
After an eleven to twelve-hour train ride from Bangkok, I finally arrived in Chiang Mai, which is in northern Thailand. I was drained from the traveling and I still haven’t had dinner. It was about eight or nine in the evening. I got off the train and headed for the Visitor/Tourist Center. I showed the staff there the address of my hostel and asked them how I could get there. I didn’t really get anything from them and they just gave me a printed map of Chiang Mai with all the famous attractions in the city. I thanked them and then left. I was starting to feel anxious by this time. I had no access to the Internet so I couldn’t even check Google Maps to see where in the world I was or how far my hostel was from the station. I used to be very detailed when I plan my trips. I would make sure I knew how I would get from point A to point B for all the places in my itinerary, or at least knew how to get to where I’m staying prior to arrival. This time though, I didn’t. I didn’t even get a local sim card or a pocket wifi for navigation. But it was okay, I didn’t really feel bad for that, I was just really anxious. Upon exiting the station, which was small to be honest, I saw red vehicles that seemed like the jeepneys back at home except these vehicles had a sign at the top that said “Taxi.” A lot of people who seemed like drivers (because of the uniform) were also flocking the entrance/exit of the station and talking to the tourists. One of them approached me and my instinct told me to show him the address of my hostel. He had a hard time reading it because the letters were small but eventually he understood and said, “Okay,” and brought me to his vehicle. Later I found out that it was called a Songthaew, a passenger vehicle used as a shared taxi in Thailand and its neighbouring countries, which literally translates to two rows. There were two other people in the Songthaew who seemed like a couple. The driver got into the driver’s seat and we took off. I wanted to talk to the couple but decided against it. It was dark outside so all I could do…
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