Hungry for Spicy Food

After coming back from Angkor Wat and my nap, I did not have dinner as I was tired out and the heat and especially the humidity made me lose any appetite.
When I finished my tea this morning and set off in the city the heat was still too much for me to take and to eat in it. Yet, when I arrived at about 12:30 in the middle of Siem Reap the smells got me hungry and full of appetite despite the weather around me.
I sat down in a little soup restaurant with fans, which turned out to be viatnamese and served wonderful spicy food.
On the table next to me sat a girl and we started talking. She comes from Canada and is on her way for two years now, teaching English in school times for a couple of months up to half a year and then moves on to travel until the money is gone (which is when she starts teaching again). We had a really nice talk and later went to the market together to stroll through the various stands of cloths and (fake?) jewllery.

Later on, Kim (thats the canadian girl's name) left to go to the gym. She had already lived in Siem Reap for two weeks now and enjoyed the city and her volountary work.
Myself, I still wanted to rent a bike to see some more parts of the city. I followed all rent-a-bike signs i could find, however, I never found the store that goes with it. Maybe, the few bikes these rental services have were all ready gone and I was too late. I don't know.
Anyways, I decided I should see some more of the city and set off by foot. It didn't take too long for me to realize, that the visit of the temples was not only mindblowing but also heavy leg training (from all the stairs) and my muscles right above the knees were so sore, that I could even feel it when walking camly and really not any stairs or slopes, after I had walked for a while. I kept going but after quite a while decided to sit down in a cafe and to have a nice break over a cold lime juice, just watching the Cambodian People folowing their usual saturday precedures. I enjoyed it a lot. People Watching here is very different than on the terrace of El Lateral in Madrid, where it is mostly about making fun of expensive dresses that make the ladies look like saussages or about the parking skills of girls, whos hair is never the less perfect (eh, Amber?).

As the plan to go to the concert is still standing, I am back now to take a shower and to get everything ready for tomorrow morning.
Later on, I might go back to the city to meet up with Kim again who said she would be in the Banana Leaf bar this night, in the famous pub street. Maybe I can get Martin the swiss guy to come with me, as he is wanting to do some voluntary work and to stay here some longer. Kim could maybe help him with that (yeah yeah, its all about the networking, as always... ;P)

Last but not least, I read the email today that York's wife gave birth to a little baby girl named Rubi! Welcome to Madrid, little one; happy birthday! And Congratulations to Luly and York, the proud parents :)

A Calm Day

The eight hours of temple sightseeing really were enough. I spent a calm evening yesterday night here at the hostels garden and chatted with a Portugese and a Finnish guy over a couple of Angkor and Lao Beers. Lao Beer by the way is really yummy. You should try it! :)

Today I woke up at nine, went down to the garden and sat there with a couple of Germans and Swiss people to talk about travelling and about Asia in general. I ordered a tea, thinking of a green tea or something, but I received a Lipton Tea. Thought that was wierd.

Other than that, I didn't do much so far. It is just so nice to hang out and chat, and to let the experience sink in.
Maybe I will go and rent a bike to go down to the lake, and tonight I want to go to a free concert in town. Thats all the plan.

Tomorrow my driver will pick me up at 5:30am to go to the airport, where my plane leaves at 7:something... Even though the airport is so tiny, one is supposed to be there an hour early, but luckily I have my iPod and a book :)

Thats it for now, i guess...

The Temples of Angkor

I did really get up at 4:30am... me! Can you believe it? I hardly can... hehehe
But it was worth it.

At 5am, my driver showed up and we set off in the dark towards the temples of Angkor. Somewhere in the middle of the street were huts to buy your ticket. It comes with a picture, so that you cannot share it.
After one has passed the booth, one keeps on moving on everyday streets and routes which are used by the people, who live in the villages between the temples, all the time. It doesn't feel at all like a museum site, but rather like a temple city, where people have these temples in their live, because they are there for ever, but not because they are something special.

At dawn, I sat at a lake on a little old stone plateau to watch it. The dawn was wierd though, the sky never turned orange nor did one see the sun rise really. It was just light so quickly.
On the other side of the lake was the first temple I saw. I felt like a crazy scientist or lara croft when I wondered through the calm temple in the jungle, as I was the only one there. I had it all to myself, cause most tourists start in the opposite direction to see Angkor Wat at dawn. Me, on the other hand, I listened to Kati and did it the "wrong"way, which was exactly right.

Of course, there were kids again, trying to sell braceletts, coffee or other things. Here, in this surrounding they were a bit annoying, even though they only followed me around outside of the temple itself.

The second temple was Ta Phrom. This is the so called "jungle temple" where trees have grown all over and through the massive walls and stones. Here, they filmed Tomb Raider, but even though I was alone (except for a so called guide) it didnt feel like the first temple. There were too many signs and construction sites to rebuild the temple. However, I liked this temple the most from the small ones, it is just very special with all the trees and the early sunlight.
Funny enough, one of the carvings displays a dinosaur. I wonder how they did know... or who played a very big joke, cause there is really no evidence for the dinosaur to be carved in at any different time than the gods shown in the reliefs.

I went on and saw a couple of more small temples which are not really necessary to mention, but of course, they were beautiful as well. One thing is to mention though: One of the temples was to be climed at own risk, and the stairs are really crazy. As narrow as ten centimetres and high as maybe 35cms... really hard to climb, and horrible to get down. I only climbed the first two levels.

