I took an overnight sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, and all I could think about the whole time was Wes Anderson.

my train & ‘chief steward’

darjeeling train and ‘chief steward’

I love Wes Anderson’s movies, I think he’s the most creative, brilliant, weird director (and Houstonian!). I LOVED using the sleeper train (Thai Railway’s First Class Sleeper; instead of The Darjeeling Limited). I left Bangkok at 7:35pm and arrived in Chiang Mai around 9am the next morning.

train car hallway

last car view

I had a private room:

my seating setup

darjeeling seating setup

I ordered dinner, and they brought it to my room. Soup, duck curry, chicken vege stir fry, rice, banana – only $4:

my dinner

darjeeling dinner (this scene is so awesome)

Then the ‘chief steward’ came in and setup my room into bunk beds:

my sleeping style

darjeeling sleeping style

I could lock the door, had a little sink with mirror, electrical outlet, lights, curtains, and could control the temperature in my cabin. I was awake before sunrise, so I walked to the last car in the train and watched the scenery from the tail end:

last car view – sunrise

through the natl park and mountains

When the sun was up, I had a really scenic, nice view the rest of the trip into Chiang Mai out my window:

countryside

khuntan station

passerby

cute building

train dogs

khuntan station stop

field

darjeeling view

Also, the night before, I took a picture of my ghost:

ghost me? totoro real.

I had breakfast before we disembarked the train (was gross – but only $3):

breakfast

Another The Darjeeling Limited association – I’m totally starting to identify with Adrien Brody’s character in the movie, when he says, “I’m gonna go pray at another thing.”😂 BECAUSE: I’m so sick of seeing temples. I mean, they’re colorful/beautiful, ornate/impressive, are historic/hold obvious importance, and each are unique/significant in their own right… all of which I appreciate. But I’m tired of being around them and tired of being around the hordes of people that are always around them.

Too many temples in a small amount of time = temple overload. I will still tour some of them (particularly the freebies) – I like seeing how the architecture changes from country to country and century to century. Saul Good(man)!☺️

Next up: I’m gonna go pray at another thing (in Chiang Mai)