http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Stephan and Klaudia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Stephan and Klaudia en-us Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:00:55 BST Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:00:55 BST For those readers who do not follow our adventures on a regular basis we are still in the Bagan Archaeological Zone and about to write about less wellknown monuments. This classification is by no means meant as a qualification we just saw too much and have too many pictures that we would like to share so we split our Bagan impressions into two blogs. There are definitely highlights in Bagan http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Burma/Bagan/blog-34535.html To say it straightforward we absolutely loved the area of Bagan and stayed there for nine days Whatever other sites in Myanmar you visit Bagan is undoubtedly the cultural climax that no visitor should miss no matter how little time they have at their disposal. The numerous religious monuments over 2000 still standing near the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River better known as Irrawaddy http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Burma/Bagan/blog-33372.html Lake Inle is definitely a site of great natural beauty anyway in its vicinity there are also several interesting cultural attractions to see. When we came from Mandalay the taxi stopped in Pindaya a place famous for its Buddhist caves. We did it like this because it was practical requiring only a small detour but most people visit Pindaya in a day trip from Lake Inle as it is situated only a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Burma/Inle-Lake/blog-28432.html We had managed to come to Lake Inle for the Phaung Daw U festival going on for 18 days until its 2005 grand finale on October 21st. Its beauty harmony and originality make this aquatic spectacle superior to all other traditional festivals in Myanmar and some even call it one of the best of its kind in South East Asia. Well we would be present to witness and agree to or contradict this opinion http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Burma/Inle-Lake/blog-27925.html Again we were on the road for a full day to get from Mandalay to Lake Inle but the taxi was pretty comfortable the roads not too bad and the scenery really beautiful. We soon left the main road linking Mandalay with the capital Yangon and after passing a checkpoint we kept driving uphill for a considerable time. The resulting cooler climate was a welcome change after the heat and dust of Mandal http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Burma/Inle-Lake/blog-27486.html The end of our stay in Mandalay was coming closer and we tried to organise our trip to Lake Inlay although we would really have wanted to visit another place around Mandalay Monywa. But the taxi was very expensive for only two people and somehow we had not managed to find others who wanted to see the place. We were sitting in the hotel lobby when a French couple Huguette and JeanMarc entered http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Burma/Monywa/blog-27133.html There are several locations of interest around Mandalay which can easily be reached in a oneday trip and we of course wanted to see as many of them as possible. We visited four small cities of historical importance of which three had been capitals of the Burmese kingdom in former centuries.Historical backgroundSagaing became the second Burmese capital around 1315 after the fall of Bagan. Its per http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Burma/Mandalay/blog-26364.html From the geographical point of view we were already quite close to southern Myanmar on Kho Phi Phi but we could not find out whether it was possible to cross the border there since information on Myanmar is very difficult to come by. For this reason Myanmar has been a stumbling block of our travel itinerary since the very beginning. We originally planned to start there and cross over to India http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Burma/Mandalay/blog-26107.html Ten years ago we had travelled extensively in Thailand for one month but had not been to the southern part of the country. Coming from Malaysia it seemed natural to us to make a stop on our way to Bangkok and our destination of choice was Koh Phi Phi. People unanimously are crazy about the landscape the wonderful beaches and the impressive underwater life and the local population definitely nee http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/South/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-25601.html The trip from the Perhentian Islands to Georgetown meant crossing Malaysia from east to west. Although it is not as far as the countryrsquos expansion from north to south it is said to be long and rather tedious because there is no direct road. There is a direct bus though from Kota Bharu to Butterworth the mainland city closest to Georgetown on Penang Island at 930 a.m. As the morning bo http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Penang/George-Town/blog-25235.html As we were waiting for the night train to the Perhentian Islands to leave KL Sentral we came to talk to a young man sitting beside us. He turned out to be an Indonesian currently working in London and was on his way to a beach holiday with his fianc. He was very nice and refreshing and when we left for our platform we told him goodbye in Indonesian which left him quite surprised. We could only http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Terengganu/Perhentian-Besar/blog-22359.html Malaysiarsquos capital is an important transport hub in Southeast Asia and we had used it several times mostly to or from Indonesia. Up to now we have been in Kuala Lumpur four times twice only at the airport and twice we stayed in the city. This is mainly due to Asiarsquos first lowcost airline Air Asia which is based in Kuala Lumpur. The airport is very modern filled with light and co http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Selangor/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-22076.html Our last destination on Bali was Ubud the city with the highest concentration of cultural sites on this island. It is not very far from Lovina and normally we would have taken a public bus but we wanted to see more temples lying on the way so we hired a car and a driver. The main receptionist of our hotel in Lovina made a good and honest impression on us so we accepted when he offered to arran http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Ubud/blog-21149.html They say everybody needs a second chance and so we thought that the island of the gods also deserved one. We were hopeful but it did not start well as a matter of fact the trouble started as soon as we set foot on Bali. And this is not a question of different cultural backgrounds as a reader suggested we had come perfectly along on Sumatra and Java. It seems that for the Indonesian government http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Lovina/blog-21071.html We left Yogyakarta with a pinch of regret it had been such a pleasant place to stay. But once again we were wanderers new environments were ahead and this thought also excited us. We learnt that there were six passengers in the minibus but we were the first ones to be picked up and thus could secure the best seats. The second couple was picked up in Yogyakartarsquos second tourist agglomerat http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Java/Mount-Bromo/blog-20766.html Sometime before the 5th century AD the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism spread southward from the mainland of Southeast Asia to the islands of Sumatra Java Bali and a few others in the archipelago currently called Indonesia. There are no archaeological remains of temples in the Indianized states of Java prior to the end of the seventh century as the early Hindu structures were built of wood a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Java/Borobudur/blog-20542.html When you travel by air from Bali to Yogyakarta in Central Java you will inevitably see the massive Hindu temple complex of Prambanan. If you travel by road from an easterly direction you cannot miss it Prambanan is only 100 metres from the road. Whichever way you first see this massive complex its towering temple structures are aweinspiring and its beauty breathtaking. Prambanan is located http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Java/Prambanan/blog-20541.html The train ride from Bandung to Yogyakarta was long and uneventful it was actually quite boring. What a difference to Indian trains The train station area was blocked by heavy metal bars so that people donrsquot linger around the tracks without a ticket or run across them it was very effective maybe people have to be forced into discipline a bit. The train left on time was very clean for As http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Java/Yogyakarta/blog-20538.html Our idea had been to avoid staying in Jakarta a second time the first time we only changed planes at the airport. The cancellation of our morning flight from Medan and the subsequent late arrival seemed to have this plan go up in smoke in fact we arrived at Jakarta airport only around 9 p.m. But we had found out that there were direct buses from the airport to Bogor and we decided to give it a t http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Java/Bogor/blog-19778.html Our sightseeing trip from Bukit Lawang to Lake Toba was undertaken in a minibus which by itself was not really uncomfortable but we felt the bad road conditions potholes etc. much more strongly. The first part of the trip led us back to Medan crossing wide plantations of oil palms whose fruits were just being picked and transported to oil mills and huge plantations of gum trees. The crossing http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Lake-Toba/blog-18916.html