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Julia and Martin
Two jolly Germans who studied, worked and lived in London for the last four years. Now we decided to move on and leave London. We will go back to Munich and use the time in between to see a bit more of Asia. Count down with us until we take off helden
Travel Blog Posts
January 27th 2009
'What a contrast to the rather quiet weeks we spend in Laos' - this is what we thought when we arrived in Cambodia last Thursday. From Pakse in south Laos we flew to Siem Reap early in the moning. We wanted to spend our last 6 days with visiting the famous temples of Angkor near Siem Reap and the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. As you can guess Siem Reap - the closest city to the most of the Angkor temples - is very touristy. And we really mean very! We actually had forgotten what this is like and had to get used to this kind of attention again. Everyone we met told us that you should have 3 days here to really get a clue and understanding of Angkor. In the end we spend two ... read more
January 21st 2009
What a great week! The south of Laos did not disappoint at all and we really loved what we experienced here. From Tha Kaek we headed south to Savannahket, but just for a day. Nice little, very sleepy town. Our highlight were the monks in the garden of the monastery belonging to Wat Sainyaphum, who wanted to practice their English with us. They were most intested in how much our journey to Laos would cost and when we told them (already dramatically understated) they could not believe that one person could have so much money. Here we should mention that a simple dinner here costs around 2-3 pounds for both of us. It is actually difficult to spend more... We recognised that people got more and more happy to see us (tourists) the further south we ... read more
January 13th 2009
After two weeks on the remote Island in Thailand we were ready to continue our travel up north through Thailand into Laos. We decided to pass through the rest of Thailand as quickly as possible as we were keen to spend more time in Laos. Within 36 hours we traveled with speedboat, minibus, plane, bus, overnight-train and tuktuk to the friendship bridge connecting the city of Nong Khai in Thailand with Vientiane in Laos. It was a quite exhausting trip but everything worked out fine and we even accumulated only 3 hours delay at the end. Quite good for Asia... First we enjoyed the layed back capital of Laos - Vientiane - for two days. With just 300.000 inhabitants it is just a little town. Then we headed north to Luang Prabang with a one night ... read more
January 1st 2009
What a Paradise Island! We spent 11 days over Christmas and New Year on Koh Lipe - Thailand’s most southern Island. We came here by speedboat from Langkawi/Malaysia and our boarder check-in into Thailand took place in a bamboo hut on the beach. We spend most of our time with soaking up the sun at the beach, reading, eating and doing nothing. One day we went with a longboat to some of the surrounding islands, which are uninhabited and have lots of great snorkeling spots just off the beaches. We think that the photos tell more than words. Have a look and be jealous ;-) Was fuer ein Inselparadies! Die letzten 11 Tage haben wir hier auf Koh Lipe verbracht - Thailands suedlichste Insel. Wir sind per Speedboat von Malaysia nach Thailand eingereist und unseren Pass-Stempel ... read more
December 24th 2008
On our journey from Singapore through Malaysia into Thailand we produced a little photo collection to prove that there is certainly no lack of christmas fever here in Asia despite the sun! Have a look yourself... and imagine 'Jingle Bells' in the background on a permanent basis. We enjoy the beaches of Koh Lipe in South Thailand http://www.kohlipethailand.com/ MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Auf unserer Reise von Singapur durch Malaysia nach Thailand haben wir ein paar Fotos gemacht um Euch zu zeigen, dass es an Weihnachtsstimmung hier in Asien trotz der Sonne nicht mangelt! Ueberzeugt Euch selbst... und stellt Euch permanentes Jingle Bells Gedudel im Hintergrund vor. Wir feiern Weihnachten und Sylvester auf Koh Lipe in Sued-Thailand http://www.kohlipethailand.com/ FROHE WEIHNACHTEN UNS EINEN GUTEN RUTSCH INS NEUE JAHR! ... read more
December 20th 2008
Just to make it clear upfront - we find Malaysia is a brilliant and fascinating country to travel in. We did not really know what to expect as we were not prepared for it at all. Shortly before we left Munich again we just quickly read through the Singapore chapter and didn't pay much attention to Malaysia. The first days in Singapore passed by so quickly that we found ourselves suddenly in the bus crossing the border to Malaysia. We started to read the guide only when we got here but retrospectively that was no harm at all. The other side of the bridge from Singapore was a very positive surprise. It is very easy and convenient to travel through Malaysia, distances are short, busses are frequent, the Malay are very friendly, helpful and funny and ... read more
December 9th 2008
We are back! After one month in Germany we landed three days ago in Singapore to continue our trip through Asia. After the latest sad events in Mumbai we decided for now not to go back to India but to continue our journey at the point where we would be if we hadn't interrupted it... and that was Singapore. Singapore came as big surprise to us as we never expected something like that in Asia. It turned out to be the perfect place to start our journey again and to get back into the mood of travelling after a month of cold and rain/snow in Munich. It is a bit like Disney Land for adults here (no! not what you think...) - great food everywhere, shop until you drop (if the backpack wasn't that small), nice ... read more
November 5th 2008
It was quite difficult to find a quick and convenient way to get from Udaipur to Mumbai. All trains were fully booked. At the end we decided to take the overnight sleeper bus - a 16 hour journey in a bus with beds. We did not know exactly what to expect but thought this doesn't sound too bad and at least it is a direct connection. We got some warnings before (for example that people also call this the 'spine-breaker-trip') but we kind of ignored them as there was actually no alternative available any more except to fly, which we try to avoid as much as possible. What we actually got was worse than we ever thought and we would never make the same decision again. The bus was fairly modern but it turned out that ... read more
November 1st 2008
Hi there, its us from Rajasthan, Indian’s desert state with plenty of palaces, forts and maharajas. After leaving Agra and the Taj we were heading to Jaipur, the gate to Rajasthan. We instantly felt a bit easier when we got here. Not sure if it is Rajasthan or us adopting to the local customs a bit better over time. Martin starts to train himself in Indian gestures. This includes that for saying ‘yes’ you do not nod - like in western countries - but you sort of shake your head. But it is not really shaking but more like a wobbly wiggly movement. It looks really funny and I always almost burst into laughter when he is trying to do that in public. But he is doing well. We also found a way to get rid ... read more
October 30th 2008
The following etappe of our journey we treated ourselves and took a driver from Delhi to Agra, where the Taj Mahal is situated. This was extremely comfortable and nice after the Varanasi shakedown and being ill. Agra itself is a big city but apparently not worth visiting apart from the Taj (we did not verify this but believed all our Indian friends and the guidebooks). Of course the area around the Taj is incredibly touristy - however it was definitely worth the visit as it is really a very very beautiful building. We went there for sunrise (another early morning) and were at the gates at 5:45 to get the tickets. So we were lucky enough to get in with the first visitors in the morning. We even have a few photos with just the Taj ... read more
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