We all want to be happy. There are a lot of books written on how to achieve happiness with many pieces of useful advice such as: one should live for the present moment, meditate at least once a week, eat six servings of fruits and vegetables a day, have kids and a dog and even drink wine regularly. There are even courses at Harvard on Happiness.

Like many others, I’ve also worked on it. I’ve bought a lot of self-help books telling me that happiness lies deep within. If I am not happy, then apparently I’m not digging deep enough. However, what I understood after some time is this. Even though you can improve some basic level of happiness by following this advice, you cannot achieve a lasting and substantial improvement if you don’t also consider the external factors. Happiness is not just inside of us but also out there. “Out there” meaning the country you are living in, its culture, your surroundings, traditions, nature, etc. So happiness is not only the way, but also a destination 🙂 . As Henry Miller put it, “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things”.

So what makes a “happy country”? Why are some countries said to be much happier than others? Why is it that sometimes, when first visiting a country, you think “I can imagine staying here forever” while in other countries, you feel “I want to leave here as soon as possible”?

There has been a lot of research and studies done on this subject over the last 10 years. In 2005 the first World Happiness Report (WHR) appeared. It remains the key reference study on the matter, updated annually and I will refer to it during my blog. So, before speaking about the world’s happiest countries, I would like to say a few words on WHR and its metrics. The United Nations’ WHR relies on data from the Gallup World Poll surveys and it evaluates happiness across six variables:

The scores are based mostly on the individuals’ own assessment of their lives along these six criteria.

Here are the top ten happiest countries based on the 2019 report (published in March 2019):

If you look at this list, what would be the first factor that is present in all these countries: e.g. they are all developed countries with high GDP, high standard of living, high degree of freedom and democracy, etc. But what else? When I look at this list I immediately think: these countries are my favourite places for hiking, they have amazing (sometimes completely unspoilt, wild) nature: forests, mountains, lakes, etc. Do you agree?

Some argue that it is impossible to define “happiness” per se. Happiness can be divided in three different types: positive emotions, life satisfaction, and meaningfulness. WHR measures all these feelings, but some reports that just focus on one of the types, such as positive emotions produce different results. Latin American countries will top the list there. I think one should take into account as many factors as possible when defining the happiness level of countries, hence, I am taking a more encompassing WHR as a reference here.

You can read the full report here: http://worldhappiness.report/ It’s rather long, so below I have summarised the main points which one can take from the latest report, and directly transfer them to your everyday life, if you wish.

These are:

1. Live life fully: laugh, dance, sing, and it’s also OK to cry sometimes. It’s better to have positive and negative emotions than no emotion: “The most striking feature is the extent to which the results buttress a finding in psychology that the existence of positive emotions matters much more than the absence of negative ones”. So try always to have positive emotions and don’t be afraid to have negative ones (you will forget about them anyway 🙂

2. Do what you like: freedom to make life choices is one of the main happiness contributors. Try to do more things that you like, and don’t be afraid to follow your dreams.

3. Do some meaningful activities in your life and be generous. As the report discovered, “Behaving generously can increase happiness – but this effect is not inevitable. Specifically, people are more likely to derive joy from helping others when:

4. Spend less time on the phone & on social networks. Schedule some “off” time and exchange it with quality face-to-face socialising: “The large amount of time adolescents spend interacting on electronic devices may have direct links to unhappiness and/or may have displaced time once spent on more beneficial activities, leading to declines in happiness. Thus, the fundamental shift in how adolescents spend their leisure time may explain the marked decline in adolescent well-being after 2011.”

These are some general concepts which should improve overall happiness level. But there is more than one path to happiness. Each happy country is happy in its own way. So let’s learn their secrets of happiness.

Long Weekend in Stockholm

Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is called the Venice of the North. (By the way, did you know that there are a several “Venices of the North”, including Amsterdam and Bruges?). The city of Stockholm is surrounded by water with 12 islands and 42 bridges. All these islands mean that you are never far from water wherever you go, which is nice. I would recommend visiting Stockholm in summer when you can sit outside next to the water, take a boat trip and enjoy very long evenings full of light. At this time, the locals are a lot happier, more friendly and outgoing. It’s also a better time to explore some of the main attractions, such as Skansen, the large outdoor museum of the world, or climb City Hall tower which is open in summer from May onwards.

I visited Stockholm in April. It was sunny, but around 0. April weather is rather unpredictable in Sweden. It can be anything from 20°C+ to freezing cold.

