South-East Asia

Back in Bangkok, at incredible heat we had not for weeks, we ran for some final shopping errands and to see a couple of sights we had yet not visited. So we did one more wat-watching excursion (Wat(t)-Wanderung in German? ), passing along the one with the most remarkable name we encountered so far:

WAT MAHATHAT YUWARATWANGSARIT RATCHAWORAMAHAWIHARM

I almost choked when trying to speak it aloud. Now try and google this and tell me if I my spelling is wrong.

Apart from that, nothing exciting anymore, as we are down to the last couple of Baht and have to tighten our belts. Our airport taxi is going at nine tomorrow, and we leave this beautiful place for a long time at twelve noon, hopefully being back some day.

Some final statistics:
-We visited 43 locations in six countries, not counting Brunei where we were refused entry.
-We got 4 visa and 32 stamps in our passports.
-We covered (rough guess counting centimeters on maps) approximately 12.400km by bus and plane locally, not counting the flights between Bangkok and Germany.
-We finished between 3 and 4 large bottles of water a day, adding to some 610-840 liters of drinking water, so for once, we met the official health authority recommendation of 2 liters per day.
-I read 41 books and finished 16 of 22 units of my distance learning courses in Controlling and Finance/Investment.

Final thoughts: I would do it any time again, without consideration. Probably bring only a fifth of all the stuff I brought here, because you really get everything you need here, with the exception of some pharmaceuticals. As for Malaria, we had all the prophylactics and treatment, and took none of it. All the doctors we consulted strongly advised to take the prophylactics, but not a single one of the long-term travelers or foreigners who settled down here takes anything.

Anyone who is ever considering to do some trip like this, DO IT and just forget about that job you are doing or what might happen afterwards.
This is a lifetime experience, and probably none of the HR managers who talk about gaps in your CV have done anything like that themselves and just envy you for taking that step! It definitely widens your horizon and enriches your life a thousand times more than some corporate presentation or late hours in the office...

WHAT, still sitting on that couch and not booking your ticket yet? GET ON THE MOVE!

Looking forward for some dark grain bread, cheese, sausage and mothers kitchen back home now. This diary ends here, and I hope it helped to transmit some of the atmosphere, oddities and discoveries we experienced here, and was a bit of entertaining to read. See you back in Germany or Moscow.