The next highlight was in the City of Angor Thom. Next to another small temple there was a bigger one which is fully under construction right now, to rebuilt a huge reclining buddha. As one couldnt really enter it, they put up huge walls with explanations on how the re-construction works. It was actually started in the 50s, stopped in the war, and only restarted in the mid 90s.

Right in the middle of the City is the temple of Bayon, which is another really beautiful temple with many many towers which have huge faces on them. Unfortunately, I met a lot of tourist groups here (mainly japanese and english, by the way) which took a little of the charme and the some chances for amazing pictures. Still, I thought this was so beautiful that I sat down in the shade for a while and listened to the various guides, whenever I could understand them.

When I went back to search for my driver, I went to get a water. They couldnt change my ten dollar bill (I even think they didnt think it was real) so I gave them my last Riehls. I also wanted to eat something and so I sat down in the place where my driver had a quick meal as well. The girl there spoke english very well, she was about ten I guess, and assured me she could change it for sure. The food was yummy as always, and in the end she gave me nearly all small dollars and one dollar in Riehl, so that was really good.

The last temple I saw was of course the huge and beautiful Angkor Wat. Before one enters it, one has to walk a huge 200m causeway over to big mashes, then go through a 200m wide building used as gate with an entrance so big that an elephant could go through, and in the end another 150 Causeway before one reaches the terrace in front of the temple. Here, I had the post card view on the temple, really, with the five towers sticking out.
I entered and was surprised that there were hardly any tourists left in the building. The bas-reliefs in the galleries are so carefully carved and so detailed, it is amazing.
In the second floor i got a nice few on the towers, but unfortunately, the third level was closed off.
In one of the hallways I sat down for a while to read about Angkor Wat in my book and to take a sip of water. It was very calm and nice.
On my further way through the temple, I passed several buddha statues with golden scarfs and some with candles where people had prayed.

Somehow, the real feel of the temples isnt really possible to be described in words, especially not on a blog while being here, as time is limited. Maybe the pictures can tell more, and in the end I can always sit down with everyone who wants to hear about it and tell the stories over a glass of tinto (which I miss, really) on the terrace :)

After Angkor Wat, I drove back to the hostel. I had been looking at temples for over eight hours, even though I only did the "small"round. I felt smelly and stinky and tired, from waking and sweating in the incredible heat at noon. Luckily I had sunscreen with the number 50... I would have burnt myself otherwise.

I showered, took a nap while it rained heavily and now I will go and get a drink :)

Mmmmh, yummy lime juice...

I went back outside, as there is no point in sitting in my room of course.
It had cooled down a little and was slowly getting dark, so I decided to get a nice drink somewhere and to read in my travel book about Angkor Wat and its temples before searching for something to eat.
I found a nice bar and at one of the huge tables with couch-like seats sat a guy who seemed to travel alone as well. I figured, maybe he is up for a little chat, which would be more what I felt like than sitting alone, and so I asked if he would mind if I sat with him. He did not and so we started talking. His name is Paul, he is my age and on his travels around the world for quite some time now. It was really nice to talk to someone about seeing the world and I was really impressed by his journey he started over a year ago.
He gave me nice tips for the temples tomorrow and the hint to take a fresh squeezed lime juice from the bar we sat in. I can tell you guys, this juice was sooooo good. Really.
Paul also gave me some tips about where to go out in Siem Reap, where the people are, and where to eat. The hawker stalls here make such great food and it is so cheap, especially when compared to Madrid, ah well, when compared to Europe.
So I had a really nice and calm evening and am full with good food and information, and all set for tomorrow. Thanks Paul! I hope you have a great time in Vietnam, Hong Kong, Australia and where ever you go in between :)
Time to go to bed (and yes, it i insanely early forSspanish timing, but I have been up since 2:30am Cambodian time, and now its 20:42pm... I need these 7 hours of sleep I hope to get before I gotta get up and ready at 4:30am to take a Moto Ride in the dark towards Angkor Wat) Good Night!

PS: This one goes out to Rémy, mon grand frère adopté ;) qui a des beau vacances lune de miel, j'espère! Ce matin j'ai parlé avec une fille francaise (en francais), et quand sa copine est arrivé et nous avait ecouté, elle a pensé que je suis francaise! Pas allemand, ni canadienne, mais francaise.... hehehe, trop cool. Ca me ne paserais jamais, avant. Honestly. ;)

Heat and Sweat, and Laughing Kids.

I must admit, I took a little nap...
After it had rained so hard, the streets where hardly walkable. Rather they were an orange, muddy puddle and since it was still very early in the morning and since I was a little tired, I decided to take a one hour nap. I didnt really sleep but rather rested and when I went back outside the sun was shining and it was warm. I sprayed myself with anti-mosquito stuff and off I went...

