Lost in Laos - Day 4

Dec 21, 2009, 0500hrs, Hatyai

Anxious about the cargo space, I awoke early and made sure we were there on time. We were early by half an hour but it didn’t matter. All that matters now is the train space. I had a good look at the train station as Pom brought us to the platform that the train was arriving in. It was filled with people selling an assortment of fruits, food and nuts. We even had to help a lady lift her entire stall up a curb to the platform. Yet surprisingly, it was dead quiet except for the whispered chatter of the sellers. Perhaps the early morning Monday blues is strong in this part of the world as well.

As the train pulled in, we realized why the food sellers came so early. As the throngs of people lethargically slumbered out of the trains, many headed for their breakfast. With Pom leading the way, we went straight to the cabin master. The heavily moustached cabin master looked at us from his container with suspicion and refused to confirm any space. You could probably hear our hearts plonk onto the cold, hard concrete of the train platform. Pom had a desperate look and went up to his cabin to speak to him privately.....

A few minutes later, Pom came down smiling and we knew he was happy with the outcome. We are to come back again at 1200hrs with our full gear and bikes. All we needed was 600B for the cabin master’s services. Hooray!! and now for breakfast...

Dim Sum at Hatyai is a veryyy cheap affair. each plate costs something like SGD 20 cents?

Porridge and noodles as well..slurpp!

The paperwork was tedious and an extremely long drawn affair. The cost computation for the bikes was also complicated but Racheal handled that well. Both of us realized that many of the train station personnel treated females with more dignity and grace than dirty, grime-filled and aggressive looking guys like us, so she went ahead with the paperwork while we unpacked all the boxes. Only the bikes are going up to the container, the rest we carry.

unloading and stripping the bikes of other luggages - bike to go in "clean"

Unpacking

All our luggage to be hand carried!!

Through the negotiations, I realized our typical Singapore adversarial approach to negotiation must look as hateful to the Thais as much as I hate it when Caucasians try to apply pressure tactics to squeeze a concession or two in contract discussions. If I were in the Thai train operator's shoes, I would probably be annoyed at everyone crowding around me when I only needed to speak to a rep. Seeing that we are clearly the ones in need, bargaining may also prove to be counter-productive. We could play the waiting game but our schedule had no time for that. Our only hope is that they don't quote us ridiculous prices from the onset.

Taking it step by step

With more coffee money paid for the porters and fixers, the total cost for each bike came up to almost SGD100 each. The money may be seen as money wasted but I’m inclined to think otherwise. The wear and tear, petrol, fatigue of riding the most boring stretch of Thailand’s highway 4 and saving a night in the hotel is certainly more than the 100 bucks for each bike and we are guardedly optimistic of our chances of loading onto the train.

Waiting for the time to load

Lifting the bike is an amazing affair. Human power all the way and the buckets of sweat was expended for these 3 bikes. As we bade Pom farewell, we loaded onto our own cabin and off we go.

Here's a video of the bikes being uploaded. Just realised I have another video of the first group's bike lift which was much scarier than mine! But wld take some time to upload...so just enjoy this for the time being...

Luggage loaded in double quick time

The train experience in Thailand is quite unlike that of China when me and Racheal took the controversial Qinghai-Tibet train to Lhasa from Szechuan. Although the trains in Thailand look much older, they are well maintained and are frequently mopped. And more importantly, the people on the train are much more friendlier to tourists.

The look and ruckus of hassled newcomers to the train is an irritating affair for people already settled in the train, and yet the locals assisted in pointing out our seats to us and offered to change seats when they found that Larry and Tricia were seated separately. Indeed, with all our boxes and luggage, our cabin looked a terrible mess and we took almost 20 minutes to settle down and have the boxes neatly stacked.

the narrow passageway but spacious private corners

finally, all the boxes are securely stacked and time to take a breather

We had 4 or 5 of this really good beer

WeiJie's wondering what his next step should be

Looking back, things were much simpler then in 2007 when me and Racheal did the solo ride up to the Golden Triangle. Perhaps ignorance of the unknowing can be a blessing in disguise, especially when I only had a broken footpeg from a fall near Doi Ang Khang. But the last 2 days of our 16 days turned out to be one of the most problematic ride I ever had.

But the past few days have also shown that we are extremely lucky to be surrounded by good people who are ready to lend a helping hand anytime. My thanks to Raymond and Nick for their offers to help and constantly showing concern throughout the time we were stuck along the highways. Rosli for organizing a quick courier up, leading me to a contact in Penang and diagnosing the problem in the early morning hours. William Tan for the most obvious reasons, without whom, we may still be stuck in Penang now. The good mechanics along the way in Tapah and Penang, especially Ryan for going the extra mile.

But the most important people are my companions who are most encouraging.

Tomorrow, we finally ride northwards.

Cheers to that!