I think one long weekend is enough to explore the main highlights of Stockholm. Here are my suggestions:

1. Thursday: early dinner, city walk, Fotografiska museum. If you arrive on Thursday afternoon, take an express train from the airport to the central station. It is only 20 min (but quite expensive, approx. USD30), then go to an early dinner (locals eat dinner very early, starting at 5:30pm) and then walk around the city and see the sunset from one of the many bridges. Later, (if you still have the energy) go to the photography museum (Fotografiska) which is open until 1am and is simply great (at least the exhibitions were when I was there. I loved the Jesper Waldersten exhibition. His photos are philosophical artworks more than mere photos and they really make you think. There was another famous celebrity photo exhibition of Alison Jackson “The truth is dead” where you can see pictures of the Queen of England cleaning a sink, having breakfast with her dogs, or all the royal family going to the hairdressers… It looked so real… crazy). This photography museum is located on Södermalm island which is famous for its cool bars and restaurants..

2. Friday: Gamla Stan, Nobel Prize Museum, smorgasbord for lunch, Vasa Museum, Technical Museum, traditional Swedish dinner. Walk around this very atmospheric island, checking small alleys lined with nice houses and shops. You’ll find the narrowest lane in Sweden there – Västerlanggatan which was once a pathway following the 13th century city wall, since demolished. Then visit the Nobel Prize Museum – Nobelmuseet – and take the free public tour –which is very interesting! Maybe you will be inspired to make a ground-breaking innovation and win the Nobel Prize! If you are a writer, it’s even more attractive as you don’t need to share your prize with anyone. 🙂 A nice place for lunch is in the Veranda in the Grand Hotel with an amazing view and great smörgåsbord (you should try it at least one in Sweden). After lunch, either explore Central Stockholm and do some shopping (there are some really great design shops around 🙂 or go to the famous Vasa Museum – which houses an original 300-year-old ship which sank after 30 minutes on its maiden voyage (it was too narrow and top-heavy). The ship is really beautiful with amazing wooden decorations! It is also huge: 68m long and 11.5m high. It sank in Stockholm harbour in August 1628 and was salvaged 333 years later in 1961). Alternatively, you can visit the Technical Museum (approx. 20 min nice walk from Vasa next to the water) which hosts an impressive futuristic exhibition on augmented intelligence. There you can try to paint with your eyes or move a ball with your thoughts! I am sure that after such an intensive programme you are ready for a big dinner. You should definitely try Swedish meatballs. One of the places where you can try it in a traditional atmosphere is Prinsen restaurant in Central Stockholm.

3. Saturday/Sunday: boat tour to Utö or Skansen (or Nordiska Museet). Next day you can do a boat tour to Utö to get a taste of the Stockholm Archipelago. (I did not do this as it was too cold in April) or visit an open air museum – Skansen, or go to Nordiska Museet (a huge museum on Swedish culture, art and daily life next to the Vasa Museum).

Some more travel tips:

Enjoy Stockholm 🙂 Hopefully the weather will be great for you!

Happiness lessons from Finland

Finland is the happiest country in the world in 2019, for the second year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2019/. What is even more interesting is that the happiness level of Finland has steadily increased over the last years, again according to World Happiness Report: “The annual data for Finland have continued their modest but steady upward trend since 2014, thereby putting Finland significantly ahead of other countries in the top ten”. The Finns also took many other number-one spots in different ratings: most stable, the freest and the safest country. This is quite impressive for such a young country (Finland declared independence from Russia in 1917). Thinking about it, I saw a lot of similarities, but also some clear differences, from the Russian culture. Not being afraid of sufferance, and even enjoying it and stoically meeting and overcoming any obstacles that life brings are some of the features that Finns share with their neighbouring Russians (which to some extent is influenced by their harsh climates). But Finns are also very different from Russians in a lot of ways. This may explain why Finns enjoy the number 1 spot in most of the ratings, whereas Russians general occupy much lower positions.

So what makes Finns happy, living in a country with one of the most brutal climates on the planet? For several months of the year they live mostly in darkness with temperatures below minus 30°C

There are several economic and political reasons for Finnish happiness (similar to other Scandinavian countries), including:

But there are also some country-specific happiness reasons which we can learn from the Finns and apply to our everyday life.

