Bad news...

I didn't update the blog for a while, because I got really frustrated: I accidently deleted ALL my pictures!!! I just wanted to check how much space of my memory card I already used up and then my fingers were faster than my brain when I hit the "OK" button to format my memory card... This means that all my Bangkok pictures are lost, which is especially annoying since I already took about 200 pics among them some really nice, interesting and funny shots :-( I somehow got over it and decided that I will still enjoy the rest of my journey and probably there is a possibility to somehow recover some pics by using some magic software or something. So unfortunately I can still not upload any pictures for you...

The last time I briefly mentioned the Songkran Festival (the traditional Thai New Year) that was just in its last day when I arrived in Bangkok and I want to give you some more background on the festival. It is also known as the Water Festival and the reason that everybody is splashing each other with water on the street is that water is believed to wash away bad luck. The festival is really a fun event for all Thais and the religous part includes bathing Buddha images in the main temples, receiving blessings from a monk and releasing fish or birds into the nature so that they can carry away the bad luck of the last year. However, I still did not get behind the reason for throwing this white powder on each other - any ideas from your side?

One thing you read in all the travel guides is how friendly Thai people are. And I have to say, it is really true. They are genuinely friendly and helpful without any hidden agenda. While strolling through the streets of Bangkok, it happened to me quite frequently that people would start talking to me and then giving me 20 minute advice on what else to see, how to get there and drawing me 4 different maps (a situation where in many other countries you could be sure that they would ask for money afterwards or talk you into going to some shop that belongs to their cousin) and then they just wish you a happy day and walk off! I really have to get used to not being skeptical to people who randomly talk to me on the street. This friendliness makes traveling alone quite enjoyable because people are very open and talk to you (so you don't end up without talking to another human being for an entire day!).

In Bangkok I mainly walked through the streets to experience this young (only about 200 years!) city a bit (which is quite challenging with 40 degrees Celcius). It was quite interesting to see the mixture of traditional Asian and modern Western elements, of poor and rich as well as chaos and silence. I saw saffron-robed monks listening to their MP3 players, went to a park that was surrounded by high walls and impossible to enter and I also was mistaken for a man, when one of the Tuk-Tuk drivers asked me "Hello! Tuk-Tuk, Sir?" :-( Quite shocking (although I knew this before) was to see all those (old) white men with their young Thai girlfriends... Just disgusting, especially because one knows that they would never ever behave like this in their home countries... I am really happy to be a girl since it is already embarrassing enough to be German (most of those disgusting men are either German, British, Australian or US-American...).

Of course, I visited Wat Phra Kaew (also known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha) which is the temple the king also uses right next to the Grand Palace. It is amazing in size and a true architectural wonder (unfortunately, I can't show you any of the 100 pics I took there, for the reasons mentioned above - grrrrrrrr....). The other day I went to Chinatown (where I took some really amazing pictures) and I kind of felt like at home - all the Traditional Chinese Pharmacies, the stores and the food seemed all too familiar to me and I really started missing Hong Kong and all my friends there again...

Bangkok is really an amazing city and especially amazing in size. Since there is not the one city center like in most other capitals, you can walk around the streets for weeks and still discover new highlights and interesting places. However, since I am not sure how much time I will need for all the other things I want to see, I only spend three days in Bangkok for now since I will be coming back at the end of my trip anyways.

The next post will be with pics - I promise!