Back to where it all started

This is it. Everything good has to come to an end, also this trip. A brief stop over in Shanghai where I had breakfast with Lijun who came to the airport to meet with me. It was cold, really cold. I was dressed according to Bangkok's 30 degrees weather, with 3 degrees only in Shanghai. Of course we had to take the stairs down from the airplane to a waiting bus, people looking strangely at me in shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops.
6 months ago, I couldn't really believe I had given up everything I had around me, "security" to go travel. I really wasn't sure this was going to be a good idea at all. It took a few weeks of adjustment, and traveling with friends from the very beginning made the transition all the more smooth. I got to meet so many cool people, friends, people I had no relations to before, just a great experience. I can't even remember all I have done, this is the real reason of this blog, a way for me to remember
I am not kidding when I say that it has been more stressful than a 9-5 job traveling around the world. Every day not utilized 100% is a wasted day. Waking up every morning, you have to be the boss of your own day, where to go, what to do and not just hang around and do nothing. At times it could be very stressful to not know where to sleep the next couple of days, in what country, how to get there and what was going to happen. Very different from the previous 13 years working at Nokia, steady job, a place to live and money flowing into the bank account. But it is not a problem, in fact now more a flexibility I hate to give up.
What is the worst and best experience on the entire trip. Can't really say, there have been so many good moments. Was quite sick in both Cambodia and once in Thailand, which I would say was probably the worst I experienced. The best I can't say, I have to sum it up to all the great people I got to meet. I was able to visit friends, travel with friends, meet with friends traveling there, so cool!
My favorite place though has to be Thailand. Of course it matters to some extend, but it is not only because it is cheap, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are cheaper, but because of the great Thai people, their super delicious foods, the weather and the nature. Of course I have mostly experienced this from a costumer's point of view, and yes, people are nice to those that pay their bills. I asked myself many places I have been, if this could be a place I could live, and most of the times I wasn't really sure. Thailand though is one of the places I know I could live. Now is just the question when that will happen, haha

Economically this has not been a cheap trip, that's for sure. That wasn't really the objective either, I was in a very fortunate position that I kind of exploited to the extend possible. I have to say, Thanks Nokia!
The only reason for coming back at this point, is the limitation on staying out of the US on a Green Card. A block of 180 days is maximum, otherwise they can revoke the permanent residence status.
With a new stamp in the passport, the possibilities are endless once again. There has to be a super interesting job on the table to trigger my interest, if not I am afraid this was only part 1 of "A Small Trip", at least the planning is already ongoing :-)

Bangkok

Had postponed the flight to Bangkok a few days, I really wanted to go there, but at the end of the day, it is just another big city.

I had found a hotel in an area called Sukhumvit in Bangkok. The hotel got really good reviews on different websites and people liked it was close to a lot of places. The style was very unique and every room was said to be decorated in different themes, but of course I only got to see my own room. The stairs up were not made for someone with my height, hit the head maybe 10 times, and on the exact same spot every time. The bigger the bump got, the easier to hit it, again and again. Ouch
Maybe I should have done my research a little better about Sukhumvit area itself, it got really mixed reviews, some people hate it, some love it. Hundreds of small stands selling all possible things, clothes, toys, shoes, paintings, drinks and foods. I am not the big shopper, but the foods were interesting, you could get everything that the heart desired and more.

A lot of people had written that there were lots of people pickpocketing, but luckily I am not one of the smallest persons and so never experienced any problems. Not even getting a few millions from the local ATM in the middle of the crowd. It wasn't really dirty dirty, the air was polluted from the cars in the neighborhood and every night late when the stands were taken down, there would be a lot of trash everywhere, next morning it would be gone though.

Found that the area had some party street as well, Soi Cowboy. Went over there to take a look. A very narrow street with not much happening outside, very different from Patong.

This looked much more like a red light district like the one you find in Amsterdam, to be honest, not very interesting. I asked a cab driver where to go instead to party, they suggested Khao San and could take me there for only 300baht. Just around $10, not too expensive. But when I said no thanks, they lowered it to 200baht right away. Caught a cab with a taxa meter on the street, went there for 87baht, less than $3

That street however was very lively, a wide road with room enough to have lots of bars with outside area, with stands selling stuff as well. Huge massage area filled with people, loud music coming from either DJs from the underground nightclubs, live bands playing up on a balcony or some iPod connected to a set of huge speakers, everything works. Went to a couple of the clubs and had a few drinks, there was actually a good mix of farangs and Thai partying.

