The palace is at a considerable distance from my hotel. I decided to walk anyway. It is required to wear long pants and sleeved shirts, so I was already drenched in sweat when I got there. You can buy and rent elephant pants
for the duration of your visit from one of the many vendors outside the entrance. Well, at least I do know that now.
Speaking of entrance: we had to walk through a park, down through a subterranean foyer and through a gate to finally be able to buy the (quite expensive) entrance ticket to the palace. It is well worth it, don’t get me wrong. By the time we arrived in the foyer we were a big crowd of visitors, but the lines for the ticket sale moved quick.
It’s crowded everywhere. I take off my shoes to go into the palace temple. No photos allowed inside.
It is full of people. I barely find a place to sit. Everyone seems respectful. Don’t point your feet at the Buddha. I stay for about 20 minutes observing the foreigners and locals praying.
I get why it is such a popular place. It felt very exotic : Symbols, figures, ornament, and gold everywhere.
After a couple of hours wandering around the palace grounds I went to buy some water and onto the next destination. Wat Pho. I posted a picture of Wat Pho
or Wat Pho
before. I might post even more pictures in the future. It has many aesthetically pleasing spots.
The main attraction is the reclining Buddha. Yep, it is… big. In all honesty, I was even more impressed by the amount of shear Buddha statues here.
Full of these new impressions I decided to also walk back the 3 km to my hotel. It didn’t rain. A great day.
The last week I have been staying in Thonglor. It is supposed to be a hip neighborhood especially colored by the Japanese diaspora and the affluent upper class of Bangkok. The mix sounded intriguing enough to make me book here a room for a whole week. Even between prenatal yoga classes, Japanese Kindergartens or the Donki mall you can still find some pretty amazing Thai street food. 100THB for a milk tea at the luxury mall or 20THB for a milk tea in the street?
The room itself might be not the best. The walls are thin as paper and I heard things in the night I’d rather forget. But the Thai staff is superb as ever and the location is hard to beat. The washer/dryer combo in my apartment basically ran non-stop the first couple of days. The gym is well-equipped and the pool is pleasantly cool and uncrowded. I still love being in Southeast Asia, but it’s time for a change soon.
Time is running out. I am now officially entering the last few months of my travel adventure. The good news arrived last week in the form of an E-Mail: My coop informed me that I won the housing lottery for the option on an apartment in Karlsruhe. The lease will start in September. That gives me ample time to conclude my travels as well as to prepare for my return to Germany.
Concerning the next weeks it’s probably sensible to stay in SEA for at least a little while longer. To keep my costs in check. I am still enjoying Bangkok. I explored many markets, temples, malls, small streets and parks over the last days. But it feels like my time to leave Bangkok comes soon. I am unsure where to go next. I did amass quite a bit of luggage over the last 2 months. One idea I had was to just store part of it here in Bangkok and go explore the north of Thailand. I am surprised that it’s such pleasant weather despite it being the rainy season.
Being prone to anxious thought patterns, I find that my planning always takes more energy than I anticipate. Counteracting that I tried to go into a new place with minimal to no information but that gets problematic real fast too. Being tired and stuck at an airport at 2am with no idea how to get to the accommodation is no fun too. When I land in a new place, it takes time for me to orient. I noticed that I am not as quick to adapt compared to some other travelers I met. Striking a balance between planning and “figure it out when I get there” is surprisingly challenging.
Even after five months, I still make mistakes. I face challenging situations often: no clean shirt and no laundry in sight, the sink or bathroom is stinky or outright dirty, roaches saying hello, bad planning that leads to expensive refund of flight reservations, accidentally booking a room in a sketchy neighborhood or accidentally ordering food from questionable places. That is part of being a traveler, I guess. Even the best of planning doesn’t prevent mistakes. Stuff goes wrong, and I became used to it. Sometimes it’s my fault, sometimes it’s the circumstances. I learned to be ok with either and roll with the punches.
There’s less self-blame and less anxiety about it these days. I try to find a balance between planning and spontaneity. My new timeframe reset the focus, but I still embrace the slow-traveling mindset. I am never afraid that I could miss out on something. I can always come back to that specific country/region in the future for a dedicated visit. I am more relaxed and less stressed by smaller obstacles. If I compare myself now with me when I went to Santiago — I am way more laid-back and confident. In just a couple of months I developed a deep trust in my abilities to work through anything. I am so grateful to have this opportunity and the time to explore the world on my own terms. At the same time, I am looking forward to establishing a stable base in Karlsruhe in September.
Time to do some tourist stuff in Bangkok! It took me a couple of hours to explore this famous market near the Mo Chit BTS station. It’s huge. You can get your usual cheap trinkets and souvenirs here but I was more interested in the section which had more handicrafts and local products. I bought a couple of things but not too much. The customized passport covers for around 100THB is a huge hit with us Farangs. I couldn’t resist to get one myself. This market is clearly aimed at tourists but feels very chill and you don’t get harassed by the vendors like in some parts of MBK Shopping Mall. There are also street food vendors everywhere. With a wonderful Pad Thai in my belly and a bag full of goodies I made my way back home.
After a stopover in Manila I made my way on a red eye to Bangkok. Very sleepy I arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 2 in the night trying to find my way around the A/B Grab stations to hop on a car to my hotel near Sukhumvit road.
The next day was spent walking around the immediate neighborhood and checking out the local stores. But to be honest I was still exhausted from the night lost in the flight. The spicy curry for lunch only woke me up for a couple of hours. After that I relaxed most of the day. It’s a chaotic place and I might want to try to find something a little more quiet soon.
Anyway, it seems like Bangkok is a convenient place to stay. It is a major hub that offers plenty of flights to Europe. I might need them for example to attend apartment showings or sort some stuff out in Germany. My tourist visa for Thailand is valid until early August so that gives me some time to organize things.
“Here no Ox can hide!”
