Miriam and I left Nadine, Island Yoga and Koh Yao Noi for Bangkok on Friday afternoon. We were flying Air Asia from Krabi to Bangkok and the journey went pretty smoothly until we got to Bangkok. We landed at 7pm and were going to take a taxi to our guesthouse however the queue for the taxi was ridiculously long so I suggested that we should take the train. We located the platform, bought our tickets (about £1.50 each) and then I checked with two different people that we were on the right platform and that the next train was for Bangkok.

The train arrived, I chucked our packs into the carriage and jumped on board, Miriam followed. We settled into our seats and congratulated ourselves (rather loudly) on how we’d be in town much more quickly and cheaply than all those people waiting in the taxi queue. We’d been chatting away for about half an hour discussing what we’d do that evening when the ticket inspector came along to check our tickets. “Oh no” he laughed and shook his head as he looked at our tickets, “Not Bangkok”. For a few seconds I thought he was mucking around he had such a big grin across his face, and then, with a horrible sinking feeling I looked out the window to see, not the bright lights of Bangkok, but darkness and a field. Yup we were on the wrong train. I felt dreadful as I’d been the one that had suggested the train and had leapt on board, I should have realised earlier that our carriage was filled with locals and none of the tourists standing on the platform with us had joined us on the train!

The train rattled along faster and faster into the darkness and we had absolutely no idea where it was going or when it was going to stop. I felt totally helpless and very guilty! With the help of our grinning guard I worked out where we were and that the next stop was Ayutthaya* in about 30 minutes. We finally arrived at 8:30pm and were informed that the next express train to Bangkok was leaving in an hour, would cost us 1,350 baht (about £27), and would get in to Bangkok at 11pm. So much for our quick and cheap journey into the city from the airport! However, being positive types of people we made the most of our unexpected journey, found a nearby restaurant, ordered a couple of beers and some food whilst we waited for our train back to Bangkok.

*For those who are interested Ayutthaya is an ancient city and a UNSECO World Heritage Site. We did contemplate staying for the night and visiting the historical park but decided that we would stick to our original Bangkok plans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phra_Nakhon_Si_Ayutthaya_(city)