Here are my happiness lessons learnt from Finland:

1. Connect with the nature: Finns love nature and spend a lot of time outdoors, pursuing different sports and outdoor activities, like fishing, berry and mushroom picking, cross-country skiing, canoeing on the lakes, hiking, etc. Almost every Finn has a summer cottage (which can be a very basic log cabin with water taken from a well. They are very cosy inside with a fireplace, and of course a sauna next to the house. :-). These wooden cottages are typically located in the middle of an idyllic landscape, next to a lake and forest, and the Finns spend a lot of time there during the summer.

2. Healthy, natural food, locally sourced: Finnish food is rather heavy (especially in winter, due to the cold climate) but very tasty and natural. Their diet includes a lot of reindeer dishes. My favourite is reindeer stew with cranberry jam and mashed potatoes. On the menu is, of course, salmon and other fish, including cray fish in summer, as well as a lot of great berries (like cloudberry, blueberry, cranberry, raspberry, etc.) and mushrooms – gifts from the forests.

3. Live in the moment: Finns don’t think too much about tomorrow. They live for today and make plans as they go. This is particularly applicable in the north of the country, Lapland, where the harsh climate dictates the plans of the day. For example, if there is a snowstorm tomorrow, all your plans would change anyway, so see how the weather is first and then plan your day. Also they know how to be flexible and embrace change.

4. Learn and develop different skills; have multiple skills  (as opposed to one specialisation), and do what you enjoy. Finns can be IT developers at the same time as hiking guides, singers, farmers and carpenters. They develop all kind of talents, pursue activities they enjoy, and they are not afraid to fail. As you can clearly read in my post on the overall happiness concept, freedom to make life choices is one of the most important contributions to happiness (read that post here).

5. Stay childlike, playful, creative and a little crazy!  Finns are always doing weird and crazy things, such as playing football in a swamp, ice-fishing competitions in summer, etc.

6. Be strong, don’t give up whatever the obstacle (Sisu concept): A strange thing that the Finnish people sometimes indulge in, is the “enjoyment of misery” (this point was mentioned several times by different Finns I met). They are gloomy and melancholic but, in a strange way, they like it. At first glance, you might see this when visiting the country. Some Finns argue that this less than joyful look and attitude actually contributes to their own higher personal happiness. As happiness is a relative thing, if you look around and see everyone else is gloomy and sad, you perceive yourself to be happier by comparison. This makes feeling happy a lot easier than the reverse, according to the Finns.

“Hardship” is seen as a part of life. Finns are used to it and, hence, they don’t give up when faced with the task at hand. It also makes them very strong and stoic in whatever they do. Sisu is a Finnish concept described as “stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness” (Wikipedia). This allowed the Finnish army of 350,000 soldiers to defeat the million-strong Soviet army in 1939-40. It allowed them to survive famines and in general to be able to live in such a brutal climate. Sometimes it goes even further. Finns create obstacles for themselves by finding the most challenging way to do things and enjoy (or think they are enjoying) a life of constant fighting. I met Finns who were obsessed with constantly seeking out new obstacles: climbing 7 summits (highest mountains on each continent); moving around to live in 25 countries; going around the world on a sailboat; doing the longest hikes in the minimum time possible, etc. I’m not sure how healthy this is – as we know, everything is good in moderation 🙂

In any case, the Sisu concept is definitely the main national feature, which is shared by almost all Finns independent of gender. The Finns are tough. 🙂

7. Warm up and relax in a sauna: Saunas have an almost holy status for Finns. There are more than 2 million saunas in Finland (in a country of 5.5m people)! It’s the place where they bath, warm up, relax, socialize, drink and even eat – they sometimes grill sausages on the sauna stones!. Sauna rules: usually gender separated. Take a shower before entering naked, then jump into the lake water or snow to cool down. I was not a fan of the sauna before visiting Finland but I grew to love it, especially after an entire day of cross-country skiing in the cold weather – it feels great to warm up (Finnish saunas are very hot and they add water to the stones to make it even hotter). After sweating, you jump into the snow (yeah, I did it 🙂 and feel like you were born anew. It’s said to help relax your muscles and prepare for the next day of cross-country skiing. In a real traditional sauna, there is no running water but buckets of water in the middle for you to wash yourself with.

8. Enjoy the simple pleasures of life: Finns are the masters of this. Again, there is a strong link to nature here. Learn to enjoy going out before breakfast to pick wild blueberries next to the hut and put them in your porridge. Or pick mushrooms or go fishing and catch your own dinner, or simply enjoy the sunset on the lake from your summer cottage.

