Day 16-18, 17.08.-19.08.2014, Koh Chang

Today I will summarize the last three days and write directly in the blog, as it should be done.

We have used the last three days to recover, not from the hardships of the journey, but rather from the past months of work. Sure, we could have done that earlier, but for sure we wouldn't have taken so many adventures, experiences and impressions home with us. Lounging by the pool/sea is important, no question about it, but no one wants to miss out on the experiences, and those are the ones that we will remember even years later, rather than this phase of lazing by the pool or beach.

I'm glad that I'm writing this blog on our now third trip to Thailand. During the journey, I noticed time and time again that many things have faded from previous trips, and I believe that the written word can preserve the thoughts/feelings/impressions of a trip even more than the snapped pictures.

That's also a topic that has always annoyed me. I don't take photos, I just snap pictures. Personally, I urgently need to change that until the next big trip.

In the past few days, we have spent a lot of time on our mental peace, went shopping a bit, planned and booked the return trip to Bangkok, took the laundry one last time to the laundry service, had interesting conversations with locals, rode a little moped (it's so much fun, despite the left-hand traffic), haggled with the jewelry saleswoman on the beach for what felt like half an eternity, only to hear a satisfied 'good for you and good for me' in the end. Besides the very few Germans, Dutch, and French people you meet here (which was confirmed by the hotel staff), there are mainly Russians and Chinese. Two cultures that 16 and 18 years ago had no opportunity to see the big wide world or didn't play a role in 'global tourism'. It's somewhat strange to see Cyrillic characters on the signs that serve advertising purposes, after the beautiful Thai characters, and only then the English translation... But the world is changing, and so is tourism. And so backpackers like us never tire of searching for their personal paradise... Far away from mass tourism and package tours. In that sense, the world is getting smaller, but the longing for the foreign, the undiscovered, the pioneering spirit that is present in every planned and executed journey cannot be diminished by inattentive Chinese or Cyrillic advertising signs.

Today we experienced our first real monsoon! Considering that we are traveling here during the rainy season, we are damn lucky to be restricted in our daily routine by strong, extremely heavy rain showers only on the 19th out of 22 days of travel.

Only now, very close to the end of the trip, did we understand how to order food in a restaurant in Thailand as a group. Not like in Germany, where everyone orders their own plate, maybe with an appetizer and a dessert. No, one portion of rice is ordered for each person and many delicious dishes for everyone, which are then positioned in the middle of the table so that everyone can taste and enjoy them... We observed it on the table with the locals for two weeks, but every time we felt that it caused a completely un-German, typical Thai chaos on the table. No, it's a dining culture, not ours, but still a dining culture!!! And it's a lot of fun!!!

Tomorrow we will indulge in the relaxing effect of a Thai massage. So far, only Tim wants to come along. I hope to be able to convince everyone else in our 'travel group' of this unique opportunity (which, by the way, also has a great price of THB 250 = € 5.89 for a whole 60 minutes) by tomorrow. If it doesn't rain too much like today, we will also take a long walk on the beach again or ride mopeds to the nearest beach to take a walk through the sea to the nearest island.