Arrival in Bangkok

Now it can start!

We took off from Zurich at 11:35 am. After a good 9 hours, we landed in Beijing for a stopover - local time around 4:30 am, which means an empty airport and initial orientation difficulties... Eventually, we found the queue of hundreds of people, all wanting to catch their connecting flight. Not easy with unfriendly staff, strict controls, and non-functioning facial recognition - and that at an alleged 4-star airport :D After a 3.5-hour stopover on uncomfortable seats, boarding finally continued. After almost 5 hours of flight and restless sleep, we finally arrived in Bangkok. Visa, luggage, and then off to the train (Airport Link train and Metro (Blue Line)) to Hua Lamphong. Thanks to a small detour in the wrong direction (but you can really get lost here!), the few minutes walk to our hostel "Oldtown" became a few more... After a shower, we felt much better after the long flight. So we forced ourselves to switch to the new time zone despite the jet lag (it's always 6 hours later here than with you) and just strolled around to get a first impression of this very bustling, noisy, and full of various smells city. And we were rewarded with delicious street food :) To celebrate the day, we had a little beer in the hostel bar before we fell asleep very tired.

After 12 hours of sleep, we were ready to start today! First by boat to the north of the old town to find the flower market described in the travel guide. Unfortunately, the travel guide was already from Carsten's grandmother (?) (1993), so the flower market was no longer where it should be... >note: always have up-to-date travel guides with you< but we found some regular markets with many fish and other seafood, temples, and finally a new boat that should take us to the Grand Palace. Arriving there, we found out that the Thai people are not so eager to work and close at 3:30 pm... >we Germans should consider that too?!< but the monks work longer and we could admire Wat Pho, a very large lying Buddha with a great colorful temple complex around it. Then we wanted to catch a glimpse of the Temple of Dawn at sunset, but unfortunately, the sun didn't show itself too much behind the clouds... but still very beautiful with millions of small pieces of porcelain incorporated! On the boat again (thanks to pleasant breeze and cheap price, our preferred means of transport today), this time to a small flower market and then to the night market on Silom Road to get something to eat again. All in all, a day with 24,000 (Carsten-) steps, more than we have had in a long time...