Summary
I have arrived. Not to a place, but to a state. I am in no hurry now. I am here, in motion, yet at rest. That is enough for now.
Semper in motu. Always on the move.
It’s travel day again.
I love this part of my life too.
I’m almost looking forward to the experience I had in Milan last year – how strange, not so long ago I didn’t need this time limit – these days.
It’s magical to write at the airport and drink iced coffee made next to my laptop.
Of course, when I started this day, I was already aware that this was just a part of the journey.
After all, today I had 3,600 km and a 6.5-hour flight waiting for me.
At Denpasar Airport
I packed my things at dawn. I left my room for 6 weeks at around 7:40. I couldn’t say goodbye to my host because the reception wasn’t open yet.
I had planned one last walk in Bali, but the rain intervened. It was really heavy. So I had to call a taxi.
Since I was able to check in online for all three flights today at dawn, I have almost nothing to do here. I got through security easily and am sitting in a Starbucks.
I was writing my post until now when I noticed that someone had written the following on my glass with a marker: safe flight!
Even in my last moments in Denpasar, the locals can surprise me with their kindness. I asked one of the bar girls who wrote this message on my glass. It turned out to be her. So I was able to return her kindness by thanking her with a smile.
This will be the last kind moment in Bali for a while.
Now I’m trudging to my plane and I’ll be taking off in an hour.
As I sat on the plane, I meditated for a moment, then immediately fell asleep. I woke up to the plane taking off, but two minutes later I was asleep again.
I woke up to the plane’s wheels touching the ground.
The trip was completely without excitement – and without wakefulness.
At the Surabaya airport
Somehow everything is going so smoothly that an hour before my second plane takes off, I’m a little worried that I won’t have anything to write about in the end.
This airport is still in Indonesia, I arrived here on a domestic flight. From there, however, I’ll continue my journey on an international flight.
To do this, I had to take a taxi from the landing airport to the departure airport.
There, they tried to trick me with some product presentation, but I repelled the attempt with my immense routine.
Now I’m sitting here in front of the correct gate and waiting for the hour to pass when my plane will take off.
In the meantime, I crossed a time zone, so I was momentarily confused because my laptop shows a different time than my phone and watch.
On my next trip, I’ll check exactly where I change time zones, just to avoid misunderstandings.
Now I have a 4+ hour flight ahead of me, I hope I can read on this plane. LOL.
Before takeoff, I had a nice experience. A young guy came up to me and said he was doing a survey with tourists about Indonesia. He asked if I had 5 minutes for an interview.
For an interview? Mom! The alluring scent of anonymous fame hit me again.
I asked him to sit next to me, and then we started the question-and-answer game. He asked me a lot of things about my stay here. Some of the questions were about how I found interacting with the people here and how I felt.
During my answers, he expressed his gratitude and joy several times because I used the words “respect”, “respectful”, “gratitude”, “sincere” and “smiling” a lot.
The interview was anonymous. Anyway, that’s all about world fame! But the guy wanted to make the anonymous moment memorable, so he asked if he could take a selfie with me. We both happily did so.
This will be the last nice moment in Indonesia for a while.
There was an event, but not related to the trip. When I turned on the internet on my phone, I saw that the accommodation I had booked and paid for yesterday had been cancelled by the system due to the lack of feedback from the landlord.
So I was left without accommodation. Fortunately, by the time I got off the plane, we had already discussed the details with the owner of the accommodation I had booked and paid for the second one.
The price of the first accommodation will be refunded within 7 weeks.
At the Bangkok airport
I arrived prepared.
I had my Digital Entry Card to the country ready. I had internet ready. I had Thai baht in cash with me.
The internet came back on immediately, just like in any other country. Although I didn’t have to go through a green/red gate, they almost let me through the first check. For some reason, they took my passport and the officials talked about it among themselves, but finally decided: I could go.
At the next passport control, the customs lady asked how long I would be in the country and I answered her to the best of my knowledge: a maximum of 2 months.
All three of my flights were delayed compared to the original plan, but apart from that, everything went smoothly.
I didn’t feel the wait was stressful at any point.
I finished reading two of my two books in progress, started a new one and finished it, and even had time to read a few chapters of the next one.
I think I spent the time I had during the trip usefully.
Chiang Mai
I arrived here an hour late.
It was a full moon. Chiang Mai is a large flat city.
With the help of these two ingredients, the evening conjured up a wonderful sight for me.
As we descended towards the city, I stared out the window with bated breath. The full moon illuminated the visible landscape. The illuminated roads and parts of the city meandered in this light.
I noticed the different colors. The stronger orange, the warmer yellow. As the buildings became more and more observable in fine detail, the opal blue also appeared, transforming the entire city into an exquisitely designed model city.
The flickering lights of the huge billboards appeared, and the moving images projected onto the walls of entire buildings became clearly visible.
But the real miracle for me was the golden moonlight appearing on the still waters. It was amazing how the waters of the river bends, lakes and agricultural areas showed themselves in the moonlight.
It was an unparalleled experience to arrive in the city in this varied light show.
To arrive home.
After all, I first experienced Asia in Thailand, and now I am here again.
An inexplicable happiness filled me when I started walking towards my accommodation. Familiar posters along the roads. Familiar shops. Familiar letters. Familiar queen. Familiar words.
I walked to my room. The distance was 5 km.
As I walked, I thought about how much I love to take possession of an unknown city for the first time by walking. This is the first step of a dance. I am curious, the city allows me to glimpse its details.
And now I was dancing with a familiar stranger, with my mouth reaching from ear to ear.
I was so happy to have arrived here:
I have arrived again. I never thought for a moment that it was a shame to leave.
But to arrive somewhere, I have to leave from somewhere else.
Semper in motu. Always in motion.
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Short introduction