Thailand 2019

 Coming back to Asia feels like coming home

  

  I had the dream to travel to Asia every two years, after I came to Thailand the first time in 2014. Since I couldn't find the time to fly to Southeast Asia in 2018, I made the plan to come back this year. Moreover, a friend asked me to travel to Asia - for her, it was the first time - so it was a pleasure for me to join and travel to Thailand with her. We decided to take a direct flight from Frankfurt to Bangkok and on our first day in Bangkok, we had to get used to the heat, the culture and the food. Even for me, everything felt different than the last time in Thailand. For me, Southeast Asia is more than just a travel destination, I had the feeling like I would come to my second home, because I also have friends living in Thailand.

  After using the Airport Rail Link to Phaya Thai Station, we started to walk around to find our hostel. We saw a few temples - almost everywhere in Bangkok were temples - and we passed the Democracy Monument, a symbol of the "Siamese Revolution of 1932". We could also see some non-touristic places and pucblic parks in the centre of the city.

  One of the most important things, you could do in Thailand, is trying the delicious Thai food. Actually, the breakfast was more a Western style breakfast with croissants, cereals or pancakes with fresh fruits, but the warm dishes for lunch and dinner had the typical streetfood character. We really wanted to try the food of Jay Fai. Her restaurant received a star in the inaugural Bangkok 2018 Michelin Guide. But unfortunately, you had to be there before the official opening hours to make a reservation for the day. So we decided to go to the restaurant "Thai Food at Samranrat", which was in the neighborhood of "Raan Jay Fai". We tried many different noodle and rice dishes - like Pad Thai - and all of them were very tasty. I can recommend to eat there, because it was also quite cheap and it was also possible to drink Thai lemon ice tea.

  Not only the food, but also the magical temples are very special in Thailand. Especially in Bangkok, there is the chance to see many Buddhist temples of first class, like Wat Arun, Wat Pho or Wat Phra Kaew. Actually, there are much more interesting temple areas, but at least, you have to see the three most important ones. 

  We started our important Bangkok temple tour with a visit at Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. Wat Phra Kaew, also known as "Temple of the Emerald Buddha", is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. Therefore, the dress code was really strict and you weren't allowed to enter without long clothes and firm footwear. But after walking around the holy places, I felt very impressed, even more than five years ago, when I visited Thailand the first time. I was astonished like I would see the temple and the Grand Palace for the first time.    
   
  Our next destination was Wat Arun. Therefore, we had to take one of the Chao Phraya river boats to reach the other side of the river. From the temple areas, Wat Arun was the smallest one. But nevertheless, it was worthwile to see the white pagoda which makes it special in comparison to the other temples in Bangkok. Moreover, I didn't go there the last time, so I had to go there to complete my personal list of important temples, I wanted to see in Thailand. 

  In the evening, I went to Wat Pho alone to see the famous 46 meter long and 15 meter high golden statue of the lying Buddha, the highlight of the Bangkok temple tour. In my opinion, the visit of Wat Pho should have the highest priority, because it's not too overcrowded in comparison to the Grand Palace and the evening time, shortly before the closing time, was definitely the best time to go there.

  After exploring Bangkok for three days, we decided to take an Airasia flight to Krabi to stay in the South of Thailand for a couple of days. We wanted to stay closer to the beach, so that we made a reservation in a hostel in Ao Nang, 10 minutes away from Ao Nang Beach, one of the three famous beach areas in Ao Nang, including Noppharat Thara Beach and Railay Beach. On our first day, we walked around the Ao Nang and Noppharat Thara Beach - it was only possible to reach Railay Beach by boat - and we enjoyed the beach time with sunbathing, swimming and climbing on the rocks. In general, Ao Nang and the region of Krabi was perfect for adventures and doing outdoor activities and luckily we came there before the rainy period started, so that we could enjoy our time with sunshine.

  In the afternoon, I decided to explore the "Monkey Trail" of Ao Nang, hoping to see some monkeys. It was a bit exhausting to climb up the stairs and walk along the path and unfortunately, I couldn't see any monkeys there, also when I walked there again at a different time, but my friend could see some of the monkeys in the morning hours. Nevertheless, the Pai Plong Beach on the other side of the trail was quite beautiful and calm. In the evening, it was also always possible to see wonderful sunsets on the beach. Especially the purple colored sky was quite amazing and gave the evenings on the beach a mystical atmosphere. 

  Our first adventure outside of Ao Nang was a Jungle Kayak Tour. We were picked up at our hostel by a mini van and after we arrived at the kayak pier, we could start our tour after a short instruction. Even if it was quite hot, the paddle trip through the mangrove forest to the jungle and the jungle lagoon was really cool and funny. We also had time to swim in the jungle lagoon, before we had to canoe back to the starting point, where we got some water and fruits for refreshing. We were quite happy, that we did the jungle kayaking, not only, because it was cheap, it was also a great experience, because it was the first time sitting in a kayak for me. 

