Simone on the move

Some random things.

Sleeper train
I’m writing this on the sleeper train from Ubon Ratchitani in Eastern Thailand(Isan) to Bangkok. This is my third sleeper train in Thailand (have also travelled on a sleeper train in Vietnam, and sleeper busses in Vietnam and Laos).
It’s 19.45, the train left the station at 19.30. Initially you’re sitting in seats and it looks just like normal train.

Then a steward comes along and pulls down the top beds and pulls out the bottom beds from the seats, puts sheets on them, a pillow case over the pillows and gives you a blanket. It happened early on this train, so I’m writing this from my bed. Raf and I booked bottom bunks (this is second class/fan) so she’s on the other side of the train. Random thai dudes in the bunks above. Three other western looking backpackers in this carriage.
Edit: I thought I had a good sleeper train photo somewhere, can’t find it. Figuring it must be on that mobile I lost, grr! Well, here’s a crappy one with Raf not looking pleased…

At the end of the carriage there’s a little room/bed for the steward a toilet and washbasins. The toilet on this train is a squat one. Toilet paper and the bidet/spray thing is provided. Bit scary when the train is jolting around…could get messy :o
Other trains we’ve been on have had western toilets. I’ve only had to use squat toilets in the cheapest places I’ve stayed in, in Thailand and Indonesia. Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos seem to have the most western toilets, I guess due to the french influence a while ago.
The big windows on the train were wide open, but the steward closes them when he makes the beds. The door at the end of the carriage is also open. I was standing there earlier, holding on, as you could easily fall out if there’s a jolt! Fun :D
There are racks in the middle passage for bags, so my bag is right next to me. If you’re a top bunk, then there’s a rack up there too.
I forgot to mention the curtains. Everyone has a curtain in front of their bed. Essential for keeping the light in the passageway away.
We’ll arrive in Bangkok at around 7.30 in the morning.

Food stalls, night markets, plastic bags
All over south east asia there are roadside stalls offering takeaway food, and sometimes there’s some plastic tables and chairs provided. They usually serve things like fried rice and noodles, noodle soup or rice soup(a breakfast thing), fried chicken, satay stick things, fried donuty things, indian roti pancakes. Varies a lot per country what is served.
Often a city or town will also have a nightmarket, where the stalls are altogether in one area from around 4pm till at least 10. Especially thailand does these well, lots of variation.

They’ll often have tables and chairs set up. I guess kind of like a food court in Australia. So cheap, so good. And can often be quite adventurous when you’re in a non touristy place and you just point at things and see what you end up with.
If you order takeaway (or sometimes even when you don’t), the food will come in styrofoam, or just as often, small clear plastic bags. Even salad or drinks come in plastic bags. They tie an elastic band around the top, and with drinks just stick a straw in it.

Last night in Ubon I grabbed a salad in a bag (lettuce, cucumber, corn kernels, tomato, hard boiled egg, little bag of dressing) from one stall and sat down with Raf at a table where she’d ordered chicken with rice. I borrowed a fork, and as I was struggling ripping open the bag and pouring the dressing over the salad, the lady from Raf’s food stall handed me a plate and a spoon. Awww, so nice!
For dessert I had a pice of baked pumpkin with coconut custard in it, which also got handed to me in a plastic bag. This is a traditional thai dessert, we made it in my cooking class in Chiang Mai.
Earlier in the day we ordered a chai nom yen (tea milk cold=ice tea with sweet milk) in a little hole in the wall restaurant, and that also was handed to us in a plastic bag. No elastic band, just a straw stuck in. Usually the ice tea gets given in a plastic cup with lid though.

Modesty
In south east asia, it’s generally disrespectful to walk around with shoulders and knees uncovered. Most definitely in temples and sacred places it’s just not done. The more tourists there are, or the bigger or more modern the city is, the more it’s just accepted. I have no trouble keeping my knees covered, but I still don’t find light airy t-shirts as comfortable as singlets. I’ll usually remember to wear something with sleeves or bring a sarong to cover myself up in temples. And I’ll usually try to wear my shirts with sleeves more in more traditional towns. I already stand out enough as a tourist (though not as much as tall or blond people, and my skin is as dark as many as the locals now! Actually, I regularly get spoken to in Thai and once was asked if I was half thai. Just then a guy on the train spoke to me in thai!)!
When swimming at tourist spots like a waterfall, the local people generally go in the water fully clothed. When they bath in rivers (poorer areas), they’re usually in a sarong. Though, I’ve also seen quite a few half naked people by the side of the road washing themselves, I think just in Laos.
At popular tourist spots, western tourists including myself generally do what we always do, not wear much. I have occasionally kept my singlet on though, and am usually wearing boardshorts.
Today we paid about $2 to hang around the pool at a fancy resort in Ubon. There was no one around but there were a lot of hotel rooms looking onto the pool, and it was a very thai place. I wouldn’t sunbathe topless anyway, but I didn’t even feel comfortable walking around in my bikini. Though the staff were amused I think. I walked past two ladies (cleaners I think) hanging out in a doorway near the pool, and they said something like ‘hello, very good, very good’ and sort of jiggled around and laughed. I had my arm in front of my chest so I think they were trying to tell me not to be embarrassed, haha.

On a slightly different subject, generally you take your shoes off when you go inside places here, including many some shops, all beauty/massages and guesthouses. Restaurants you leave shoes on. It’s become nearly second nature, and is easy when you’re wearing thongs/flip flops.
I recently realised that I have been wearing thongs for pretty much 5 months straight now. Only when I’ve done a trek or a whole day of motorbike riding (around 10 days in total on my whole trip) have I worn my walking shoes! They’re not that pretty (I really wish I could have found the black ones of this model instead of brown, boo!) and it’s just too annoying having to take them off when entering somewhere! And obviously it’s been very warm for most of my trip.