Much ado about... >> Travel: Laos, Myanmar, Thailand 45a

Addendum: Charoen Hotel to train station

Nov 21: Night, Udon Thani

Checking out of the hotel was hassle-free; getting a tuk-tuk to the train station for our overnight journey to Ayuthaya was another experience.

Dusk was changing to night and it was difficult to get a tuk-tuk. After waiting for 20 minutes (ample time to walk to the station) on the main road, one tuk-tuk finally pulled over.

There were two young men in the vehicle. The guide books are always warning about getting into a vehicle with more than one man on board. So, we were reluctant to negotiate the fare with the grinning guys.

But, it was getting late and there was no other tuk-tuk available. So, when one of the young men left his tuk-tuk and approached us, we told him we were going to the train station.

Oh dear! He could not speak English. Neither could his always-grinning pal. After trying various permutations of the words "train" and "station", we resorted to sign language and amateur acting.

But, I guess we were terrible actors. They could not understand and kept saying "airport?", which seemed to be the only English word they understood.

A sudden inspiration, and I ran back to the hotel. The helpful staff immediately wrote the Thai words for "train station" on a piece of paper and even taught me how to pronounce the words correctly.

Back I went to the tuk-tuk. The guys took one look at the paper and got very excited. "Ah, Tha Rot Fai! Rot Fai! Rot Fai!" Ha! Ha! Ha!

At last, they knew where we wanted to go! We reached the station in less than 10 minutes.

Assumptions

The tuk-tuk guys were helpful and friendly. They gamely persisted in trying to understand us even when the situation appeared hopeless.

But, they saw us waiting with our bags in front of a business hotel. I think they simply assumed that we were going to the airport, which was probably the destination for most foreign visitors on business. So, even when we mimicked the sound of trains and pointed in the general direction of the station, they remained convinced that we were going to the airport.

On our part, we could simply have shown them our train tickets, but we grew more desperate as our departure time drew nearer and simply forgot that flashing our tics should do the trick.

Also, we assume that it is potentially dangerous to get into a vehicle with more than just a male driver. A wise precaution, no doubt, but I wonder if the reverse is also true. Might not a driver feel safer with a companion, especially if he has to drive two burly males with large bags in a town full of foreigners?

Besides, I think some of them are just around for a joyride or two and to accompany the driver. It must be fairly boring to drive the same routes everyday.

This is a matter of trust and experience. Unfortunately, some rotten apples have spoilt the fruit in the barrel for the rest of us, drivers, friends and passengers.

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