Summary

In the last three month I travelled around 39.892 km, 27.245 km of them by airplane, the rest in buses and boats.

 I have seen many different tribes and communities, living in 4 different countries. I learned about their daily life and their history. I crossed 9 times country boarders.

I have seen beautiful nature and very different nature, sometimes destroyed. I tasted a lot of new and very different tastes. I always had to find something I wanted to eat. I could just twice cook by my own.

I met people. A lot of different people. I made new friends.

I made my diving licence.

I spend around 4.101,75 Euro.

Most of all: I could finally get an impression of Asia and I got a bit wiser again by making all the experiences I made. Thank you for sharing.

My highlights:

The laid back Thai islands, the nature and originality in Lao, the people in Cambodia, Mumbai, Taj, Angkor, Vientiane, Phnom Penh and of course the paradise on Koh Rong.

Phnom Penh and beautiful islands

27.06.2014

As we arrived in Phnom Penh I was surprised. After Vientiane I expected some French architecture and something’s the Cambodian’s built up again after the Red Khmer. But I found myself in a modern metropolitan city. After our stuff was stored in a room we walked around and I soon decided to change my plan to leave the next day – I wanted to have a night out in this pulsating city. I talked to 3 English boys in the evening to share a Tuk-Tuk to the killing fields the next morning. As I have been super tired I just quickly talked to my beloved ‘full moon team’ and went to bed. In the morning of the 13^th we 4 left to the historical place near Phnom Penh known as the ‘killing fields’. It is exactly that. 

Jungle, Vampires and an old elephant

12.06.2014
Again in the early morning on the 9th of June I had to take my next bus to Sen Monorom. So I left my homestay without breakfast and took the small boat. Of course the bus was not leaving in time. I had to sit and wait for 1,5 hours and then the public bus was slow as usual. So I arrived quite late. But as Julie recommended me a place, there was no stress. A Spanish girl from the bus, Lorea, was staying there as well. We decided to do a 2 day jungle trek with elephant riding on the next morning. To stay in the Mondulkiri area was already quite an adventure. The dorm bungalow and the entire hostel was full of hairy grubs and other strange insects. In the night I could get a first impression of the monsoon, as it was raining and storming all night. The sound under the metal roof has been strong, as there seemed to be a tree over the roof, which is losing heavy fruits from time to time. I couldn`t believe my eyes the next morning, as I saw that no branch was hanging over the bungalow. Creepy. What a good start for a jungle tour. 

First stop in Cambodia

Sundown at the Mekong from the Koh Trong island at the 8th.
I arrived around 10 am in Kratie. I left my bags at a bus ticket counter and start to walk to see the Wat Serey and find out some information - how to get to the next city at my list and how to see the Irrawaddy dolphines and what else there is to do. First the bus to Sen Monorom is just leaving 7am. So I asked two guys on the street where they stay. They recommended the homestay on the Koh Trong island. So I first found the cheapest way to see the Irrawaddy´s in a hostel in my guide I found two germans who wanted to do the tour as well. For 4$ each we got a Tuk Tuk to Kampi. There a boat drove us for 7 $ each out on the Mekong. First not a lot was happening, but after a while a lot of dolphines showed up and even start to jump around. After the Tuk Tuk brought us to the Phanom Sambok temple. 

 

The Kong Lor story

08.06.2014
I'm in a bus to Kratie from Stung Tren. That the public bus is the same price like a tourist van and the fact that I got a different bus, tells me about the way tourists get treated here. As we crossed the boarder from Lao to Cambodia yesterday we already had trouble with the agency, cause they lied about the journey. So for a 2 hour drive it took us from 9 am till 2 pm. As I arrived in Strung Tren I got some Dollars to be able to buy some things. The change you get back is given in Riel. In the town was a big market with a lot new food. For dinner I got an Cambodian Papayasalad at the Mekong riverside to watch the sunset. But with the monsoon time all I could see was some light between clouds and lightning. The first night in a room alone without my boys was weird again. But I was so tired that I just felt a sleep. After seeing the farmers life in Lao, the history of Cambodia's Red Khmer regime is fascinating me and I found a German book in my hostel 'Der weite Weg der Hoffnung' (First they killed my father) which I can't stop to read.
But of course you want to know what happened in between and especially the cave story... Well I know that you want to know. So here is how another plan of us just worked out perfectly:

