Can’t believe I’ve already left Bangkok again. I had a couple of really good days and (as usually) was reluctant to leave Thailand. But with Myanmar calling, it was much easier to leave. I had an 11:30 flight out of BKK’s old airport, Don Mueang, which in terms of facilities isn’t exactly up to speed with Suvarnabhumi. Still, getting there is easy enough and the longest part of the trip was waiting for AirAsia to check people in at glacier speed.

Just a few metres down the street is what looks like a Buddhist temple. A monk is reading from a script and speakers broadcast his speech onto the street. People sit in the temple and in the street in front of it, listening. Religion in the neighbourhood seems to be mixed. Aside from the apparently Buddhist, I’ve seen a Hindu temple and a few guys with what I could swear is Muslim head cloth.

Boats on the Chao Phraya river form a vital part of Bangkok’s public transport system. Bangkok Ferry arriving at Mooring from Pat Nomad on Vimeo.

$3 for a teabag in a cup of hot water - bit excessive for an airport in a Third World country but at least the wifi is good. General free wifi at the airport is a bit on the unusable side and what would modern day man do - all unconnected for a whole 2.5h stopover. I had left Berlin a day before my flight departed, not wanting to trust Deutsche Bahn to get me to Frankfurt airport in time.

It’s 7:20 when we take off from Colombo, en route for the short 3h hop over to Bangkok. Once arrived, it takes a while to clear the long queue at immigration but finally I’m on the train into the centre. Seeing the city approach brings back memories. I’ve only visited Bangkok properly twice (I think) but also came through a few times on my way to other destinations. All-in-all it feels somewhat familiar, yet still excitingly unknown.

Every weekend, Berlin’s Preußenpark hosts the “Thaiwiese”. It’s a rather informal gathering of street food merchants who dish out amazingly good and authentic Thai food to the grateful public. With €5 a plate it’s a little more pricey than Thailand but still a very good deal for the capital. Oh and did I mention that it’s authentic and good?

One of my safe havens on this planet: My family’s place. It’s already been more than a week of relaxing, recharging and getting my mind of things.

Right then, time for a little travel review. As written earlier, the stay on the Balkans was great. So this is mostly about the time after I departed Thessaloniki, the time when things got a bit bumpy. Right after Greece, in Morocco, there were ups and downs. Tangier annoyed the crap out of me while Chefchaouen won me over with its laid back attitude and gorgeous scenery. But apart from locations, Morocco was also the first week with a different style of travelling.

Ok, that came a bit earlier than expected. Thought I wouldn’t be back in Germany before some time 2016… Leaving Jerusalem went smoothly this morning. The shared taxi picked me up right in front of the hostel and after a little sightseeing tour across the city, dropped me off at Terminal 1. Pre-Checkin-Security was curious about my Moroccan entry stamp but didn’t bother with asking me any questions about my stay in Israel.