9. Have more time for yourself. Finns actually enjoy being alone. They are not as sociable as their other Nordic neighbours. One of the important factors when choosing a house or summer cottage is “to have no people or neighbours within a radius of several kilometres” from your house.

10. Pamper yourself with a cup of coffee and dessert. Finland is the country with the highest consumption of coffee in the world. Coffee is a staple, as necessary as oxygen. Coffee usually comes with some delicious sweet treats, such as cinnamon rolls or blueberry cakes. Very ‘hyggeligt’. 🙂

Bhutan: “Where success is measured by happiness”

Bhutan is a very special place. I think it’s the country which could have the highest impact on your happiness level, if you are open to it. Here the spirituality is everywhere. Bhutan is calming you, slowing you down. It makes you feel happy and blessed. You feel thankful for all moments in your life. It‘s definitely a country to visit and revisit, not only for the beautiful temples and amazing nature but also (and more importantly) for this spiritual, spellbinding touch.

In 1972, the Fourth Dragon King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, made a revolutionary statement: “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product.” This was a completely new way to measure a nation’s well-being. The Bhutanese government believes that the Gross National Happiness (GNH) index more accurately and profoundly reports the overall well-being of the nation than other methods. It also gives food for thought to leaders of many other nations. In 2011, the Secretary General of the United Nations urged other UN member nations to follow the example of Bhutan and measure the happiness and well-being of their nations.

So what are the main happiness lessons that we can learn from Bhutan:

1. Overall rule: Be more relaxed about life, enjoy it, be nice to everyone – and dance! The dance part is very important. Everybody dances all the time in Bhutan, even kings mix with the ordinary people and dance!

2. Have a mentor/teacher (not only in work relations but also in life) – “Nobody can obtain enlightenment without a good teacher”.

3. Don’t just document things (Instagram, blog, photos) – experience it. Live in the present moment.

4. Believe in fairy tales, in magic. Be a little naïve, like a child. There are so many fairy tales in Bhutan and people truly believe in things like dragons, flying tigers, etc. It’s amazing when you hear a grown-up man telling you a story about dragons with a serious face.

5. Be more compassionate

6. Respect and love nature. Bhutanese people believe that all animals are their brothers and sisters; children or parents in another lifetime, so you need to take care of them.

7. Prioritise happiness over money Choose joyful experiences over buying and accumulating even more “stuff” which you don’t need anyway.

8. Remember there is no way to happiness; happiness is the way.

I really like some of the quotes on mindfulness, compassion and happiness which I learnt during my trip to Bhutan. Some are taken from the books I read and some from the people I met. People in Bhutan really live by these rules:

Bhutan is a very special and magical place, but you need to be open for it. You need to be receptive to all these fairy tales, beliefs and values. If you are, I can promise you, you will leave Bhutan changed for the better: calmer, more spiritual, more compassionate, and more loving, I guess.

Happiness lessons from Thailand

Thailand is one of the most visited countries in the world. People from all over the world go there to enjoy… They go to eat well, to get some sun, spending relaxing days on the beach. They go because it’s a dive haven and has spectacular events like the Festival of Lights…and some go to indulge some less innocent activities. Enjoying and having fun are the key words. It also matches the overall Thai philosophy: don’t think too much, relax, enjoy and have fun.

Despite this strong focus on enjoying and being happy, Thailand is not that happy. It dropped six spots to rank No. 52 of the 156 countries studied in the World Happiness Report 2019. It’s the lowest ranking held by the kingdom since it debuted at No. 18 when the annual report launched in 2012. This is despite the government’s motto for five years was “returning the happiness”. The main reasons for this drop in happiness were mostly political and structural, like a very high level of perceived corruption in the public and private sectors. Cultural happiness foundation is still solid. Moreover, Thailand is still the second happiest country among ASEAN nations, following Singapore at No. 34.

So what can we learn from this Land of Smiles in terms of happiness?

Happiness lessons from Sweden

Sweden is ranked number 7 in the World Happiness Report (2019), which is below all other Scandinavian countries, but still in the world’s top 10.

Sweden shares the “happy” characteristics of other Nordic countries, such as ability of the Nordic model to create a framework for ‘the good life’; a safety net that creates security, free education, and a sensible balance of work and leisure time that allows people to enjoy both their work and their family life.

