Just woke up in Bangkok

exploring the world isn’t as impossible it sometimes seems.

If someone told me a few years or just a few months ago I would never believe to wake up in Bangkok some day and stay here for about one month.
But it's true, I'm in Bangkok now and I already got so many incredible impressions I want to share with you.

First of all I wanna tell you something about us, this means my friend Marc and me, Marisa. Marc is 28 years old and works as a frontend developer. Don't know what exactly he does, something like programming. He decided to move away from Germany to Thailand half a year ago. It’s very cool because he can work for his german company as well as living in Thailand. He is some kind of digital nomad. Marc traveled to Thailand at the end of July and I’m going to visit him in September, rainy season in Thailand. About me, what to say. I'm 25 years old, study some kind of education science and work at a residential home for mentally handicapped people. Just the whole opposite of what Marc does. We know each other since the beginning of the year.

About 2 weeks ago I decided to book a flight from Cologne to Bangkok to visit him. It has always been like a big dream for me to just fly around the world and explore everything you want. I haven't been travelling alone before, so I was a little bit scared when I arrived at the airport. How to get to the right Gate, what happens if I don't get my connection flight in Zürich? I was told the airport in Bangkok is very big, what if I or my baggage get lost there?

Marc, who was already in Thailand (and has been there a few times before) told me, it wouldn't be that difficult. He also told me, I have to take care not to leave the arrival zone in Zürich after landing. Otherwise it could be a problem to get the connecting flight. But it transpires, that all my fears did not come true.

My flight from Cologne to Zürich started one and a half hours later than planned, I went out of the plane in Zürich and was guided to a train that brings me to the plane to Bangkok. Wow, what a big plane, I couldn't imagine how big until I walked to my seat. There was already a pillow, a blanket and in front of every seat you had a little screen where you could receive information about the flight and the plane (remaining flight duration, distance to destination, speed, temperature outside and at destination, etc.).

I had a lot of fun with this small screen. It’s also possible to play little games and watch around 100 movies and series. I decided to watch “Dumbo” first and while I was watching the movie the crew served meals and drinks to everyone. Smelled really good, although I thought the meals would be unenjoyable. Afterwards the lights were turned down. I thought all guests in the plane sleep, so did I. In the morning we all got some breakfast and I watched another movie. After all it didn’t feel like I stayed more than ten hours in a plane. I just entered a plane in Cologne and woke up in Bangkok!

Arrived in Bangkok I followed the signs and got easily to the security check and to the luggage. I bought a Thai-Sim for 30 days, costs around 8 Euro.
Marc picked me up at the airport and we went to the Sky Train. I wondered a bit because we got small round black chips and had to put them into electronic gates to enter the platform. Riding by tram is a big difference to Germany. The people here in Thailand don’t push each other into the tram, they just stand in lines in front of the tram until all the people leave and then then they enter the tram orderly. One thing we learned is to stay close enough to the exits because sometimes the trains are so crowdy that you would have trouble getting out.

I also noticed, the kindliness and calm art of the people. Nobody screams and the people having a call speak quietly. The mentality of the Thai people is such a big difference in contrast to the german mentality.

From the train station Marc booked a “Grab”. Grab is like Uber, an app you will love while staying in Thailand or other asian countries. You can easily book private drivers who bring you exactly to the location you determined in the app. The advantage is, that you don't have to explain where you want to go because the driver can see it in the app. You get the final price before taking the ride, very helpful in Thailand. Sometimes the taxis try to rip you off, especially if you are a tourist and do not know better and even worse during night time. Taking Grab or taxi in Thailand is much cheaper than in Germany. Like almost everything. But it's very cold and freezy in the cars, outside you'll maybe get a thermal shock after a long ride.

The Grab dropped us in front of a very big and high building. Marc told me about this before: that he had a room in the 32nd floor. But standing in front of such a big building is just impressive.

At the same street there were street food stalls where you could buy fresh fruits, omelette, Thai food and everything you need. We bought some fruits and Marc decided to have a meal with chicken and vegetables. I wasn’t really hungry. You get the lunch in little plastic bags closed with rubbers to carry them home. Doesn’t look very delicious but smells so much better.

After all this little but incredible impressions for me, we went in our apartment and the first day in Bangkok began.

So that pretty much sums up my arrival in Bangkok. I plan on writing on a regular basis, so if you want to read more about my adventure you should follow me here on Medium to not miss out any story. If you have any questions feel free to ask.