A visit to Surin in North East Thailand was to see elephants and silk worms. I saw none on my three day visit. Wrong time of the year I was told. However, while waiting at the train station for my final leg of a months backpacking, I had one of those travel moments that you never forget.

Picture this: a 40 something lone female travelling with a rather heavy backpack waiting at a platform in a remote town.

Now I am a people watcher and was happy to watch the ladies with the baskets waiting for my train. They will sell their wares while the train is on the move. A great buffet of drinks, fresh fruit, and BBQ chicken. A great improvement improvement on UK fare.

My interest was recipricated and soon a conversation ensued in sign language. They tried to sell and I resisted. A lady stepped forward to interveen. She worked in Bankok and was travelling after seeing her family for the weekend.

Her English was used to translate the converation. They had heard of backpackers, but thought them to be young, not my age.

We swapped information and had a good laugh. A local police office stepped forward to see if all was well and then retreated.

One tiny lady of over 60 years wanted to try my backpack on. At over 23 kilos it was as big as her, but she insisted. To great applause she took the strain and stood up and happily posed for photos. A great grin on her face, she had joined the backpacking revolution, and I am sure would regale her family with the story.

Our train appeared and we all dispersed to carry our loads.

What a wonderful travel moment for my memory book