19.03.2008 Thailand on my own

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Thailand on my own

When I woke up I had a really strange feeling. K wouldn't come to pick me up, we wouldn't be spending the day together. It's not, that I can't be on my own or have a look around "town" by myself, but this is Bangkok, K told me that there is no such thing as a map, and I have a terrible sense of orientation. Honestly, I was scared that if I left my backpacker I'd most probably never find back again and be lost in this huge city forever.

I felt really planless as what to do with the day. I had planned to travel with K for the first two weeks and then continue my journey with Karl. However, he was supposed to get to Thailand sometime last week and since I got here he kept postponing his arrival. I didn't know when he was going to come or if that meeting which was arranged months ago was going to take place at all.

Since I had to have a plan I've tried to call Fabian for the past two days but no luck. About a couple of weeks before I left home, my brother Christof told me, that his friend Fabian would be in Bangkok the same time as me and suggested we hang out together sometime. All I knew about him was, that he had grown up in our neighborhood until he moved away years ago. During the last few months I've seen him at our place quite a few times, hanging out with Christof. Thinking of it, I don't think I've ever even spoken a proper sentence with him. All I can remember was a quick "hello" on passing by. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I felt like meeting him but Christof had already written an e-mail and told him that I'd contact him. The day before I left for Thailand I wrote an e-mail to let him know I'd be in Thailand soon.

During the past two weeks we exchanged a few e-mails and our Thai mobile phone numbers. Through the e-mails I got a good feeling about him and was looking forward to get to know him. Therefore I've tried to call him for the past two days trying to find out if he was available to meet but unfortunately I couldn't get a hold of him.

Because I had no plans, I stayed in bed for ages. Around lunch time I went down to reception to pay for the next night. I spotted their business cards and decided it might be a good idea to take one because I had no idea where in Bangkok I was, let alone how to ever get back there again. On the back side it had Thai instructions for the taxi. However, there are a lot of taxi drivers around here who are actually paddy farmers and come to the city off season to make a bit of extra money. You can take the taxi home from one spot one night and be home in 15 minutes and drive the same route the next day and it takes you half an hour (out of traffic jam that is). At night it's not the amount of traffic but the actual route which decides how long it takes you to get home. They could easily drive around in a circle three times in order to make more money. I wouldn’t notice. The streets here are so unclear that you could be taking a different route home every night. And it can also happen that the driver simply doesn't know the address and turns you down. Luckily - as I will learn later - I stayed in the tourist area, which is quite well known.

I had no idea what to do with myself in this huge city which has more habitants than my whole home country. Therefore I decided to have a really lazy day. After a shower I went back to my room and watched TV, read and simply enjoyed to have some time to myself. It felt great not to do much and somehow reminded me of a nice lazy weekend at home 😊

It had been a really hot day and at 5 pm I felt so hot and tired that I feel asleep. I was woken again around 7 pm when K called me on my mobile phone to find out how I was. I admitted that I hadn't been out all day. He suggested I go to Thanon Khao San, a road just around the corner from my backpacker where all the tourists go. I plucked up my courage, asked for precise directions at the reception and then was on my way. I was astonished to find this really lively street just one road down from my quiet neighborhood. It was full with tourists, vendors selling souvenirs and food... I was amazed by the turbulence and looked around. I was astonished when I reached the end of the famous Thanon Khao San after just a few minutes. I expected it to be much longer. After I had walked up and down the whole road I went back to my backpacker, made myself comfortable on the porch, ordered dinner and watched a movie on the big screen.

Before I went to bed I tried one more time to get a hold of Fabian. I half expected to hear that woman’s voice again, telling him that the recipient can't be reached but then he answered at last. he told me, that he only just got back from Cambodia. He wasn't sure about his working schedule but promised to find out and call back tomorrow. My mood increased at once 😊

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Comments

[Puthapoom Prapunwong]

No plan day.
On the lazy, no plan day. I liked when you say "It is time for CHILLLLLL". It always gave me a lots of smile. [-_-]/ K