A new plan in Phonsavan

06.06.2014

So we arrived on the 31th in Phonsavan, a triste and quite boring city. We found a nice bungalow for us 3 form a nice and as we found out later that night wasted Lao dude. I told Lüder some days ago about my plan to get a scooter and drive into the mountain range to Xam Neua to watch some bomb caves in Vieng Xai from the Vietnam war. He and Lucas liked the idea so we planned that the 243 km should be possible at one day with 30 km/h on a scooter. We could make a small BBQ at the hostel and made the final plan. Good Germans as we are we fulfilled the plan the next morning. We rented two scooters, bought some lunch and left with cloth for 3 days. First we watched the around 7 km far away Plain of Jars side 1 & 2.

French baguette and Beerlao

03.06.2014

I crossed the boarder at the friendship bridge. Easy and fast I could get my Visa on arrival. As the bus arrived in Vientiane I searched for a place to stay and quickly found one, as there where many on the main street. As usual I wanted to see the town by walking, but as I started I saw some chilled bicycles for rent. As the town had many one ways the traffic was not as crazy as usual. Happy I rode my bike to the presidential Palace, the Wat Ong Teu, the Wat Hai Sok and Wat Mixai. After I went to the beautiful Patuxai.

 

In the evening I went to a Lao Massage and the nice night market at the Mekong river side. The perfect day ended for me with a Beerlao. Next morning I went for a run at the Mekong and drove with my bike to the bus station. There I took a bus to the Buddha Park (Xiang Khouang), where a monk 1969 started to build different Buddha statues.

On the way to Lao

26.05.2014

As I arrived in Bangkok I could wash all the dirt of India out oft my cloth and have a long shower at Maurice's. I wanted to leave Bangkok in the same night, but I was just too done. So on Saturday morning I finally went to the weekend market, which might be the best thing in Bangkok.

As I couldn't carry more I let some of the things at Mauric`s and went to the northern bus terminal to take a night bus to Khon Kaen. For those interested: I couldn't feel a lot of the situation in Bangkok. Only things I recognized: You shouldn't be outside your house after 10pm suggested by the military. There is a lot of military everywhere. And in the TV there is just one picture on every channel.

 

I arrived in Khon Kaen around 3:30 am on the 25th and tried to sleep at the bus station. Around 6 am I left to see the town. Almost everything was closed and I had an embarrassing and annoying moment with an old Thai guy, so I left with the bus at 8 am to Vientiane.

Top 3 injuries so far...

I really don´t know why, but since I entered Thailand I got the "funniest" injuries so far in my life. Just to give you a little overview:
Place 3:
The broken toe

I just hid it against a chair... After a Thai massage it stopped hurting :D But it is still broke I can tell by touching.

Place 2:
Smashed finger nail

I wanted to close a wooden door, but not totally. The door wanted... Result after 5 weeks.

Place 3:
The Indian alien
Stadium one:

Stadium two:

Mumbai and Bye incredible India

23.05.2014

It is 1:20 am. I just had a water in a glass. I'm waiting for my Bloody Mary. The chair I'm sitting in is super soft and comfortable and I can stretch my legs completely. The next thing you won't believe me, cause I can hardly believe it myself: I'm sitting in an air plain Business Class. After 3 weeks in India.

What I'm facing is an unsure situation after my arrival in Bangkok. The plan is to do laundry, get a Thai Tea and a Thai Massage and leave the city within a day.

I'm looking back on 3 crazy week I could not even realize by myself yet. But let me start with how I spend my last days in India.

Palolem Beach

20.05.2014
We had to spend the night in Mangalore and happily found a train for the morning to Canacona, next to Palolem Beach. As we arrived in the little town around Palolem Beach, we have been the happiest people alive. Cheap Western Food, 3 Beer for 100 and WIFI in a chilled place to sit. The 'buy 3 cocktails get one free' was just the topping. 

