From Karachi To Bangkok – The Thai Story
When I was a student in 2004, my friend Babur and I took a vacation to Thailand together to explore this interesting country. My parents had always encouraged me to travel, and both our families pushed us to go. This would be my first time traveling without my parents. Internet travel booking hardly existed and was not common. I wrote to the Royal Thai Embassy to request information about traveling to Thailand and to get a list of tour operators. They sent me an email with a list of their trusted agents. We chose a travel agent, Rosna Sigjrikul who is now like a family friend to us. We then visited my uncle who runs a travel agency. With his help, we booked our flights and applied for our visas.
On the day of our trip, my friend and I arrived at the airport and I was so nervous that my heart was thumping. We passed security and boarded our flight – the day was finally here! There were many surprises that started as soon as we boarded our flight. We were seated near a group of Afghans on the plane. One of them fell asleep in such a way that his legs were blocking the aisle. The airhostess tripped on his leg and fell on me, which surprised both her and me. She was embarrassed and apologized several times. I learned that when one is traveling, one must be prepared for the unexpected. Later, I overheard this group discussing that during that year they would travel to Indonesia, but next year they already had plans to go to Russia. This made me wonder, what would my next travel destination be? We finally arrived in Bangkok and reached our hotel via a pre-booked transfer in a private car. We checked into our hotel and we both cashed our traveler’s checks to pay the tour operator.
After a long flight and feeling nervous and a bit scared, I called my mother. I expressed my feelings to her and told her that if she asked me to come back, I would have returned right away. She listened to me and then I could feel her presence as she told me, “On your life, don’t you dare even think about coming back, before the tour ends!” I could not take the easy way out, and would see my trip through to the end. I am very glad my mother told me to stay. Thanks to our parents’ support of traveling, Babur and I met so many new people, tried new foods, and saw incredible places. I have countless good memories from this trip, and it inspired me to keep traveling and exploring.
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