Mikaela Vournas
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The train squeaked and shook gently as it left the loading dock. Hungry, tired and unreasonably excited, I boarded an overnight train from the bustling southern Thailand city of Bangkok, bound for my ultimate destination, the mountainous northern city of Chiang Mai.
The days blurred together in a mix of sleep, hot sun and language barriers. Traveling isn’t always glamorous or easy.
The day prior, my plane touched down in Bangkok. I was traveling with my study abroad companions, Logan and Kristina. By this time we had already logged more than 24 hours in transit from Los Angeles. I admired the Suvarnabhumi Airport runway and its international terminal, eager to get a peek at the country that would serve as my home for the next four months. I was anxious, but mostly excited, to experience everything Thailand had to offer.
To describe Bangkok as overwhelming would be a gross understatement. After passing through customs and successfully withdrawing 5,000 baht (approximately 150 USD) from an ATM, I realized I was mentally unprepared for what I was about to experience.
I stepped out of the international terminal through sliding glass doors and was instantly hit by a wave of heat and humidity. At 1 a.m. the airport was bustling. People rushed around me with huge bags, rapidly speaking Thai and negotiating taxi rides.
With no hotel reservation and not a word of Thai in my vocabulary, my anxiety was mounting. I racked my mind for something to say to a cab driver that would get me where I needed to be. I scanned my surroundings in a daze. One man in the corner caught my eye. He was smoking a cigarette and holding a United Kingdom passport.
Eager to find someone we could communicate with, we approached him and explained our predicament. He was friendly and knowledgeable. After a few minutes of conversation and some bartering with a cab driver, we found ourselves speeding down a Thai freeway, headed toward a popular neighborhood in Bangkok called Sukhumvit.
Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” played on the radio as our friendly driver hummed along. We communicated in the only common language we had — smiles and laughs.
After paying 200 baht each (approximately 6 USD) for the 30-minute ride, we gave the driver a friendly bow and he returned to his car and drove away. By this time it was 2 a.m. and the streets were as busy as ever. I was greeted by loud street vendors yelling to passersby and a pungent scent of trash and curry spices.
I experienced sensory overload as I tried to make my way through the narrow, crowded and poorly paved sidewalk. My cumbersome luggage bumped into people and, at one point, almost knocked over a display of counterfeit sunglasses.
My night in Bangkok was unforgettable. I ate street food, wandered and befriended friendly locals and non-locals until the sun came up.
The next day I awoke feeling nauseated and exhausted. A bad plate of pad Thai left me feeling ill-equipped to navigate to Chiang Mai.
We somehow managed to reach the train station in eastern Bangkok. We purchased our tickets for a 15-hour sleeper train and proceeded to wait in the station’s food court with many other travelers. Watching stray cats devour the leftover food at assorted tables helped pass the time and after several hours, we boarded our train. We were finally on our way.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew the hard part was mostly over. As the train began moving, I was quickly introduced to a side of Bangkok that had not been visible from the tourist central Sukhumvit.
The rocky train creaked along and appeared to be forging its own path through a mix of slums and jungle. My window brushed against a blue tarp that served as the roof for a woman and her family. The rain that had collected on the tarp dripped down the side as the train growled slowly past. The woman and her two small boys appeared unfazed by the disruption and did not look up from their television screen.
A wave of chills passed over my body as reality set in; I was 8,000 miles away from my home.
Mikaela Vournas is an anthropology and geography senior and Mustang News study abroad columnist.