To find a place to stay was suddenly not that important anymore. And sometimes you just have a run. So that day we had one: The owner of the restaurant had a hostel too. Easy, nice, cheap! We just put our backpackers in the room and went to the beautiful beach. After a shower and some shopping a delicious dinner and the good drinking offers waited for us. Very happy again I felt a sleep that night. The nest two days, 16th and 17th, we spend with shopping, chill'n on the beach, eating good and cheap food and drinking cheap alcohol. At out last night we met 3 guys from Bangalore. 

Wayanad

14.05.2014

After I was giving myself a day off yesterday, I could find some strength back. I went for a cake and tea for breakfast after a shower. I could do a picture for my applications. I kept a tomato soup and 3 slices of toast bread for lunch some hours in my stomach. And I could talk to my family, after some days without a connection. In the evening I felt very tired but happy a sleep. The night was very short as I couldn´t sleep well and we left for a little safari to the Wayanad national park at 5:30am. From the Jeep we could see a lot of roe, some monkeys, birds and a giant squirrel. We couldn´t manage to see some Asian elephants in the park. 

But on the way to a quite unspectacularly island where some bamboo is growing, right next to the street an elephant bull was eating some bushes. So the safari ended successful even if I have to say that it was no compare to a safari in Africa. 

After a quick lunch we left with the bus back to Calicut. From there we took a train to Mangalore to make our way to Goa.

Facing the border...

12.05.2014

India brought me to a border. Mostly a physical one. But that brought me to a psychical one. I couldn´t speak to my family and friends for some time. Even if we all could relax on the boat, the trip had to change because the engine of the boat we should get for 22 hours broke. So we had to do the Munroe Island at first and separated. 

This just gave us a few quite hours in the evening on the houseboat. The food was excellent and we even got a beer. The beds seemed like heaven after a short, highly humid night with cockroaches in one of the crapiest places in Kollam. But get a wake cause the whole floor under me start to move by the engine of the boat and the noise of it gave this day a hard start. 

 

Rishikesh and the toilett

10.05.2014

India is so different… So different. It is hard to understand the people and culture. There are some very open and friendly people, all very interested in us with respect for Germany (I guess because of the economy). All tell us, that India is changing too, if I see all the children coming to me, smiling, asking me questions like where I come from and what I do in India. But there are so many people. I can not imagine the amount of Indian people. There are always people everywhere. They lay on the street, in the train and bus stations… simply everywhere. It just seems to be the most normal thing to lay next to cow, dog and human shit, all kind of rubbish and a smell, which I didn´t get used to even after a week, and rest or sleep.

For us it was a very hard time in Rishikesh and not like we imagined.

India

05.05.2014

I had a very soft start in the Indian way of life. Annika and Lukas gave me a driver from the airport to our hostel as my birthday present. So they have been waiting for me and I could just get in the air conditioned car. As well they booked a hostel of a bit higher category for us, in order to have a place to rest and feel comfortable. As we all have been very tired from the travel, we just sit in the room talking and went for some lunch later in our street. The 10 minutes walking in New Delhi have been already a lot for our brains. Smells (not the good once), colors, noises from everywhere, people wanting to sell you something, people staring at you… So in the evening we just had a beer on the terrace and informed us about the tour of the next day.

 

Bangkok - and bye Thailand

02.04.2014
Right now I'm sitting in an air plain to Delhi. I just enjoyed some Indian plane food and feel very exited about the food, people and landscape of the coming 3 weeks. I had to say goodbye to Luisa in the middle of the night to go to the airport. She will be leaving Bangkok tonight.
The last two days in Bangkok we did the usual sight seeing. Early in the morning on 30th we arrived and took a room near Khao San Road where we could check in right away and sleep for some hours. Around 10 am we left to make a temple tour. A really nice Thai gave us good tips and a really cheap Tuk-Tuk for a small tour to the Wat Intharawihan and Wat Monghut. So we just wanted to finish the round with the grand palace. But as it was a Buddhist holiday, it was closed for tourists. So we got a good Thai massage (for 180 Baht again) and went for some shopping to the MBK Centre. I could change my tablet, as Skype wasn't working right. Luisa got some electronic accessory and we left to enjoy the Khao San Road at night. On the way we watched some woman Thai boxing. In Khao San Road we could find our wanted shirts to be more like twins, but different. The next morning we could finally see the Grand Palace. It was crazy full, as on the park at the opposite of the street

