Chiang Mai - Bangkok - Koh Tao

The last day in Chiang Mai was definitely one of the most beautiful so far. We took a driver for the six of us who would take us to Doi Inthanon National Park and show us the most beautiful spots there. The ride there took about 1 1/2 hours and the air in the car was really bad as all the exhaust fumes were coming inside. So he gave all of us a mask to wear. But the view over the rice fields or the walk at the top of the mountain were definitely worth it. In this national park is the highest point in Thailand (2565 meters) and I was very glad to have my jacket with me because it was only 12 degrees and there was a lot of rain and fog up there. It somehow reminded me of German autumn weather; but the thought that it is warmer and more beautiful as soon as you're back down makes it much nicer than autumn. After spending several hours there, we went to the Grand Canyon in Chiang Mai. We jumped from a rock into the water from a height of about 10 meters. It took me some time to gather the courage, but I'm really glad I did it because I would have regretted it afterwards. Then we went back to the hostel, quickly took a shower and checked out, and then took a taxi to the bus station. After the last bus ride, I was really positive, but the upcoming night was really terrible. I secured the front seat on the bus again and the horror ride began... The bus driver started overtaking maneuvers that made my heart skip a beat. And when it started pouring rain and aquaplaning began, I was done. I was sitting on this bus and I was really scared that we would crash into a tree or another bus or car. Eventually, I got so tired that I pulled the blanket over my head so I wouldn't see what the bus was actually doing. With music in my ears and the blanket over my head, I managed to sleep for a whole two hours with many scary interruptions. When we finally arrived in Bangkok, I was relieved to still be alive, found the taxi stand, and waited in line. I had to wait for a whole 1 1/2 hours until I finally sat in a taxi. And then another hour's drive to the hostel. You can imagine how tired I was when I arrived there. Luckily, I was allowed to go to the room and lie down. First, sleep! When I woke up, Andrea was there. Andrea, the woman I will be traveling with for the next few weeks. Since she was also completely exhausted from her trip, we decided to sleep for another hour. It turned into three hours, but afterwards we were at least somewhat fit. In the room, we met a Swiss woman and headed towards Khao San Road. We had some food first and then walked through all the market stalls. Something was being filmed right in the middle of the street and we watched for a while until it started raining and we looked for a taxi home. We actually wanted to go to a rooftop bar, but since that doesn't make much sense in the rain, we got into our beds and slept. The next morning, the alarm went off at 9 o'clock and after getting ready, we took the Skytrain to the ferry to make the rest of the way to Wat Pho over the water. But instead of getting on the ferry, we got on a speedboat and raced across the dirty river, past Wat Pho, and docked somewhere else. Since I had already been to Wat Pho and knew which direction we had to go, we continued on foot. My plan was to take the day easy. I didn't feel like going from temple to temple and seeing things. That's why I sat in the entrance area of the temple in front of the fan and relaxed until the other two were done. After that, we walked to Khao San Road again and strolled along it, found something delicious to eat in the parallel street, and then took a tuk-tuk back to the hostel. It's wonderful that you can still take a shower in the hostels in the afternoon after you've already checked out. That's what we did and at 6 o'clock Andrea and I took a taxi to the train station. We picked up our train tickets there and then it started. At first, all the seats in the compartment were for sitting, until someone came and made all the beds. We had actually reserved two beds at the bottom, but we got two at the top, which was a pity because the beds at the top were much narrower and it was much brighter because of the lights on the ceiling. Still, I was happy to be able to lie down this time after the second-to-last night on the bus and not have any fear during the transport. I even slept quite well until the alarm rang at four. But we didn't have to set an alarm because someone came through and woke up everyone who had to get off at the next station; what a service! We waited another hour at the train station for the bus that took us to the pier and then on the ferry. Two hours crossing the sea and the sunscreen was unreachable in our backpacks that we had to check in at the beginning. So we covered ourselves up to avoid getting sunburned. It worked pretty well, but next time we'll pack the sunscreen in our carry-on luggage for sure. When we arrived at Koh Tao, we were picked up by a driver from the dive resort and taken there. Unfortunately, we couldn't go to our room yet and had to wait for a whole four hours. I was immediately given a questionnaire to refresh my diving course and filled it out during the wait. At 1 o'clock, we were allowed into the room and at 2 o'clock I already met for the refresher course. There were two of us with a diving instructor and we went through the theoretical things together and then went to the pool together for a short review. After the course, I jumped into the shower first and then Andrea and I got a pizza and ate it nice and comfortably on the beach. After the journey and the day, we were both so tired that we went to bed early to be fit the next day.