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Sabrina
Visited Countries MapSabrinaD
Enjoy the stories of the most recent travels. There's no cure for travel bug bites, so surely the journey won't stop.
Working on the next plans to travel again amap asap... Just got to find a way to work while travelling, so I can go on for as long as the bite itches ;-)
Travel Blog Posts
July 9th 2008
I am getting in a writing frenzy again. Been writing untill 3AM a few days ago, and I just felt like writing again as I logged in on this site, because I was curious to see if anyone had still been viewing it in the last few months. And yes people stumble upon my blog when looking for information about places they are going to. The entry about the Annapurna trekking is the most popular one. Just as I am writing this, and wondering about what season it would be now in Nepal, I realized I was one of these people preparing for a big adventure precisely a year ago. I left beginning of September, so I was definately counting down at this time last year. I was calculating my budget, shopping around for gear, and ... read more
End of travels, Beginning of life with braces
Published: April 8th 2008Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok
April 8th 2008
Ko Chang: Paradiselike scenery. Blue water. Very few tourists. Too hot to move, so no other option than reading and working on the tan. Nightswimming in a lukewarm ocean with a clear view of the milky way and lightning in the distance. And yet, I didn't last for the whole 10 days on Ko Chang. I was just getting too restless. After 6 days or so, I went on to Ko Phi Phi via Phuket. Good place for snorkeling. It felt like swimming in a big aquarium and made me want to take a course to get my Padi diving licence. Not enough time (and budget) left for that though. Next time. Ko Phi Phi is where the movie "The Beach" was recorded, so plenty of opportunity to see the movie over and over and over ... read more
First round of dental work done
Published: March 26th 2008Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok
March 26th 2008
Just a quick note this time. Been mostly lying on dentist chairs during the last week... 2 full days and two shorter appointments. So the treatments so far include: * Fixing 3 cavities * Redoing the root canals of the 2 teeth that need to be crowned (took a whole day!) * Putting pins inside the roots (they had to do that twice, the first pins didn't fit my teeth) * Installing temporary crowns (plastic) The next appointment is on April 7th. On 1 day, they will have to install the permanent braces, possibly pull out 2 teeth, and install the braces... another full day of lying in dentist chairs with a cloth over my face. Another issue is the material of the braces... they suggest palladium (a metal), as metal is stronger than ceramic. But ... read more
March 18th 2008
Well, those were the most relaxing 3 weeks of my journey. Nepal was still the top, figuratively and literally, but Laos gets shiny silver. I cannot think of any other country that would be as laid back as Laos, so the Australians were right. Sadly for you guys, it is hard to put the experience into words. There are no spectacular stories to tell, no frustrations to express. Vangvieng was the most pleasant place because the environment was just gorgeous once we got away from the tourist street. We have regretted not having stayed there for a few days longer. Luang Prabang is a bigger village again, with a French colonial feel. And not just the buildings; it's full of francophone people there. An actual expat community even. Francis could have almost felt like he was ... read more
February 28th 2008
Ok, you'll understand in a minute what the dangers in Laos are. I am control freak enough to write about things in a chronological order. Last days in Vietnam first. Those 3 days in Ha Long Bay were a relief from what we had seen so far in Vietnam. In other places in Vietnam, the "beaten track" has been transformed into a series of hotspots, where westerners are almost forced to take tours that are tailored for the average drunk Brit. That says a lot about what Vietnamese people think about all westerners. They apparently believe that all of us just come to drink as much as possible, have the music as loud as possible and just behave like spoiled teenagers. In most places that are in the Vietnam bible, the real Vietnamese life has been ... read more
February 17th 2008
Finally got away from the tourist traps in the south. It seems like all tourists are following the same track, as defined by the Lonely Planet. Takes away the feeling of being an "explorer" really. The local people have become accustomed to tourists and only offer a limited variety of tours, so you don't have the option of having a view of the areas where the other tourists don't go. Every single foreigner you meet has the exact same pictures on their camera's. There is one alternative: the easy riders. They drive you around on motorcycles, where ever you want. But as a single traveler, it's just too expensive. So I took the tours that all the backpackers do. Nha Trang is another beach town. The only "cultural" thing worth visiting are the Cham Towers, a ... read more
February 10th 2008
Not my best week. I was stuck in MuiNe because I had forgotten my passport in the hotel in Ho Chi Minh (it is legally obliged for hotel owners in Vietnam to go show the passports of guests to the authorities, so they always keep passports of guests). It took a lot of my nervous system to try and explain the situation to the people in MuiNe. The hotel I had stayed in in HCM is in the same building as the travel agency (An Phu) where I booked my bus ticket. The people that run the travel agency are the same people that run the hotel, they work in the same office. Since the name "An Phu" is what you see when you enter the building, I never payed attention to the name of the ... read more
January 30th 2008
It feels like I am zapping on the television. One moment I'm in India, then in Singapore, and suddenly I find myself surrounded by Vietnamese. All very different places. Yesterday morning, I even woke up not being sure whether I was still in India or in Vietnam. I landed here without doing any research on the country. Didn't even have a Vietnam "bible" yet. But that one is easy: they sell fake copies everywhere here. The newest versions even. So slowly I am hearing stories from other travelers of where to go and where not to go. It's true what people told me: "After India, the rest of South East Asia will be peanuts". Most importantly, people remain friendly and polite, even when an attempt to sell you something has failed. They never approach in an ... read more
January 28th 2008
...then Singapore people should marry Indians ;-. Singapore is the absolute opposite of India when it comes to the things that all us tourists complain about when visiting India. They might come to a middle way: Singapore without the silly rules and fines, India with clean streets. Arrival Monday evening at Changi Airport. After customs comes a walk through the airconditioned duty free zone. Like.. like... like... *really, really* clean and modern. More modern than Heathrow! Free internet for everybody to use (15 minutes limit). Hard to move on, I just wanted to go enjoy the luxury asap! Get a hot chocolate or something...anything yummie that I would not have found in India. But no time for that. Had to move on, go through customs and pick up my luggage. 15 Minutes later, I had a ... read more
January 20th 2008
Only 1 night before I fly out of India. I realised yesterday that, even though I have really had it with all the energy draining hassles here, I do feel a like I am leaving behind a country with a very intriguing culture. One that we (westerners) can't really understand, and unique in the world. I was sitting in a bus from Kovalam beach back to my hotel room in Trivandum (=Thiruvanthapuram, but everybody calls it Trivandrum, a little easier to pronounce), looking out the window. The street scenes have become almost normal to me, a daily reality. The bright colors that suit the Indian women so well, the beggars, the cheating and spitting street vendors, the garbage everywhere (although the South seems to be somewhat cleaner than the North, or is that just my impression ... read more
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