Khao Sok national park

29.04.2014
In the morning of the 29th we took a bus from Krabi to Khao Sok national park. We arrived at Smiley Bungalow (if you are ever in Thailand, let someone pronounce the word smiley "Samaileeee" - to lovely) around 15 o'clock. For 300 Baht we took a very high bungalow. We checked our hood out, which was basically one road and went to bed early in order to start our trekking early the next morning. 

Koh Lanta

27.04.2014
We had to spend a night in a town close to the ferry as there was no boat going in the evening. Around 15 o'clock on the 25th we found a beautiful bungalow at Coconut Home in the Long Beach area. A lovely and very nice man rented us the cosy bungalow and a scooter. He made sure I can drive it alone first before sitting Luisa on the back. We went to see some shops and the night market at Saladan Town. As we heard about a snorkelling and diving trip to the Koh Haa national park, we decided to stay a night longer. So on the 26th we took our scooter and drove down the coast till the national park and saw Lanta Old Town on the east side of the island. 

 

After some studies for my two adventure dives we went to bed early as the pick up time was 7:25 am. We had such a good group and crew. We have been 9 people with 5 instructors. I had my own - Kev. Really cool guy from England. We had a lot of fun diving and he showed me some amazing fish, like the frog fish, a Giant Moray and a Sea Moth. I learned a lot about navigation and buoyancy from him and felt much safer and prepared after. Luisa made awesome pictures snorkelling. After the end of out trip, around 16 o'clock we took a mini bus to Krabi, in order to come closer to our next goal - the Kohao Sok national park. In Krabi we could enjoy the night market for some shopping and food.

Malaysia

24.04.2014 
More about the diving course: the theory was quite interesting and important. After half day in the pool we went for 2 dives a day in the ocean. Even if I was more focused on the exercise and to manage my equipment, I could enjoy the sea life in the bays of Koh Tao. We went to the Junkyard (a reef made by the diving school as a coral nursery) and to Mango Bay at 8-12 meter. The last day we dived down to 18 meter at Twins and White Rock. I was using my own mask and soon I realized that it is not a good one as I couldn't see anything after 2 minutes. I had to clear it all the dive and nearly lost my group. The last dive I had problems equalizing my left ear. After 10 minutes it "plobbed" and suddenly I could go down. I saw beautiful and fascinating fish. It is like flying but underwater. The sound, the view, the feeling... everything is so different. 

 

The people here ask Luisa and me a lot if we are twins. For them we look the same. When we tell them our age difference they can not close their mouth. In the moment we leave Malaysia with a ferry to Satun in Thailand. The people in Malaysia seemed to be a bit nicer to us and it was a bit more expensive in Malaysia compared to Thailand. I liked that we payed the same price for everything than local people and that nearly everyone spoke and understood English. As we arrived on Langkawi yesterday we found a nice and payable hostel with a really friendly stuff. After some shell collecting and the sunset at the beach we went for some food and shopping. We run into JP and Daniel and shared some beers at the beach. There are many places to enjoy a cold beer, but a beach might be the best one. Today I could make some laundry and collect more shells till we took the boat.

Open water diver

23.04.2014 
Long time no talk. Koh Tao got quite busy for me. The plan was to start a diving course at the 17th. But in the morning Luisa got an ear infection and the doctor said 3-5 days no water. We couldn't wait that long, so I did the course alone. 

 

I really love diving, but sadly we didn't saw more from Koh Tao, as I was tired in the evening it got dark soon after my lessons ended. After I can call myself an open water scuba diver we left Koh Tao with a night boat on the 20th to Penang in Malaysia to get myself a new stamp in my passport. We met two diving instructors on the way, who came for the same reason. We spend the days with them eating the delicious food in Georgetown and went to some shopping. Today in the morning we left the island to see the next island towards Thailand - Langkawi.