Geez, looks like KH refuses to go on the (Mini) Epic Rail Journey.
Somewhat miffed and with some defiance, I said I would go myself!
Actually, come to think of it, why not? My only concern would be the children. Should I bring them all if I were going alone? Or just bring 1 or 2?
Someone asked me why I would even consider going by train since BKK is just a two-hour cheap budget flight away? I don't know. It occured to me that the world is increasingly connected - 6 hours to Beijing, 8 hours to Sydney, 7 hours to Tokyo, 7 hours to Delhi... we can be anywhere in a matter of hours.
But why be in a hurry?
The journey there is really half the fun. Slowing the process means real travel - seeing the landscape unfold, seeing how people live and work along the way, interacting with fellow travelers and with lots of time for silent reflection and thinking. My roomie KJ has inspired me with his travelers tales of travelling by train, the old fashioned way, up to Bangkok. He waxed lyrical with his reminisces of white-washed Thai temples gleaming in the evening sun, endless paid fields, hawkers who thrust their wares through train windows, and a bad case of food poisoning that left him prostrate with yellow-robed monks praying over him!
So while I can't afford the E&O express, I think I can afford to take the slow scenic train up to Bangkok! And I am tempted enough to do it all by myself too!
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