  The next morning, I wanted to join a hiking tour at the "Tab Kak Hang Nak Hill Nature Trail", but unfortunately, there weren't enough people for this tour. So I asked for an alternative program for the day and I could still join the tour to the Emerald Pool, so I had to hurry up, because they picked me up 15 minutes later. 

  The first place, we visited, was a hot spring waterfall, but since it was too overcrowded with people, although it wasn't the tourist season, it wasn't a real chance to relax in the hot water area. The next destination was the Emerald Pool, a wonderful blue lagoon in the middle of the jungle. Even if there were also many tourists, it was much better to stay there, because the whole area was bigger. The way to go to the Emerald Pool was also riddled with surprises like a jungle pathway, little waterfalls or other lagoons, where it wasn't allowed to swim. 

  I thought, that the tour will be over after the Emerald Pool, but instead of bringing us home, the guide drove to the Tiger Cave Temple. Since I already planned to visit the temple two days later with my friend and I was already tired, because I didn't had breakfast due to the spontaneous trip, I just stayed on the main area and checked out the cave. There was a Buddhist monk, who blessed me - that was actually the highlight of the day! Then, we were finally back around 5 pm and I was too exhausted. I also felt like I got a sunstroke, so that I didn't feel so well during the next night.

  Since I couldn't sleep well because of the sunstroke, I was thinking about canceling my activity for the next day - the Elephant Trekking. But luckily, I felt a bit better the next morning, so that I decided to join the group for going to the Krabi Elephant House Sanctuary. Before we went to the elephants, we had to change our clothes. But then we followed the guide, who told us, that the elephants were rescued from the national parks. The oldest of the elephants was approximately 60 years and the youngest one 22 years old and all of them were female elephants. So we started to feed them with bananas, so that they could get used to us and for arranging a good relationship to each other. Then, we walked to a green field to feed them with grass and other plants - the guide told us, that elephants are eating 17 hours a day - what a life! After the delicious buffet, it was time for a mud bath and massage, followed by swimming with the elephants. I need to say, that it was my highlight during the whole Thailand trip. I was quite happy, that they treat the elephants well and that it wasn't allowed to do elephant riding. So I really enjoyed this wonderful experience and didn't regret, that I joined the tour at this day.  

  On Sunday evening, we wanted to visit the Tiger Cave Temple together for seeing the sunset. One of the legends says, that a Vipassana monk went to the cave for meditating and then, he noticed tigers roaming around the cave. But nowadays, there weren't any tigers, except the tiger statues everywhere around the temple area, which made the temple quite unique. Another special thing were the 1260 stairs leading to the summit and the big Buddha statue. It was the most exhausting thing, I've ever done and we had to make several breaks on our walk to the top. But when we reached the top, we were so relieved, so that we could enjoy the clouds spectacle - unfortunately it was too cloudy to see a beautiful sunset like on the beach of Ao Nang. After spending some time at the temple, we decided to walk down again and on our way down, we also took some pictures of the cheeky monkeys, which tried to steal something out of a backpack of another tourist.   

  After the exhausting climbing tour to the hill of the Tiger Cave Temple, we decided to have a more relaxed start of the new week, so we made the 7 Island Sunset Tour, a tour on a tourist boat, where it was possible to see different islands around Ao Nang and do snorkeling. I would say, the island hopping with islands like Poda Island or Tup Island was nice, but there was not enough time to explore more than the beach of the different islands. Some other islands like Chicken island, which has the name because of a chicken shaped rock formation, could be only seen from the boat. But the highlight was definitely the breathtaking sunset at Railay Beach. I never saw such a stunning sunset before. After having our dinner there, we went to a night snorkeling place in the ocean, where it was possible to see bioluminescent plankton, but we observed the spectacle from the boat and could be happy, because almost all of the persons, who tried the night snorkeling, were burned by jellyfish.

 

  I decided to leave Ao Nang the next day to fly to Chiang Mai - my friend wanted to stay in the South of Thailand for the rest of the holidays. When I arrived in Chiang Mai, I was surprised, that the airport is just ten minutes away from the city centre. After sleeping the first night in the Family Home Hostel, I decided to take the first day to visit the temples of Chiang Mai. There are approximately 200 Buddhist temples, most of them in the Old Town, which is surrounded by a quadrangle from the ancient city walls and a parallel moat.

