17.11 An exceptionally versatile return trip

Quote of the day:,, 1 ... Here comes the sun 2 ... Here comes the sun'

Blah blah blah ... train ... blah blah blah waterfall ... blah blah blah... hot, hot, HOT! ...

My thoughts are not yet properly organized when the alarm clock wakes me up at 6:15 a.m. with the song:,, Sun' by Rammstein. I roll out of bed and first pack my things somewhat grumpily. My mood improves suddenly when the ever helpful hotel owner serves us a breakfast specially prepared for us. I can still hardly believe that he offered to drive us to the train station at such an early hour.

Highly recommended if you ever find yourself in Kanchanaburi !!! A real feel-good oasis for little money.

At the train station, we bid farewell to Surasak, with whom I am already on a first-name basis, and embark on the 4-hour journey home.

The journey itself is a small adventure. The train is old, almost antique, and every now and then women with hats appear to sell us freshly squeezed juices and hot meals. The journey goes through nature, but becomes increasingly urban as we get closer to Bangkok.

As we near the train station, the houses are so close to the tracks that the roofs lightly touch the train cars. 'How can anyone live here?!' I ask myself. A train passes here every hour. Our destination train station is relatively remote, and as we disembark from the train, we also step into a large market hall where all kinds of live animals are sold in cages and then provisionally loaded onto pickup trucks. Somehow fascinating, but also quite unsettling.

After leaving the market behind, we walk to a pier from which we take a ferry to the other side and thus to the next BTS station.

After a short ride, we reach Dirk's apartment. I spend the day relaxing by the pool and sauna. For dinner, we only eat what we can find in the apartment.

Today we traveled by car, train, boat, and subway, truly a versatile return journey.