Day 38 - J.J. Market and Train to Chiang Mai

Unfortunately I didn't get a much needed massage today but I figured that if I did all the work would be ruined as I'll be carrying my pack. I got up and went next door to use the internet and update my blog. (Sorry I don't have much time these days to do this). I leave tonight at 6pm to go to Chiang Mai. I have no idea how long I'll be staying.

Since it was my last day in Bangkok, I figure I might as well do some shopping to send home. I asked the people running the internet place where they would shop. They told me that it was good to go to MBK which was the largest mall in Thailand that would take days to get through or to go to J.J. Market which is pretty much like the markets on Khao San road but with prices Thais would pay not the over inflated prices for farangs (foreigners). So I decided to go to J.J. Market, it's located just south of Mo Chit station and is freaking huge. It as Friday and they were only setting up for the gigantic weekend market. There is no way you could go through here in just one day. Everyone here was selling mainly the same things. I found out that I totally got ripped off on the salt and pepper shakers I bought. But that's alright. I'll know better next time. I bought a few jigsaw lamps I've seen at Ikea that I've wanted for the longest time but just refused to spend the money on them. I paid 600B for 3 of them. I also picked up a few purses and a bunch of chopsticks. Though this is not really a tourist market, some people will still try and rip you off. You're best bet is to walk around and ask for prices before you buy anything and you can usually get discounted prices if you buy more than one. I'll have to ship stuff once I get to Chiang Mai. I realized all this crap is going to accompany me on the train. You can spend so little money here and get so much stuff. I'll be back in Bangkok after I go to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Dinner consisted of the best tasting tuna sub from Subway I've ever had. I figured Subway was the portable food option for the train. The vegetables here are so fresh and ripe that the sub was amazing. The train left at exactly 6pm and is bound to arrive at 7:15am.

This sleeper train is different from the ones in China. All trains here can be converted into sleepers. There is definitely some transformer action going on here. The 2 facing bench seats turn into a bed and the top bunk folds down and the ladder is attached from underneath. Each train has 40 beds. They can also use these trains as third class seating if they decided to not fold down the beds. The air conditioning is making the train really cold and it is super filthy. I see cockroaches everywhere but I'm too exhausted to care.