For our English-speaking friends - BKK and the south of Thailand

In Bangkok Annette and Joerg meet up again with Elmar and their new travelmate Bjoern.

Together we do some sightseeing around town, e.g. the "Royal Palace" and "Wat Phra Keo", the reclinig buddha at "Wat Pho" and the weekendmarket "Chatuchak", and have a great time with our overlander friends. See chapter "BOM in BKK" for more information!

From here we travel to "Damnoen Saduak", only 97 km west of Bangkok to visit the famous floating markets.

Floating Markets (text by Graham Holden)

An early start and we were off down the river, to the local market in Ratchaburi, it was quite peaceful when we arrived but sprang to life minutes later, the colourful array of fruit, vegetables, flowers, basically everything. All the people smile and are filled with warmth and friendliness as they paddle up and down the many waterways selling their goods. Five Overland travellers are not the best customers for the tourist tat sellers, but at least we did coffee and some unusual food.
The boat was powered by a three cylinder suzuki engine and to be honest he didn’t open it up which was a little disappointing but maybe it was a good idea not to, as the sides only just kept the water outside the boat!

The next day took us as far "down" as the town of "Ranong" where we went out for dinner with a friend of Bjoern's.

Another friend to visit is 'Jintana' who we meet at "Khao Lak Beach". We have a delightful time and learn how she survived the Tsunami and what she thinks about Thai girls marrying European men: "It's a deal", she says,"he has somebody to care for him and she gives away her badly paid job for a lovely home and good life."

After the desaster of 2004 "Khao Lak" has been built up by sharp-witted locals. No speedboats and no multistorey buildings are allowed. Smooth tourism is the keyword. We like it!

At "Phan Nga" we book a boatrip round the bay and admire the dense mangrove forrests and bizarre karst rocks. Most famous of which is the socalled "James-Bond-Rock", acting as piece of scenery in the movie "The man with the golden gun".

Heavy rains frustrate our plan to cross the border to Malaysia as planned. So we stay one more night in Thailand. A big mistake, as Annette's motorbike pants get stolen from the hotel's backyard!

On the other hand we have a good reason to stop over in "Georgetown" again, our favourite town in Malaysia.