Chiang Mai (Old City)

As we leave Sukhothai, the surroundings and the people slowly change. We have a 5-hour bus ride ahead of us, which is also winding. Once again, Coke is our absolute miracle medicine against starting nausea. The journey seems endless and we use this time to look for accommodation online. We definitely don't want a similar situation to Sukhothai. We discover beautiful bungalows online, in the middle of the greenery, near the jungle, or Doi Suthep... However, we also see a disadvantage: poor connection to public transport and away from the city. Therefore, we decide on a boutique designer hostel (Moo Rooms). The price is about 40 euros per person/night. We treat ourselves to this with the argument that we have been staying in simple bungalows/hostels so far. We book via Booking.com

When we arrive in Chiang Mai, we are immediately besieged by tuk-tuk and pick-up drivers. Completely sweaty and overwhelmed, another backpacker (Mark) intervenes. He negotiates a good price for all of us in less than 3 minutes. A short time later, the three of us are sitting in a pick-up truck. Mark is from Peterborough (England, near Cambridge) and originally from Hong Kong. He used to be a dentist until recently but realized that it was no longer fun for him - so he quit his job to travel the world until July. He has also been to the Black Forest before - the ice is quickly broken. He is traveling alone and looking for connections. His next planned destination is 'Pai' on Sunday. How appropriate. That's our plan too. We exchange numbers.

When we arrive at our hostel, check-in goes smoothly. We walk through an artificially created jungle, past a jungle bar and a pool - up to the 3rd floor and our room, the 'Tiget-Room'. The bathroom is made entirely of traditional teak wood, with the shower platform made of a straight-cut piece of teak wood. We take a shower and put on the least smelly clothes. We are hungry and go down to the city. Today is Makha Bucha, a Buddhist holiday, and we had originally planned to enter the silence monastery in Chiang Mai today. We throw the plan overboard and Edina is contacted by an acquaintance who traveled to Chiang Mai a year ago and simply stayed there and now works for a German company that produces electronic circuit boards. We arrange to meet her later for pizza in the old town. She tells us about life in Thailand and that she will extend her stay for another year.

After pizza, Edina and I stroll through the old town. The Thai people call and whistle after us. Everything here is different from Bangkok. Here, people stare and don't find it strange.

Tired, we fall into bed at the hostel and the next day, Edina wakes up with a swollen eye and a runny nose.

We have scrambled eggs, toast, pineapple, and melon for breakfast, and decide to drive to Doi Suthep to the monastery. A pick-up truck takes us there and the winding uphill drive is challenging. When we arrive at the top, we climb the 300 steps in oppressively hot weather and visit the temple. Many religious Buddhists are here to honor Buddha. Candles are lit, flowers are laid, and incense sticks are lit as offerings. The Thais kneel devoutly before a praying monk.

A few corners further, a monk blesses people for a donation. Edina joins the line and crawls on all fours towards him. She receives a bracelet and I film everything.

Shortly after, it's my turn to be blessed. I kneel before the monk, bow respectfully with a greeting 'wai' in forehead height. The monk preaches in Thai and takes a wooden stick, which he dips into the holy water to sprinkle me with while continuing to bless in Thai. I keep my eyes closed and bow respectfully before him once again. When I open my eyes, he dips a white bracelet into the blessed water and hands it to me. He grins at me and says, 'Gooooood Luck.'

I crawl out of the temple with more reverence than ever before. I also puzzle over his words. I wonder what they mean and whether he wishes me a lot of luck or has seen it in my future.

After visiting the impressive temple complex, we treat ourselves to an ice cream and ride back down with the pick-up truck. When we reach the bottom, we treat ourselves to a Thai coffee (cold) and a fruit shake. We also stock up on sweets at the 7/11. We stroll to our hostel's pool with a Chang beer and dip our swollen, tired feet in. This is the life. Later, we fall asleep deeply and soundly in our bed.

The next day, we oversleep breakfast at 10 o'clock and go out to a vegetarian restaurant for breakfast. We have scrambled eggs on toast and pancakes (apple-cinnamon and for Edina with chocolate). After breakfast, we also book a Thai cooking class at the Bhumthai cooking school. To pass the time, we look for a nail salon/pedicure shop. Edina's nails have suffered, and thanks to mosquito spray (Nobite), heat, sunscreen, and socks, a strange film with fluff has formed on my toenails. We find one, but soon regret it... Edina can peel off her 5 layers of nail polish like rubber from her nails.

A short time later, we are back at the hostel.

We are picked up by Oay (pronounced: oi) with the pick-up truck and drive about 30 minutes outside Chiang Mai to a market. There, Oay explains to us in very good English various fruits, vegetables, herbs, specialties, and Thai eating habits. We also wait for two more participants: Barbora and Toni from the Czech Republic. The five of us go shopping at the market and then continue to Oay's place. Cutting boards, aprons, and knives are already prepared.

First, we all sit at a table. In the middle, a plate with many small bowls: chilies, lime wedges, peanuts, galangal, onions, and garlic. Next to it fresh pepper leaves and a bowl of dip consisting of tamarind paste, soy sauce, and fish sauce. This snack is typical for Thais as a greeting and is called Miang Kam. Oay shows us how to wrap the leaves and how to fill them. We do the same and experience an incredible explosion of flavors in the mouth, between spicy, salty, sweet, and bitter. Totally delicious!

After the snack, we start cooking. We prepare green curry paste, green curry with rice, Tom Ka Gai soup (coconut soup without chicken), Mee Ha Ti (glass noodle dish), and mango with blue sticky rice. We cook together until the evening, have fun, laugh, and learn a lot about Thai food culture. And on top of that: the food tastes amazing. As a conclusion, Oay gives us her written cookbook as a gift. Satisfied and totally exhausted, Oay drives everyone back home.

We say goodbye to the nice Toni and Barbora and Oay drives us directly to the Saturday Walking Street.

There is all kinds of food and handmade goods, and here and there, we spot ingredients that we prepared ourselves just a few minutes ago.

We shop and indulge ourselves at the Walking Street and then walk back to our hostel. We arrive late at night and immediately pack our backpacks. We have crossed 'Pai' off our list due to lack of time and the current burning season in northern Thailand. We want to go to the south to the sea and spontaneously booked a domestic flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. From there, we want to take the rail link to Phaya Thai and from there take the skytrain to Mo Chit (to the bus station). We take bus number 3 for this. The bus goes to Trat, and then we take the ship to the east near the Cambodian border to Koh Kood or Koh Chang.

When we go to bed, it's 1 o'clock in the morning. The alarm goes off at 4.00 am...