After experiencing all the suspense and excitement at the railroad tracks of the most dangerous market in Thailand, we decided now is as good a time as ever to hop on a train ourselves to head to Chiang Mai from Bangkok.
We headed to Hua Lamphong Station to purchase our tickets for the night and were lucky enough to be able to reserve two seats right next to each other. Try to book your tickets a few days ahead because it does sell out during high tourist seasons. For us the lantern festival was coming up in a few days so a lot of people were heading up to Chiang Mai to see it. That’s exactly what we were doing as well.
I’ve never been on an overnight train before and I was really excited for the experience. To prepare for the journey, we went to the convenience store and picked up a bottle of wine and some snacks before boarding the train. I’m glad we did because to be honest the food didn’t look that appetizing. At least compared to all the delicious cheap street food we’ve been eating. If I could do it again I would have picked up 2 bottles of wine because it’s a 15 hour journey.
When I first entered the train I was curious as to how this was a “sleeper” train since the seats looked normal. But after heading a few hours north, the train was slowly transformed row by row as each two seats were converted into a bunk bed. You even get your own curtain to cover your sleeping space for privacy. Me and Josh played some card games to pass the time by before heading to bed. The next morning I woke up to scenes of the beautiful hills of Chiang Mai passing by my window as we slowly pulled up to the city. We have arrived!
I was getting so excited. We were finally here! I couldn’t wait to check in and start wandering around. There are so many affordable options for places to stay in the city. We decided upon iWulai hotel and it was well worth the price. For $50 dollars a night we stayed in a beautiful modern room with air conditioning right next to the Old City wall, so it was very easy to go sightseeing and to the night markets. The boutique hotel offered free daily breakfast, consisting of fried rice, chicken wings and other small bites, as well as the standard continental breakfast items.
After filling our bellies up, we took a break from the heat and did a quick swim while waiting for our rooms to be prepared. I just love swimming especially on a hot day. Once settled in it was time to start our Chiang Mai adventures.
Thanks for Coming Along!
See you again in Pt 5!
Xoxo SteemIt - Lilan
For more travel stories and photography follow
@Lalilands
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Pt 1-Follow Your Heart
Pt 2- A Contrast in Realities
Pt-3 The Most Dangerous Market in Thailand
Click here to see a video of my trip
Come Along -Philippines Video
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Heyy
Love your blog and hair too 🤗☺️
Hahaha thank you!!! Maintaining hair while traveling is a whole different animal. Glad you're enjoying my blog! ❤️
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This opens my heart to hear of your travels! I love hearing and seeing of far away places. It transforms my world and brings a smile to my face. Enjoy the journey! Keep traveling!
Thank you so much! It's so great that we live in a time where we can learn and travel to so many places in the world. I feel really lucky to be able to have that journey. Thanks for reading!
A woman after my own heart: "If I could do it again I would have picked up 2 bottles of wine because it’s a 15 hour journey." Haha! Totally. I've only done overnights in the US, not in Asia. Come to think of it, I've never read about the train system in Thailand - so cool to learn a bit more! :)
Yasss you know how I feel! The train system is definitly not the fastest way to get to chiang Mai but definitly for budget traveling or just for the experience I recommend it. I'm glad it's an option!
We totally want to do this. Sam has been up to Chiang Mai a few times as his mother is from the Northern parts of Thailand. When he was younger, his family made trips up by car to visit relatives there, his family would make more of the trip and visit that area (Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai).
The sleeper train does look exciting despite the long journey. Still it's all apart of what it is.
Yes totally do it! I mean if you're just going to sleep anyway it's a lot less hassle than going to airport. What part or Northern Thailand? I really want to go back and check or Mae Hong Song!
Sam's mother is from Tak, but has relatives in Lampang too. A part of Thailand that is rarely seen to mainstream tourists.
Mae Hong Son is a very special part of Thailand with the indigenousness hill tribes and the tea leaves. Maybe a cheeky visit over the Burmese border too? To do that visa run ;)
Wow that's so awesome you're really erring the authentic experience. That's gotta be the best part of traveling! I went to Myanmar last year as well absolutely loved it. Still to relatively untouched!
never been to chaing mai.
guess it be an interesting adventure for me if i could hop on this overnight train heading to chaing mai.
If you're in Thailand I highly recommend Chiang Mai. Definitly my favorite city during my trip to the country!
@lalilands This is wonderful! I've always wanted to go on a train overnight and wake-up somewhere new or take an extended journey on train :). Makes me even more. determined to add it to my bucket list!
LOL 🍷
Looking forward to the next leg of your travels!
Hahahaha great minds think alike ! I love how you just go to sleep and wake up and you're already somewhere else ready to explore.
That sounds like an exciting adventure! I took an overnight train once and the food wasn’t appetizing on our train, either. At least you had wine! Will you be posting about the lantern festival?
You did @poimenpost ? That's awesome. I think it's nice that we can bring our own food and drinks unlike a flight. Got to take advantage. Yes I will be posting about it ! 😊
How cool! I love overnight trains. We got to take one leaving Paris headed down to Italy. We had like our own mini room with a door key, but very small. It slept three, and you will notice it even included a vanity! Lots of fun. I' glad y'all are having a fun trip!!
Omg I love this picture @mental-extract !!!! It looks so fun! Makes me want to check out more overnight trains around the world hahah
We had fun on that trip for sure. Cool train!
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STOPIs there still the party cabin? When we took the overnight train we just had a few beer and didn't expect that there's gonna be a little disco in one of the cabins later. Well, it was a long night and we woke up hungover in Chiang Mai. But it was fun! Since then I call it the "party train" :D
Thanks @gaman !!!! The greatest pleasant surprise