o4.o8.2o18 • Bangkok

after 18 hours of flying over to `Thailand´ we finally arrived in `Bangkok´ in the late afternoon of the o2.o8.2o18 !! it was easy to find our way to the `HQ Hostel´ in the district `Silom´ just two blocks away from the center of `Bangkok´ city and we were so glad to finally have a comfi bed to get some sleep. full of power and still a bit of jetlag we started the next day: we walked through the streets of `Chinatown´, visited the `Golden Buddha´ & watched the chaotic every day life of `Bangkok´. on our way to the famous `Royal Palace´ we met a thai student from `Phuket´ who gave us some insider advices and told us about the best places to go in and around `Bangkok´. so we took the next `TukTuk´ (a three wheel car cruising around the city and serves as a mini taxi) and started our tour. the first stop wem ade was the `Golden Mountain´ .. a temple on top of a hill in the north of `Bangkok´. you have an amazing view all over the city from up there !! but don`t forget to ring the bell .. that`s a thai tradition you definitely shouldn`t miss !! with our patient Tuktuk driver we went further to a `Silk Factory´ where you can get a tailor-made suit or dresses for really not a high price !! last but not least we visited another buddistic temple with another `Golden Buddha´ .. they can be found all around the city in one of the thousands of temples here :)) after a thai lunch to go we finally made it home to our cowzy hostel again !! a little siesta never hurt nobody .. you know :)) in the evening we toddled around our district (the financial and therefore pretty clean & lifted part of `Bangkok´) and visited the famous nightmarkets of `Thailand´. It is crazy and sad how many prostitutes stood at the roadside waiting for clients and being watched by so many despised eyes. But this is also a part of `Bangkok´. the next morning started with sunshine, almost no clouds and heat heat heat .. yeah .. and we had to wear long trousers :)) the reason for this is because you can only enter a holy temple with long clothing .. shorts, tank tops or even shoes are mostly not allowed !! but it was worth sweating .. the temple `Wat Pho´ was simply amazing !! huge colorful towers, an army of golden Buddhas and beautiful sparkling frontages lined the paths between the temples & showed how powerful the king once was and still is !! after a short boat trip along the `Chao Phraya´ we arrived in `Chinatown´ once again & visited the famous market `Talat Mai´ where you can find delicious thai food and other local specialities. we ate some rice noodles there and it was so damn good ..
i really loved asian food before i got here but now i do even more !!
well as you can see we really enjoyed these two days in `Bangkok´ & maybe we`ll come here again for a short stopover on our journey !! anyway our next destination will already take us into another asian country and the 8th wonder of the world .. i`ll keep you posted !!

3 weeks and 2 countries later ..
28.o8.2o18 • Chiang Mai

back to Thailand again !! from `Ha Noi´ in Vietnam we flew over to `Chiang Mai´ .. a beautiful city up in the north of Thailand. as we actually want to travel as slow as possible .. to gain as much experience as possible & to take a lot of impressions with us .. we stay in `Chiang Mai´ for 5 days. at first that doesn`t sound like much but it is quite a long time at one place if you travel around for just 2 months. however we enjoyed our `long´ time here to the fullest !! `Chiang Mai´ is a very nice & not very big town surrounded by deep jungle & rainforest. you can also find a lot of buddist temples, various thai massage centers & a lot of delicious food spots here !! as we tried to take a time out from stressy `moving on every second day´ sessions we soon devolped a daily routine: at first we took morning meditation classes at the `Hidden Yoga House´ at 9 am every morning which was a great experience !! meditating together with some others who are already living in `Chiang Mai´ city for at least one year gave us so much input & made us dreaming of a life without any goals to reach but with letting go our minds & just doing what we want to do. but luckily we don`t just have to dream of this :)) furthermore the special method of the mindfullness meditation showed us how to let go & calm down without judging yourself in any critical way. to everyone who never tried meditation before: do it & you will feel better after the first time !! after meditation class we had breakfast .. most of the days at the `Bagel House´ where you get delicious warm bagels topped with scrambled eggs, avocado, humus or anything you like !! then we strolled around the city, watched the hustle & bustle of the city & felt like we came across huge & colorful temples every 2 seconds. at about noon we returned to our `home area´ in the north part of the old quarter of `Chiang Mai´ & had lunch at `Yoy`s Coffee & Thai Food´. this small café operated by a french couple offers cheap & tasty traditional thai food & a delicious iced thai style coffee !! so after this super hard half day we normally took a siesta in our cowzy room of `DP House´ .. ijaii !! anyway the best part of the day has always been the evenings when the whole city awakes. when the sun goes down the huge evening markets open their gates & offer every kind of food you can imagine !! from sushi over baked samosas & spring rolls to grilled BBQ chicken. coconuts, passionfruit drinks & mixed fruit smoothies next to each other. and what woukd you like for dessert ? chocolate filled crêpes, pancake egg pops or fruit ice cream .. you choose :)) what can i say .. heaven on earth !! on sundays they even close the whole main street to open the `Sunday Walking Street´ .. the evening market in much bigger as it already is. food stands, souvenir stores & music groups everywhere .. a MUST visit when you are in `Chiang Mai´ !! so today is already our last day here & even these 5 days passed so so fast .. i can`t believe it !! our next stop will be the beautiful islands in the south of Thailand .. beach beach baby .. here we come :))

