Address: Siam Square One (4th floor ), Bangkok 10330
Ice cream: 75 THB (roughly €1,90)
Best thing on the menu: homemade waffles - my personal
                                            fave: Strawberry Honey Lover)


Find them on Facebook (here)

pure deliciousness

Once a wise guy named Will Rogers said 
"A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet." 

This could not be any more accurate. It describes the experiences I made with fellow travelers in Thailand perfectly. I met likeminded people in the most random situations: sharing a taxi, while waiting for my Aspirin C to dissolve, on the metro, at the foot of a waterfall, on a hike though the jungle, in dorm rooms or even at the check-in desk.

All the beautiful landscapes, cities and natural wonders would not have been the same without those kick-ass travelers I met along the way and the random encounters with folks from all over the world:

Two German girls, just as unoriented as me, one of them actually recently moved to Vienna. Two friends from the Netherlands and Scotland, having to be taught the best card game in the world. One guy from the United States, who was an expert in making wine and even more so in making it very hard to say goodbye. Two twin brothers from England, one currently traveling the world. One lad from Singapore, who I am super jealous of, because he can just hop on a plane and go to Thailand every other weekend. One Israeli, who had some difficulties bringing his message across. One French girl, who was just as excited as me about hitchhiking in the open trunk of a truck and, who introduced me to the sheer endless deliciousness of the Night Market. One girl from Thailand, who surprised us with her perfect German and, who is coming to study in Vienna this fall. Three Canadians, who got us hooked up with the idea of getting a tailored blouse - or a whole business outfit, for that matter. One Dane, whose parents sounded like the coolest people ever. The whole staff of a random hostel in Bangkok, making it our favorite. One Spanish fellow, who looked like a Frenchman and liked us so much he followed us across Thailand - all creepiness aside. One English lad, who jumped off a fifteen meter cliff and managed to land face and butt first. Four Viennese climbers, who seem to love a game that I hate - yeah, I don't like to loose. One guy, born in Russia, raised in Germany, but having a British accent,  whose curiosity lead us to paradise. One girl from Luxemburg, who had the most beautiful tattoos I have ever seen and immediately offered to draw one for me into five minutes of knowing each other. One hipster Thai, who stayed sane while driving us around busy Bangkok and watching us go crazy for sticky rice and, who also convinced a shop owner to open up on a Sunday so I could get my little wooden elephant. Three creative Canadians, who went to the weirdest but coolest school ever in Toronto, where 17-year-olds can easily take a three-week break to visit Thailand. One guy from Israel, who took the most stunning pictures with his Go Pro and, who was totally rocking a spectacular beard. One Italian, who was not afraid to skinny dip with strangers and, who was typical Italian: hilarious as hell. Two friends from England and the U.S., sharing a house in the middle of the jungle and jamming their nights away. One Australian guy, who truly loves his wife and enjoys to tell weird stories about their marriage. One beautiful soul from Florida, who protects her loved ones at any cost, even if that means she has to flip a tea tray. One artist from Hungary, who was duct-taping his analog camera and paying for his stay with his drawings. One Hawaiian freethinker, who is taking photography and kindness to the next level.

To all of you I would like to say "Thank you" for sharing unforgettable days & nights together and making my trip so special! And all the others, please keep in mind: Traveling is not only about the places you have been to or the sights you have seen - it is mostly about the amazing people that cross your path and truly enrich your journey.

xx Lena

Photo taken in: Chiang Mai, Thailand

Have you guys heard about the Full Moon Party in Thailand? You probably have. There is this beautiful beach on Koh Phangan - Haad Rin Beach - that is transformed into one massive party zone once a month: Loud techno music, enormous amounts of (probably not the most trustworthy) alcohol, fire and thousands of people dancing, screaming, shoving you around and - best of all - urinating and vomiting into the ocean. How wonderful!

Most people A and I met along our trip through Thailand asked us if we'll see each other again at the Full Moon Party - as if that was even possible in a crazy crowd like that. No, of course not. I had no intention whatsoever of going there. It seemed like every backpacker traveling in Thailand planned his or her whole trip around the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan. Except us. We ended up there, anyway. 

Our original plan was to relax on the beaches of Koh Jum for a few days - which we did - and then quickly hop onto a ferry, a bus and a ferry to find ourselves on a beautiful little island called Koh Tao ten hours later. Perfect plan, in theory. There have just been small problems with the practical implementation of this plan. First mistake: We did not buy tickets when we had the chance to on the mainland, because we thought there will come a better time. We had not considered the fact that Koh Jum is - unlike most islands in Thailand - close to a deserted island and does not come with a bunch of travel agencies. So we booked our tickets through our hotel, which seemed like the safest way. Spoiler alert: That was mistake number two. 

