The 4 of us finally completed our Bangkok trip over this past weekend, spending 3 nights there. This trip was to relive the 2 weeks backpacking journey we took as undergraduates way back in Jun 1989.
Being relatively dirt poor during our uni days, 5 of us had then decided to travel throughout Thailand on the cheapest way possible. On the first leg, we took the bus and ferry to Koh Samui, arriving at our final destination only after 28 hours of being on the road. We then headed to ChiangMai by overnight train after stopping at BKK for a few days. We did a jungle tracking trip into the opium lands with many adventurous foreigners like ourselves and the experience was unforgettable. After all these years, the group of us still talk about this trip all the time.
Earlier this year, one of the guys discovered he had colon cancer after a routine medical checkup. The next 6 months were spent on a major operation, chemotherapy and recovery. Glad to say that things turned out well for him. During one of our recent walks, we started discussing the good, old times, reminiscing about the 1989 Thailand trip. This was when we decided to call the rest of the gang to redo it again, to fulfill our bucket wish list 28 years later.
After much planning, we finally set off last Thursday for BKK. The accommodation of choice was a new hotel (Ibis) in the heart of the Khao San road backpacking community. It was indeed a memorable time where we relived the old times, did a few things that we had done before like the riverboat cruise. Given that we are much older now and financially better off, the meaning of “roughing it out” is now very different from our uni days. We did all the touristy things, with lots of massages, eating and shopping. Felt good to be young again, without much care to the world. Can’t believe that we are all in our fifties now, uni life seems so long ago now.
Life is about good experiences now. We cherish what we have, make events happen that can create more happiness and great memories. Friendship is precious and most cannot honestly say that we still do have close friends whom we know for more than 30 years. Let’s live each day as if it is the last day of our lives.
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