Originally, we didn't really expect much of Bangkok. A tourist trap, they said. The north of Thailand is beautiful, the south is one big party, and the capital in between was supposed to be crowded, expensive, and overrated. That's what we thought anyway, until we met Olli in Cambodia, a friendly guy from Berlin, with 23 years of Thailand holiday experience. He persuaded us to prolong our planned stay of one night in Bangkok (yeah, we had that song stuck in our head for days) for another night. In the end, we are now leaving after four nights in this bustling city. And probably will return for more.

Bangkok is the most visited city worldwide, before London and Paris. And one can see why. With Olli as our private tour guide for the past days, we explored colourful markets, shiny malls rivalling those we encountered in China, tasty street food, abandoned airplanes, and used every mode of transport this city has to offer, from Tuktuk to water taxi. And all topped up with the everlasting smile of the local population.

The city is changing fast, and the amount of skyscrapers overtowering each other is quite a sight. The Central District is practically one big mall, with a skywalk promenade lifting pedestrians up from the noisy streets, but still walking below the skytrains, which supplement the growing subway network. But all this shiny modernity still leaves enough space for little booths and stalls selling all kind of delicious treats like mango sticky rice or tourist kitsch nobody needs.

We welcomed this modern feel of a city, with traffic actually adhering to the rules (most of the times), and 7-11 corner shops and English speaking waiters. The area of our Airbnb apartment a little out of the way of the touristy bits proved to be a calm neighborhood, with a little market nearby catering to our daily needs of iced coffee and mango smoothies.

We kind of gave up to get the grip of the city for ourselves - and explored the Bangkok Olli showed us. We left out quite a bit, like the momentous temples and the many museums. Sometimes you have to keep some for next time.

Instead we learned haggling on Chatuchak Weekend Market, gazed at the hundreds of joggers in Lumphini Park (all standing still for the 6pm anthem), enjoyed the views of a rooftop bar on the 38th floor, were riddled at the airplane graveyard in the middle of the city, and enjoyed mussels in a streetside restaurant populated only by locals. Plus countless little adventures in little alleyway markets and just sitting around, enjoying the bustling city life.

All definitely worth staying more than one night. Thanks Olli.