Lost in front of the King’s Funeral in Bangkok, heading to Chiang Mai, Thailand

I hopped in a plane, hoping to convince myself that this is where I will settle in and call home away from New York City.
I landed in Bangkok because it’s the cheapest option for flying wise from NY, landed in Bangkok international airport at night. The next bus to Chiang Mai was in the morning; I decided to stay in the airport for a few hours until morning comes. I found a corner to sit in with my luggage near the charging station, and I ate at the cafe in front of it.

I can remember ordering a purple yam soup that tasted, not how I hoped it would be when I thought about the delicious purple yam candy I had in Taipei. In other words, I couldn’t force myself to finish it!
And a cup of coffee, of course.

I had trouble getting information about the bus station or how to get there. My Uber was inactive, and the information desk during the night shift barely spoke enough English.
It was the day the country will officially bury the king after his death.

The subway was free to all; that was a great thing for me since I had not exchanged any currency. After having the courage to go through the subway, of course, I took the wrong train to get there; I finally made it near the bus station. I was the only one wearing green or colored clothes; everyone else was wearing black, I ultimately felt like an outsider, and I couldn’t act straight.

All I was thinking about is that I need to get to the bus station. I got there.. but it was not the one where my bus to Chiang Mai will leave from. I had to ask four different locals until one helped get a taxi to the right destination.
All that had happened to me because I didn’t have the internet on my phone and couldn’t get free WiFi quickly near where I was.

I made it to the right bus station, and I had four hours waiting for my bus. I killed time by getting some work done after asking the bus station for the WiFi password.
I can’t remember the exact number of how long the bus to Chiang Mai was, but I know it was around an 11 hours ride.

I got to Chiang Mai around 11 pm, I had already booked my Hostel, and I thought I could use my Uber to get to the Hostel; again, I couldn’t find free WiFi to order it.
So many tuk-tuk drivers approached me, and I didn’t know how much it will cost to get there; they all claimed that they know where the address was, but I knew when I booked it, I made sure it was close to the bus station and the city center, somewhere in between.

I did read before from other blogs that the tuk-tuk rides are from 25-35 bhat, and when he asked for 100, I freaked out and was so focused on not getting stuck in the middle of nowhere getting cheated on, even when the amount compared to USD is almost nothing.
I crossed the street and headed to the taxi station, the guy asked for 150 bhat, and I just said yes because I felt that that could be a much safer option to be in than a tuk-tuk as a first time user.

I may have miss judged the tuk-tuk drivers, but the anxiety of not having any form of cellular connection or GPS terrified me. (of course, I was scared, I hadn’t traveled to Thailand before, and it was midnight at this point, plus I was drained and sick of the anxiety that I might be robbed or cheated on by taxi drivers)

The taxi driver was able to help me find my Hostel; unfortunately, my Hostel had added the wrong address into the booking, we were circling a McDonald’s for over half an hour.
We drove on the same street for a while, until I asked him to drive a little further down the road for 2 mins; finally, my hidden Hostel was found.

The hostel staff greeted me, and she was so kind to me, I instantly felt home! I needed that feeling after a very long two days of trying to make it into Chiang Mai, Thailand, in the cheapest way possible.

After one night in my Hostel, another staff member asked me if I don’t mind changing my room into a females-only room because they are trying to fix the air conditioner in this room; I said sure.
I was the only person in the room that I was in, and then I was moved into a much smaller dorm with three other girls; I had the top bed.. but I was still grateful, and I knew those good things don’t last. Lol

Tiredness and anxiety were eating me alive, and I didn’t want to make any new friends, but sometimes you can’t hide your extroverted side for long, even when you had a rough two days. (Or three months)
The girls and I became close, but after a day or two, the girls left, and I had the room all to myself. I stayed a whole month in that Hostel, with an excellent working AC and full privacy. Although I was in before I was getting all booked with different guests after just one night, I somehow stayed in the private room for the whole month.

Slowly I understood that it was a gift from God to help me go through what turned out to be a healing journey for me in Thailand!

(Will talk more about it and open up later on the blog, especially behind the real reason I had developed extreme anxiety leaving my shell for the past few months before Thailand)