Each sleeper car has it's own designated stewardess and ours knocks at regular intervals to make sure we have everything we need. There is a buffet car and she brings us a menu sheet so we can order some supper and breakfast for the morning. She also keeps us informed of the weather conditions ahead and breaks the news that not only will our departure be delayed by several hours but also that our journey will take considerably longer because of the floodwaters along the route. So we sit and wait until eventually at 6pm the train shudders into life and we trundle away from Bangkok. As we move slowly out of the city it is immediately evident why we have been delayed. There is water everywhere and the tracks are submerged leaving the train to forge a watery path slowly and carefully. We are in the rear carriage and have a fantastic view from the back door of the train of the devestating scenes we have until now only seen on Thai TV. Mistakenly, a fellow traveller opens the rear door to photograph the local people wading waist and in some places chest deep through the water. The smell is unbelievable - a combination of stagnant water and sewage. This only goes to reinforce what a good decision we have made in bypassing the city and the door is quickly shut and we move back to our compartment to watch from the window. We pass by streets which are submerged 3 - 4ft and locals vainly bucketing out floodwater, using the relative high ground of the railway tracks as a makeshift pathway. The rain is still falling and the situation is getting worse not better. After an hour or so of slow progress the train seems to speed up and the water subsides allowing us to continue our journey through the night. We later learn that ours was the last train out of Bangkok for several days afterwards so we have had a lucky escape.
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