Kanachanaburi train tour - Pathom Chedi

Our first stop on the Kanachanaburi train tour was Pathom Chedi - the tallest chedi in all the land. It was very old, and had been rebuilt a few times over the years. Neat to see, and what a quaint town it was housed in. And wow, did the street market around the train station have some good eats!

Kanachanaburi train tour

We took a train tour from Bangkok that went to Pathom Chedi, Kanachanaburi/River Kwai, and Sai Yok Noi waterfall.

The train tour itself was a very interesting experience. Sam and I loved the lazy, languid train ride from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, and we equally loved this all day train tour as well. And it was all day - the train left Bangkok 6:30AM and didn't get back until about 9PM or so. But what a great, relaxed way to see the Thai countryside! The idea is you buy one ticket, and the train stops a few places where you have between 30 and 90 minutes to get out and see the sights (and over 2 hours for lunch). We were nearly the only non-locals on the train, so we got to see what the locals do for fun. A nice old fellow would walk up and down the aisles with a megaphone and announce the places we were passing by and where we were headed. And what beautiful countryside - from the flat rice-growing central plains, to the river/mountain/jungle region of western Thailand. The route was mostly along the famous 'Death Railway', and we saw the bridge over the River Kwai, but it seemed incongruent to spend too much time dwelling on such sober memorials when all around was pleasant countryside and families enjoying a holiday. There was one place we passed by that had houseboats on the river people rented out for their vacation, and kids would jump from one houseboat, float downstream, and climb back up on another houseboat, ready to do it again.

So we relaxed, saw the sights, people-watched, and had a great time!

Chiang Mai/Sukhothai - the train

We took a train from Chiang Mai to Sukhothai, and then from Sukhothai to Bangkok. We remembered our romantic train experience 12 years ago traveling from Bangkok to Surat Thani, and wondered if it would be as romantic now that we're older.

It was. There's something so relaxing about riding a train. It's not about getting there quick - an airplane ticket is better suited for that. It's not about control or making decisions - a car gives you that. It's not necessarily about price - buses sometimes have them beat. But a train gives you the luxury of sitting back and spending some time watching the world go by in a way that no other form of transport gives you. It's out of your control, which somehow makes the time pass more acceptably. It's right on the ground level, so you get a feel for the details of terrain and the local conditions of weather and life that you don't get on an airplane (though airplanes give you a fabulous big picture view). It's a great way to travel when you don't need to be there right away. And we really now feel like we get what northern Thailand is like compared to central Thailand, and what grows (and is grown) where, and what small town Thailand looks like. Plus there is nothing like the rhythmic motion and sound of a train for encouraging a good sound nap.

And the food was not bad at all.