Part V Meet & Greet in Bangkok and Going back home

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One of my friends from back home was arriving on sunday and so I booked a hotel close to his for my final 3 nights. Checked in but the room wasn't ready yet so left my bag there and left for the airport to pick up my friend! It's always fun to do so and it felt like I'd been there forever, picking somebody else up. Had to wait for a bit but there he was! We went back together, he wanted to take a taxi and so we did. Dropped him off at his hotel and then walked back to mine. Got into the room, gorgeous with bathtub :-)! 

On my way to the airport link, 20 min walk.

Short video of me picking him up,

I made him a Welcome sign :-)

Room for my final 3 nights in Bangkok 🤩

We met up a bit after to go to a canal market. There wasn't one haha but it was still a nice walk. And so we went to the labyrinth one I had been to before because he needed swimshorts and I was pretty sure we'd find some there. We took a tuktuk there and walked around the market, a lot of stalls inside were closed during the evening but on the outside ring everything was open and full of foodstalls that weren't there during the day. We found swimshorts, had some food and a massage! That was too funny, first we followed the lady into an alley and then another where everything else was closed haha, but anything for the cheapest massage on the market and then the two ladies kept laughing during the massage and we learned new words haha. Lo mak mak, handsome man and suay mak mak for women. Massage was great though! Oh and my friend bought baby octopus and so I tried a bite as well. Not my thing, but eh when in Thailand.. It was fun walking around together. It was his first time and so he was excited and took a bunch of pictures and videos and everything was new. It's all so familiar to me that I don't feel that anymore in a lot of places I go to and so I quite enjoyed his enthousiasm! It brought back a lot of memories and stories that I shared with him and made me relive some of my previous travels :-)! We went back to the hotel and said our goodbyes for that day and I took a bath, looooved it. The bed felt like I was sleeping on and under clouds and it was super quiet and so I had a great night!

Compilation video of the tuk tuk, market, massage, baby octopus

Radio active water haha (lemongrass bathball)

My friend had to work the next day, he is staying here for a few months working remote, and so I went for late breakfast at my hotel (it's included again) and to the pool to read for a bit and then started walking around the area. Also found supermarket and bought a few drinks and snacks for my baths :-)! Oh and I saw this guy get run over by a tuk tuk!! Haha, well not as bad as it sounds, the wheel hit his foot but mostly the side of his shoe and he fell over. It was when the tuk tuk turned and so it wasn't going fast. The guy got up and was okay and they started talking and I continued my walk. I saw a lot of working girls in between homeless guys. Also saw a few girls with signs for massages and the way they looked, I was pretty sure it was a happy ending massage place. Got back to the hotel and chilled in the room for a bit.

Street art

There was construction so I had to take a turn (or turn around but just followed one of the locals) and ended up here. An inside peak in how life is. Loved seeing this side of Bangkok.

One of the locals told me to take another turn to eventually get back to the main road. And that was here, walking on traintracks.

Shopping. 

Drinks and bath powder for my baths and a few local snacks.

Once my friend finished working, I picked him up and we went to another market. And after that, another tuk tuk (we did a bit of karaoke as we connected the phone via bluetooth to the speakers haha) to Khaosan road for dinner and a massage, that was the plan anyway haha. We did have dinner, then went to a stand up comedy show (this guy passed out flyers so we decided to check it out) and it was pretty funny. We then walked around again and it was super busy, music and people everywhere. And so we told eachother to walk to the end of the street and back and then have a massage (and I would then take another bath). We then said, okay let's have one drink first and then a massage. The drink was a 3liter beertower and the massage was cancelled from our agenda haha, we stayed until 3ish. When on Khaosan road... We danced, talked, laughed, drank. I even helped the staff a few times and got about 8 people in as well haha. Save to say, I didn't take a bath after that. Rolled right into bed.

Tuk tuk karaoke compilation I

Tuk tuk karaoke compilation II

He bought it....

Lady and the vagebound eating Scorpion 

Waaaa funny video of me trying the scorpion!

I slept like a baby that night and stayed in bed most of the day and watched tv. It was my last full day and didn't have to do anything and my friend was working again. We did go out to dinner again that night and had another massage. I also took my final bath of this trip! 

I woke up pretty early and finished typing most of this. Took a shower, finished my packing (noticed that my new glass earrings broke, but broken glass brings good luck) and went down for breakfast. My friend came in to say goodbye and I left. The taxi driver asked me where I was from and when I said the Netherlands, he started naming old soccer players haha. Nothing has changed from all those years ago.

I took this with me for the days I was away.

Ready to gooo

10kg total of which 5kg is presents haha

Bye bye!!!

It was fun to be back in Thailand again where life's on the street, people are friendly and everything is cheap! And this time around was also great because of all these memories of previous trips that came back to me. I also loved showing somebody else around again for a bit and teach him some of the ins and outs of Thailand and backpacking. And just to hang out together there for a few days. 

Got to the airport and I was so excited, not because I was going home but because I treated myself to Business Class. And most of you know that it's hard and unusual for me to treat myself to something like this but with the right price and mindset of 'just do it', I did.

Compilation of my trip home

Landed at 7pm, was the second person of the plane. It was super quiet so I was at the trains about 10minutes after. Took the first direct train at 733pm, bus was waiting when I got to Arnhem and so I ran. And it had just started snowing but didn't expect anything of it. Until I woke up the next morning and saw the winter wonderland outside. What a difference. Home sweet home.

Train Schiphol to Arnhem

Home!

Thanks for kind of traveling with me through these posts! 

Until next time!

Cheers,

T.

Part IV Back in Bangkok!

