Dec 28th 2011, Bangkok- Chiang Mai train, Sampo

Aand here we are! I managed to find Olli after a tremendously delightful trip (note to all parents: think twice before taking your 6-month old baby on a 9-hour flight), and I was happy to see him in a lot better shape than I had feared. We had barely exchanged greetings when Olli brought up the idea of not only going to Chiang Mai right away, but also doing it by train instead of bus as previously planned. I wholeheartedly agreed with this, and we soon boarded the new, modern Bangkok skytrain towards the city centre.

Our day in Bangkok went fast. We found our way to the railway station, bought tickets to Chiang Mai, and spent the remaining hours eating and drinking lunch. In the train we ended up in the same compartment with two german guys, Paul and Max. Surprisingly, they were drinking beer when we showed up, and even pulled out a bottle of whiskey afterwards. We got along so well that we even lit up a little candle to warm up the mood. When the AC turned from cold to freezing, Paul macgyverized the fan to make the place livable again, which impressed us in a great deal. Needless to say, we had a nice evening and i expect it to do wonders to my jet lag tomorrow.

My first impressions from Thailand were extremely positive. People in Bangkok were very friendly and seemingly helpful regardless of whether there was money for them to gain, which is rather rare back home. It makes me all the more happy to be on the road again! In a week we'll meet up with the rest of our friends – sadly, one of them is missing though, because he has to visit his girlfriends' parents. So ist das leben.