Right at the end of our street I quickly ate a few rice noodles with Mangold, Carrots and Cellerie, for breakfast. Ah well...
I walked along the river towards Psar Chas, the old town market hall. I passed a supermarket and stopped to get two big bottles of water. Drinking water is not drinkable here, and as it was getting warmer and warmer I decided I needed to carry some around. I am a very thirsty person, most of you know this ;) and indeed, the first liter was gone within half an hour...
Before I entered the market I walked a little around the little streets with its many new cafés and restaurants, most of which were filled with americans and british people. The "Pub Street" seemed a lot bigger on the map, however, for the muddy streets and little shop houses in this small town, it fits many bars.
Whereever I went, I was, of course, easily identified as tourist with my "light" hair, light eyes and, most obvious, a huge camera dangling around my neck. One girl came and ead of a note what she had to saz to me: "Hello. Lady. Bracelette, you want to buy?.... Bracelette... Come back later, yes? Later, don't forget about me and bracelettes..." I told her I didn't want it, but she walked another 50 meters with me and constantly repeated that I should remember. "TukTuk? Moto? Lady, Lady!" - "No thanks, I like walking... no really. No." Though the Tuk Tuks here arent real Tuk Tuks like I know them from Thailand. They are rather an old Rikscha with plastik top and a Moto tied up in front of it. They look quite comfortable, but I honestly do not need one. And for Angkor Wat and the Temples tomorrow I have already promised the guy who took me from the airport today, that he can drive me and pick me up at 5 am tomorrow morning. This is how it goes: The ride from the airport is reasonably cheap in order to be your guide at Angkor tomorrow. I had first thought about taking a bike, which I might maybe enjoy a little more, but then again, I want to leave in the dark to see the early morning at Tha Prom, before all the coaches ful of tourists arrive. And if it rains again and gets muddy again, a bike is probably less fun than its motorized big brother... but about that I will be able to tell you more tomorrow night, when I come back.

The shadow of the market hall was very inviting after walking in the sun for a while. Behind the first row of mainly caps and flip flops for the tourists on "Pub Street" a big hall opened where the sellers did not have little, tiny shops with three walls but only a big stone table and maybe a sink where they showed off her fresh food in big and colorful plastic bins that looked like the plastic thingy my flatmates and I use in Madrid to move our wet clothes from the laundry to the balcony in order to dry it... Here, I saw everything swimming in these big pots. Alive little crabs, baby squitin ice water, bananas, carrots, guaves, dragon fruits, mangold, and much more. It looked beautiful, really. Especially the fruit and vedgetables... the dead fish (though not at all stinky yet) is probably nothing for vegetarians.
The real vegetarian hell was behind all that though. An area where even I, and I can stand a lot when it comes to food (well, in countries where people simply do not have fridges): The meat area. It reminded me a lot of what I had seen a couple of years ago in the market of Querétaro, Mexico. The raw meat of all possible animals was lying around on the stone tables without any kind of cooling. It didn't smell that bad, but even the light smell of warm raw meat was not flattering to my nose. I know that I will probably eat part of the meat I saw when I go and have some food from the hawker stalls tonight. But then I won't see, nor smell it before, and it will be well done and fried in palm oil as most things are here, so thats okay. Still, I didn't want to stay in that area to long and neither did I want to take a picture of it. Though it looked quite funny with the selling women sitting with crossed legs on the table with the meat while chopping bones in front of them. They must be very experienced in this, cause neither did their feet get close to the food (obviously not, Cambodian people want clean and fresh food, even if it might be warm) and even there was hardly any space between her crossed feet and the meat she still managed to chop the bones in the space between.
I took a left to head back to the touristy shops and passed many stores with nice linen and cloth and very old sewing machines. At the end of the aisle I found a little bookshop with (nearly) new books. Kati had recommended me a book ("The Gate") about the years of the Khmer Rouge. A true story about a french correspondent who got kidnapped by the Khmer Rouge but survived last minute.

I decided to walk back towards the hostel to take a shower. When I walked along the River again, I saw many Cambodians lying in the shadow of the trees taking a nap. I decided that the nice shadow by the river is a wonderful spot and so sat down, took a big gulp of water and watched a woman fishing in the river.
It was so nice there, that I decided to take the newly bought book out and to read a little. While I was doing so, the little daughter of the fishing lady started wandering around where I sat. She was running and playing, yet she would look at me every once in a while and as soon as I looked back she grinned and ran away. "Hello" she said every once in a while and then ran off.
A few minutes later two other little kids joined her game and together they climbed what once held a swing but now was merely an old steel ruin. They dangled from the top like little monkeys, laughed and said "Helloooo, Helloooooooo". They pointed at my camera and told me to take a picture of their play and they ability to climb like little monkeys. I shot a few pictures, they smiled, I smiled, they kept playing, I kept reading. Every once in a while, when I looked up, they were smiling at me and running after each other. They were really cute.
The fishing ladies daughter was called to help. She took her left shoe (pink with sparkles, but there was no right shoe...) and left, the other kids left too. They said "Bye-bye", smiled and ran with their naked feet along the now dried and dusty, reddish road towards one of the closer shop houses where they went inside.

I finished the chapter I was reading and packed my stuff. On the other side of the street I could see the post office and next to it a golden boat with little temples. According to the story, a monk once crossed the river and his boat was bitten apart by sharks (yes, sharks...). It was bitten into two parts, but they were still swimming. The monk was saved and the boat now is a sacred object. The people were still working on a little temple behind it and it was super interesting to watch them carve signs into the stone.

I took a little detour torwards the hostel, and that is where I am now.
I still haven't showered, which was the original plan, but I will do so soon. Then I will get a new breeze of yummy anti mosquito stuff with 25% DEET (the active ingredient). I have it from Kati, as the highest I was able to buy at globetrotter in Germany was 8% I think. 25% is forbidden to be sold in Europe, but hey, it is Malaria Region and rainy weather... so I rather take a big chunk of spray on chemistry than that. Obviously.