o4.o9.2o18 • Surat Thani

beautiful islands, white beaches, palmtrees & coconuts .. welcome to southern Thailand !! after spending one night in `Surat Thani´ a big city on the east coast of Thailand we finally started our island hopping !! first destination: `Koh Phangan´ .. an amazing island known for its great diving spots. we stayed in a beach bungalow for three nights to see as much as we could here !! on our first day here we explored the north western part of the island by scooter. we visited several waterfalls in the central highlands, drove along these island streets with a damn good view & checked out various beach spots. wow .. it`s pure paradise !! on `Ban Chalok Lam´ beach we relaxed in the shade of a palmtree, walked along the white sand promenade & took a dip in the wonderful crystal clear water. by the way .. if you want to take the typical `thai holiday pic´ sitting on a swing under a palmtree then this is your location :)) however, we had to move further to see more of this little paradise on earth. next station: `Mae Haad´ beach on the west coast of `Koh Phangan´. here we went snorkeling .. what an experience !! colorful fish & other sea animals everywhere !! you also have the possibility to take part on a diving course here but as we try to travel `cheap´ this was not our price range :)) after a short afternoon nap in our bungalow (we got both pretty sunburnt) we went south to the island capital. the best place to get good local food here is probably the `Phantip Night Market´ in the city center. several food stands one next to each other offer hot dishes, fresh drinks & a lot of different snacks like empanadas, deep-fried seafood orsweet coconut pancakes .. pretty good stuff !! after this delicious stop we enjoyed the sunset on top of the `Top Rock Bar´ near our bungalow .. what an amazing first day !! the next morning began just as good as the first day ended :)) after having breakfast in a small beach bar we started our next adventure trip. as the popular `Bottle Beach´ in the north east of `Koh Phangan´ is known as the most beautiful one we had to go there too, of course. a lot of agencies offer boat trips or water taxis to this beach because the land route is pretty steep & stony. nevertheless we wanted to try it on our own & even if it was quite hard to manage getting further with the scooter we finally made it !! and what shell i say .. the way was worth it. the `Bottle Beach´ is located in a small bay between steep lime rocks & can be called a real dream beach .. white sand, palm trees & to our big surprise: not a lot of people !! the perfect place to let go your thoughts & relax :)) on o2.09.2o18 we took the ferry from `Koh Phangan´ to `Koh Samui´ .. the biggest island around here & very popular by tourists. actually we didn`t even want to come to this island because of its high popularity but when we read about the `Escape Beach Resort´ we knew we had to spend at least one day here. the right desicion .. we had such a great time just relaxing & enjoying the fancy pool right at the beach .. amazing !! well sometimes you have to treat yourself with some really good stuff .. don`t you think so ?! so today we already went back to `Surat Thani´ by ferry & even further .. i`ll keep you posted.