DAY 01 ( 20th October
2014 )
With one suitcase and my daily
backpack, I started walking from my apartment to the Phara Ram 9 MRT station at
7 in the morning. The suitcase was quite heavy because I had my laptop inside
it to avoid the weight on my backpack but I totally forgot that I had to carry
the suitcase all the way to the station too. Anyhow, after about 35 minutes of
walking, I arrived at the station. It was very tiring as I was not used to
heavy walking in the hot sun. I usually take the motorbike taxis. But since
this was the beginning of a sustainable life I had to make sure that I don’t do
anything that would increase my carbon footprint.
As soon as I reached the station, I
tried taking the suitcase up the stairs to avoid the lift. I was having
difficulty to take it up the stairs but luckily a very helpful man came and
helped me out. So nice of him!
When I reached to the train area, I
had to wait for 2 trains to pass by because it was very packed and there was no
way for me to get in with my heavy suitcase. Now that the weight has become
such a burden, let’s take a look of what I had packed.
Here it is;
06 regular clothes
01 thin fabric towel ( easy to dry )
Cables for my gadgets ( laptop and
mobile phone )
Snacks ( things I already had in the
house; fish cans and some mama packets )
Laptop (of course, I had work )
Note Books
Stationaries
Nikon Digital Camera ( the whole
camera bag with accessories )
Toiletries
In my backpack, I only had some
oranges and a note book.
However, after about another 30
minutes, I had already reached at Hua Lamphong station. My classmates, Mind,
Johnny, Lyming and her mother were already waiting at the station. When I went
and met them, I came to an understanding that the train was a bit delayed. So,
I was not late! Phew. As we were waiting for Ice to come, we took some photos
around the station. Lyming had already brought some snacks from her home which
was more than enough for all of us for the journey.
As soon as Ice reached, we gathered
our stuff and started walking towards the train platform. We got on the train,
got our bags inside the overhead compartments and made ourselves all set for
the 12hrs journey ahead of us. I was sitting near Ice in an aisle seat. The
seats were comfortable than I thought it would be. Once the train started its
engine, I called my parents and informed about the departure. (Otherwise, they will be worried).
The atmosphere inside the train was
very nice. The train had fans installed but they used AC so it was a bit
chilled. They even offered us lunch and snacks during the journey. After 3
hours or so, the excitement I had was slowly fading away. It was getting too
tiresome and boring to sit on the same chair for so long. It wasn’t like I was
not talking to my friends but the pain for sitting too long was reaching to a
point that it was unbearable. So, I decided to walk around. I stood and walked
to the toilet area. I wasn’t really going to use it but I thought, well I am
here, so I might as well use it. Surprisingly!! It was not bad.
Oh and did I mention, that this was
my very first time using the train (choo choo) and also going to Chiang Mai. So
I was very much delighted about the trip but at the same time worried about
leading a green life. Yes, for the very common reason, we are all so accustomed
to the very materialistic earth we live in. But I had already de-activated my
face book, so that was going nice for me. And also I did not have a lot of
friends to chat with, so I was not using my DATA on my mobile that much either.
(Not as much as I used to).
During the 12hrs on the train, I
also observed different kinds of people. And most importantly, there was this
kid who was being playful and entertaining us all for the last few hours of the
trip. He was very cute. He would talk to my Thai friends, and come and tap me
on the shoulders. I don’t know why. Would it be because I was brown? Oh well.
It was fun either way.
In between a lot of chit chatting,
photo snapping and eating, the time had
arrived. The time I have been waiting for. We reached Chiang Mai at around
8:30pm. As soon as we got there, we took the public transport and went to
Lyming’s grand parents’ house. Oh yeah, by then Lana also had reached from
Cambodia and joined us. So now it’s a total of 6 members starting the journey
of the sustainable life.
As soon as we reached the house, we
had our dinner that Lyming’s grandparents had already cooked for us. Mind, Ice,
Lana and I were sharing the room. The room had an air conditioner, but of
course we used the fan. We also opened the windows to let more air in the room.
We all tried to do our work, writing our blogs but we were too tired for it so
we went to sleep.
