Third time's a charm, huh? My first time here I spent a day en route to Koh Tao. My second time here I got off one bus, bought a pineapple, and got on another bus. This time I forgot to set my watch back an hour when I crossed the border. A train pulled up and I asked one of the cops if it was my train. He said "no, next train." So I sat down and the train left. Then I asked the information guy when my train would come, and he said 3:50. But according to my watch it was 4:15, so I asked if I missed it. Unfortunately when Thais don't understand you they will politely agree with you. So thinking I missed my train I crossed the street into town, where a Thai guy became my new best friend. Of course he had a guest house to show me, a travel agent to take me to, and young ladies to provide. Truly a one-stop shop. These are all things I am capable of finding myself, so he followed me to Cathay Travel/Guest House, who I had bought my ticket to Koh Tao from. He finally left when I bought a ticket for the "V.I.P. Bus" to Bangkok (the "Super V.I.P." was $8 more) for $15, then got a room, which was very grim, but only $5. Then I noticed the clock labeled "Thailand Time" that said it was 3:50. Doh! The ticket girl said I could get a refund, so I went back to the station, and my train was there, taunting me. It looked like a step down from Malaysian trains, with no AC and wooden benches, but it was packed with Thais, so probably would have been a good cultural experience. Since my stuff was back at the guesthouse, I got a refund, only 50% of what I paid ($2). I was going to stop in Chaiya where there are some ruins, but that's not an option with the bus. Oh well, seen one ruin, seen them all, I suppose. Of course I haven't seen a single ruin yet.

After looking at a map, a good thing to do from time to time when traveling, it seems to make more sense to go to Laos, rather than Cambodia first. South East Asia is shaped funny, and it's hard to plan a land route that doesn't backtrack. But it looks like I can take a train to North East Thailand, and cross over to Vientiane, then go north to Luang Prabang, then head south and cross back in to Thailand and take another train back to Bangkok. Then I can do the Nepal/Tibet thing, then fly back to Bangkok and take a train to Cambodia, see Angkor Wat and more, hopefully, then cross in to Vietnam and take the train to China. If you haven't noticed, I like trains. Plus, if I take trains when I can, I think I'll avoid the bulk of the tourist hordes en route, since they all take the tourist busses.