Exiting Laos stage left I find myself in Ubon Ratchathani.Its my first experience of Thailand outside Bangkok, and it’s so different. Nice tree lined roads. Relaxed pace. No pestering. Friendly people – a local vendor tells me there’s a big fair going down in the name of New Year’s would I like to come with her? Sure why not. The fair’s got rides, games of luck, live music, and a bus that’s converted into a mobile public toilet.
I can’t stay here too long though, because I’m in an information void – this place is only briefly mentioned in my guide book. And I can’t get to Bangkok because its 30 December, the day before New Year’s and the train is booked out. But I do end up getting a train to Nakhon Ratchasima, a place that is in my guide book, and is much closer to Bangkok. The train is pretty cheap, but I find out I have a standing room only ticket so it’s 3 hours into the journey before I get a seat for the next 3 hours. The scenery on the way is pretty plain.
Nakhon Ratchasima is also called Korat. Again its a much nicer city than Bangkok but for the average tourist there’s not much there. For me there are stores with computer and PS2 games. It’s been a while and I need a fix. These places are popular and easy to spot, just look for a large group of motorcycles outside a shop. So I spend New Year’s Eve here, partially in one of this game/internet houses and the rest at the local fair which is much the same as the previous one but with the added bonus of a big stage area with a guy talking to everyone in Thai. From the roof of my guesthouse I watch fireworks go off at midnight, local hoons drive their souped up vehicles around, and a group of young Thai people get drunk at a sidewalk restaurant before letting off really loud fire crackers.
I leave Korat 2 nights, 1 day later, heading by train for the temple town of Ayuthaya. This time the scenery on the journey is much nicer. I stayed at a friendly guest house in Ayuthaya, and when you are by yourself friendly hosts make things much more enjoyable. I rented a bike for a day, after being told by the tuk tuk driver who wanted lots of money that it was impossible to get around by bike, and visited some of the ancient ruins, temples, and chedi (pagodas) which are all throughout the town.
Back to Bangkok by train on the 4th. The Bangkok train station Hua Lamphong is interesting. There are people who have little booths all around the place that say “Tourist Information” and they wear badges that say “Bangkok Railway Station -Tourist Guide” – but they don’t work for the railway station they work for tour companies! How do you know? Because they don’t have any signs in Thai and only talk to foreigners. The real information booth is inside with a Thai and English sign. Still they were very helpful. At 6pm everyone in the main gallery rises and signs praise be the king.
