Back in ... Bangkok

On our first day back in Bangkok, we had another organizing marathon on the agenda before we could eagerly welcome our visitors from Germany. After all, we wanted to enjoy our time together to the fullest and not have to worry about transfers or hotels. We had already organized the first part of the trip, including a city tour in Bangkok, a transfer to Siem Reap in Cambodia, and back to Bangkok a few weeks ago, so we only had to plan the planned time in southern Thailand.

First, we went to the Southern Bus Terminal and booked the bus rides. Then we organized accommodation, so that the packed program for the coming weeks should be complete. This was a completely new experience for us, as we had never organized all transfers and accommodations so far in advance. From now on, we just had to hope that the weather would be suitable for the activities, "work off" the program, and of course enjoy ;-)

On the next morning, we got up quite early to be at the airport in time for the arrival of Jonas and Lisa. Fortunately, we were able to share a taxi with 2 very nice Dutch people, which made the ride quite entertaining. At the airport, we waited with our little welcome sign for the two of them, and when they had completed the immigration formalities and picked up their luggage, we finally had the joyous reunion =))

After taking a taxi back to our hotel from the airport, the two of them had some rest from the exhausting flight, with a small breakfast and a shower. Then we wanted to perfect the first culture shock and fulfill Jonas' dream by visiting the lively Chinatown district.

To do this, we took a public boat to Chinatown and walked through the narrow and busy alleyways with admiration and amazement. This was also the first stop on our sightseeing program in Bangkok, as we had only used the time in the city for organizational purposes so far.

After visiting Chinatown, we went back to the hotel and to a small Thai restaurant where we showed the two of them the first culinary impressions of Asia. Then we took a taxi to the really beautiful night market and the Asiatique Riverfront. The ladies were in shopping paradise here, and this will certainly not be our last visit to this trendy district ;-)

The next morning, after a restful sleep and a hearty breakfast, we visited the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Again, we took a public boat for less than 50 cents per person to the corresponding pier and plunged into the crowd of tourists, mainly from China, to visit one of Bangkok's highlights. The Grand Palace is truly a very beautiful temple complex and is definitely worth a visit. During our visit to the palace, we also noticed the many Thais dressed in black, who practice an apparently endless mourning procession in the palace, due to the death of the Thai king the year before. Up to 40,000 Thais come daily to express their grief, while at the beginning there were up to 100,000 people daily, a truly unimaginable number. The mourning procession is practiced throughout the entire mourning year.

From the Grand Palace, we walked directly to Wat Pho, another major attraction in Bangkok, which is mainly known for its 40-meter-long reclining Buddha statue.

After visiting the beautiful Buddhist temple complexes, we wanted to give the two of them the next culture shock to complete their first impression of the city of Bangkok. For this purpose, we walked straight to Khaosan Road, the backpacker paradise and one of Bangkok's craziest streets. Here you can see a few scorpions on skewers, as well as some bars and many foreign tourists, which naturally attracts many "touts" who try to take the tourists' money with various tours.

In Khaosan Road, we traditionally ordered a Pad Thai dish from a street food stall, while Jonas received more or less successful chopstick lessons from the friendly cook. In the end, however, the familiar fork won. =D Afterwards, Lisa had a surprise in store, as we still had to book a tour for our "free day" to Cambodia and back in Bangkok. So far, she had only expected us to visit a national park, and we had kept it a secret from her that we would also see elephants and get very close to the friendly pachyderms. The tour was quickly booked and so the two of them got a feel for how bargaining is done in Asian countries =D

After a packed day, we returned to our accommodation in pouring rain, of course by boat, and after a cozy dinner and buying provisions at the supermarket for the upcoming bus ride to Siem Reap, we fell into bed completely exhausted.