Hello Bangkok!

Before my internship in Singapore starts Sairozi and I still got 2,5 weeks to travel and Bangkok is the ideal starting point for exploring Southeast Asia. First of all flights from Europe are relatively cheap. Some special offers take you there for under 500 Euro, but anything less than 600 Euro still is a pretty good deal. Bangkok/Thailand is located right in the middle of Southeast Asia and it's fairly easy to hop on a bus/train/plane to its neighbouring countries. Plus Thai food is super delicious, it's a shopping heaven (or hell - whatever you prefer) and accommodation is widley available and cheap... so there are lots of reasons for going to Bangkok.

Unfortunately these weren't the reasons why we spend 4 days in this city. Right before I left Germany I got tooth ache and my farewell gift was a nice little root canal treatment... hurray! Since it couldn't be finished in Germany as there wasn't enough time left I went to see a specialist at Bumrungrad International Hospital. Before I went there I did some online research and asked friends in Bangkok about good dental clinics there and this was the one recommended by most of them. Apparently it's one of the best hospitals in Bangkok and the dentist seemed very professional as well.

Apart from visiting hospitals I also did some fun stuff in Bangkok. On Saturday we went to Chatuchak weekend market. It's probably the world's biggest open air market and even though we've been there before we still got lost cause it's just HUGE! After some serious shopping we got back to our hostel. We stayed at De Talak Hostel which is located only 5 minutes from the Queen Sirikit Convention Center Station (MRT). The hostel had a nice common area, staff was friendly, the rooms were clean and ours had a great view. But the best thing about it was the free ice cream provided by the hostel! With 240 Baht/person in a 6 bed dorm it wasn't the cheapest place but still affordable and it offered good value for the money.

common area at De Talak Hostel

After 4 days in Bangkok we left the city for Phuket. We took the local bus (number 511) from Sukhumvit to the Southern Bus Terminal (~21 Baht, 1,5-2 hour bus ride) were we bought our ticket to Phuket (another 12 hours). Most buses leave in the early morning or in the evening between 17.30-20.00. There are VIP buses for over 1000 Baht (25 Euro) per person as well as cheaper options. We took a first class aircon bus for 690 Baht. When we went downstairs to wait for our bus someone called me and when I turned around another "Kuwi" from my university sat behind me waiting for her bus. It's amazing that no matter where I am in the world I still meet people from my university!

another "Kuwi" in Bangkok