The most comfortable and cheapest mode of transportation in Thailand is the overnight train. Thailand is a very very long country with appealing sites ranging from the very north end all the way down to the south. To maximize your time there, the best plan is to hit an overnight train and knock out two birds with one stone: you pay for transport and lodging all at once. Although the trip is about 450 miles, it takes over 13 hours, so to prepare for the journey we stopped at a street cart and loaded up on pad thai and spring rolls, and hit the 7-11 for a bottle of wine and some snacks.
The trains here are pretty ingenious in terms of making efficient use of space. We had two seats across from each other, and when it got late a man came around to set up our bed. The seats folded down into a bed, and above the seats was what looked like a luggage compartment on an airplane. This folded down into a separate bed with a ladder to get up and little seat belt straps to ensure you do not roll out onto the floor. There were even little curtains that came out to give you your own private nook. I found this to be super comfortable, but unfortunately for Justin Asian countries were not built for people with taller than about 6 feet.
In the morning the man came back, took our linens away and folded our beds back into our nice little seats. We rolled into the Chiang Mai station, and opened envelope number two: involving our pickup, hotel, and jungle trekking information.
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