Part 1 - Bangkok & Myanmar
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Next - 6th Nov Hsipaw Bed
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I headed to the train station ticket window which was upstairs so I had to carry my heavy suitcase up a broken escalator but got lucky someone served me and I got a first class ticket. Then made my way to the platform but the suitcase wheels were dragging a bit so might need looking at or the suitcase may not last too long on this trip. The train was there so I found my sleep and having had a few beers I was ready to try to sleep (Hsipaw by the way is pronounced see paw). A Myanmar woman sat next to me but later moved as the train was half empty until 9am when we made it to Pyin oo lin where loads of people got on and my seat companion moved back to her window seat. The train stayed there for a while so I got up to see what was on offer and found some fried food for just 100 kyats and a bag of fruit for 500 so I had my breakfast sorted. I also used the foreigners toilet which was free and the train eventually left at around 10am. I tried to sleep and maybe the woman next to me noticed I wasn't doing too well it or maybe I leaned on her as she offered me her window seat which was a bit easier to sleep on but did mean I got more leaves over me as the train would trim them as it went past bushes. The train was generally a bit slow and rickety and we had not made too much distance by lunch time and the woman next to me had somehow found some noodles to eat in a plastic container. It is quite interesting how people manage to sell food on the street for people to eat, often they cut the item up into a bag and then provide toothpicks. I had a rice lunch at the next stop and gave the woman her seat back which I think she was happy about as soon after we came to the main attraction of the train ride a big bridge over a gorge with some spectacular views but probably not worth the journey. Everyone got out to take lots of photos as the train stopped before the bridge and there were lots more photos afterwards. After that the train started emptying out at train stops as some people may have been taking taxis all the way back to their hotel. I looked for available seats to move to but some people had managed to turn the chairs round and put their feet up, but I did find some space in 2nd class which was a pretty solid wooden bench instead of my soft reclining chair but it was ok and later I got my own 2 chairs and soon after we arrived in Hsipaw. The hostel I'd booked wasn't too far from the station so I started walking and lots of people wanted to know where I was going probably to get me a taxi ride but it turned out the hostel picked up guests for free so I got a lift and checked in ok before seeing if I could book a tour. Turned out they had nobody doing a 1 day tour the next day so I went for dinner and found a place showing champions league highlights. After I headed back to the hostel but it was a bit quiet so I had an early night to catch up on some sleep.
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