Thailand 2024 Day 11

So what happened today - primarily recovering from yesterday's culture shock. How do you do that? The best way is with food. So I turned to Google and searched for Thai restaurants. And I found some. Before we tried them out, Egg looked for a diving school and booked a diving day this week and a 3-day tour in his last week.

Afterwards we wanted to go to a restaurant with seats by the river. Well, they were closed today. Bummer. Can't do anything about it. So we got back on the scooter and drove to the beach. There, right on the beach, we had Laab Gai (spicy chicken salad) and Pad Se Eew (wide rice noodles with chicken). Both quite delicious and reasonably priced. (More expensive than at a local market, but right on the beach and many tourists in the area) Then Egg went for a round of wave pool and Heide went to look at crabs.

In the evening, we went to one of the chosen restaurants. To our surprise, we were greeted in perfect German. It turned out that the guy studied German at university and lived in Tutzing for a year. Another positive thing about the restaurant - it was a colorful mix of Thais, people who have been living in Thailand for a long time, and tourists who might have gotten lost. Egg had a Tom Yum Goong (a sour and spicy soup) and I treated myself to a Massaman curry, rarely had such a good one (Note to self: less filling, more peanuts) (Note to colleagues: get excited)

On the way home, we ended up at the (luxury) bar next to our accommodation for a couple of cocktails with live music. Quite a lot for a day of doing nothing.

Small notes for possible new Thailand travelers:

Toilets

Toilets can sometimes only be 'squat' toilets.

Most of the time, there is no toilet paper.

There is often a dipper or something similar for flushing. (So better train your deep squats beforehand)

If there is toilet paper, there are often separate bins for disposing of used toilet paper.

Toilet paper itself - if you're lucky, it's two-ply. Luxury is three-ply.

Bum guns are very common. (You can also try them out in advance when visiting a certain lady)

Scooter riding

In Thailand, they drive on the left side of the road.

Pay close attention to other drivers while riding.

A scooter cost us between 250-270 Baht per person per day.

Try it out on a quiet street in a calm area first.

You should know where the front and rear brakes are.

If you're not sure, take a Songthaew, which is like an open mini-bus for less money. In bigger cities, they usually have a fixed route. In Khao Lak, for example, they can take you anywhere and drop you off anywhere. (Cost for Khao Lak is about 150 Baht)