Thailand

When we booked our bus ticket from Cambodia to Thailand, we were full of anticipation. Crystal clear water, white sandy beaches, good food and many scooter excursions. That was our idea of the ultimate dream vacation destination. We knew it was rainy season, but that didn't dampen our spirits.

In Koh Chang, we deliberately chose eight days of peace and relaxation. This time did us both a world of good. Towards the end, we realized that we were ready for new adventures and had enough relaxation 😁. Next stop was Bangkok. Bangkok is a completely different world. Crazy and impressive at the same time! We had three fantastic days here. We saw so many different sides of the city and were truly impressed. It's a shame we only had three days planned here. Since we were unable to spend much time on the beach in Koh Chang due to the weather, we chose Phuket as our next destination. We also booked a day with the elephants here.

Unfortunately, Phuket was a total disappointment. The arrival at both hotels was catastrophic. During our ten days in Phuket, we could only spend one day at the beach. The other days were so windy and the waves were so high that the red flag on the beach clearly warned against going into the water. Some tourists seemed to ignore this. As a result, four tourists drowned here last week. Really shocking! Due to the high waves, we were also unable to take a day trip to Koh Pi Pi, even though we really wanted to.

The German restaurant was our favorite place in Phuket. Here, after over three months of world travel, we finally got to enjoy some German food. The biggest highlight was the day with the elephants.

We also took advantage of our long stay in Phuket to send a package home. It turned out to be more complicated than expected. We had sorted everything well, packed it in bags, and labeled it. We assumed that we could simply put everything into a package and send it at DHL, but no. It wasn't that simple! We had to open all the bags again and take everything out because the DHL employee had to create an exact list. Why? For customs. This customs declaration is particularly complicated for packages to Europe... 🙄. The fun cost us 160 euros for four kilos 😬.

We had a lot of sun but were unable to do much due to the strong wind. We used the time to plan our stay in Sri Lanka and the time we will spend with Madlin's parents in Kenya. We are so excited that we can spend two weeks with them in November 😍!

As a grand finale, Madlin spent the last four days in bed with an upset stomach 😒.

We are SO done with Phuket and unfortunately can't understand why the island is so popular with many vacationers. Maybe it's just a personal preference...

In summary, we can say that Thailand is the country that has demanded the most from us so far and has put us to the test the most, but that's not a big deal. Such times are part of the journey as well.

This morning, we discussed during breakfast which country we liked the most so far. Chris is torn between the Philippines and Cambodia. For Madlin, it's definitely the Philippines.

Now we're heading to the airport and looking forward to our next adventure - off to Sri Lanka 😃.