Thailand-The land of a 100 smiles

After one week in Thailand I am ready to write a little bit about my past week. As I was thinking before, the culture shock hit me right at the airport, when I realized that I was going to travel around Thailand for two weeks...and the worst --> by myself! ALL ALONE in a totally different country! And Bangkok with its very busy and confusing atmosphere didn't help at all. I was pretty much lost at the airport, since I had not booked a hostel and couldn't figure out how the taxis worked. At the end I figured it out and went to the one place I knew the name of...Khao San Road. That's in the touristic area of Bangkok! I found a room straight away and just went to bed ;) The next day the world already looked a lot better. I found a hostel in a different and better area in Bangkok and met people there. Yey, finally not by myself anymore. It's a lot more fun and easier to wander around with someone else who doesn't have a clue eather :D Josephine (from Germany) and me discovered a little bit of the city but couldn't help ending up in the hostel watching TV...its soo hot and very humid at the moment in Thailand that normal people can not stand being outside the whole day. Raintime should be coming up soon but probably not until I am leaving the country. At least I am getting a little bit of my tan back, which I surprisingly lost in New Zealand and Australia ;) After a few days in Bangkok I booked a bus to Chaing Mai, which is the biggest and most important city in the north of Thailand. I had already heard a lot of it and got some advice where to stay and what to do. The bus I took was amazingly comfotable, you had air-con, lunch included and a service lady who was giving you water and snacks! :) I guess a little more expensive than the shitty tourist buses but so much better! In Chiang Mai I met some really fun and nice girls in my drom bedroom and spend the past four days with them. I did a Thai-cooking-course, a one day trek with elephant riding etc. and discovered the shopping-centres, markets and temples of Chiang Mai. Yesterday I took a tourist bus back to Bangkok, from where I am going to take another bus to Koh Phi Phi Island. The bus ride was okay, but I hope I don't have to take another one in a while ;) Since I have the whole day in Bangkok I decided to visit the Grand Palace, which is a very important Temple in Thailand and supposed to be very impressive. Before that one of the Tuk-Tuk-drivers convinced me to do a little sightseeing tour with him for free. Since I was too early for the palace anyways and didn't want to walk around in the heat I came with him. Of course non of the Tuk-Tuk-drivers would do a tour like that for nothing, you have to do something in return^^ He took me to some clothing or jewelery stores where I had to look around a little bit, pretend to be interested and eather buy something or not. If you buy something the Tuk-Tuk-driver gets two coupons and if you just look he gets one :D Weird but funny system. And if you want to get from A to B for cheap, a good possibility! Now I am waiting in a free wifi café for my bus. It's too hot to walk around outside all day... hasta luego amigos P.s. Noch 10 Tage liebe Freunde aus Deutschland!!!