Wait!...Where is this train going??

We got up at 4:45 this morning to make an early train to Bangkok. We made it through the dark streets of Hua Hin to the train station and joined the crowd waiting for the 6:05 train. At the correct time a train pulled in. We got on quickly, because we are quite experienced with how disorganized and chaotic it can be boarding trains in every country we have been in. We man-handled our bags down the crowded aisle, struggled to heave them into the overhead rack, and noticed there were people asleep in "our" seats...hmmm. I then noticed that the crowd of people we had been waiting with did not seem to be boarding this train...hmmm. I leaned out the window and showed my ticket to a very official-looking uniformed man. His response was a little frantic, "Oh no! Next train, next train!" I could hear the rumble of the engine starting. I grabbed my bag, maybe knocking someone out as I jerked it out of the overhead rack, saw that Shawn was helping Baylie, and raced to jump out the door. We all made it off in a pile of luggage, I'm sure to the amusement of everyone still waiting patiently for the next train.

We finally made it to Bangkok and were happily surprised that there was a train heading to Ayutthaya in one hour. What luck! I bought tickets, we grabbed a quick snack, and headed for the platform. The train did not come. It was over an hour late. When it finally got going it never even made it out of the city. The train just stopped. We waited, and waited, and waited. No air conditioning, but Shawn finally got fed up with the fans that weren't working and he took matters into his own hands and went to work on the circuit breakers. He seemed a little upset that once he got the fans going there wasn't a round of applause. After over an hour there was an announcement in Thai that did not sound promising. A very nice fellow passenger came over to explain to us that the army would send trucks to transport us on ahead if we wanted, but the train was basically stuck due to a problem related to flooding and sandbags and some sort of "negotiation" going on up ahead. There may have been a little bit lost in translation, but we decided to bail on our plan. We grabbed our bags and headed for the street in search of a taxi. So now we are "accidental tourists" in Bangkok for a couple of days when we really only meant to pass right through.