  All of the temples were quite fascinating and they all looked different and special. My favourite temple was Wat Chedi Luang, the "Temple of the Royal Stupa", originally made up of three temples - Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Ho Tham and Wat Sukmin.  The ruin of the stupa was in the centre of the whole temple area, with small temples and food stands all around. After I also visited Wat Chang Taem, I wanted to have a lunch break. I got the advice to go to the "Huen Phen" restaurant to try Khao Soi, a soup-like dish containing coconut milk, deep fried and boiled egg noodles, shallots, chili and meat. I have to say, it was the best food, I had during the whole trip! In generally, the Northern Thai food was so delicious. I also tried spicy jackfruit salad and young bamboo shoots stuffed with pork. The variations of food in Northern Thailand were just amazing. 

  Filled with food, I continued walking in the old town to see more of the temples, like Wat Chiang Man, the oldest temple of Chiang Mai, built in 1297. The oldest of the buildings is the Chedi Chang Lom, also known as "Elephant Chedi". Another highlight is the Phra Sae Tang Khamani, the "Crystal Buddha", a Buddha statue carved out of a clear quartz crystal.

  The last of the important temples, I wanted to visit in the old town, was Wat Phra Singh. King Rama VIII. bestowed on it the status of Royal temple of the first grade in 1935. When I arrived, it started to rain for almost 30 minutes, so I stayed inside the main temple.  

  After the rain had stopped, I explored the temple area of Wat Phra Singh and I could discover a beautiful rainbow in the grey sky. I also walked along the path with the bronze bells and the golden chedis. For the sunset, I walked to Wat Suan Dok, 1.5 km away from the city centre. The 48 meter high bell shaped chedi, built in a Sri Lankan style, is one of the attractions of the "Flower Garden Temple". Unfortunately, it was too cloudy to see the sunset, but also the clouds in the sky made the evening spectacular. 

  On my way back to the hostel in the evening, I saw a ceremony at Wat Chedi Luang, where many Thai people came for praying and lighting candles. Moreover, there was a food market, so that I could eat Roti Samai, a kind of pancake with cotton candy, which is super tasty. Another advice is the Saturday Night Market of Chiang Mai. The walking street was very long, so that I didn't even finish visiting the whole market, but I could buy some great souvenirs and could eat more delicious Northern Thai food.

 

  The next morning, I decided to visit Art in Paradise, an interactive 3D museum. It was a great diversification, but it would be worthwile to go there with at least two persons, so that one person can take nice pictures. At the beginning, I had to download an app called "Art in Paradise", so that it was possible to see the 3D animations. Luckily, I got to know a Taiwanese family there and they offered me to take pictures of me, so I had much more fun to enjoy all the animations and drawings. Even if the price of 400 Baht was quite expensive and it wasn't classical art, I would say, that it was a nice experience and it was entertaining to enjoy art from a new perspective. 

  Then, I took one of the red taxis to the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the landmark of Chiang Mai, located 15 kilometers in the west of the city centre. It's a sacred place to many Thai people and especially quite famous because of the golden chedi, which is said to contain a relic of Buddha. Moreover, it's possible to have an impressive view of the city of Chiang Mai.

  Arriving at the octagonal golden chedi, I recognized filigree "Chat", Burmese-style ceremonial umbrellas, whose cube-shaped pedestals are decorated with golden reliefs of the mythological elephant Erawan and mythological Siamese lion (Singha) at the four corners. I also put some new oil to the candles and donated some "lucky money" to the Meditating Buddha, the Buddha for people, born on a Thursday.   

  After visiting the temple, I wanted to go hiking to some waterfalls. So I followed the path in the forest, but unfortunately, I couldn't go on at some point. Moreover, a second hiking route, I found before, wasn't even there. So I couldn't see the waterfalls, but however, I could enjoy the beautiful flora and I saw my first orchids - my favorite flowers - in wildlife.

  When I was in Thailand in 2014, I also really wanted to see Wat Rong Khun, better known as "White Temple", in Chiang Rai. But due to an earthquake in May 2014, the temple was damaged. Even if the building structures were unharmed, the temple needed some restorations. So I took the chance to book a one day trip to Chiang Rai to see the White Temple this time.    

  The White Temple was even more breathtakingly in real and the structures and symbols were really fascinating. To reach the "Gate of Heaven" and the ubosot, the main building at the white temple, you have to cross the "Bridge of the Cycle of Rebirth". In front of the bridge are outreaching hands, symbolizing unrestrained desire. The way over the bridge symbolizes the way from the hell to the heaven and the bridge proclaims, that the way to happiness is by foregoing temptation, greed and desire. 

  After having a lunch close to the White Temple, we visited Wat Rong Seur Ten, the "House of the Dancing Tiger", named after the tigers that used to jump into the Mae Nam Kok river in this area in the past. Before, I didn't know about the stunning "Blue Temple", but it's definitely a must see place in Chiang Rai, because it's also unique like the White Temple. The third sightseeing place, we visited, was the Baan Dam, also known as "Black House". It's a mixture of art studio and museum in a Northern Thai building style, a creation of the artist Thawan Duchanee. It's a collection of around 40 buildings with a beautiful garden area and all the houses show different kind of arts - from a traditional Thai style art up to modern arts.   