Besotes grandes a todos mis amigos que me faltan mucho!
Und einen Kuss an meine Mama und meinen Papa, die sich immer Sorgen. Alles super hier, wie ihr ja lesen koennt!

On the way to Cambodia

At 4:00am I left the house with a cab, to Changi Airport.
I checked in and walked towards my gate. On the way there I found a free internet spot and decided to check my emails. Thats where I read about the terrible Spanair plane crash in Madrid.

I felt wierd to wait for boarding of the Singaporean EasyJet "JetStar" and to read about this at the same time.
I even joked with another German guy about how statistically our plane ride should be safe now.

We left Singapore without problems and as it was super cloudy I spend the flight reading about Cambodia and the crazy last three decades.

When we arrived in Siem Reap it was raining heavily and the landing area was flooded with water. The plane, though maybe another 10m above ground made a scary left turn which I had never experienced before. Seconds later it turned a sharp right and I got scared seeing how close the wing came to the ground, when the pilot turned sharp left again while we were hitting ground. The plane slid and was tilted to the left so much, that in the first seconds the aching of the left wheels sounded as if our wings would scratch on the ground. I wasnt the only one shocked in that moment, I can tell you that.
When I exited the plane, the pilots were taking pictures of the wheels and I saw the flooded areas. The sliding must have been "Aquaplaning" (as we call it in Germany), however, the sharp turns before hitting ground I can only imagine as the pilot not being sure of which puddle was the landing area...
Especially after the Madrid news from this morning, this was a scary ride.

To get from the airport to the city I took a Moto. Thanks to Natalie, who took me on her Moto in Madrid, I am not that scared anymore of these vehicles... It was a smooth ride, though the streets didnt look much different than the airport, maybe a little muddier.
On the streets I see kids, cows and many people eating underneath coloful marketing umbrellas. This is how I imagined Cambodia, and it reminds me of Cuba a little bit, though it looks even poorer and more run down.

I got a room at the same hostel Kati stayed in a while ago. It is cheap and easy, but the people here seem nice.

Tomorrow, the same Moto Driver will pick me up to go to the Temples of Angkor, at 5:00am!!! Sunrise at Ta Phrom is supposed to be so beautiful, and I want to be there before the tourist busses arrive.

Singapore: Living to Spend

I know I havent blogged in a while, but I hardly ever sat down in Singapore...
So here it comes, all at once.

*** Day 1 ***

I started the day in the whirlpool. Could it be any better? Volker and I just sat there, enjoying the water and chatting while we were waiting for Ben to finish his stuff for his MBA.
When he was all set, we left to hold a real chinese tea ceremony in the tea shop "tee chapter" in the outer parts of Singapore's Chinatown. A chinese lady told us to get rid of our shoes and to sit down on cushions on the floor, next to a very low table. She showed us the tea menue and we ordered an Oolong Tea which had already been tasted by the Queen of England when she attended the opening of the shop (a felt 100 years ago). The lady came back with the tea set. Each person gets two little cups: one to smell the aroma, and one to drink from. There are many steps from pouring the tealeaves into the can, to the hot water to an eight step ceremony from when the tea lands in the smelling cup until one drinks the tea with three slow sips. The tea was yummy and we spent quite some hours there, photographic every step at least once :)

Later on we moved to Harbour Front for a nice Sushi Lunch. The Sushi was amaaazing, really, and so cheap compared to Spain...

In the evening we were all invited to a party, to kill leftover alcohol from other parties at a friends place. In Asia, things start early... The party started at 18:30h and ended at about 24h. That was wierd. For me and my spanish timing this was not really what I had expected ;) Yet, it was a lot of fun and I met a lot of nice people.


*** Day 2 ***

Today is sightseeing day. Kathi and I started and walked Singapore for hours. I can not even rename most of the things I have seen, but I do know that I enjoyed Little India very much and I liked the Merlion.
The amount of Malls (and their size) and the foodcourts are really crazy. This country really exitst to spend and to eat.
Towards the end of our tour we got hit by crazy rain, fortuneatly we were just in a tunnel to walk beneath a street. When it ended, we started to go in direction movie theatre, where we were about to meet the rest of the group o watch "Mad about English".

The movie was really cute. It is about the chinese people to learn English, in order to get ready for the Olympic Games in Beijing. Cute and really entertaining.

Afterwards we went to Arab Street and ate there. Arabic Food. Everyday, honestly, I eat food from a different country.


*** Day 3 ***

This day was really easy going. After spending the earlier morning in the pool, Ben, Kati and I went to have a quick Thai Lunch and then I went on to take a look at Orchard Road where tons of malls are aligned next to each other, but usually not selling the usual stuff.
At night we met at Raffles Place to go to the oldest of Singapore's Food Courts where originally they simply provided a cleaner place for Hawker Stalls. Now a days, these Hawker Stalls are real little huts inside the market place and tables are set all around.

We ordered Satay with peanut sauce and with cut onion and cucumber, which are supposed to help against the acrylamid which is in the burned meat.

Ben and I moved on to take a look at the Skyline and the Merlion at night and to take another beer. However, his favourite beer place had increased (doubled) its prices and was now extremely expensive so we sticked to a "Strawberry Vodka". I wonder if there was really any vodka in it... i don't think so...


