Blogs from Asia - page 15980

That's it, no one can say I haven't been to "real" India yet. Varanasi is Indian essence. Oh, I almost forgot - I'm back in India. It was quite strange to suddenly find myself in the States. At first I had quite a culture shock (I walked around supermarkets staring at everything in awe), but in some sense I found out it's less different than I thought (for instance this guy that sat next to me in a cafe asked me who my favorite guru is). I mainly walked around there and observed whatever happened around me, kind of like I do here. It seems that when you travel like that you find funny and strange and special things practically anywhere, even suburbia. And it turns out you can even find good old Indian logic right ... read more

Malaysia is an unheralded destination on the South East Asian backpackers trail, and definitely fits the description Truly Asia! I flew in from Sydney to land in Kuala Lumpur on the Peninsula Malaysia, kicking off a backpacker trip in the most populous part of the country. Only five million Malaysians out of the total population of twenty four million live in Borneo on the other side of the South China Sea. Kuala Lumpur is the very modern capital of this regional economic powerhouse, and I spent an enjoyable few days exploring the city, which included a brush with a conman straight out of the KL warning section in the Lonely Planet. This smooth talking, but very dodgy looking character started spinning me a line about having a daughter who lives in Sydney, and insisting I meet ... read more

It was our semestral break in school. Me and my school buddies decided to go to puerto galera to have some fun. We boarded JAM transit in pasay going to batangas pier. As Puerto Galera was not yet fully developed (not sure) at that time, there was no tourist around except for a couple whom we met while we were having lunch. the place was very nice and actually almost paradise. am looking forward to visit galera again. "Puerto Galera is a coastal town well known among tourists coming to the Philippines for its numerous beaches ad many snorkeling and dive spots. The marine environment has benefited in recent years from the influx of tourist dollars. This has seen a huge reduction in the number of fishermen in the area, as they gain higher revenue from ... read more

DAY 24 - SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER I caught the train to the airport for my 12.20 flight to London, arriving at Heathrow at 1pm local time. At 3.25pm caught the connecting flight to Hong Kong, a lovely 12 hour flight. It wasn?t much of a day as Hong Kong is 7 hours ahead of London. I had learned my lesson from Auckland-LA and Toronto-Dublin, so I took a sleeping pill. Zzzzzzzzzzz. DAY 25 - MONDAY 13 SEPTEMBER Awoke feeling very refreshed. Touched down at Hong Kong airport at approximately 10.30am, my first time in Hong Kong and the beginning of the third stage of my trip, the Asia leg. Caught the Airport Express to Central Station and rang Patrick Nihan, who I was staying with. Patrick, 27, looks and sounds like a yank but has an ... read more

(For you english folks: This stuff is from 1999/2000 and has been written in German only...sorry guys) Habe doch tatsaechlich meine Reiseberichte von 1999/2000 auftreiben koennen und dachte, ich stell sie mal ins Internet fuer Euch. Die Gute Nachricht: Sie sind alle in deutsch:-) Leider gibts keine digitalen pic's dazu...also musst Ihr Eure Vorstellungskraft etwas traininieren...hihi...(Tip: zum Ende der Reise (siehe Bali) hin werden die Berichte deutlich besser:-)) "Hi Leute, Alles paletti!!! Bin gesund und munter angekommen, Ihr koennt erst mal aufatmen! Der Flug nach Singapur war etwas unruhig. Die meisten Fluggaeste verschmaeten ihr Fruehstueck, da der Vogel so gewackelt hat, dass der Café aus der Tasse huepfte. (Mir hats geschmeckt, wie immer…) Hatte drei geniale Tage in Singapur. Das Klima ist fuer Mitteleuropaeer etwas gewoehnungsbeduerftig, ich hatte also nicht nur mit dem ... read more