Back home

Well, I'm back home again! 

I didn't want to end this weblog with the accidents in Laos and of course there were some more adventures after that day before flying home, so here's my final post. 

I stayed in Luang Prabang for a couple more days, and in the end I did go to the waterfalls I was planning to visit on a mountainbike. This time I took the tuktuk, though, together with a girl I met in Pai before and that now also had arrived in Luang Prabang. Vincent the Austrian, who did visit the Kouang Si waterfalls after I fell off my bike, had said to me: "I'm really, really sorry to say so, but these waterfalls were amazing! They might be the most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen. You have to go there if you have the opportunity another time". So I did, and he was right: these waterfalls were indeed gorgeous. We could easily spend our two hours there, and ended the day with a nice Lao massage again. 

With Vincent I have been in one restaurant three days in a row, because they had such amazing food! Really fancy Lao dishes and the best soup I've ever eaten. The manager, a Dutch guy, was also such a nice person and gave us free dessert the last day because we had been there three times in a row :) The restaurant is called 'Tamarind' by the way, so if you ever visit Luang Prabang, go to that restaurant! 

In Luang Prabang we were staying in a nice little guesthouse, owned by an old Lao lady who barely spoke any English. The only problem, though, was that apperently after a certain time at night, the lady would close the gate of the little alley you had to go through, to reach the entrance, so one day when we came home late, we had to climb over the fence to enter. 

The night before my flight from Luang Prabang to Bangkok, I received an e-mail from the guesthouse I had booked in Bangkok, asking for my flight details in order to be up to date with possible delays etc. When I checked the flight details again, I found out that I was flying at 7:40 am in stead of 2 pm what I initially thought. I was so lucky that I found out just before going to bed, otherwise I would have missed my flight. I had to wake up very early though, and when I wanted to leave the guesthouse, I realized that this time I was actually locked in! The old lady was still sleeping and the gate was closed, so I had no choice but to climb over it again, this time with my backpack and all other stuff I had with me (had been doing some souvenir shopping at the night market of Luang Prabang). Luckily no accidents again and I reached the airport in time. Wonder what time the old lady has found out that I actually had left. 

In Bangkok I took the taxi to a nice bed and breakfast that I had booked. My last night in Asia I thought I deserved my private room (useful if you want to (re)pack your backpack before flying) and the room was just what I needed or maybe even more. A super clean spacious room with a huge bed and the most friendly owner who told me what to do in Bangkok. And a very good breakfast the next morning as well. 

My last day in Bangkok I did spend on a bicylce again. A 5 hour bike/ boat tour through many small alleys in Bangkok, a great experience! It is so much different from walking the tourist streets and just visiting the temples (temples really didn't impress me anymore at the end of my trip). Seeing the daily life on the streets: people eating, sleeping, chatting, selling and buying, playing and smiling. At the end of the tour one Dutch guy (there was a 'jaarclub' from Utrecht doing the same tour as I was) fell in the water which was quite hilarious, and I met another Dutchie who I went to the top of the highest tower of Thailand with. My stay there was concluded with a cocktail and a view of Bangkok by night. But then it was time to go. Back to the airport, back to The Netherlands. It really didn't feel like the last day, it didn't feel like I had been traveling for almost three months. It only became real when I saw my parents, sister and boyfriend on the airport in Amsterdam. And of course it was cold and raining, haha. 

I have had a really great time, thanks to all the lovely, friendly, crazy and inspiring people I met during my travels and all the amazing things I've seen and done. Below I have drawn my whole itinerary on some maps, for curious people :) I think I catched the travel bug, I'm already looking forward to the next time traveling, although it will probably not be in the next four years...

The complete itinerary: Japan - Malaysia - Indonesia - Thailand - Laos

Japan:
Tokyo/Saitama - Nikko - Tokyo - Matsumoto - Takayama - Gero - Takayama -
 Kanazawa - Kyoto - Nara - Hiroshima - Osaka

Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur - Melaka - Kuala Lumpur - Langkawi - Penang - Cameron Highlands - Kuala Lumpur

Indonesia: Jakarta - Cianjur - Yogyakarta - Bromo vulcano - Ijen plateau - Denpasar - Ubud - Padangbai -
Gili Trawangan - Padangbai - Denpasar - Bandung/Cianjur - Bandung

Thailand and Laos: Bangkok - Chiang Mai - Pai - Chang Khong - Pakbeng - Luang Prabang - Bangkok