*** Day 4 ***

Kathi and I got up a little earlier and went to China Town. Like most big cosmopolitan cities, Singapore has a big China Town where quite some people only speak Chinese and nothing else. That made it fun :) We had a nice fresh fruit juice at one of the stands and enjoyed the chinese kitsch.
I even bought some cute chop sticks.

For Lunch we went into a chinese vegetarian restaurant and as there were no english explanations we just ordered anything. Its vegetarian, so we werent afraid of chicken feet or heads... It was pretty good (and just in case you wonder: Yes, as I said, Singapore is all about shopping and eating).

In the later evening, Kati had to go to a class at university and i used the time to go to the night safari. A zoo that only opens at night, to see night active animals. It is sometimes quite scary to walk through it, as one is pretty much alone and hears nothing but the rainforrest sounds, as trees and plants are everywhere.


*** Day 5 ***

As the Night Safari can be bought in a cheaper combi ticket with the zoo, and some of the others hadnt been to see the zoo yet but wanted to, this is where we spend the whole day.
Seriously, the whole day. The zoo is huge and super nice. The animals are as close as possible and whereever they can they do not use fences to keep them away. The Orang Utans are even rangig freely where the visitors walk and one of them stopped right above Ben and stared down. Just last minute Ben said: Well, maybe I should move, just in case he pees." He was a few steps away only, when exactly that happened. The Orang Utan would have hit Ben exactly.
We also fed Kangaroohs and saw an Elephant show and exited the park when it was closing.

We were all hungry like crazy and decided to go to Chimes, a former monastary which now hosts several restaurants and a pub.
Ben and Volker were tired, Chris and Franzi had to work, so only Kati and me went. We ate a huge Burger and had some Cocktails.

We didnt go home too late, as in the morning I would have to get upat 3:30am to catch my plane to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Arriving in Singapore

The Muezzin woke me at 5am. I fell asleep again and then got up at ten to pack my things together and to catch a cab to the airport. The hostel has its own cabs and so it didn't take a long time to search for one and it even was 2 Euros cheaper than the normal one.
Because I received my 1000 baht deposit back, I still had 20 Euros to spend on the airport. But I figured this wouldn't be a problem, I mean, it is the airport. Airports are expensive...
The first 65 were for the taxi driver, cause I asked him to take the toll way. I arrived, checked in and still had two hours left to get my plane. I went to one of the bars and ordered a very Thai breakfast: Noodle Soup. Good thing I had been up for quite some hours by now... I also asked her for a Pepsi. In the end I paid 270 baht... So I moved on and bought a small coup of icecream. Another 40. And now? A coffee... Another 90. Time to board the plane. Ah well, the rest I can keep and glue into my picture album ;)

I arrived at my friends place at around eight. We took a short swim in the pool and then went to eat at a terrace in the city, where they had really good shrimps and lots of beer.
After we came home, my friend Kati and I sat on the terrace and talked until 5:30h in the morning, then I went to bed.

My first, and due to Spanair only, day in Bangkok

I woke up to the sound of the Muezzin. I didnt realize before that there was a mosque right next to my window. He stops calling for his religious people in the neighbourhood about 5 minutes later, and before I can think about getting up I fall asleep again.
The next time that I wake up it is very hot in my room. I had turned off the airconditioning in the night because it was blowing to cold, but now I really needed it. I turned it on and waited till everthing cooled down. Then I got up and got dressed to conquer Bangkok, finally.

I left the hotel and turned right. I walked past many noodle soup stands and Ga-kitchens and the smell was marvelous. Seriously, most of the people reading this do know how much I love asian food with all its spices and vedgetables, and the noodle soups that come packaged with dried noodles and all you need to do is fill them up with hot water and wait, and you get a delicious (unhealthy?!?) meal.
However, it was breakfast time and neither wanted I spices and chicken for breakfast, nor was I hungry enough to eat a bowl of noodle soup.
I hit the main road about 5 minutes later and a nice Thai person explained me the way to the river. I followed his instructions but then took a left instead of a right in order to see a little market where they sold coloured balloons, stuffed animals and flowers. The street was a dead-end and ended at a university building. The reason for the little market was a huge graduation ceremony! All these students in their gowns and with medals and golden scarfs. I looked around a little bit, but felt in the wrong place, so I went back to where I came from only to go right this time. I hit the pier after only a couple of minutes and bought a boat ticket to Tha Thien for 22 baht. Which boat I need to take? Well, any boat that drives into this direction (the lady points to the left)... Okay. I wait for a couple of minutes between some more tourists and some Thai commuters. A big boat arrives, it is white and kind of empty. As it hits the pier, the lady who sold me the ticket comes out behind her little table and takes all other tourists on the boat. Not me though. I booked a normal boat, this is a tourist only boat. I wonder why some tourist would buy a tourist only boat ticket, if he could experience real life and while I try to finish this thought the first "normal" boat in the right direction lands on the pier.
The boat has one driver and one person in the bag who gives the directions and ties up the boat. He has a little whistle and depending on the sound he makes, the driver knows what to do. Drive forward, more left, faster, stop, backwards, faster, hold it. People exit and I enter the boat. I chose a spot on the other side where I can stand and easily take pictures. Out of a sudden, the whistle person jumps in front of me and opens the boat right in front of me. I can take a close look at the water and it would probably only need one big wave for me to fall. This time we land on a pier on the other side of the river. I make space for people to exit and enter the boat and get myself a new spot at the back of the boat, where I cannot disturb anyone.
To Tha Thien it is only four or five stops. The pier is filled with little shops and kitchens, and with many tourists. One can see that I am very close to one of the biggest sights in Bankok. The Wat Pho. the largest and oldest Wat in Bangkok.