  Even if it was quite stressful - the way to Chiang Rai took around 3.5 hours - it was a great experience and absolutely worthwile. But next time, I would prefer staying a short time in Chiang Rai, because it would be less stressful. It would be also a great possibility to see the Golden Triangle, the area where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers.  

  On Saturday, the last day before I had to fly back to Bangkok, I decided to join another daily tour to the Doi Inthanon National Park. At first, I expected, that we will directly go to the top of the mountain, but our first stop was at the Wachirathan Waterfall, a really beautiful natural waterfall among the nature. We spent about 30 minutes there, before we continued our tour to Doi Inthanon, with 2565 meters the highest mountain in Thailand. In the past, the name Doi Inthanon was given to the mountain "Doi Luang" in honour of "Inthawichayanon", the last king of Chiang Mai, who tried to preserve the forests in the North of Thailand. After his death, a memorial shrine was constructed on the top of the mountain. Moreover, a sign is marking the top of Doi Inthanon. At the summit of the mountain, it was around 15 °C, so that the trip was also great for escaping from the heat in the city.

  Approximately 200 meters below the summit of Doi Inthanon, the Thai Army built the Royal Twin Pagoda, a present to the King Bhumibol (1987) and Queen Sirikit (1992) in commemoration of their 60th birthdays. Both chedis were quite beautiful, decorated with painted tiles depicting the life of the Buddha, but the most impressive part was the garden view point behind the Queen Pagoda. Especially, when the fog appeared, the garden was a gorgeous scenery for taking beautiful photos. After the visit of the pagodas, we visited a Hmong market, where I could buy some Northern Thai tea, and we had lunch in a small restaurant to get new power for the hiking trip..       

  After refreshing with food and water, we started our hiking tour at the Angkha Nature Trail. We followed a local guide from one of the nearby tribal villages through the forest pathway. Before we came to the first and most impressive of three waterfalls on that hiking route, we passed dwarf rhododendron groves and a chrysanthemum field. At the waterfall, we spent around 20 minutes to take a little break from hiking, since it was already hot again. Then, we walked to a second smaller waterfall, where it was possible to swim, but unfortunately, I didn't had swimming clothes with me, so I just relaxed on a stone. After passing the third waterfall, we saw a beautiful field of yellow chrysanthemums and strawberry fields. On the way to a little village, we could also see rice fields, coffee plants, baby ananas and avocado trees. In the village, we could also try the local coffee, which was quite good after the hiking trip and before going back to Chiang Mai.
 

  On Sunday, I flew back to Bangkok, where I met my friend again. For our last night in Thailand, we decided to stay in a hotel with a beautiful view of the Bangkok skyline. But before enjoying the skyline, we took a tuk-tuk to the Yaowarat Road - the main street of Chinatown in Bangkok, which is one of the oldest areas of Bangkok and which was arranged on the west bank of the Chayo Phraya river, after Rama I. moved the capital of the kingdom from Thonburi to Rattanakosin, a historic area in the Phra Nakhon District.

  At first, we had lunch there and then we  just walked around the streets and explored the markets, before it started to rain heavily. So we went to a coffee shop until it stopped and then, we took a tuk-tuk again to the Ratchada Train Market, one of the famous night markets in Bangkok. In comparison to the saturday night market in Chiang Mai, it was smaller, but in comparison to other night markets in Bangkok, I liked the Ratchada Train Market more. It was not only a tourist night market, there were also many Thai people hanging out, which made the atmosphere more comfortable, even if the night market was complety overcrowded after 7 pm. We took our time to take a closer look at all the food and interesting things. But luckily, I already fulfilled one of my tasks, to eat at least one insect or scorpion, on our first three days in Bangkok, when I ate a scorpion at Khaosan Road night market, a more touristy area. 

  Since our hotel was close to Lumphini Park, we went there in the morning of our last day in Bangkok. There were many beautiful flowers around the artifical lake, the Chinese Pavilion and the Bell Tower. Inside the park is also an outdoor gym and we also saw a group doing Tai Chi. But since it was very hot, we decided to take a break for drinking a fruit shake and then, we wanted to do a longer Chayo Phraya Boat Tour again to kill some time. On the way to the pier, we also found interesting street art areas, so we could spend some time watching the paintings on the walls. After the boat tour, we had to walk quite long to reach the next BTS station for going back to Pathum Wan District, where I met a Thai friend for having dinner at the Chit Lom CentralWorld. I was quite happy to meet her again - we also met each other five years ago - even if the time was quite short. Unfortunately, we couldn't eat a dessert together, because time was running and we had to go back to the hotel to pick up our backpacks for arriving at the airport in time.