Back To Europe

This is the first time I write an update to my blog from the plane. Dinner just has been served and I enjoy my time in the business class of Austrian Airlines. Today I have decided to limit my excesses just to a nice meal and a desert. The 10 big coffees from Vienna to Bangkok made me paralyzed for half a day. Now everyone is asleep and for me it’s the best time to get creative.

My final day in Bangkok was quite relaxed. I had a long sleep in the morning, packed my stuff at noon and checked out of the hotel. My program for the afternoon was to check out the historical center of Bangkok: From the main train station to the royal palace. As often I’ve decided to go off the beaten track and find interesting sites by my own – And I found them! Chinatown is rich of culture, beautiful and ugly at the same time. The food stalls and restaurants are amazing and colorful. I love the smell of cooking and now I can even identify, or at least get close to it, what dish the smell belongs too. The ugly side was many rotten houses, old hookers and people with no future, just living from day to day. By walking zigzag through Chinatown I have seen so many temples as never before in an Asian city. But most of them where closed or just frequented by a few worshippers. The busiest temple – I don’t know the name of it – was one run by a sect. The worshippers donated a lot in favor of this sect! In the temple four counters had open to receive donations. Another temple that I found interesting was one that has been built by donations of prostitutes of the 18th century. Some businesses have a long term success!

Outside of Chinatown I have visited a distribution center for retailers. The goods come into town by truck and then distributed to different markets or directly to end customers. That was a quite nice scenery for me. Very lively! After the market I’ve visited Wat Pho and then headed back by boat. Arriving at my “home” district I wanted to go for a traditional Thai massage. Luckily I found one directly on the big Sukhumvit road where the BTS (Skytrain) runs through. A traditional Thai massage is difficult to find. Most of the time luscious oil-massages are offered but not the traditional massage. For 300 Baht (ca. 7Eur) I have booked one hour and after that I was really relaxed. Every part of my body has been stretched (feet, legs, arms, torso, shoulders and head) and I was relaxed to the bone! I’ve just got a shock when I got out of the massage parlor. Heavy rain was pouring down and after a few steps I was completely wet – really WET! I just could get to the next store, shop a bit and continued to the hotel where my luggage was deposited. The rain was very heavily and also lasting for a very long time – no way out!

Now my Asian experience is over and I’m curious of what comes out when I step on the scales. I have been eating here all the time and let’s see if I gained weight from it or not. My next posting will be about the red-light district and how business goes on here. Also I final picture update will be performed!