So, after four days of doing nothing at all on this paradisiac island, we entered the ferry back to the mainland in the morning, totally unaware of where we would end up by the end of the day. The woman who was supposed to give us our tickets for further transport to Koh Tao casually walked up to A and me and told us that Koh Tao won't happen for us today. No seats available. She did not seem to care about the fact that we booked these tickets three days before nor that we had a room reserved for the night - Welcome to Thailand!
Clearly, I was not happy about that. We had a wild discussion with the ticket lady and I might have said some things I am not particularly proud of. In the end, there was only one thing we could do that brought us closer to the island we wanted to go to in the first place: spend a night on Koh Phangan, which is the island right next to Koh Tao. The more I think about it, the more it baffles me that there were no seats available to Koh Tao, but apparently more than enough to Koh Phangan, where it just "happened" to be the Full Moon Party that same night. Strange...

As you see, we were kind of forced into it, but we tried to make the best out of it - true traveler spirit and all. On the way over to Koh Phangan we met two lovely ladies from New York City, with whom we connected from the very start and who turned into really good friends after this faithful night we had together.


Looking back at the turning of events that day, I would not change a thing. Frankly, I am glad that we got scammed into going to Koh Phangan. Otherwise, we would have never met P and C and had one of the best nights of our lives. Also, we would not have met the Australian Professor who taught us how to be happy and appreciate what we have. And we would not have spent a magical morning on the heavenly white beach with people whom we just met but felt like old friends, swimming in the crystal clear water, sipping coconuts, exchanging compliments and hugs and as for A: Getting sunburnt to a rather unhealthy extent. So, thank you, ticket lady, for making all of this possibe!

The moral of this story, my dear friends, is: Everything happens for a reason. Seriously, it does. Just be spontaneous and happy and live a little. You will not regret it!

xx Lena

PS: If you ever find yourself at the Full Moon Party, leave immediately and take a boat to Garden Eden instead. Why? First of all: The Full Moon Party itself sucks so bad (just as I had imagined) and: Garden Eden will change your life, trust me!

Photos taken in: Koh Phangan, Thailand

So, as Kathi has already mentioned: I was traveling around Thailand for one month, most of the time with my friend A. After we spent a few days in Bangkok together, we took a night train to Chiang Mai, which is located in the North of Thailand. Oh, how much I love Chiang Mai! A and I went on a three day-trekking tour where we got to bathe elephants, jump off waterfalls, sleep in the middle of the jungle and eat delicious Thai food. It was magical. And dirty.

pure nature

As you can imagine, we were kind of exhausted after three days of hardcore trekking - I swear, there were moments where only the anticipation of Mango Sticky Rice kept us going - so, A thought it would be a great idea to get a Thai Massage afterwards. 

You know how people tell you that Thai Massages really hurt and you don't believe them because you think they are just overreacting little babies? Well, you better believe them, before you actually get one and end up scarred for life. 

After my barely-survival of the Thai Massage, A and I decided to visit the Grand Canyon of Chiang Mai, which is an old quarry filled with water. It is almost as exciting as the "real" Grand Canyon in the States, but you can cliff jump and swim in there, so, it is basically the Grand Canyon in cool. We went there by scooter and for the first time in my life I felt confident driving, well, anything, to be honest, and I think, also for the very first time someone actually felt safe while I was driving. Anyway, we spent the day there jumping off 15 meter-high rocks, which led to heavy bruises on A's thighs and arms, because she was paying too much attention to overcoming her fear of heights and too little to the whereabouts of her limbs.

Grand Canyon, Chiang Mai

I am not sure whether it was the search for a certain association that did not want to be found or one too many cigarettes smoked by a certain someone that led to a certain scenario where we were racing through Chiang Mai trying to get ourselves and our backpacks to the train station in time and the scooter back before the rental place was closing. Classic race against the time. Long story short: We lost. 

I tried to cry several times during this hell of a ride, but my body just did not let me. Can you believe it?! You must be thinking: She cannot even get this tiny bit of satisfaction during dark times like these?! I know, I was just as upset about the absence of my tears then as you are now. But hey, life is unfair. 

In the end, I got my passport back - even though the rental store was already closed - and I made it to the train station safely. We missed the train anyway, because it was seriously ON TIME  - for the first time ever in Thailand. Our only chance to catch that train was to pay one lucky taxi driver enough money for him to feed his children for the next two months to chase our train down to the next scheduled stop. During my most expensive taxi ride ever, I started feeling very unwell and thought I might throw up, but my body knew very well that I couldn't afford to clean that taxi, so it waited until we arrived - but only right until we entered the building and tried to figure out if we missed the train. (Of course, we did not. It was late, duh!) The next toilet was out of sight, so a trash can had to do it. Apparently, me throwing up into a trash can with a huge backpack on has been an amusing sight as A had a good laugh over it and even considered taking a picture of this weak moment of mine. At least one of us thought it was funny. 

Good news: We made it onto the train and our beds were - surprisingly - comfortable. Bad news: I did not sleep. At all. I am going to spare you the details, but I can tell you this much: the toilet and I became quite good friends that night. 

xx Lena

Photos taken in: Chiang Mai, Thailand