Day 125 - Welcome to Thailand

We are in Bangkok, Thailand! We arrived on the 5th of May, 2023 via London. It was a very long flight. The effects of jet lag were not felt on our first day, but on day two (the day we were meant to check out from our hotel) we were awoken by a knocking sound on our hotel room door. As I arose from my slumber and answered the call, I was greeted by one of the reception staff  to be reminded that it was now 12:30 pm in the afternoon...we had slept through our alarms. Our check out time was 11:00 am and they had given us so much grace time. It was mortifying. I apologised profusely and told the staff we would be at the check out desk in the next 15 minutes. We packed our belongings in a frenzy and rushed downstairs. If it were anywhere else in the world we would have been expected to pay an overstay fee. Still in a daze, we kept apologising and thanking the staff as we left the building. They were all smiles and showed nothing but kindness and understanding. This was just a preview of the warmth of the people of Thailand.

We spent a few days in Bangkok, exploring the city and eating the best food. I would consider it a food lover's paradise, especially if you like spicy food. I was having the time of my life exploring the food culture in Thailand and would go back in a heartbeat just to re-experience that.

It was now time to head to our next chosen destination, the city of Chiang Mai. We bought tickets for the overnight sleeper train departing from Krung Thep Aphiwat station. After a delicious lunch, we called an Uber to take us to the station, but unfortunately got stuck in traffic on the way. We were not anticipating this. There was a chance we could miss our train.

We reached the station with the train due to depart in 10 minutes. I thought we cannot make it and should just give up, but Munis insisted we at least try, so with our 12kg rucksacks in tow, we began to run. We ran through the station like a couple of headless chickens, without any idea where we were headed. In our panic we couldn't even read the signs properly.

A quick google search will tell you that Krung Thep Aphiwat is the largest station in south-east Asia. It has 26 platforms and is absolutely massive, we kept running but somehow our gate still wasn't in sight. Miraculously, one of the station staff recognised our panic and asked if we are heading for the Chiang Mai train? We shouted yes in approval and got directed to the way. As we made our way towards where he was pointing, he simultaneously alerted staff of oncoming passengers. We ran, took an elevator, ran some more and staff at every corner asked us to hurry, 'c'mon, c'mon, c'mon', making sure we did not miss our train.

For me, up until this day Bollywood had romanticised running for trains - a melodious tune plays in the background, the train honks its final horn alerting passengers of its departure. As smoke from the engine fills the sky, the actor emerges from the smoke, in super slow motion. The train doors are starting to close...the scene cuts to the actor running towards the train in all their glory and makes their way onto it with ease - but now I can tell you that, that couldn't be further from the truth. We ran frantically, gasping for air, our running slowed down due to the weight on our backs. It would not have been romantic, even if there was a Shahrukh Khan song playing in the background.

Thanks to the help we received that day we got on the train with seconds to spare. Panting and gasping for air we made our way to our booth and heaved a sigh of relief! We put our luggage down and crashed into our seats, laughing. That was a close call. I later looked at the heart rate chart on my smart watch and saw it had climbed from 84bpm to 134bpm in a matter of minutes.

We settled into our seats and ordered some dinner, a delicious penang curry with rice and a chocolate brownie for dessert. The train itself was clean and very comfortable. Around 08:00 pm, the train staff came and converted our seats into beds and provided fresh sheets and pillows.

In the booth opposite to us, we could see two policemen with a civilian but didn't make much of it. But I soon noticed that the man had his hands cuffed to the seat. We were going to be spending the night, on a train, in the same carriage with someone who was being escorted by police. How many times does one get to experience that? I had had my fair share of excitement for the night. I drew the curtains of my booth and slept like a baby.