The following is a short tale about an inexplicable occurrence – one of those moments to which being stunned into silence is the only reasonable reaction. Such moments seem to be an inherent part of travel and are typically uplifting and extraordinarily positive. This particular story, from one of my visits to Thailand a couple of years ago, popped into my head last night as I was doing some stretches and heard my knees cracking.
Waiting in the arrival hall of Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport, I found it strange that my friend had not yet come through the sliding doors that led out from the customs area. Her flight from Melbourne had arrived at 8:30pm and despite watching an endless stream of passengers pass by, both from her flight and from flights that arrived over an hour later, my friend never appeared.
And of course, my cell phone had died the day before and so I had no way of trying to communicate with her at this point.
I waited for three hours without any luck before deciding to jump in a taxi and return to my guesthouse in the center of Bangkok.
This particular guesthouse was actually an old teakwood home, well-hidden down a series of narrow alleys leading off the backstreets near Khao San Road. I had only stumbled upon it during an afternoon of exploration and because of its quiet location and family-run atmosphere, I chose to stay there. Unfortunately, as I had planned to meet my friend at the airport, I had never informed her of the name or location of the guesthouse.
At midnight I sent a quick email to my friend and then returned to my room. I sat up for another hour, unsuccessfully trying to determine what might have happened. Eventually, I decided to brush my teeth and as this was a budget guesthouse, I had to walk downstairs to the first floor in order to use the communal sink located in one of the hallways.
I started brushing my teeth while pacing back and forth, something that I do all the time for some bizarre reason. After about twenty seconds, a door to one of the rooms near the sink opened and I turned around. There stood my friend, smiling and shaking her head.
She simply said, “I only know one person in the world who paces back and forth while brushing their teeth and whose knees crack so loudly at the same time. I heard it through the walls and knew it had to be you.”
I nearly spit my toothpaste all over the floor. Out of all 1,000+ accommodation options in Bangkok, she happened to end up at the exact same, nearly-impossible-to-find, 11-room guesthouse.
How did we miss each other at the airport? It turned out I failed to notice on the arrival monitor that her flight had arrived at Terminal 1. I had been waiting at Terminal 2.
I want to hear about the inexplicable experiences that you’ve had. Share your incredible, random, bizarre stories in the comments below…and as always, thanks for stopping by!
Back in 1999, I left home for a 3 month trip to Asia that has still yet to end.
Earl – that is a crazy story!! I love hearing about that kind of stuff since I’m very much into paranormal type stuff. This almost seems like an example of synchronicity. So, there are a couple of events…1. You were supposed to meet at the airport, which didn’t happen…..then 2. you both chose the exact same guesthouse out of many available and did end up meeting. Very strange. Synchronicity is really meant to explain events that happen that don’t seem to fit under normal probably circumstances. Very cool.
Nate – I love when these things occur as well!
I actually have another story which I believe is also an example of synchronicity: I became good friends with a Canadian fellow while spending two weeks in a small village in northern India. We first met at a small tea stall in the village and we hung out at this stall every evening as there was little else to do in the village. Unfortunately, after we parted ways, we never kept in touch. Two years later I was back in India acting as a ‘tour guide’ to my mom and we visited this same village. Eager to get a cup of tea from my favorite tea stall I entered the tiny cafe. The Canadian fellow from two years prior was sitting right there! We just both happened to have returned at the same time.
Craziness indeed!
I said, “No way!” out loud as I read that.
Also, you should have someone check out your old man knees. Sounds like pretty soon wandering Earl is going to be traveling by wheelchair.
Derek – Haha…I’ve already checked it out, the cracking is perfectly normal! Although if I needed a wheelchair, it wouldn’t stop me from wandering…
Lol love it.
When I was in Bangkok I mate an awesome American from California. We got talking and over the course of the night discovered we had both been living in Shanghai for a while.
Not only that be we also discovered that we had both been to the very same hidden club in the heart of Shanghai that very few foreigners have been to as you have to know the locals. The reason being is that there is a hidden pass-code that you have to put into 9 glass spheres of air before the hidden door opens and the passcode changes every day.
Chances of both us both being there – insane.
Jonny – Not only is that story indeed insane, that club sounds insane as well. I don’t want to know what goes on behind that hidden door.
Thanks for sharing and enjoy your travel break at home!
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Yes I know 2 years late but I have to share my story
Anyways, one weekend when I was younger, my dad took my sister and me to Montreal (I live in Toronto so we went every so often) We had a hotel prebooked and everything. At the same time, my mom (my parents were split up) took a bus tour that went around Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec city. In the evening, we get a call from her. Shes a little over protective, so it was nothing new to hear from her twice a day. She’s on the phone laughing, and I’m trying to figure out why. Then she tells me: She checked into her hotel, and called the number of the hotel we gave her. i can’t remember the exact message she was told, but it was something about calling rooms in the same hotel. That’s right, she was in the same hotel, 3 floors below us. Out of three large cities she was visiting, each with thousands upon thousands of hotels, she happened to be in the same one us us!!!
@jonbar: That’s a crazy story as well and thanks for sharing! Such tales always fascinate me, especially when I take a minute to really think about the statistical chances that something like this would occur. I don’t know for certain but I’m willing to be the chances are ridiculously low!