3 nights in Bangkok

After breakfast, we will be taken to Denpasar airport. Because today we are going to Bangkok. After a stopover in Singapore, we arrive at our hostel (Baan Nampetch) in Bangkok late in the evening. The small hostel near Khao San Road was recommended to us. The hostel is clean, well located, and the next morning we even find out that we are getting a good breakfast. We would also recommend the hostel at any time.

On our first day in Bangkok, we want to take in the city and visit some temples and other attractions. But the extreme temperatures and humidity don't sit well with me, so for now we settle for a meal, the best mango smoothie of the trip so far, and another fresh juice from a roadside stall.

Our highlight in Bangkok is on the second day. We booked a 5-hour bike tour through Bangkok and the surrounding area via the internet. We are sure that this is the best way to see the most in the shortest amount of time.

So the next morning we make our way to the starting point of the bike tour (the office of the company Co van Kessel). We actually want to call a taxi, but a hostel staff member recommends taking a taxi boat instead of a taxi. Yes, there are taxis on the water here too. So we find the boat landing and take a water taxi to the bike tour. When we arrive, we are warmly welcomed and placed on bikes with 12 other tourists. Led by three guides, we make our way through the narrow streets of Bangkok.

We ride through Chinatown, visit a temple that houses Bangkok's largest sitting Buddha statue, and admire the city's skyline. But our guides don't just want to show us the bustling and busy part of the city, they also want to show us the part away from the hustle and bustle. Our bikes are loaded onto small boats and we cruise through the canals of the outskirts of Bangkok for half an hour.

Along the river, it becomes increasingly green and the houses become smaller and simpler. We also catch sight of some river dwellers. In addition to numerous fish, we also discover four monitor lizards, some of which are 2 meters long. Incredible huge creatures.

When we leave the boat again, we get back on the bikes. As mentioned before, everything out here is greener, more original, and simpler than in the center. This difference can not only be seen in the changed landscape, but is especially emphasized by the behavior of the people. While the locals in the city center are very interested in selling something to tourists, the people outside the hustle and bustle are just friendly. The children run from the schoolyard to give us high fives and the adults wave and smile kindly when you wave back.

After cycling 15 kilometers and feeling like we've lost 15 liters of water through sweating (which is not surprising at 40 degrees and humid air), we stop at a local family for lunch. Various vegetable dishes, noodles, rice, meat dishes, soups, omelettes, fruits are already on the table when we arrive: everything tastes fresh and delicious. Not just delicious, but incredibly delicious. So we eat our way through the Thai menu and assure the cook numerous times how incredible it tastes. These hymns of praise seem to encourage her to heap more and more food onto our plates. Even though we can't eat anymore, we (not just us, but the others too) keep eating. Eventually, we can assure the enthusiastic cook that we have enjoyed it very much, but we are also about to burst.

After the meal, everyone is relieved that we are going back by boat. Once back at the hostel, we walk one last time to our favorite juice stand and treat ourselves to one last fresh juice.

The bike tour and the whole day are a successful farewell to Asia for us. Tomorrow we will be heading back to Europe.