Arrival in Bangkok

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After a loooong flight of about 11 hours we finally arrived in a very hot Bangkok. This is where our trip starts. Well.....actually not really because the airport is 35 km outside the city. We arranged a bus to take us to Khao San Road. This is the one street in Bangkok that you cannot miss as a backpacker and is where all the party activity can be found. From here we bargained a Tuk Tuk (a small motorcycle taxi --> Google it) to the hostel that we were staying. This was a great experience, even though Rogier had to fold himself up like a ball to fit into the little car. The driver manouvered us dangerously through the traffic and we both had the rollercoaster feeling. It was a lot of fun!

After having arrived at the hostel, we could finally rest a few hours before seeing something that day. We insisted on ignoring our tiredness and only slept maybe 2 hours so that we could immediately get used to the rhythm and to minimize the jetlag. So that's what we did.
When we felt rested enough, we walked all the way back to Khao San Road and found out that a Tuk Tuk wouldn't have been necessary in the first place. We passed a little market, where people sold fruit, vegetables and food. Immediately the tone is set and you can see how poor some people are and how good we have it in Europe.
That evening we made an early night, because we planned to see a lot this week.

Day 2: After a rough night in the heat, we took the little boat on the river. The boat costs 13 Baht per person, which is like 25 cents in Euros. It's a great way to see the city and the skyline and it's also nice and refreshing, because you're so close to the water.
We got off at the last stop and walked around a little bit. There was little to do in this district of town, but we entered a beautiful temple that we had encountered in the street that we were walking in. Here you could see the real traditional Thailand and its culture. It turned out to be a monk school and there were young monks walking around everywhere in their orange robes. It was a nice sight and beautiful to see that people don't lose their customs in such a busy and modern city. Also a funny fact, is that the Buddhist temples seem to attract cats. At every temple that you see, there are at least several cats walking around. No idea why though.
At night we returned to Khao San road to learn a little bit more about the phenomenon Songkran. This is the Thai new year, which basically means that people throw water at others and sometimes rub flower on your cheeks. Both are seen as blessings and should be received with a smile. This was a fun experience, especially because of the fact that Rogier's head was sticking out of the whole crowd, and therefore he became a walking shooting target. It was mainly the giggling Asian girls that wanted to rub flower in his face and mainly the guys that insisted on doing the same with Mariela. In the end, we both concluded that we had never had such a nice new year celebration. And the good thing was, that this was the first of 3 days celebration, so there'd still be more to come.

Day 3: will come soon, along with the rest of the week!

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