I go to the ticket both and get myself a ticket for 50 baht. For Thai people, the entrance is free, as this is a place to worship buddha which should be open to the people who want to go there for prayer. The court is filled with little houses and little towers. They sparkle in the sun and look stunning, with all these little stones, these colours and this massive amount of gold.The biggest sight within the grounds of the Wat Pho is a big Buddha statue which lies in the middle of the temple, as if the temple was built around it later on. The reclining is a symbol for the Buddha's last step on its way to Nirvana and the statue is made of wood but has a layer of gold all over it.

I kept walking through the grounds of Wat Pho and then decided to move on to another temple which would close in three hours. It is a temple which lies in the same grounds as the Great Palace, the former residence of the King and the Queen of Thailand. The main "attraction" there is the "Emerald Buddha" which is actually not made of emeralds but carved out of Jade, however, when a monk saw that on the ordinary grey statue of a sitting buddha in his local temple, the stone was falling of its nose a green stone came up. He first tought it was one emerald, sitting in the normal stone mass the buddha seemed to be made of. Only later it was found that the whole buddha was made out of a green jade and that it was covered in grey stone to hide it from robbery.
The buddha is relatively small and sits on something like a high throne. To see it one has to leave the shoes outside and sit down in front of him. I was kneeling between 25 school children to look at buddha and only when I came out I saw the instructions on how to sit (they were placed at the exit... one must not understand...) Luckily, I did everything right, even the "You must not point your feet at buddha" The feet are to be the lowest, in both geographical and hierarchical sense, of our body.
Unfortunately, the Grand Palace itself was closed as there was a ceremony going on and the public had to stay outside. However, I had spend nearly two hours in this temple and so I was not too sad when I moved on. Direction Khao San Road.

I walked along the main road and its markets to reach Khao San Road. In the map it was not really visible that I would have to cross a big road with 2 lanes - stop - 4 lanes - stop - 4 lanes - stop - 2 lanes and no, there are no traffic lights. I stood for nearly five minutes between the first 2 lanes and the coming 4, when I decided that I just had to start walking at one moment...

I kept walking along bigger streets and all 10 to 15 meters I was stopped and asked "TukTuk? You TukTuk?" - "No thanks, I want to walk..." - "Ah walk, no no, TukTuk fast"... I only had a couple of hundreds of meters left to Khao San Road and when I told them they usually understood. :)

Then I hit it. Khao San Road. The Road. The road where all the tourists are, where Bangkok looks like you have expected it. As if they kept it alive for the tourists. Thousands of commercial posters hanging on the street, market stands on the pedestrian walk, Ga Kitchens blocking the street and TukTuks driving around everywhere. The tourists are mainly backpackers, in wide single-coloured cotton pants, tank-tops, flip-flops and messy hair. In pretty much every house there is either a hostel or an internet cafe and a restaurant or bar. Only at more or less the middle of the street is one deserted entrance. It is Nana's Place and Nana's Hostel. The place where mainly men spend their Bangkok holidays to see the beautiful Thais. Apparently, the attached guesthouse is mainly used by exactly those pretty Thai girls. It is weird to see how people enter it with their head held low. Nobody stops in front of it or looks around. I was curious to take a step into the terrace to take a look, but then again I didn't dare, and seeing two or three rather strange looking men walking in was enough.

I walked on until I hit the end of the street, to take a sharp left and to enter the street my hostel is on. Right at the corner I saw a huge Ga-Kitchen with 3 huge soup pots and about 9 different types of meat or fish to chose from. It looked very yummy and so I decided to give it a try. I didn't really trust the fish, and so I asked her for chicken and chose one. She told me to chose another one, and I wondered. I wanted this one... I had to chose two, she said, because it is two for 30 baht (which is less than 1 Euro). So I asked her for the other chicken. "Oooh, but this spicy." - "Great, I like spicy! I will take it" - "No no, really spicy, is hot." - "That's good, I like hot." So she brought me a plate with a mount of rice and the two types of chicken I chose. It was really spicy. Honestly ;)... But it was sooooooooo good, it was really really yummy! She looked at me, and I think she wondered a little, that I liked the spice so much as most tourists, she said, don't ever eat it.

I walked on and stopped at an internet cafe to see if my bag was found. Apparently not. Great. I went to my room to take a little nap. When I had just fallen asleep, the phone rank. "Hello? Helloooooooo? Uhm, hello?" Nothing. I tried to call the reception back, but I couldn't hear a ring. I think my phone was broken. So I walked down to the reception and searched for someone who knew why I was called. The airline had called and they had found my bag. Apparently they wanted to bring it later tonight. Now I really took my nap and decided to wait for my bag. It must have been something like 18h when I started and at 22:30h, finally, the phone rang. "Hello? Hellooooo?", oh right, it was broken. I went downstairs and there it was. My bag. Finally. I took it upstairs and never have I been happier to see it. Finally a shower with REAL shampoo and not cheap hostel soap. Lotion for the little sunburn I have. Fresh cloth. And a comb to make my hair look normal... Now I felt ready to go outside again.

I met two Germans who had just arrived and together we walked to a close Ga Kitchen and bought a Phad Thai with Chicken. We sat down on the street, ate, watched people walking by and talked about holidays. It was really nice. We thought about moving on to a bar later, but it was already pretty late and I must admit that the day had been quite exhausting.
I went to my room, read my book and fell asleep.

