https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/ Two weeks in Thailand, solo, my first time in Asia. A bit scary, honestly. I write it down here, chapter by chapter. en https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/pai-massage-cooking-school-last-night/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/pai-massage-cooking-school-last-night/ Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT A massage at nine for legs, shoulders, arms and neck, then matcha latte, a monk and three hours of Thai cooking: Pad Thai, Khao Soi and a warm glass noodle salad. Two hours of sleep in the afternoon, then bars without people and chess with a stranger. After two hours of Muay Thai the day before, my body had exactly one wish in the morning. At nine I was on the massage table: legs, shoulders, arms, neck, all kneaded through once. Nuad Thai, Thai massage, has been on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list since 2019. So this morning I was officially kneaded by world heritage. Then a quick matcha latte in a café full of plants, and on the steps of a temple a short greeting with a monk. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/pai-muay-thai-morning-loop/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/pai-muay-thai-morning-loop/ Thu, 24 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Two hours of sweat on the mats, then sticky rice with mango, then a loop around Pai until sunset: Chinese village, waterfall, café, bamboo bridge, rice field, wooden temple, canyon. At eight in the morning the IT guy is standing on a mat. Muay Thai, first time ever. Two hours of sweat, kicks, punches, knees, and a trainer who makes it all look so easy it is almost rude. The coordination gets into the blood only slowly: first the arm, then the hip, then the leg, and mostly in the wrong order. By the end at least I no longer look like a pole dancer. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/pai-garden-oasis-first-night/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/pai-garden-oasis-first-night/ Wed, 23 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Around 5pm Pai arrives: a small garden house, laundry dropped off, mountains all around and a centre that compresses everything at night — street food, massage signs, jazz, open mic, acoustic music, psychedelic trance and a very responsible drinking programme made of ginger-lime soda. Pai is reached around 5pm. After the temple and Mekong marathons of the north, the first address feels almost suspiciously right: not an anonymous box, but a real little oasis — garden plants, wood, warm light and a small house inside it. The kind of place where the body agrees before the backpack does: yes, we can live here for a moment. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/chiang-rai-golden-triangle-temple-marathon/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/chiang-rai-golden-triangle-temple-marathon/ Tue, 22 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT A long northern Thailand day all the way to the Golden Triangle: hill village with Kayan/Long Neck women, two days of work for one scarf, cannabis like houseplants, a local spirit setup, White Temple, Blue Temple, Black House and finally a Mekong boat ride between Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. The day starts at 7am, which is basically the hour when a normal holiday person is still negotiating with the pillow. Today, though, the road goes far north towards Chiang Rai and all the way to the Golden Triangle: Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, on the Mekong. A day trip quickly becomes a small geographical washing machine: mountains, villages, temples, art, border river, then back to Chiang Mai sometime after 9pm. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/chiang-mai-elephants-ping-river-night-market/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/chiang-mai-elephants-ping-river-night-market/ Mon, 21 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT After heavy night rain, the last trekking day starts almost boringly ordinary: coffee, breakfast, cards. Then come elephants, cancelled bamboo rafting, Chiang Mai, a shave with face massage and an evening by the Mae Ping between market lights, shaved ice with warm toast and roasted worms. After the heavy rain in the night, September 21 starts almost provocatively normal. Coffee. Breakfast. Cards. The body is still in trekking mode, but the outlook sounds like a “relaxing day”. Boringly ordinary, which after 16 kilometres of jungle is of course already a kind of luxury. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/chiang-mai-jungle-trek-storm-night/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/chiang-mai-jungle-trek-storm-night/ Sun, 20 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT One hour out of Chiang Mai, somewhere near an elephant sanctuary: tropical humidity, rice fields, corn, bananas, spiders, butterflies, waterfalls, and at the end a storm over a wooden house. September 20 is no longer a city walk. One hour out of Chiang Mai, somewhere towards an elephant sanctuary, and suddenly the north is no longer café, temple and songthaew, but real green wetness. Tropical air sticks to the skin immediately. The ground is red, the plants are everywhere, and the jungle is very obviously busy with itself. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/chiang-mai-arrival-glasses-rescue/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/chiang-mai-arrival-glasses-rescue/ Sat, 19 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT The night bus arrives at 6:30. Five minutes later it is clear: the glasses are still hanging in the bus curtain. So: tuk-tuk, city edge, depot, success. Only then is Chiang Mai allowed to begin slowly. Chiang Mai begins at 6:30 in the morning, which is that strange timezone between night-bus body and new city. I have not even got far from the bus when my brain says: wait. The glasses. They are still where they spent the night: by the window, hanging in the bus curtain. Only the bus has already left, heading for a cleaning depot on the edge of town. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/bangkok-night-bus-north/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/bangkok-night-bus-north/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT A slow day with a full-body massage, constant small hunger and then the turn north: luggage stored, bus terminal, premium seat and 750 kilometres of night to Chiang Mai. The last Bangkok day before the north is deliberately not a heroic day. No huge temple, no programme, no need to see everything once more. First: slow down. One hour full-body massage, and a tiny Thai lady treats my body as if I were made of chewing gum. She presses, pulls, climbs around on me in spirit, and because we share no language, we both just laugh. That works as translation. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/bangkok-first-full-day/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/bangkok-first-full-day/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Caramel macchiato, a tuk-tuk loop, a history teacher with an umbrella, temple rules, food at a family table and finally a travel plan reaching to the 27th. The first full day does not begin with a plan, but with a caramel macchiato and absolutely no clue what I am supposed to do. That fits. Bangkok is too big to defeat with a list on the first morning. So first: coffee, looking outside, system booting. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/bangkok-old-town-arrival/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/bangkok-old-town-arrival/ Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT 33 degrees, clouds, wet streets, cables overhead and the decision not to use the first day efficiently, but to actually notice it. Bangkok receives me with 33 degrees, clouds and that wet wall of air that immediately says: welcome, your European body is now only advisory. At the airport I change mode. I do not need to use the day efficiently. I want to use it well by actually noticing the city. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/doha-transfer/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/doha-transfer/ Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Qatar Airways was a very nice surprise: good service, tech in the seat, good food. Then Hamad Airport, where even the garden looks expensive. Bangkok is reached, but first Doha deserves its chapter. The flight with Qatar Airways was genuinely one of the nice surprises of this trip. Excellent service, more tech in the seat than in some living rooms, and the airplane food was actually good. That does not happen every Tuesday. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/flughafen-prag/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/flughafen-prag/ Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT The Elbe, Prague muscle memory, free parking and the small pause before planning turns into travel. I am at Prague Airport. Getting here was almost suspiciously easy: a nice day, the road along the Elbe, and the small satisfaction of saving the Czech highway toll. https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/vor-der-reise/ https://asia.ai2dna.com/en/kapitel/vor-der-reise/ Sun, 13 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT First time in Asia, solo, with a suitcase you can spot from a helicopter. What goes on in my head before departure. Tuesday I fly. First time in Asia, and like Montenegro in June, alone again. I notice I am going with a lot of respect. Not fear, more that feeling of knowing that for two weeks nothing will really be under control: language, heat, traffic, food I cannot read. My expectations are high and I have no idea whether they are right.