Samut Sakhon

November 17, 2024

We were supposed to be in Phetchaburi tonight but instead we're in Samur Sakhon, a town we have never yet visited in an area of Thailand through which we have passed a number of times before.

We had a late lie in because we had been up from midnight to two thirty this morning watching the Springboks beat England at Twickenham. About midday we headed down to Krung Thep Aphiwat from where we were expecting to catch the ten past three train to Phetchaburi. But on our arrival at the station we discovered that the bicycles would only be accepted on the trains running later tonight.

So we quickly decided to cycle through Bangkok to Wongwian Yai from where local trains, which were more likely to accept the bicycles, run hourly to Samut Sakhon. From there we will be able to catch another to Samut Songkram at which point we will be out of Bangkok's clutches and can enjoy a peaceful ride to Phetchaburi.

The Bangkok traffic is hectic in comparison to the rural areas through which we have been traveling but we made good time until two kilometers from the Wongwian Yai station. At this point the heavens opened and, after grabbing a bite to eat and waiting in vain for the weather to improve, we decided to walk the last section to the station through pouring rain and gushing drains. Cycling would have been too dangerous.

It is almost impossible to capture heavy rain on camera in a way that describes how it felt at the time.

We waited to see if the rain would abate but started walking to the station after about forty minutes.

As we passed the ticket office they gestured to us to get on the train which was just about to leave and told us to buy our tickets on the train itself. The official on the train was a great help and after a frantic minute or so we were able to plonk our wet bodies onto a seat and relax for the next hour. The cost was sixty Baht (about $2 US) for 2 people and 2 bicycles for an hour ride. About a tenth of what it would have cost us on the intercity train we were first planning to take. However, we'll have to pay another sixty Baht tomorrow as well to get to Samut Songkram.

The rain ponchos we bought in Vietnam saved us from the worst of the rain but we still ended up getting wet.

Tomorrow we hope to head for Phetchaburi via a ferry crossing followed by a short train ride to Samut Songkram with fifty kilometers or so on the bicycles after that.

Today's ride: 20 km (12 miles)
Total: 2,237 km (1,389 miles)

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