Yes its been very calm nights in Bangkok, but you know what? That was exactly what I needed after these crazy days in Bilbao and the long trip to Asia.

One Night in Bangkok...

***** In Bangkok, the blogspot site is blocked, so I will upload this later! *****

I entered my flight to Bangkok and sat down in a shiny pink seat of Thai Airways. All the seats around me were in gleaming purple, yellow or pink and they all had a purple pillow on them. I listened to Thai Pop and looked around the bangkok airport while taxiing. Well, I must admit, before we had reached the starting lane I had switched to Jason Mraz. Thai Pop is just not my music, it sounds like Mickey Mouse on Speed, played backwards.
While I enjoyed the start I really felt like a jet-setter person, realizing that this was the 13th plane start I enjoyed in the last four months...
Once up in the air, the apparently most beautiful stewardesses came out and yes, they were all very pretty, but moreover, they were also dressed in either yellow, or purple, or pink, while they served us a thai-chilli on purple trays, with pink dishes and yes, yellow sachets with salt and pepper. Thai Airways really understands the concept of "corporate colour... :)

We landed in Bangkok and were picked up by bus. It was the first time I actually had real "fresh" air since I left Frankfurt and it was still very warm, extremely humid and the smell reminded me dust or potatoes cooked with the peel. Yes, seriously, like potatoes. When you cook them with peel and dirt and leave the lid of the pot open, it smells like Bangkok Airport.
Imigration was absolutely no problem and within a few minutes I stood at baggage claim, belt 12, to await my luggage. Afterall, they said in Singapore that they would have it. I chose a point from where I had an easy look onto the beginning of the belt and when I saw a black backpack with grey sidepockets, a smile came onto my face: My bag. It made it. I went a few meters upfront to catch it and realized that it wasn't mine. I waited longer and longer, until a Thai Airways Lady came and told me that it was the last bag and that I should go to the Thai Airways Office to get more information.

I went and told them the bag got lost, so they placed it in worldtracer, the commonly used system from all airlines. I catched a metertaxi and told the lady where I wanted to go, and where I hopefully still had a room reserved. She started the SUV and I realized, that they drive on the left here, I had forgotten about that completely. Even though she drove a huge SUV with blue lights at the feet and an extra big and blue clock-like thing to measure her rounds per minute next to her radio, she did not drive faster than 80km... ever. One moment she even stopped to get gas in a little corner and asked me if I wanted to take the toll-road or the normal road. It wasnt expensive, however, I had the feeling she wouldnt drive faster and there werent many people on the road we had taken so far either. So I told he to take the normal road, so I could see more of the city.
The streets were still packed with people and little Ga-Kitchens that even blocked the road. A super market was still open as well ( it is called "eleven" but its logo is a "7"). It was just after midnight. In front of us I saw two TukTuks crammed with what looked and sounded like four drunk american students. The TukTuks drove right next to each other and the students from one TukTuk tried to clap the other peoples shoulders when they took a sharp right and nearly fell out of their mini-taxi.
When I arrived at the hostel, the room was still reserved for me. I went upstairs, put a little water in my face and then went outside to check out the region. I met some Spanish and some German people, but I was very tired. I decided to just go quickly into an internet cafe to tell my mom that I am okay and to check if my luggage has been seen anywhere. The luggage has not been seen, but I am convinced it will arrive with the morning machine. For sure.

I just quickly get a water in the supermarket around my corner and then go to bed.

Getting to Bangkok... or not.

Everything started off so nicely... I was packed in time, actually a little bit early, I left to the airport and got there in time as well and walked my way to the Lufthansa Check-In, as I had booked a Lufthansa Flight.

Unfortunately, I had to walk back and to Terminal 2, as the flight was carried out by Spanair. Well, I thought, I have been on Lufthansa flights that were carried out by other companies like EuroWings and still I checked in with Lufthansa... kinda wierd.


Boarding time came, the plane was there and a young lady showed up. "Mhh, MMhhhh.... Ladies and Gentlemen, the flight JK 1234 to Frankfurt will be delayed due to technical problems. We cannot tell you more, except that we will begin boarding at 19:20h" 19:20... 19:20!?!?!?!? BOARDING!?!?!?!? That means we board an hour later then we are supposed to leave...

I want to ask the lady about my connecting flight to Bangkok, but unfotunately she has left. And on the screens there is no information and boarding is still told to be now.

So I make my way to the SpanAir information desk to ask about my flight. He doesn't know anything, does not want to help me and tells me Lufthansa will book me on another flight the next day. Well, thank you, that means I loose one full day of my holidays at Frankfurt Airport and my hostel reservation anyways.

On my way back there is another lady at the Gate desk, so I want to go and ask her for other connections or possibilities. She is talking to a spanish lady and explaining her that she can get a free snack as excuse. When I want to talk to her, she is already rushing off. I stop her, but all she tells me is that this is Lufthansa's responsiblity, but that I might want to go grab a snack, as we are not boarding until 19:40h... another 20 minutes later.

I go and get my snack, and I call my mom to have someone to tell my mysery to.
As my mom always does everything to help, she called the Lufthansa Information Center to check if I could get booked onto another flight from Madrid. When she calls back, I have a big bite of not-so-yummy tortilla sandwhich in my mouth and nearly choke on it because she tells me if I would run, they could book me onto Swiss Airlines to Zurich in half an hour and the form Zurich to Bangkok, direct flight, nearly same timing...

