Then on to sample some local fare from the street vendors.

Fast forward a few days (and way too much shopping) later, it's time to board the infamous night train again for the journey back home. Watching the mountainous jungle pass by to the lullaby of a chugga-chugga-choo-choo soundtrack is a highly recommendable way to fall asleep.