Last year just at the same time I was already off to Thailand to explore one more part of South-East Asia. Right now work is keeping my feet here in Germany, otherwise I would already have packed my bags and would enjoy some place more vivid, warm and humid.

A friend of mine leaves for Bangkok tonight so I looked up some places I stayed during my 1,5 months in Thailand. I stumbled over the pictures of the first place I stayed in Bangkok and felt really nostalgic and my wanderlust grew even more.

You are longing for a holiday as well? Then let’s get on a plane and we’re off to Bangkok!

Before arriving in Paradise, there are some hours to kill. So here’ also my favorite Spotify-Playlist for twelve-hours on a Jetplane. Emirates also provides games to play as well. You can use your remote like a controller – pretty cool.

Emirate’s planes are my favorite. There’s even a sky full of stars when the cabin lights are turned off.

Of course we haven’t had booked a hostel before our arrival in the late afternoon – planning in advance kills so much of the adventure-feeling!

Therefore we relied on Lonely Planet and tired to find this amazing place called “The Atlantis”.

We took the Sky Train into the center of Bangkok and then to the station where the Atlantis was supposed to be. At this point I need to share my love for the Sky Train.

This train is just the fastest, cleanest and really perfectly situated medium of transportation for a million-souls city like Bangkok. Excepts from the boats. They get you around fast and easy as well. But when you need to get farther away from the Chao Phraya the Sky Train is often faster that any cab or Tuk Tuk could ever be. Additionally from being faster as you won’t be stuck in Bangkok’s crazy traffic, it’s much cheaper. Even through rush hour you won’t have trouble catching your train. The system is easy as well. Unlike Tokyo for example, you only have two main lines which are getting you nearly everywhere you would like to go. The difficult part of finding your direction starts when you leave the platform and start to find your way through Bangkok’s busy streets.

After 2 hours of dirt, sweat and carrying our backpacks through the dusty streets of Bangkok this (pretty cool) sign greeted us. Felt a little bit ironic, especially because we rested just a square-street away from the hotel but it took us a plate of Pad Thai and at least three Ginger Ales and half a hour searching through Google Maps to finally recognize that.

Finally we just had to cross a small path to find this jewel of colonial charm. The whole hotel looks like no one changed a piece of furniture since the English and their East India Trading Company left.

And they even have a swimming-pool! That’s heaven when you come home after exploring the city in 40 degrees without resting for a minute!

There’s a restaurant connected to the hotel as well. For my taste they have some of the best curries there!

The Flower Market isn’t far from the Atlantis, so we took a cap and spend the night wandering through flowers of ever shape and color.

Thai people also make amazing bouquets for any religious occasion. They are amazingly beautiful and I bought one made of amazingly purple flowers, unfortunately I couldn’t understand the meaning of it. Hand and feed communication might work for every-day matters but when it comes to advanced spiritual matters it’s just not enough, Well, from the vendors gestures I think the flowers had something to do with the heart. If they help you find love or prevent you from a stroke…well I will never know 🙂

On the markets one also finds any plant related to the tradition of Ayurveda medicine or traditional Asian healing methods. Such as Aloe Vera and things I can’t even name.

Just one street away from the Atlantis you find FinsFins Bar. A place looking like a surfers retreat, The Japanese owning the place make perfect Japanese Breakfast! It’s the best I ever had outside Japan.

Pad Thai we ate while still searching for the Atlantis. Funny fact is that even the owners of the Bar couldn’t tell us where the Atlantis was- even though they spoke perfectly English and are just neighbors to the hotel. The best things are obviously hard to find!

Living in Germany, and especially in a car-enthusiastic city, I was used to see grey, back or maybe some white cars. In Bangkok cabs are pink. And that’s what makes looking at traffic from some bridge or from the platforms of the Sky Train an amazing diversion.

Welcome to one of the most amazing cities on this planet!