18. In January 2014 it was time for my second trip to Thailand.

Surely, 3 whole years later. But, believe me, I was figuratively living in Thailand past the project, every day. Of course, the thrill and feeling of being there on the ground is unmatched by anything else. Two months earlier in 2013, it was time for some serious organisation and after another promotional activity by Qatar Airways, about 25 people from various friendly companies, we set off for 14 days in Phuket. I won't leave out the fun side in the overall organisation here either. To make our ticket price better, we booked tickets with a 10 hour overnight stay, outbound in Doha (Qatar), return in Kuala Lumpur. Fast forward to early January 2014, when we already reached Doha and by 10pm at night, we had to think what to do until 8am the next morning. That was 10 whole hours. We were not allowed to leave the airport, which made our situation even worse. Aimless tours began (the airport was still in its old design) and all sorts of time wasting attempts involving drinks, food and card games. It seemed to us that time stood still. But, when we knew where we were going...many of my friends were going for the first time and their trepidation was even greater. It was time for our flight, which was planned with a one hour layover in Kuala Lumpur, without getting off the plane and so we arrived at Phuket airport in the evening. By the time we found available taxis, by the time we got to Patong, by the time we checked into the various hotels that everyone had chosen, according to the various friendly companies, and another whole 2 hours had passed unnoticed. Fatigue was getting the better of us, we hadn't slept in nearly 2 days. We all planned to sleep, after all we had 2 whole weeks of relaxation and fun ahead of us. Yeah, but no...A few friends gave us the idea to have a drink on Bangla Road. And...when you go there for a drink, you usually stay there until the next morning. We split up into 4 companies, each chose their preferred bar and style of music and soaked up the atmosphere of Merry Street. I remember that we had all bought local mobile phone cards to have a quick connection with each other, and around 4am we received messages about a Bulgarian party and gathering at the Hollywood Bar. I immediately said "Well, now the Thais will know where Bulgaria is". I was not far from the truth, only we know how to party so that we will be remembered for a long time. My next climax related to Thailand starts here somewhere.
Chapters