Thailand

After a long flight we made it safely to the land of smiles. First stop: Bangkok!

We easily could have just slept through the first evening because of the time difference, but luckily our friends dragged us out for a delicious dinner in Chinatown and some sightseeing...

One of the most popular eateries in Chinatown, at a street corner under the sky... fantastic food! Followed by a walk through the flower and veggie markets at night. Who wants to try an innocent-looking pepper? SPICY!!!

Secret tip: the bar on the top floor of the Arun Residences has an amazing view over the river and the famous Wat Arun temple. Thank you Jane and Andreas for a great evening!

Next morning, the time has come for some serious sightseeing. TEMPLES! 

But before we get there... as soon as we stepped off the river ferry close to the Grand Palace, we noticed this sign. Ouch, looks painful. Maybe we'll wait with that massage...

At the Grand Palace we run into a holiday celebration that allowed only locals to enter while foreigners had to wait outside for an hour. Good times in 38C/100F weather! 

And after that hour we could only visited a fraction of the grounds that day. Even we have bad timing sometimes. But no worries.... we'll be BACK!

Instead we went to visit the nearby Wat Pho temple, which houses the famous Reclining Buddha. It's HUGE at 160ft long, one of the single-largest Buddha statues in existence. 

The temple also houses countless other Buddha statues and a large number of chedis (stupas that house Buddhist relics). We'll be seeing lots more of those over the next few weeks I'm sure...

As promised, WE ARE BACK!!!

The following day, attempt #2 at the Grand Palace. 

That includes the famous Temple of the Emerald Buddha: Wat Phra Keow. Very popular with locals and tourist alike.

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside the temple, but since our camera has a nice zoom and the door was open... ;)

 Looks actually kind of small and insignificant after seeing the Reclining Buddha statue filling an entire temple the day before. But size does not always matter it seems.

After visiting so many temples, it was time to delve a little deeper. Welcome to Meditation 101. 

Taught by a real monk, 2 hours meditation and 1 hour discussion afterwards. Very fascinating. 

Breathe in, breathe out, 1, breathe in, breathe out, 2, ....

 And about once a day we were reminded - it's the rainy season!

To see a little bit more of the country we decided to take the overnight sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand.

   

View over Chiang Mai!

 Once again, many wats (temples) to visit. Max trying to be useful during our stay...

Were also allowed to visit a temple while the novice monks were holding one of their daily prayer sessions.

If praying is not for you, then maybe a walk through the park next to the temple gives you the insights you need:

Chiang Mai at night - pretty tranquil, except for the night market and bars close to the river.

And just when you thought you could escape.








Some fresh stir fry. Yum! Local food was truly more tasty and a lot cheaper than some mediocre western restaurants.

A short ride outside of the city is the Doi Suthep National Park, also home of a famous... you guessed it... temple.

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep is only reached through a curvy mountain road and subsequent little hike up the final incline.   

Doi Suthep is probably most famous for its scenic sights and the golden chedi in the middle of the temple grounds. Beautiful at sunset!

 An unexpected sight on the temple grounds: Buddhist garden gnomes!

 

After a great week it was already time to say goodbye to Thailand and head to our next destination: Laos!