More lessons learned - Thailand style

The image that comes to mind for me is from the great 80s blockbuster, Stand by Me. You know, the one about the 4 pals who skip town on a whim to go search for the body of a missing boy. They pack their camping gear, one of them swipes there ole man's pistol and they set off on their journey down the railroad tracks skipping stones and humming songs about candy. Fond memories for me, no question. Now, in my mind I transport these kids to Thailand, on the same mission, doing the same thing, singing the same songs (although I doubt the singing would last as long) & maybe even getting sicked by Chopper the stray Thai dog. I try to visualize them walking on the train tracks, picking up rocks and bending down with their ears to the tracks to listen to the vibrations of an approaching locomotive. I try.

Problem is, in Thailand and probably more places than I'd like to think about, septic tanks on trains are not, shall I say contained. Septic tanks on the trains here, to be more precise are not, here. Nothing, nada, no dice. If the picture is not yet crystal, here goes...

We traveled on a 14 hour sleeper train last night (an 8hr one the night prior as well BTW) and when I awoke at O dark thirty AM to do what lots of men my age do in the middle of the night...pee, I thought nothing of it. Sure it wasn't a westernized toilet or "throne", but that was no biggie, they tend not to be in public zones in SE Asia anyways. It was a floor-level basin with ribbed footpads for traction if one needed to squat. Not my issue at this time, mind you. I returned to my upper bunk opposite the aisle from my bride and crashed. Then, as the light began to filter into the train car and the train rocked around turns, my half of ambien had worn off and the urge again came over me. I ambled down the aisle (built for tiny Thais by the way. Geesh!) opened the tiny Alice in Wonderland door, shut it behind me and paused. I craned my neck forward and down, nearly taking a misstep or unfortunate lean against a not-so-clean surface. What the? My future pee and everybody's past, present and future #2s were not piling up like an underground pyramid like so many of have seen while camping. No. All of these aforementioned pleansantries were gone, left behind, they had exited stage right. Maybe the light I had seen filtering into the train car earlier hadn't been through the windows at all. But up from the toilet!! A hole of light and railroad tie met the gaze of my craned head. Out the train and onto the tracks. An offering for the villages we passed by? Maybe the stray Choppers sniffing about? Who knows? Definitely not a stringent Board of Health here I imagine.

So back to my vision of the 4 fine fellas picking up flat rocks, dropping their bags on the tracks, kneeling or really just walking. Note to self, the next time I get the urge to pull a Stand By Me moment and do an old fashioned train dodge or give Stacy a big hug on the tracks somewhere in the northern mountains of Chiang Mai, I won't. She won't and I hope you won't.

Lesson learned!