Paisley Firefly: Touchdown in Thailand

TOUCHDOWN IN THAILAND

Sawadeeka! (Hello in Thai)

On the 2^nd of April I departed Durban (South Africa) and took the +- 24-hour journey to Thailand. I am a very family and friend orientated person and saying goodbye for me was rough (I cried so many times in the airport, no jokes. And I cried on the plane once. And when skyping my parents in Dubai airport. Not proper crying, but like a few tears and sniffles.) But I’m not a complete baby, being away from home just makes me anxious. And even though it sounds quite the opposite I was extremely excited for my new adventure in Thailand. I’d been before in 2014 and absolutely fallen in love with the beautiful country and the amazing people so I knew I’d enjoy it here.

Time to leave for my gap year* in Thailand.

My flights were as follows: Durban to Dubai (6 hours), Dubai to Bangkok (8 hours) and Bangkok to Chiang Mai (1 hour). I normally love airports and flying but I have to say this trip for me was terrible. The best part was the awesome pictures I took from my window seat. The reason this trip was so bad was because I’d never travelled alone before. Okay I wasn’t completely alone but I’d only properly met the guy (Tristan) I was travelling with the day I departed. So that sucked. Plus, I was moving to a new country. And the 5-hour time difference between here and South Africa sucks ass and makes communicating with my famdamily and friends back home a little challenging. I also battled to sleep on the plane, I had a couple naps along the way but that’s it. Although, I was out like a light on the flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and had an empty seat next to me so that was quite lucky.

I love venturing around airports though and was super keen for Dubai airport because I had my heart set on checking out the Victoria’s Secret shop. No such luck, couldn’t find it anywhere at that terminal. Knowing my luck though I probably walked past it like 5 times. And I lost my travel companion for about an hour which was not nice at all. I literally walked up and down the terminal about 3 times and by the end of it my back was in absolute agony (from the giant backpack I had burdened myself with.)

Another ‘fun’ experience was at the Bangkok airport. We were getting off the plane and I saw my name on a board and started panicking, what had I done now? The person holding the sign just told me what I already knew: I had to collect my bag from baggage claim and check in for the Chiang Mai flight. After waiting for an eon for my giant plastic wrapped bag, I finally made my way to check in for my flight. Missioning to the other side of the airport was terrible, lucky for me a local traveller helped me find my way to the right place. It felt like my arm was going to fall off because my bag was so heavy (just made the weight limit. After digging out a kilo worth of toiletries.) And finally I was checked in and waiting at the gate (after replacing my toiletries at Boots.) My travel companion wasn’t there so I was forced to talk to the “problem client” of the group. But Tristan finally got back and we made friends with a couple who were embarking on the same journey as the rest of us. Having made some friends, I started feeling less anxious but more than anything I was just keen to get to the resort and settle into the room I’d be staying in for the next 3 weeks.

We only got into Chiang Mai at around 11pm and checked into the resort we were staying in at 12pm so it was a hella long day. And I had the pleasure of being the only girl sharing a room with a guy (who I’d also never met) that I wasn’t dating. But he was decent guy and gave me the bottom bunk so all was good. And he and his friends helped me out by opening my bag (my lock was broken and all I wanted to do was shower.)

*Gap year: I hate this phrase. Gap makes it sound like I’ll be doing nothing for a year which is far from the truth. I came to Thailand with the intention of teaching. So not really a gap, just year to work, explore and figure things out in my head in terms of what I’ll end up studying.

So that’s it for my first Thailand blog post. Should get the next one done before the end of next week and will be the first taste of the beautiful Land of Smiles.