23.12. The last day

The last full day started with the bus driver's wake-up call at 5 a.m. in Bangkok. Surprisingly, I managed to get a good night's sleep, so it was relatively pleasant to go to our hostel. Unfortunately, we couldn't check in yet, so we lay down in the common area and took a few hours of rest. Then we set off to see a bit more of Bangkok.

We visited a morning ritual accompanied by singing in a temple near our hostel, and then continued to enjoy the first views of Bangkok from an old Buddhist library.

Next, we visited the Golden Mount, a temple high up on a rock. On the way there, we got a little scare from something at our feet. I innocently looked through a larger grid on the road and was startled by the scaly body of a lizard. It was really big, about the size of a small adult crocodile, and it slithered half a meter below me through the dark section of the sewer - creepy. Later on, we saw these animals more often near rivers under bridges, where they were obviously looking for food. It seems that every country has its own distinctive fauna in its cities: in Cambodia it was the rats, in Vietnam the street dogs, and in Thailand the large lizards.

At the Golden Mount, we enjoyed another spectacular panorama of the Thai capital, accompanied by thousands of bells and the sound of many lucky leaves in the wind. Of course, as always in Buddhist temples, there was a lot of gold, which is emphasized even more by the name "Golden".

Afterwards, we went to a large weekend market, which required a one-and-a-half-hour walk for penny-pinchers like us. We had to take a few steps before spending 13 hours on the plane. On the way there, we visited the last temple in Thailand for me. It was the Wat Benchamabophit, also known as the Marble Temple, which provided a worthy conclusion to the many Buddhist places we had seen with its colorful golden roofs, wooden ceilings, and beautiful Buddhas.

The market was also incredibly rewarding, and we spent about three hours squeezing through the endless small alleys between the various vendors to buy some last souvenirs for me and have one last coffee break in a small café. The offer of the huge market extended to everything imaginable to eat, plastic plants, oversized Buddhas, glow-in-the-dark t-shirts, and the most kitschy jewelry - whatever you were looking for, you found it, even if you didn't know what you wanted.

After spending a long time at the market, it was already late afternoon, and we had ourselves taken to a five-star hotel that we had booked over the internet. It offered us a perfect ending to our trip with its high rooftop terrace. High up on the 61st floor of the luxurious hotel, we enjoyed one last beautiful sunset behind Bangkok's skyline, with a pink sky and a view of the brightly illuminated skyscrapers. All of this felt strangely surreal one day before Christmas.

Bangkok comes alive (even more beautiful in landscape format)

After an overly expensive cola and some time with breathtaking views, we returned to the famous Khaosan Road near our hostel. It is the backpacking mecca of Thailand, with crowds of people from all countries and continents, partying, eating, shopping, or simply enjoying the atmosphere there. As a final act, I ate - or rather crunched on - the animal of my zodiac sign, a scorpion. I was mainly busy chewing, but I can say that roasted scorpion tastes primarily like peanut flips, just ones with a hard shell.

And so my last day of the trip came to an end, but I still had enough money left to treat myself to a foot massage before spending one last night in our 33rd hostel of the trip - yes, eventually you do everything for the last time. Funny enough, our way to my last hostel led us past our first hostel, where we spent the first night of our trip. Back then, without backpacks, experience, and not knowing yet what an amazing time lay ahead of us.

Unfortunately, my flight had been delayed by two hours, but I still had to be at the airport for check-in at 9 a.m. for the boarding time. So there were only a few hours left until we had to get up at 6 a.m. on the day of departure.