Are all Swedes happy? Of course not. Actually, more people are defined as suffering or struggling in Sweden than in the rest of the Nordic countries. There is a good report on “Unhappiness in Nordic Region” (In the Shadow of Happiness) http://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1236906/FULLTEXT02.pdf, which shows that there are more people who are struggling (10.3%) or suffering (4.6%) in Sweden than in the rest of Nordic countries. These numbers are even higher for Swedish young women: 6.5% of women in the age of 16-24 report to be suffering and 13% are struggling. Adding these two figures gives 19.5% – almost 1 in 5 young women.

The report does not state clear reasons why young women are particularly unhappy, it just makes an assumption that it might be linked to depression and other mental health problems (I guess, possibly linked to the cold weather and long period of darkness). In general, the study has identified top five reasons for unhappiness throughout the region, which are: poor general health, poor mental health, income inequality, unemployment and limited social contact. Still Nordic countries (including Sweden) are doing much better than the rest of the world. So while 3.9% of people in the Nordic region may report scores so low they are classed as “suffering”, that level is as high as 26.9% in Russia and 17% in France.

I will not go into more detail about why Sweden is a bit less happy, according to the rating, than other Nordic countries. One reason might be the weak Swedish Krona (the worst performing major currency according to Bloomberg): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-19/sweden-s-krona-slumps-most-in-eight-months-after-inflation-slows, Sweden’s economic performance or simply their “Lagom” culture (see below for more details) which does not allow Swedes to boast about their happiness levels in general, are all factors that could be part of this lesser rating. In any case, Sweden is still the number 7 on the World Happiness Index (and even higher in some other reports, like OECD’s Better Life Index). When I asked locals during my visit, most of them described themselves as relatively happy (never exaggerating) 🙂
At that particular time, the two main things on the “happiness improvement” wish list were:

Here are my happiness lessons learnt from Sweden:

I have never been to Thailand before, which is a rather weird thing nowadays even for people who don’t travel a lot. That is actually the reason why I never wanted to go to Thailand!

For me it’s too much mass tourism… at least looking from the outside. And my expectation was largely confirmed. Overcrowding is a big problem in Thailand. Thailand saw a record 38.27m tourists in 2018. Based on its trends analysis, the Ministry of Tourism has forecast that 41.1 million people will visit Thailand in 2019, and they will spend over USD 70 billion during their stays. Direct receipts from tourism contribute about 12% to Thailand’s gross domestic product, and indirect revenues push the figure closer to 20%. This huge growth in mass tourism leads to many problems, such as overcrowding of major cities, sights and beaches not to mention pollution and overfishing… Fortunately, the Thai government started some initiatives to encourage sustainable tourism.

There are also positive sides to this strong tourism focus: 1. Accommodation is plentiful and usually of good quality, 2. Transport is easy to use and efficient, 3. It’s very easy to plan and arrange your visit. And when you get off the main tourist attractions it becomes much less crowded (but you’re never completely wild and lost).

What not to do the next time:

Other than that, I would not change a thing. It was very intensive time for me there – no relaxing days and too many activities – but I did everything I wanted and I absolutely loved it. 🙂

Four days in Bangkok:

First impression: Bangkok is hot and humid, big and crowded. As said, it is the most visited city in the world! After some time it grew on me for this big city feel, cool design shops and cafes/restaurants, relaxing massages, and energetic vibes. I would not want to live there or come back, staying four days is more than enough. It’s good to use as a hub when traveling or for a 1-2 day stay on the way somewhere else for a good meal, some shopping and relaxing Thai massages.

Shopping in Bangkok:

Massages:

Accommodation:

Food in Bangkok:

I prefer to eat in the restaurants and not on the markets as it’s priced almost the same but you get to sit down, have a good drink, wash your hands, etc.

Give it a miss:

My four-day program in Bangkok:

Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand

I think one does not need more than 3 days in Chiang Mai:

Day 1: sustainable elephant experience.

Day 2: a good all day cooking class.

Day 3: temples, city and museums.

You might need a bit more time if you (like me) are coming during the Festival of Light – this is an amazing experience. Actually, all of the festival activities take place in the evening so three days would be enough in any case.

General tips regarding Chiang Mai:

My overall tip: I am not a person who is going somewhere without any plan and then decides spontaneously what to do when I’m there. Why? Because I don’t want to lose time on organizing the things and stressing about it while I am on vacation. A little thing – yes, but accommodation and key/whole day activities are better to pre-book in advance in my opinion. That way you can enjoy your experiences and relax while you’re there. I went against my own principle this time and I ended up spending 3 hours to book the elephant park tour and 2 hours to book my cooking course (I needed to call 10 different places as everything was booked out). All of these are definitely must do activities in Chiang Mai. Though it might not be a problem normally, but during the festival of lights it was very difficult and therefore I recommend booking in advance!