I am supposed to go to the Lufthansa Transfer Center, but unfortunately there is none in this particular terminal and the terminals in Madrid are so clsoed off that I would have to leave it completely and come back for a new check-in, new baggage check etc. So one sends me to Spanair Information Center. There the guy tells me (after I gave him details about time, flight numbers, airline and destinations) that this flight does not exist, cause it is not in his computer. I tell him again, that Lufthansa offered me to book me onto this flight and that as they cooperate this would now be his responsibility. And I told him that the flight must exist, otherwise they wouldnt have told me flightnumbers etc., but that maybe its another gate. He looks again on his screen and tells me that this wouldnt work with the luggage. I say that would be fine, they can deliver it in Bangkok as the luggage most probably wont make my other flight either (in the unlikely event that I can run and catch it within minutes). He tells me it doesnt work and that the only chance was a direct Iberia flight but that would be too late now... NOW!?!?!? I was here an hour ago asking him for other possibilities and he said there is none.... IDIOT!


As I finally have no other choice, I board my Spanair Plane at 19:40h (with still no information about any delay on website or screens), being told that we should arrive in Frankfurt at 22:10, which would give me 10 minutes to board the plane (boarding begins at 22h and the flight is supposed to start at 22;45h). I must admit, I got a little anxious and thought I had chances until at 20:10h the pilot talks and says that we are delayed because the technical crew didnt arrive and that now we need to wait another 40 minutes at the gate, as we didnt get the slot to start. Congratulations, I think to myself, for the first time in your life you will miss a plane... We started 25 minutes later.


I arrived in Frankfurt in the Lufthansa Terminal, by Bus, at 22:30. When I entered the arrival hall, the gate signs next to my flight to Bankok was still blinking green and saying "boarding" (not even last call...). So I started sprinting and ran what felt like a kilometer together with 15 spaniards who wanted to catch the same flight. However, the pass control was closed down and even though the lady called the ground staff at the gate if we could still get in we were told we were too late. We saw the plane leaving... without us.


As we couldnt get back into the arrival hall and to its Lufthansa Transfer Center we had to go all the way to the other side of the airport to find two over-tired staff members who would check for new flights for us. Me being the only one who speaks German and the one who basically lead the whole crowd from one end of the airport to the other, could go first and thereby managed to ("maybe") get a seat on the Quantas Flight to Singapore. From there I could go to to Bangkok, with only 12 hours delay, meaning one day of my holidays gone... (Well, the otherones could only start with the first flight in the morning, meaning 18h later... direct but even more time gone. Yet I asked the lady at the desk if there is some kind of reimbursment, as I had booked a Lufthansa Ticket and now missed one day of holidays, most probably my hostel reservation and about my luggage we wouldnt even have to talk... She looked at me with an arrogant smile saying that the booking onto another flight was reimbursment enough, afterall Lufthansa had nothing to do with the delay and therefore a flight change for free would really be a big offer. Well, I had booked a Lufthansa ticket, and I had another flight possibility which I didnt get because there was no Lufthansa person around in Madrid and afterall, they said theyd cooperate with Spanair and they should then go themselves to Spanair and get their money back but not send me there after I have been sent back and forth twice. Well, there was nothing she could, uhm let me rephrase that, nothing she would do, and when I said that at least a little upgrade would have been nice after this, she stared at me blankly and handed me my stuff. "Quantas is boarding already and I do not know if you can make it. You have to take the skytrain to another terminal and go through the police control." - "And if I don't make it?" - "Well, then you better get back here fast so you can get another flight before the Transit Center closes..." Oooookaaaaay. Let's run. So I sprinted again from one and to the other, hopped on the skytrain and got laughed at by police people at the passport check and the luggage check cause I was sweaty, angry and pretty late.

I received a boarding pass and the lady at the counter, after asking me why I was rebooked, gave me a nice aisle seat next to a young girl travelling to Australia and the middle seat being empty. Quickly, I called my mom to tell her to write an email to my hostel to tell them I will be arriving in the middle of the night / morning but that they should keep the room for me. Being the last person to board the plane, I calmed down once I sat in my chair and saw the little screen in the front seat with Video On Demand. The plane started and we were served pretty good food (ever been served Lamb on a plane? In the economy class?!?) and I started a movie. I gotta admit, the whole running around, not knowing what happens or where to go to, got me quite tired and once the movie finished I had no problems to fall asleep for 5 hours.
The morning came and there were only 3 hours left till we would reach Singapore. I had a coffee and watched Kung-Fu Panda, and then we were there. It is early evening and my next flight goes in three hours... till then, I gotta figure out where to get a boarding pass, where my luggage went and if my hostel reservation is still being held.

***

Now I am standing in the gate already, waiting to board. After waiting half an hour for my boarding pass I went to a Free Internet Stand and checked my emails. Unfortunately I have no news from the hostel. I hope this works out. The nice lady at the counter also found my luggage for me... well, more or less. According to Lufthansa it made it onto the Quantas flight with me, however, in the airport it hasn't been scanned yet. I hope I can pick it up in Bangkok, and if not: Quantas ( I really like them, very helpful) gave me a business class overnight kit with socks and toothbrush, toothpaste and some refreshing creme so I don't have to worry to much.
Let's see...