bbogaert

17/02/2011- 21/02/2011 For the ultimate days I decided to go to Gili Trawangan island, together with Diego. A good place to spend my last days, nice beaches, good food, and every night there was a party for the ones who enjoyed a good beer... Before leaving on this trip one of the things I really wanted to do was Diving. I actually had the plan to go for my Padi certificate in Thailand, but for some reason I never came around to it. But on my final day we decided to go on at least one dive, and Gili island is not the worse place to go diving. And to be honest it was one of my best experiences so far, it was mindblowing!!! diving, swimming next this big turtle, sitting around a giant manta, big ... read more

06/02/2011 - 10/02/2011 Final country on the list was Indonesia. I took a flight from Bangkok to Den Pasar, Bali. Although some people already warned me about Kuta, it was close to the airport and I decided to check it out... however after spending 10 minutes there, swetting my ass off and being ripped off by the taxidriver, I already had the intention to pick up my bag and go somewhere else. I stopped at some dodgy tourism information centre; the guy from the place, Nyoman, wans't able to provide any useful information, however he seemed very nice. He invited me for lunch at the back where we discussed my plans for Bali. In the we decided we (Nyoman, his friend and me) would rent a car and drive up to the east, see the rice ... read more

26/01/2010 - 29/01/2010 Until now almost all capital cities have been a disapointment - too busy, crowded, not interesting. Vientiane was not an exception. Although it was the smallest one I have seen so far. During my search for a (cheap) guesthouse I met Lina, Maleisian/English girl. First night we went out for dinner and a drink in a belgium beer bar. Next day we rented a motorcycle and went to Buddha park, a sculpture park with a collection of hundreds of Buddhist and Hindu statues scattered around. It took some effort of finding the place but definitely worth while checking out! Next day I explored the city on foot; first stop was at Patouxai - Vientiane's Arc de Troimphe. Next moved on to the most famous/important temple of Laos, Wat Pha That Luang (Golden Temple). ... read more

19/01/2010 - 21/01/2010 From Nong Khiaw we all took the boat to Luang Prabang. It was a slow ride, a good 7-8 hours, but good fun. A bit lucky sometimes, hitting some rocks, engine not working properly, but still made it! Luang Prabang was actually the first real city in Laos.. also a lot of tourists. Finding a (cheap, vacant) guesthouse would not be easy. The men would take up this task and we looked and searched for more then an hour..no luck; then the women would have a go...after 5 minutes they came back with the perfect spot: cheap, clean, good location... I liked Luang Prabang; it has a good atmosphere and in the evening there is a nice night market. For dinner we always went to the food market street where you can get ... read more

13/01/2010 - 16/01/2010 Being in the north in Thailand I entered Laos in the north (or nordish) as well and I would work my way down to the south as such, last stop 4000 islands. Entering Laos was easy, just take a small boat to cross the river and receive your visa on arrival, 35 dollars, made in 10 minutes. I have to admit, things really change once you cross that river, very different from Thailand: the English level off the local people is much lower, not so cheap as I expected (sometimes more expensive then Thailand, of course this was in the border town), but luckily not so busy and noisy!! From the border town, Huay Xai, I made my way more up to the north to Muang Sing together with Micky (ESP/FR) whom I ... read more