Thailand (2 February – 27 March 2026)

We will be adding to this section as our journey progresses – so it’s worth checking back every week.
Clicking on the date opens the relevant entry – the most recent entry is open by default.

13 March 2026

Street life on Koh Samui

If you venture a little way from the beaches and simply stroll through the streets, Koh Samui reveals a completely different side to itself. It is not a place of grand boulevards or spectacular architecture. Instead, life here consists of many small scenes unfolding along the streets.

Simple roadside kitchens spring up beneath colourful parasols. A woman concentrates on preparing food, surrounded by plastic crates, cool boxes and makeshift work surfaces. Everything looks makeshift – yet perfectly organised at the same time. Here, people cook, sell, eat and chat.

A few streets further on, a gate suddenly appears, richly decorated with dragons and bright colours. Behind it lies a small Chinese temple. Such places feel almost like hidden islands within the city – calm, quiet and full of detail, whilst outside mopeds whizz past and everyday life goes on.

The streets themselves are narrow and functional. Scooters are parked in front of the houses, small restaurants open directly onto the street, and power cables run in dense bundles across the rooftops. Much of it seems improvised, but that is precisely what gives these places their character.

The traffic consists mainly of mopeds. Some carry only their rider, others astonishing quantities of goods. Packages, crates, baskets and boxes are stacked on top of one another and lashed down with ropes. What would probably be considered impossible in Europe works surprisingly reliably here.

Finally, the markets reveal the island’s full colourfulness. Bananas hang in large bunches from the ceiling, while mangoes, dragon fruit and oranges lie in high piles on the tables. Between the stalls, traders sit, chatting or waiting patiently for the next customers.

These are not spectacular scenes – and perhaps that is precisely why they reveal so much about everyday life on the island. Life here seems less planned and less structured than back home. At the same time, everything seems to have found its own rhythm.

10 March 2026

Everyday life, beaches, relaxation

And they do exist after all…

…the places that are worth travelling here for.

After a long search, we finally managed to find a somewhat more secluded beach. To do so, we had to drive to the quieter part of the island and walk through rough terrain away from the resorts; half through the jungle, half over steep rocks. On this and other trips, these circumstances have often been the guarantee of a beautiful spot. I remember ‘Secret Beach’ in Oregon. Once we arrived, there were tourists here too, enjoying the sun and water, but perhaps a tenth as many as on other beaches: Shallow, warm water, a few trees for shade – but only until the sun sits lower in the sky from five o’clock in the afternoon.

We’ve already described our impressions of our last temple visit. At Wat Plai Laem in the north of Koh Samui, everything looks quite different. We deliberately start the day early and are already there by eight o’clock.

Unfortunately, we were only able to admire this place for about an hour. On the one hand, because the tourists – in shorts – start swarming the place around nine o’clock; on the other, because the sun (on a cloudless day) is already very warm and the photos then lose the magic of the early morning light. Too much glare, harsh shadows.

As we still had plenty of time that morning, we continued our exploration at a nearby temple (Wat Phra Yai), until here too the tourists descended on the hill like a swarm of termites.

Incidentally, the street scene in the gallery (second image from the top left) shows a rather well-kept environment.

22 February 2026

Decay, silence – and the moment we left

Wat Teepangkorn

We did not find Wat Teepangkorn to be a quiet retreat, but rather a place that, in parts, seemed abandoned and left to decay. Peeling paint, moss on the statues, cracked plinths – visible traces of time and the weather. Not a well-maintained sanctuary, but a place where transience is plain to see.

It was precisely this imperfection that gave the temple a special atmosphere. A silence that was not decorative, but solemn. We moved slowly, cautiously, almost automatically becoming quieter. It did not feel like a place one visits, but rather one one encounters.

This mood did not last until the end of our stay.

Towards the end, several groups of visitors arrived on the grounds. They came in pick-up trucks, cheerful, boisterous, clearly in the spirit of the New Year celebrations. Water pistols, laughter, movement. For them, the temple seemed to be part of a larger celebration – a stopover, not the destination.

We would like to emphasise: The New Year celebrations themselves are deeply rooted in Thai culture and of great significance. What struck us as odd, however, was the lack of respect for the place. To us, their clothing, behaviour and noise stood in stark contrast to the dignity of this temple.

At that moment, we no longer felt at ease.

Not out of disapproval, but from the feeling that we were in a place that suddenly no longer felt like one. The silence that had sustained this place had vanished. And with it, our sense of belonging here.

We decided to leave.

Wat Teepangkorn remains for us a place that tells us a great deal – about transience, about respect, and about how differently people can experience the same space. A place that remains in our memory less for what it shows, than for what was lost on that day.