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Walked to the busstation, which was really just the street in front of an open office space with a large desk and a lot of backpacks people had dropped off before getting on the bus. I booked the 130pm bus, 1230 was already full and a flight to Bangkok at 7pm. That would leave me 1,5hours in between as it would take about 4hours. If things went the way they did on the way here, I would have plenty of time. I had checked in online the night before and had no luggage to drop off. Checking in online didn't work at first, had booked through a 3rd party because it was cheaper and I read afterwards that more people had this issue and to go to the airport early to check in there. Nothing else worked, some got in using different information provided by the airlines customer service. Checking in online wasn't an option for me. I contacted the online customer support of the 3rd party, but after 15minutes or so she couldn't manage it either and told me to call the airline to ask for help. It annoyed me but I put my shoes on to ask the hotel if I could use the phone. I then remembered something worth trying, incognito tab! That had worked for me before with a completely different issue but also with an online purchase. And it worked (so there's a free tip 😁)! And so, even if we got to the airport later, it would be fine as long as I was checked in. It's also an airline that deals with a lot of delays (same airline I took on the way to Chiang Mai with an hour delay). 

The bus left a little after it was suppose to, didn't have the front seat (didn't want to either, it had to fit two people this trip) but a single seat next to the door with plenty of leg space. Again, had to take my luggage with me due to the small size. We picked up a few other people and started the return to Chiang Mai, 762 turns again. The ride was fine, I again slept/dozed off and saw a few elephants on the way (not walking around freely though). And the driver seemed to want to make up for lost times and rushed through some of the turns but nothing that felt unsafe. Got back into the city and I figured I would be there in time, but then traffic hit and it looked like the drop off schedule would be City, Bus terminal and then Airport. I had already let go if I wouldn't make the flight. I mean, what can one do? Let go, let it happen, there's always another flight. I couldn' be bothered by it and just continued staring out the window. And that's when I saw it: International Airport. Haha, we were being dropped off first. Turned out a few other people on the bus booked the same flight and must have told the office departure was at 7pm. Anyways, got to the airport 1,5hr before my flight left (which actually left on time). I was seated at the window, again luck of the draw, I usually never pick the window but would be fine for a short flight. And it was rather kind lf magical, the beautiful lights at night of the city but also lights of tempels!

I again dozed off a little bit and watched part of an ocean documentary I had downloaded once. Horrible. But I did love my new gadget that I brought with me from home to try out!

We landed somewhere around 815pm and I couldn't be bothered figuring out how to get to the hotel using public transportation and so I took a taxi. It was about 15euros for 45minutes. I usually pay the same for the 5minute ride home after going out haha. Got to the hotel and nothing special compared to the other places, a bit of a hard bed which isn't unusual here and I quite like that. And a view of Asiatique, lot's of lights as I got there at nighttime. I immediately felt I was back in the big city. Gone is the quiet, back are the voices. Well just one voice and my own, no Gollum vs Sméagol sh*t hehe. And it was noisy outside as well. I woke up early that morning, mostly from hotel noise. They were cleaning the hallway or something. And so I just stayed in bed for a bit and dozed off a few times. 

Time go get up, because I had a ticket for the Jurassic Park experience! Which was across the street in Asiatique! One of the reasons I picked the hotel. And off we went to Isla Nublar! It was a fun experience but we did get rushed through it a bit because once you got into the second room, the show kind of started and staff kept going, we got to go and hurry, danger, they're coming. But it was fun! Took us about 45minutea (instead of the 60-90min it sid online). After being back outside, I walked around the area for a bit, went back to the hotel since it was so close and then left again. Today's transport: local boats. You either pay before you get on or on the boat itself and prices are about 50cents each trip. I went to Chinatown first and visited the market. It was pretty busy and chaotic but Chinatown is always fun! After that I quickly visited Khaosan road as the boat was going that direction. And again all these memories came back. It was quiet though during the day. I remember it used to be busy, day and night. I walked around for a bit and visited the hotel I used to stay at when in Bangkok (wanted to again but it was full). After another trip down memory lane, I took the boat back to the hotel. It was around sunset and it was nice to be on the boat. I was a bit beat but still decided to go outside after dinner and so I went across the street to go into one of the attractions that I saw from my room. Up up up we go! 

I luckily had a better sleep that night and decided to take buses and trains that day. I had to wait for the bus (it was a loooong street and no bus in sight) and so I started walking to the next stop and the next and so on until I saw a bus coming. I passed a cheap massage place (cheapest yet, only 4euros for an hour footmassage and one next to it for about 5,5euros) and wanted to go later that day. I got on the bus and I was fascinated by the busticket lady, it was a little lady that easily walked through the crowds with a hello kitty tube with change and the different type of tickets inside (depending on which stop you have to get off at). I just watched her do her job and would again the next day, different lady but same thing. Took a train after that, I forgot how much it is like Japan, easy peasy! Got to the market, 8000 stalls, skipped most of it haha. It was a labyrinth of shops and I mostly stayed on the outside of it. Great deals though and so I bought a few presents there. I also had lunch there with 'medium spicy' thai basil and I literally burned the inside of my lip haha, teared up my eyes as well. It was good though and I finished my plate! Went back after a few hours, got a massage (the cheapest one was already full and so I went nextdoor, got to lay down flat instead of in a chair of which some recline) and it was great!! Walked back to the hotel and then to an Indian place for dinner. It was about 10euros incl the drink but to be fair, the streetfood was a lot better!

Busticket lady

Just like in Japan

Why the plastic bag? So you have a bag for your bananapeel when you finish the banana until you find a trashcan.

Super random, just went into the mall to use the toilets.

Had another okay night, checked out and got on a bus again  I again watched the lady do her thing haha. I transfered to a train and got off at the station close to my next hotel in Bangkok...