I always wonder why my friend Chris and I didn't go to Thailand back then when we were backpacking. Probably because we were thinking that Thailand was already flooded with backpackers. We went on to visit almost every other south East Asian country and for years Thailand wasn't on my list. But 3 years ago my friend John moved to Bangkok and since then always texted me to come to visit him. COVID made it impossible but since my girlfriend is also a big fan of Thailand this time it was the perfect opportunity. I didn't have any expectations in my mind before coming but I was really excited when we were on the plane. That's because I haven't been to another asian country for a long time. And let me tell you, every country there is totally different. So when we got out of the airport we first struggled to find a taxi which doesn't charge us like 10x the normal amount. We shared a taxi with another couple who were on their honeymoon and I was surprised that the roads in the evening in Bangkok are so quiet in comparison to Vietnam. We arrived quite late but John my friend made the effort to take us out for a drink. It was so good to see him again!
We had two full days to explore Bangkok and my girlfriend and I decided to visit the touristy places first. We walked to the Grand Palace where a guy approached and told us that the Grand Palace is closed and that we should go on one of these Floating Markets. He sounded really trustworthy but nevertheless we decided to walk towards the Grand Palace and surprise: it is a common approach to lure people. And of course the Grand Palace was not closed. It was actually quite crowded. John joined us on our city tour and we tasted some nice local food and walked towards the Wat Arun, kind of. The temple was on the other side of the river, so we decided to visit it on the next day. We visit a nice cafe shop A Pink Rabbit which also warns from scammers and then took the metro to go to the flee market, Chatuchak market which is especially nice on the weekends. For John it wasn't something special of course but for me and my girlfriend it was a highlight on our trip, we loved it. Besides the amazing street food, so many shops had actually stylish fashion as well. My girlfriend could stay there the whole night just to shop! John also showed us the area where they sell animals which was a scary I have to admit. The evening we spent at China Town where we had a nice Mu Kratha for dinner which is similar to the chinese hotpot. We also tried different snacks around like of course the sticky mango rice. A long long day which we ended in Khao San market with some drinks.
On the next day, we made our way to the Wat Arun with the boat which was shockingly cheap. We also visited Wat Phra since both are really close and I remember when I entered it I got the message that my brother passed his driver license, which made me doing happy jumps in that moment haha. Comparing both, I liked Wat Arun a bit more since it's not only fucking huge but also has nice patterns. We then walked towards a less known area to look for food around the Old Siam Plaza where we then met up with John again. We took the TukTuk to go to the Silpakorn University and the Pratu Nam Market for some more shopping. When it became late it was time to visit a night market again. We decided to visit Jodd Fairs 2 which is a quite new night market and it also looks a bit more modern. It was a good choice. Jodd Fairs 2 has amazing shops where we all ended buying stuff and the food was nice as well, although not as local as the other ones. That evening we had to say goodbye to John. After 8 years we finally met again and hopefully next time will be soon again. In the morning of the next day we decided to get a Thai massage before getting to the flight. The massage was amazing but I don't know how but I miscalculated the time so badly that we almost missed our the flight. I have never been that worried missing a flight. But thank my karma, we made it when it the plane was boarding. Really, really lucky and my learnings for next time: Don't start to go to the airport so late!
Our next destination was Krabi, which is more famous for the beaches. We arrived in Ao Nang the afternoon and needed some rest so the plan was only to visit the beach and get some dinner at the night market. Surprisingly, Ao Nang was not that crowded and also the night market was really small but kinda cute. The next day we took the boat to Railay beach which is only accessible on that way. We decided to do the climb to the water lagoon first but right before the destination it was really dangerous wherefore we decided turn around but the climb was really fun. the afternoon we spent laying on the cave beach and I really miss the feeling being there, when I think about it. Before evening it got stormy and we decided to return to the main land. The waves were really high and someone our driver forgot to refill the fuel before riding the boat. It was a bit scary but with the help of the people on the boat we arrived safely even though it took like double the time than the outward ride. Back home, we badly needed a shower and some rest. With a nice noodles for dinner (imo best Thai food we had) next to our hotel at Go Deng and some snacks from our favourite store (7/11) we called it a day.
On the next day we had our flight in the afternoon again, thus, we decided to spend our remaining time in Ao Nang at the beach and hiked the Monkey Trail expecting to see some monkeys. We didn't. Luckily we already saw some on Railay. Our flight was going to our last stop in Thailand, Chiang Mai and all I can say is that it is my favourite place from the three we visited. We actually didn't to that much anymore that day besides visiting the Wat Chedi Luang temple, a jazz bar and having some street food dinner at the Wua Lai Walking Street. But on the next day we joined a tour to go to the elephant sanctuary. We were a small group of 6 and we visited some elephants in the wild. It was crazy! We fed them a lot of food and then went for a mug bath with them. I rarely got that dirty but we could go for a swim in the river with the elephants afterwards. In the afternoon it started to rain heavily and we had to wait a long time for it to stop. We saw the waterfall on our way where we supposed to stop but that was overflowed with water. For the bamboo rafting the weather was sunny again and we had a nice ride through the river. In the evening we decided to visit once again a night market, this time the one where mostly students go, the Kad Na Mor Market. It was a really local market and we felt liked to just walk around and take a look at every shop, feeling as young as a student. To finish the day we drove around with the scooter we rented, visited some popular places, other night markets and prepared to wake up early the next day to finish our Thailand trip strong. Around 5am in the morning we started our way to drive up a mountain to the Wat Phra That Don Suthep, hoping to have a nice sunrise. On our way we were surprised by all the people and dogs (lol) who were running up at that time. Not just a couple! We saw at least 50 people who were running up that mountain. We were really tired but the temple up there is amazing. We didn't have a nice sunrise but I really can recommend to go there. With the remaining time in Chiang Mai we decided to visit more markets and get some food and snacks till our flight in the afternoon.
And yeah, that was it, one week in Thailand. Looking back, time really flew but we did a lot and I think Thailand is definitely worth another visit! I loved the street and night markets and I think nature wise it has a lot of diversity. And it's definitely the better country to ride the scooter. But the food is not as good as Vietnamese food 😏. And it's hella spicy, too! So ขอบคุณ Thailand, and till next time.