I am starting my second entry with my first impression of Thailand and it has started right away in the airplane. I was told that Thailand is a country reknown for the easy getting sex. So I really hoped in the airplane from London to Bangkok (a 11,5h flight) to have a nice seat neighbour. Well I had, otherwise I would not have talked with him for hours. But he was one of them. To make a long story short, he is an English 68 years old men who meets Thailand every four month to see his three Thai girlfriends in the age of 18, 25 and the very old 35 years old Thai women. I was kind of shocked actually. But he told me for them it is like drinking a coffee and they like it - they have fun. Also he told me that I must have seen this special bars otherwise I would not have seen Thailand.
Anyway I have a totally different mine of it and do not want to connect Thailand to this prostitution life. But it was amazing noticing how many old single men sat in this big airplane.

So then I was at the airport and my big adventure started from right there. Fortunately I arrived in the morning but I had no clue where to stay for the night. I got only one hint to see the very reknown backpacker area called kao san road. To get a feeling of the life of the locals I decided to take the sky train and a bus and not a cheap taxi. But much more harder as I thought I landed somewhere in Bangkok. Maybe I looked somehow lost and one after the other tried to help me. It was always like "can I help you? Where do you want to go? Do you have a ticket/hotel already booked?" But very soon every each of them advised me to tourist information center in order to get more information and discounts. In the very beginning I took a tuk tuk to this info centre and got very soon so much detailed help in the form of booking packages for instance to Kanchanaburi (a plan with elephants riding + waterfall watching + tiger temple). In the first moment it might sound a cheap and good organised plan but than I missed the spontaneity and the adventure and only saw this tourist package without getting to know how people really live. So I finnaly decided to not take it and was happy with mine. Of course it is harder by organising it by ur self, but also it is more fun.

When I arrived at the kao san road I feld actually not so good. It was overcrowded of tourists, very noisy and somehow dirty. Added to that I had no sleep at all caused by a 6h jet lack and 30°. I asked a hippy girl of a nice place and she showed me a much more cheaper (250 Baht ~6€) and noiseless place in Banglampoo. From there I discovered the area and made friends. It is just a great feeling being so free. Still this place is very hippi-touristic but if you just leave the popular streets and walk through the side streets you will find out how easy the locals live. The Thai smile when you talk a very basic Thai is just amazing and worth it. They are very polite and very friendly people with always a smile on their face.

I made a good friend in an India restaurant who is originally from rushia but work and live in Thailand on a island and in Srilanka as a kite board teacher. With him I planned to see the floating market without an organisation in the next early morning. The local people go there very early in the morning. Astonishingly enough we met at 4am and drove 30km to a very remote area where there should have been this floating market for the locals. Unfortunately we were wrong with the time and because this wasn't a touristic place, this few Thais who were not able to speak or a read our language to communicate.

Later we got to the very reknown and huge weekend market Chatuchak where you can get what ever you want I guess. Unluckely I have an awful pain in my back again so we just saw the animal market. To resume, Thais love fishes and they love to put animals in caves. My highlight was a purchase of insects and a frog to eat. To admit they look very disgusting and it took time to overcome about it but we pushed our self. I mean it is a head thing - in our culture it is just not a habit but here it is. To make a long story short: the kakerlake/cockroach was the tastiest one-I would eat it again as well as the larve but never eat the frog or this bugs!

Finally we took a longboat and made a klong tour to a more reknown market. The way threw this landscape was just overwhelming. It is unbelievable that people live here and swim in this brown cloaka, mixed with s***, bin, drainage, huge fishes and the very dangerous warans!
The other day I went for a walk and saw the ferry pier where I took the a local ferry boat for 15 Baht (35 cent). I enjoyed the impression of Bangkok and went out of a place which I thought to walk there threw. I discovered a very nice Temple and drunk a delicious coconut shake in a bag. I decided to eat and drink every day something totally unusual - or let's say more unknown for me.
Spontaniously I met a Thai friend who I know from Germany and we went to the Buddha temple and Grand Palace Wat Phra Kaeo. Well, it was quite expensive for Farangs (that's how the Thais call us tourists). It is very huge and looks very posh. To admit I just see this as an tourist even though my friend explained me few things in a very broken german. But the atmosphere in the temple was very peaceful and my friend prayed as they always do.
Actually we passed a demonstration of the opposition on the street. They were demonstrating against a new law. I wanted to know more about it but my friend thought it was too dangerous.

Like: Thais friendliness, discovering a foreign world, International cool people, cheap prices, food, warm weather, fan

Dislike: pulution, tourist information center

Transportation used: tuk tuk, taxi, ferry, sky train, longboat

Highlights: eating insects, women waitress who was eager to teach us Thai language

Average expenditure for accommodation: 200-250 baht for a simple guesthouse

What’s next: Hua-Hin