Elephant experience: I found Baanchang Elephant Park. I called them and they told me that they have an “elephant friend day” program where only three people were registered (that turned out to be a Chinese family). There were 17 people that same day at Elephant Care day (in the same park), as you have 1 hour more with the elephants and don‘t spend this hour at the Elephant poo paper factory (yes, you read correctly). I actually found the poo paper factory quite interesting and you get to create your own paper products – I ended up spending too much time there. The silver lining in booking at the last moment is that you can choose the park and activity that is less crowded (as you know how many people attend).

Day 1 – arrival, visiting some temples and enjoying the pre-opening of the Festival of Lights:

First day (afternoon, after spending 3 hours booking elephant experience for the next day) I went to the temple Wat Chedi Lueng – an amazing temple, especially at sunset. There I met a Chinese girl who told me that the Festival of Light would begin that evening of the 21 November 2018 (I thought it would start the next day) – we ended up going there together. It had not really begun yet and it turned out to be more of a pre-opening. With its nice temples, lanterns, river with krathongs and still only a few people around (the next two days there would be crazy crowded), it turned out to be quite a nice experience. The opening ceremony at Thapae Gate was boring so we went to eat some fish at a very simple but very good restaurant, “Lert Ros”. Even though it had a long queue and was full of smoke inside, “Lert Ros” was an excellent Lonely Planet tip. After dinner, we walked to Nawarat Bridge and saw the first krathongs (flowers with candles) in the river. They are put on the water to fend off bad luck and although the tradition is only to do this during the two days of the festival, the Thai people worship rivers in general – rivers are seen as blood veins of their goddess. Later we went to a night market, called the Night Baazar, with live music. It was very cool and I ended up spending the next evening there too. This was a cool day!

Day 2: Elephant Park and Festival of Lights in the evening

On the 22 November 2018, I was picked up at the hotel at 8:30am to go to Baanchang Elephant Park. It was priced 2200 baht (approx. USD 70) for the full day, which I found more than reasonable considering I was almost 1 to 1 with elephants. You can find deals as low as 1500 baht but don‘t book with the hostel as they recommended the mass tourism options – cheap but not good (very bad people to elephant ratio)! We stopped in the poo paper factory, and then went to the park. I got to feed the elephants with bananas. I walked with them, held one on a leash, and washed them afterwards – you need to go into a dirty water, which is not the most hygienic (of course you don’t have to do it) but it was fun, anyway. We also saw five mom-elephants and their babies and as cute as they were, I preferred to be in the nature with the two elephants and not to see babies in cages. But it was a really cool experience overall! I was happy with my choice of park and I would definitely recommend it. With just one Chinese family joining me (who was afraid of the elephants), I had 2 elephants almost to myself.
I arrived back at the hostel at 4pm where I took a shower, changed clothing and went to the city. That night the Festival of Lights was open and there were a looooot of people there. But it was a great experience! Especially to see people sending lanterns into the air: this tradition actually belongs to another festival Yee Peng but this year these two festivals collided (on the last full moon of Thai lunar year). True to the tradition and with the help of two local boys, I sent a lantern into the air. It was fun. Afterwards, I went to the river, packed with people sending their beautiful krathons downriver. I finished the day at the Night market Bazaar where I had great Gyozas (12 pieces) and wine! This was enjoyed with two American girls sitting next to me.

Day 3: Visiting the temples of Chiang Mai and the Festival of Lights in the evening
I woke up late and tried to book a cooking course in the morning and I didn’t leave the hotel until noon. I had my coffee at Rist8etto. Great coffee but they have nothing to eat except waffles. Then I went to the old town, as I needed to pay for the cooking class, where I had gotten the last spot. Afterwards, I went to see if I could get a table at a place called “Hideout” (which is famous for their breakfast), but it was full so I went to a “Cat café” which was ok. The remainder of the afternoon I explored temples and museums (was ok but not so interesting.) That evening I ate a roasted pork leg (2 portions with stir-fried vegetables called “morning glory”) at yet another night market next to the old city entry at a famous Cowboy Hat Lady stand. It was very good food. Later that day, I went to see the parade (not so exciting and never ending). When I reached the river, I bought a very nice Krathong and put it on the water. This was a nice experience. I ended that day eating fruits at Nimman corner, not so far from my hotel.

