From here to there

Hello dear ones!

I think many of you have noticed that we were in Germany for Christmas. That is also one of the reasons why we neglected our blog a little. But now, let's start from the beginning =)

We reluctantly said goodbye to the little monkeys in Lopburi and took the train to Bangkok. Everyone who hears the word 'Bangkok' probably has many different ideas and images in their mind. I always had that too and was always looking forward to this city! It may sound a bit silly, but in the end, it was just a normal city for us, like any other Asian metropolis. It was loud, chaotic, smelled bad, and the usual Asian traffic chaos was also present here. It was not even easy to find a cheap and good hostel. We headed to the famous 'Khaosan Road', which is known as a popular backpacker paradise. And we got exactly what we didn't need right now: huge crowds, numerous small stalls selling the usual stuff, and worst of all, incredibly annoying vendors who approach you from every side, jump in your way, and do everything to make you spend your money there. If Bangkok had been my first Asian city, I would have loved it, but by now it was really just the same everywhere. As Jonas always says, 'same same'!

Completely annoyed by all the Asian hustle and bustle, we decided to only stay one day in the city and head south earlier where it's a bit quieter.

So we quickly took the train to Hua Hin. Here we booked an Airbnb apartment for the first time. A whole apartment with a kitchen and bathroom and there was even a pool and a fitness center. Here we tried to find some peace. Yes, whoever doesn't believe it, traveling is exhausting! And for weeks I had been tormented by the thought of what will happen next at home and if I can continue traveling like this=(

To distract ourselves, we treated ourselves to an expensive 'all-inclusive day' at a water park. Especially Jonas had a great time here, surfing, in the freefall slide, and all the other attractions the park had to offer. The park was really awesome!! And in the evening, we were thrilled when we visited the obligatory night market of the city. For the first time, not everything was the same as everywhere else =) There were many delicious food stalls, 'high-quality' souvenirs (at least different from what you find everywhere else), beautiful decorations with lots of lamps and lights, and even live music. We filled our bellies with everything there was to try and enjoyed the atmosphere. For us, this was (after Luang Prabang) the second most beautiful night market of all the ones we have seen so far!

The next day we rented a scooter and explored the area. We drove to a small mountain where there are also many monkeys. Just right for us =) However, when we arrived, we were a little shocked. There were hardly any people, let alone tourists, many abandoned houses and buildings, and monkeys everywhere!!!! It seemed like the animals had taken over and driven away the people. Accordingly, there was garbage everywhere, it smelled bad, and most of the monkeys looked pretty scruffy and sick. They were also much less friendly than the monkeys in Lopburi.

So the days went by, but unfortunately, our motivation was still hiding in our backpacks... only when we received the news that Jonas' parents and Johanna are coming to visit, we were extremely excited and counted the days until it finally happened =) More about that in the next post.