Asia | Thailand | Chiang Mai & Bangkok

February 12... we're flying to Chiang Mai. Finally. We're leaving Laos behind and looking forward to every kilometer that takes us away from the unfriendliness. Thailand was already more pleasant and accommodating the first time, so we were excited for new impressions in the northern part of the country.

The hostel in the center of Chiang Mai was sufficient for the 5 nights we had planned. Standard procedure upon arrival... hang up and secure mosquito net, clog the drain in the shower because of the smell, repair the drain pipe in the sink because of the smell, order an additional fan that works properly, demand a proper comforter, etc. And already you feel almost at home.

Unfortunately, Herbert had to fight with a strong infection for another 3 days after the 3 days of fever in Laos... so it's off to the hospital again. Luckily, "just" a proper food poisoning. 7 days of antibiotics, medication, and diet should bring everything back to normal by the last day of the trip.

Chiang Mai - a very nice place. Much quieter and more relaxed than the rest of Thailand, it seems to us. We visited the town, sizzled in the sun by the pool for one last day at 36°C, and enjoyed the abundance of 25 cent fried bananas... Herbert regretted it shortly afterwards...

On February 16, we celebrated Herbert's birthday! We started with a morning meditation at a yoga studio, had a hearty breakfast, visited a drawing school for 3 hours with a respected painter, and spent the evening until 02:00 in the morning in Chinatown, celebrating the CHINESE NEW YEAR 2018 - Year of the Dog with thousands of Asians... Dragon parade, fireworks, dance performances, and culinary excesses included =) A feast for the senses.

On February 17, we flew to Bangkok. Hot and dry... we picked up our remaining luggage stored 3 months ago and brought it to our accommodation. Then the big "unpack-sort-pack-repack-weigh-let'smakegooduseofthe30kg/personandwhatelsecanwebuy" action began. We shopped like crazy one last time, visited many big markets, and haggled with the sellers as much as possible... We are already really tough negotiators, we would say. We were already before... but now... we only buy at the best price! =)
Flea market... Herbert: "how much?", holding up a small silver bottle with a disinterested expression that should be worth about 20-60BHAT (0.5-1.5€)... Seller: "8000BHAT"... "Ah okay....", we take our feet and leave the tourist scam market. But we still made plenty of bargains and were able to shop our way up to a total of 56kg of checked baggage + 18kg of carry-on baggage.

On February 20 at 11:00, it was time. Packing, checking out, taxi - off to the airport. The last flight of our journey... We had one last Asian meal at the airport, listened to the disgusting grunting and the now annoying "kahpkhunkaaaaaaaaa... kaaaaaaa... kaaaaaa" of the Thais, and then enjoyed the long, beautiful flight with Qatar Airways to Vienna via Doha.

Now that we have arrived in Vienna, we are sitting here, writing the final blog of our world trip, and eating a Leberkäs-Mohnflesserl for the first time in a long while. The weather has dropped from 35°C to -5°C, with a beautiful snow landscape and a feeling of tranquility. Wonderful. We like it.

Here are a few facts about our journey: 6 months, 9 countries, 19 flights, about 11,000km of self-driving, up to 12 hours of time difference and back, 2x hospital visits, numerous beach days, numerous culinary experiences, multiple cuddles with koalas, kangaroos, gibbons, cats, and dogs, deleted about 40,000 photos, 6,000 photos remaining, and much more.

Thailand: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ldD8NnzStcY6Jc75K4qk_n9Y7YuJSMlb?usp=sharing

Everything comes to an end... including our trip, which we will always remember...