From 2024 to 2567 (Thai calendar) by flight

Note: November 24th and 25th are combined into this one text, all for justified reasons :)

After 10 hours of waiting at the Vienna airport, we finally took off for Bangkok. The waiting itself exhausted me, so I planned to sleep as long as possible on this flight. Unfortunately, my plan didn't work out as I kept waking up and falling back asleep about 100 times - due to various vibrations and the flight attendants serving other passengers. Less than 2 hours into the flight, dinner was served - curry chicken with rice, salad, and a piece of chocolate cake. Additionally, it was possible to request various drinks at any time, without any extra charges.

With constant waking and watching the clock, it was time for breakfast towards the end of the flight. I skipped this meal due to the nervousness I felt thinking about what awaited me on the ground.

The nervousness was totally unjustified because when we landed, everything went smoothly, most likely because I had organized myself well before the trip. From exiting the plane to officially entering the country took me less than 20 minutes, most of that time waiting in line at passport control. During passport control, I had to provide fingerprints, my passport, ticket, and printed e-visa. A visa stamp valid until January 22, 2025, was stamped. Immediately after that, I installed the e-sim card for the internet, which I had purchased in advance ($15 for 30 days - 30GB) and was just waiting for activation, and I also exchanged 100€ into Thai baht.

To and at the Accommodation

I exited the airport and ordered a Grab (equivalent to Uber/taxi) to my accommodation. It took the driver a bit longer to find me, but we managed somehow... I didn't expect such an introduction to Thailand, the land of smiles, but when I asked the driver his name, he just lifted his cap and turned it towards me, smiling. The cap didn't have anything written on it, just two dots and one longer curved line, all in the shape of a smiley face. I realized his name was "Smile" (although I'm still not 100% sure that's his real name xD), and the name suits him very well because he was very kind and smiling all the time; he even offered me some traditional Thai sweets before I even fastened my seatbelt. The ride took about 40 minutes and cost around $15.

So I arrived at the place where I am renting an apartment. At the entrance to the building's courtyard, there are two car ramps and a security box, and in front of the building entrance, there is always a woman in a uniform similar to the security in the box.

I contacted the owner of the apartment I am renting, but after a few moments, I was greeted by a young Chinese man, Ming - the co-host. He gave me the key, I filled out some form, read the house rules, and scanned my face which also serves for entering this highly secured building!

I expected Ming to give me a mini tour of the place, but after the initial part, he just forwarded me a message on Airbnb with the Wi-Fi password and details about what is located on which floor, and then he just leisurely left. It didn't bother me much, I assume he does this often, so he did everything routinely.

The apartment is on the 20th floor, and you can read more about the accommodation here. It was very clean and just like in the pictures! First, I unpacked, took a shower, and then went to sleep, exhausted, around 6PM... I woke up while it was still dark, thinking it was just before dawn, but it was only 11PM! I guess from the multitude of impressions in such a short period, I got energy and couldn't fall asleep anymore. I decided to do some work and kept working until early dawn. I still couldn't sleep.

In the meantime, I browsed Google Maps and found a few interesting places nearby, so around 8AM, I went to a park, about a 20-minute walk from the apartment. On the way, there was a 7-11 store where I bought some essentials for the apartment, one salmon onigiri, water, and Red Bull, but the original Thai one ;).

About the Park

Walking to the park, I noticed that the city was already very lively - motorcycles and cars everywhere and street food stalls at every corner. I wanted to try something from these stalls, but various smells prevented me, something I didn't quite expect...

It turned out that the park was a former old Chinese cemetery, now converted into a park. People were jogging, playing badminton, or just walking. Most of them were retirees. The park features structures shown in the pictures below, and thousands of old stone mounds with Chinese inscriptions, and the entire area is crisscrossed with paths for walking and running. I spent maybe 30 minutes in the park, took a few photos, ate the onigiri, and went back to the apartment. I finally got some sleep.

First Thai Meal

Around 5PM, I went to the other side of the city, just 5 minutes from the apartment, where I had my first Thai meal in a small street restaurant. I ate some fried pieces of chicken with spicy sauce and something that looked like finely chopped brain, but I am sure it was pork as I ordered. The taste was unfamiliar due to the Thai spices and spiciness, so it's possible I ate some brain... No one speaks English, so I used Google Translate the whole time. The portions were quite small, tasty, and the price was low - with water, it was 5€.

I spent the rest of the day working and planning the next ones.