I had not been to Asia in four years.
Last time I set foot on this majestic continent, I had left home and all the familiar to experience the unfamiliar, to see new places, make new friends and create new memories. Last time I was in Asia, I had fallen in love twice. Once with China; it’s incredible history, rich culture, landscapes that could be on the cover of Nat Geo, the food and so much more. And the second time, with my boyfriend, whom I met while studying abroad. Needless to say, that year-long experience changed me profoundly and it continues to be a big part of my life and who I am.

Now, four years later, we were back for a month long adventure through Thailand and Myanmar. After the initial awkwardness of weird smells, sky high buildings and many, many people, it felt like being home again. Bangkok was our first destination.
Suvarnabhumi airport is well connected to the major districts in Bangkok via the Sky Train and MBK networks. After a few connections, we arrived at Lub’d Hostel in Silom.

To me, Bangkok feels like one of these cities where you need to spend a few weeks in order to fully appreciate it. It’s a huge city, not particularly pretty and the tourist attractions… well, they are indeed ‘tourist attractions’. However, I do think that, if you study there, or live there, you really get to experience every little part of the city and get to appreciate it to the fullest. Bangkok has something for everyone: delicious street food, fancy sky bars, raunchy clubs, an underground scene, tourist areas and local markets.

On a tight schedule, we left for Chiang Mai, about 650 km north. We opted for the overnight ‘express’ train, which in fact, was not very express at all.

Despite the relative slowness of the train, we did manage to get some sleep as the ‘beds’ are quite comfortable. We were woken up by a singing sound ‘goodmorning, wake up please’ and as we were waiting for a tuk-tuk, felt the 6 am sun already scorching our skin.