Day 4: Cooking course
After nice waffles for breakfast at my hotel, I was picked up and taken to the cooking class. It turned out to be much better than expected. The people there were nice, the food was tasty and I actually learnt something. I made green curry, Thai pad noodles, stir fried with vegetables and bananas in coconut milk. Yummy!
Before the cooking course, they took us to a local market and showed us the products. This was where I tasted my first Durian! It’s a smelly fruit with a creamy texture and a sweet taste. It’s not bad but I don’t want to repeat the experience.

I was back at my hotel at 4pm and went for a walk in the neighbourhood. The area is nice with cool shops (though I did not buy anything), nice bars and restaurants. More of an expat area.
I did all must-dos in Chiang Mai. It might make sense to go to Pai (everybody says it much more relaxed and cool than Chiang Mai) and to do some hiking there. But I am not sure I want to come back to the area – a bit too touristy for me.

THAI ISLANDS:
  – Tip: don’t buy a ticket to the boat before going to the pier (especially when it’s not in absolute high season) – go to the pier and buy it there. You can then choose the boat and the price. I could have gotten a speedboat from Phuket to Koh Lanta that takes an hour and 20 minutes; instead I ended up with a boat that took 2 hours to Koh Phi Phi, after 1-hour wait, another hour to Koh Lanta – really bad and for a 1000 baht (30 USD). The Speedboat costs 2000baht… I could have gotten the same ticket (to Koh Phi Phi and then Koh Lanta for 600 baht instead of 1000!) So just check the schedule, go early enough (30-40 min before) and buy everything there.

KOH LANTA:

Very nice and much less touristy Thai island where I learned to dive.

Next places to go diving (tips from a diving instructor):

This was an amazing and very diverse trip with a lot of nice temples, great food, excellent massages, beautiful beaches, learning diving and cooking. Despite the ‘touristy feel’ and the massive crowds, I might come back to Thailand one day…

To do a cross-country skiing tour from hut to hut in a fairytale landscape of Lapland has always been a dream of mine. Despite minus 25°C temperatures, cold wind and rather basic conditions, I fell in love with this country: its very friendly people, great food, beautiful nature, amazing light, superb saunas and, of course, these amazing Northern lights.

Ideas for what to buy in Lapland:

“I left Bhutan on an almost empty plane, but with a head and heart full of good experiences and memories”.

After a breathtaking flight with dramatic views of Mt. Everest, Mt. Kanchenjunga, the Annapurna range and Mt. Gangkhar Puensum (which is the highest, unclimbed mountain in the world soaring to almost 7,570 metres), I landed in the special and magical country of Bhutan.

Paro airport is considered one of the most hazardous in the world because of the short airstrip, but I did not notice it. Bhutan is often compared to Shangri-La (a fictional paradise country) as it has all the characteristics of it. It is hard to reach; it has a mystical, fairy-tale feeling with the comforts of modern life. It’s a country where reality and fantasy live side by side, and sometimes they are indistinguishable. Adults fully believe in fairy tales and it’s contagious. I started to believe in them too, after a while. Read more about it in my blog post “Happiness lessons from Bhutan”

Bhutan’s history and key facts: The history of this geographically isolated country is said to begin in the 7th century when the spiritual leader, Guru Rinpoche – Precious Master (by the end of the trip you will know all his 8 names by heart) :), flew from Tibet across the Himalayas on the back of a flaming tigress (his wife, actually). He arrived in Paro Valley at Tiger’s Nest (the most famous temple in Bhutan), which is also known as Paro Taktsang or the Temple of the Guru with Eight Names. At Tiger’s Nest, he conquered the local demon, Singye Samdrup, who was standing in the way of the spread of Buddhism. Although Bhutan’s early history is steeped in Buddhist folklore and mythology, Guru Rinpoche was a historical 8th century Buddhist master (also called the second Buddha) whose birth was predicted by Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha.

Bhutan is a small, landlocked country with an area of roughly 38,364 square kilometres and a population of 750,000. It is bordered on the north and east by Tibet and on the south, west and east by India. The Wangchuck hereditary monarchy has wielded power since 1907. However, Bhutan became a two-party parliamentary democracy after elections in March 2008.

Overall impressions:

Bhutanese food:

Shopping:

What to buy: