getting started

Friday, April 17th 2009:
hot, hotter, Bangkok in April. Those of you who had been to Bangkok in April before know what I'm talking about: the heat and humidity is almost unbearable. Whereas in other parts of the country it's hot and humid that time too there is absolutely no way to catch a light breeze in Bangkok. The addtitional pollution and the bad air make you sweat a lot and  feel  and sticky all day long. I slept well but woke up early. Early morning is the best time of the day as it's not that hot yet. The air- conditioning had been running full speed all night long. I had a capuccino downstairs in the lobby, went online with my small 10 inch netbook, that I brought with me and announced to my online friends that I arrived already. I received a couple of "welcome to Thailand" sms and did several phone calls.  Called my girlfriend first of all. She was still visiting her friends in Chiang Mai and from there she would go to her hometown and then meet me in Bangkok on the 20th. Our plan was to travel Thailand's south together. I told my old friend Praiwan in Khao Sok that I'll be there soon. A good friend from Germany who is living with his wife in Hanoi, Vietnam wrote me an email that he's on holiday in Thailand. I made up an appointment to meet in Khao Sok. Called my Thai friend Tik, whom I had known quite a while but didn't see last year. She asked me to meet in Central, Ladprao. That's a big shopping mall.She asked me if I could come there- In 1 hour!
Ladprao is actually not too far from Banglamphu, Khao San road area. But that's not the question. The question is whether you are lucky to find a taxi or Tuk Tuk driver who doesn't rip you off. So I asked at the reception for a reasonable taxi rate to Ladprao. Knowing this I went out to try my luck. The first rule is not to take any of that taxis or Tuk Tuks in Khao San road or Soi Rambutrii. They will say "ok, let's go" but ask for astronomical prices. So my plan was to catch a taxi on one of those big streets nearby. Banglamphu is a great location for nightlife and sightseeing as many temples and the Grand Palace are nearby but it's far away from public mass transportation like the BTS( skytrain) or MRT (subwa)y. Being handicapped , buses are no option for me. They hardly stop for people getting on and off the bus...
So this leaves the Chao Praya Express, the ferry and taxis only to get way from there. I waved down a taxi and asked the driver if he could go by meter. Speaking Thai helps- sometimes. He did turn on the meter but although I had no clue at all were we were, I had the impression he was going long way round to raise the price. And I was right: I paid much more than the woman at the reception told me.
I met Tik and her boyfriend at Central Ladprao and we had lunch together. It was nice we finally made it. They were a bit in a hurry coz they were about to leave for her hometown. So I decided to take a taxi back again. After several minutes the cab driver asked me  in Thaiwhich way to go. I didn't want to show that I have no clue so I told him "rang mai paeng"- an inexpensive way please. I could not believe this worked: I ended up paying slightly less than the receptionist suggested:)

leaving on a jetplane

Thursday, April 16h 2009:
better late than never! Finally I found a nice website to write a travel blog and to share it with my friends on myspace, facebook and twitter-followers.
So this is my blog about my last years travel to Thailand.In thefuture I'll write on the blogs during the travels and not afterwards...
 It was my 6th travel to this amazing country already and I was better prepared than usually. I had already done a booking for the night of my arrival at my favourite guesthouse in Banglamphu, the Lamphu House.
I was lucky being able to fly at all that time: A few days before my departure I fell badly on the floor: I have to explain at this point that I'm handicapped since I had a stroke back in 2002 and that I would not have been able to travel with a broken arm, although it's good-for-nothing. But luckily it wasn't broken- I had it checked at the hospital. Very much relieved I followed the news in Bangkok. Situation was pretty bad. All of a sudden there were riots in the streets of Bangkok, 2 people died and the ministry of foreign affairs didn't warn but suggested not to go if it is not necessary. Of course it was a necessity as it was a matter to my heart  I was going to see my Thai girlfriend after 8 months again.
Having things cleared things with the ministry of foreign affairs and the insurance I decided to go and not to get in trouble.
Mom drove me to the airport, she always does.The flight was quite ok, 6 hours to Dubai , a 3 hour stopover there and 6 more hours from Dubai to Bangkok. Being a smoker not having smoked for more than 15 hours is unbearable for me. So at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, first thing to do was to go for one of these nasty smoker cabins. I intended to take a taxi from the airport straight to my guesthouse and met another German guy in the smoker's cabin, who overheard my conversation and suggested to share the price of a taxi- even better!
It was his first travel alone and first trip to Asia, so being an experienced Thailand-traveller I decided to guide him a little bit around in the first days.
45 mins later we arrived at the guesthouse that I had made a booking for already and Peter decided to stay there as well for the first night. The guesthouse is only 5 mins away from crazy Khao San road, but it's quiet and the superior rooms are quite nice. Got a balcony, which is hard to find in Bangkok at this price. Having checked in I bought a Thai SIM card for my mobile so I could call my honey and my Thai friends at low cost. Peter also bought one so we could stay in touch on our travel. Now it was definetely time to have a beer: we had a stroll to Khao San road, where they were still celebrating Songkran, Thai New Year and the beginning of the rainy season. For this occasion it is custom to splash each other with water. When I had my first beer I was already soaking wet. Unbelievable there had been riots just around the corner only a few days ago...
I had almost forgotten how hot and humid Bangkok is and drinking a beer turned my lights out, I had another one with Peter at the guesthouse and went to bed early- I was feeling tired after the flight.