Rented a tuk-tuk for a couple of hours, he was driving like a professional, that was half the fun. He took me to some of the local sightseeing spots, even though I wasn't too interested in palaces, wats and temples anymore, got too much earlier on.
Originally I wanted to go and check out these floating markets that seems to be very popular, but after reading a few reviews I decided to try something else.
Every weekend there is a huge market, Chatuchak or JJ, which is very close to the metro system, free to get into and it is HUGE! They sell so many things in small stands, if you can imagine it, you can buy it. 3 pairs of Levis jeans for 599baht, $20. In the US one pair will cost you at least $40. Branded t-shirts, funny logos or shorts, from 100-200 baht, $3-5
Not sure if these things were "real" or not, but the fabrics felt thick enough that it could have been. Obviously the 10 pairs of Björn Borg underwear for 689baht probably were not. I did in fact spend some money there, but it was on food and drinks, so freaking cheap and fresh. Smoothies, fresh fruit, BBQ'ed food on a stick, squid, pork, chicken, ???
There were not really any traces that I could see of the floods earlier this year, except a water line marking on some of the buildings from where the water had reached. I may have expected a little different damages, but I guess the inner Bangkok was more or less saved from the water masses, so I just don't know where to look.
So Bangkok? Hmm, only spent 2 full days there, far from enough to see it all. But I already knew before going there that it was going to be a lot of things to see, but it wasn't going to be my favorite place. I have been a few places in Thailand already, and they were all more appealing than Bangkok

Patong, part 4

Back in Patong, the place feels like home away from the home I don't have anymore. I can recognize new buildings being completed since I was here last time, but otherwise, not much has changed.
Since I had forgotten to order a hotel, I had to make a last-minute order, which got me a room in a pretty good looking hotel owned by a Finnish couple. The problems was the location, as it was kind of far away from everything, in what the owners called the newly developed area of Patong. Oh yeah, in maybe 5-10 years it will be an integrated part of the city, not until then!
I know where the best food places are, the best fruit smoothies, the best bars and also know a handful of Thai sentences. With my pretty bad hangover from the night in Khao Lak I just strolled through the nightlife, feeling like anything else than a drink at this point.
Next morning I went to the beach to see if our old buddy was still working there. He recognized me from 50 meters away came running up asking where I had been and where my friend was? Do you want Tiger or melon smoothie? Ha ha, he had a good memory I have to admit. Being only 11 in the morning I settled for a melon smoothie and some breakfast from their little beach kitchen. Life is good! Tiger for desert.
Some time in the afternoon it was time to utilize the happy hour offers, and I went to a bar we had also frequently visited. I sat down at the bar and the bartender smiled to me, put her hands together bowed and said in Thai, welcome back. Piña Colada for you and your friend, she asked? Where is your friend by the way? You still want two Piña Coladas, right, haha?
The other girls come behind the bar counter and whisper a little, then they point and laugh, yes, now they remember me too? Funny. A few minutes later I am served a Tequila from the bar tender, long time no see :-) I spend a couple of hours in the bar joking around with the girls, meeting some of the other regular costumers. At 18 their shift ends and the night crew arrives. Then the atmosphere totally changes, not at all funny anymore, obviously they are now catering to a different clientele.

I met Aon and Aom in the bar, two girls I met last time I was there. They stopped by for a drink and we went for dinner afterwards. They invite me to a party with some of their friends the same night and I agreed to come.
To get around I had to rent a moto bike as they call it, a moped/scooter I would call it. 80-90% of the traffic around the city is on the motobike, fun to drive and much faster than the car. But maybe it also belongs in the dangerous category, because the idea is to go between traffic everywhere to beat the cars, but it works. I picked up the two girls and we drive to another hotel, where I Ai and Eddie, a British guy who married a Thai, but lives in the UK. There is also an Italian guy, Francesco, who has been living there for 3 months, he only has a few days left, getting mentally ready to leave back home.
The next couple of days, I am just totally spacing out, hanging out on the beach during day, partying a little every night with some of the guys, meeting other people.
One day we were at the beach, it had been really hot and humid. Usually it would rain 10-15 minutes every night with lightning and thunder, but this day it sneaked in over the hilltops while most people were still at the beach. The sky suddenly just turned black and we rushed up and jumped on the motobike. 2 minutes later it started raining, it was so heavy I couldn't see anything at all and had to drive into a restaurant to take cover. I was not the only one doing that, after a few minutes there were quite a few people there. The owner didn't seem to mind, he was as surprised about the weather like everyone else.
Maybe Thailand is cheap, but I sure do spend a lot of money. Especially playing games for drinks in the bars. Got to meet more of their friends, Tiki, Mae, Mam, Jaa and so on, can't even remember all their names. The funny thing though is that when I then around town on my scooter, someone is waving at me "Hi Danny" or suddenly there is a cute little girl on a scooter next to mine looking at me, hello Tiki, haha. So many tourists here and still they remember me in the crowd. Am I different than other people, I tell myself I am in a good way.
Obviously a lot of the bars are places that tourist guys come to meet Thai girls and in many cases to exchange certain services for money. They can smell "bad" people a mile away, and there is a clear difference in behavior of people here. A couple of times I got pretty embarrassed being next to another group of Danes seeing and hearing them speak Danish about the girls. I guess that is just how it works here. There is a lot of bad stuff going on, no doubt about that, but keeping an open mind there are plenty of nice people around and things are not always what they seem to be.