Bangkok
22nd - 26th of january 2023

One night (well, three nights) in Bangkok...


I beg young people to travel. If you don't have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Saigon, go to Bangkok, go to Kenya. Have your mind blown. Eat interesting food. Dig some interesting people. Have an adventure. Be careful. Come back and you're going to see your country differently, you're going to see your president differently, no matter who it is. Music, culture, food, water. Your showers will become shorter. You're going to get a sense of what globalization looks like.
[Henry Rollins]


Afgang og Dejavu fra 2006:
It was special to wake up and think that it would be over two months before you slept in your own bed again, but it is quite positive if you remember Richard Burton's quote about breaking up and leaving with a smile on your face the lip: What an adventure we were going on as a family. Our Austrian tenants came by and it was really nice to feel that we seemed to have a good match. We took a taxi to the airport and flew to Zurich and had dinner at BurgerKing much to Storm's chagrin (he's a McD boy), on to Muscat in Oman (hard ride where we had to sleep but no one could really do it) and then to finally to Bangkok (which went perfectly fine and relaxed). We checked into the 48th floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel (have we ever lived that high?) and when I went up to the roof terrace on the 59th floor, I had total dejavu from September 2006, when I was there with Niels Steinoe the evening before my departure (and the military coup). Despite jet lag, we all fell into a death-like sleep.

Relaxation, Discovery and Night Market:
The following day was a dedicated relaxation day for the children. Tina got a wonderful Thai massage, and Troels took a trip to historic Bangkok to take a trip around by bicycle (Rattanakosin Bicycle Route). However, that option had been canceled again, so it was on foot and tuktuk among Bangkok's fantastic temples. Especially Wat Suthat (with giant swing) and Wat Saket (on top of giant hill) were new and interesting experiences. In the afternoon we all relaxed by the pool (which was actually a bit cold) and in the evening we took the metro out to a nearby night market. In the twilight there were rows of stalls with all kinds of food and ordinary knick-knacks. We got some street food for a total price of DKK 120 including drinks (and Singha beer for dad). We finished by tucking the kids in and then having drinks in the famous bar on top of the hotel in the balmy night.



Moving and Buddhas:
We ate a big (and a bit late) breakfast, packed and then moved to the Sindhorn Kempinsky Hotel. Then it was time to explore the city for the whole family, and we started by walking through the beautiful Lumphini Park, where we saw both carp, white herons, turtles, giant lizards and a single snake that dropped from a tree! We took the metro to the old town and went to the fantastic and old temple Wat Pho, where after various smaller but beautiful pagodas and stupas we came to the main temple. You enter, and there lies the Buddha in all his power and splendor - gilded and at the end of the last reincarnation before Nirvana. The statue is 46 meters long and one cannot help but be overwhelmed by both its size and its beauty.



Giant lizard hunting in Bangkok:
After Wat Pho, we took a tuktuk to Khao San Road, where Tina had dejavu from her old backpacker days. Storm got a look at roasted spiders and scorpions, but ended up declining to taste. We took a tuktuk to the metro station, and from there the train back to Lumphini Park. There, Storm and father took a trip out on the lake in a canoe, and it was to develop into a "Giant Lizard Hunt in Bangkok"! We sailed around an island, and along the coast we snuck up on several giant lizards (over a meter long!), which was devouring a turtle. A really cool experience that we were both excited about.



Culinary homework:
Dinner was the eating highlight of the trip so far, as we had a local culinary experience in Kempinski's restaurant and could enjoy a glass of good red wine, while the children did their homework in the form of a log book about the trip so far. That night, for some reason, we couldn't really sleep, so the next morning was simply breakfast, packing and then off to the airport.