Unlucky in Laos

After Chiang Mai I headed to Pai, also in the North of Thailand. This little place is extremely laid back and hippie - like. Everyone walks around in these chilling pants and batik shirts on no one is in a hurry. I loved this place. Most guest houses were just bamboo huts and after sleeping in a dorm a bit outside of town I decided to move a bit closer to town and I got my own bamboo hut, including a hammock on the balcony. It was so lovely and the view was great. In the first hostel I met an American girl and when we were walking the streets we run into to other travelers (guys) and the four of us have been best friends during our stay there. We did a 9 to 9 cooking class (we all cooked 5 delicious Thai dishes during a quite chaotic course with a bit of a crazy but friendly teacher, a great experience), we had some amazing breakfasts and refreshing beers together, and that's about all we did during a couple of days. Oh, not to forget the reggae festival we went to! I was there only the first of three nights and the weather was quite bad, but we were all happily dancing in the rain with our ponchos.

But the second day of the festival I was leaving Pai. Almost at the end of my travels, I still had to see some new places and although I really enjoyed being in Pai, I decided to go somewhere else. I was doubting, either to go to South thailand (and a full moon party) or North Laos (to Luang Prabang with the slow boat). I decided to do the latter. The two day trip with the slow boat on the Mekong river is listed by many travelers in the top 3 of most beautiful thing they've ever seen so I was really excited to do this. On the other hand I had read some negative reviews as well, by people who got really bored on this boat. I can easily enjoy myself without a lot of entertainment so I didn't think this would be really a problem for me.

I booked a package in Pai which included a trip in the minivan to the border, one night accommodation and breakfast, and the two days on the boat. Our minivan trip was crazy again, with a driver who raced through all the curves, killed a snake and almost a dog as well. The girl sitting next to me was so terrified during this trip! But we all were a bit scared. By the way, suddenly there were so many Dutch! I had never seen so many Dutch people at the same time during my trip. We were supposed to arrive at the border town at midnight, but despite of the driver's drive style we only arrived at the accommodation at 3 am, to find out that the accommodation was full. Luckily the driver brought us somewhere else (and I didn't mind since the guesthouse where we were supposed to stay had really bad reviews) and we could still sleep for 4 hours before we had to go again. Crossing the border, getting visa etc took a while, but was fine. But when it was time to get on the slow boat it started to rain. Not just rain, it was pouring like hell! So everyone got soaked before we reached the boat, we had to go through the mud at the river side and were all cold when we entered the boat. The rest of the day the rain didn't stop, in stead we experienced a thunderstorm as well with strong (and cold!) wind. The boat was open but we could close a kind of plastic curtains to protect us against the rain and wind, but because of this we couldn't see the (apparently beautiful) view anymore all day.

So, this wasn't really a success. At the end of the day (it was pitch dark already) we were dropped off in pak beng. We booked accommodation from a guy who promised us tuktuks to bring us there from the harbor, but there were only trucks wanting us to bring to pakbeng for 100 baht each (which is 2,50 euro), way to much if you consider the fact that we were loaded in the back of a truck like cattle with around 12 people, but we had no choice since it turned out that pakbeng was still a couple of kilometers away. We were afraid that the guy who offered us the accommodation had been lying to us (but he seemed so nice!) and that maybe the guesthouse didn't even exist. Luckily this wasn't the case and we found the accommodation and had a really nice hot shower (hot water is not standard here in South East Asia). It turned out that the town of pakbeng itself also had a harbor, from which we would depart the next day, so probably the captain of the boat just dropped us off too early (to force us to pay the tuktuk service from his friends?).

The positive thing of this day was that we were with so many travelers, all having this disappointing experience together, which created a nice bond between us (and now I'm still spending my time in luang prabang with friends from the boat).

We were so happy the next day when it was not raining anymore! It was still cold and cloudy, but at least this day we could keep the curtains open and enjoy the view. It was indeed beautiful, but less beautiful than I thought it would be, although this was probably because of the grey weather. When the boat stopped at a really small pier (well it wasn't even a pier) the whole group off travelers refused to get off. This was not Luang Prabang! We don't want to be forced to take tuktuks again to the city, we bought tickets to Luang Prabang city, not Luang Prabang province. After a lot of discussion (there was one Thai person who could spreek to the Lao people because the language is similar who translated most of it), even as a group, we lost. Apparently since 8 months this was the new harbor (yeah right) and no boats were going to the city anymore. The captain left the boat and we had no choice but to get off and take the tuktuk. I still don't know of the story of the changed harbor was true or not, but I haven't seen a harbor with those slow boats in the city...

Luang Prabang is a lovely place, though. It's quite small, laid back, has some french colonial influences (nice bakeries, and wine served in the restaurants) and enjoyable markets. I don't regret my decision just to stay here before flying back to Bangkok, in stead of traveling south to vang vieng and vientiane (a popular itinerary) in a hurry. We're unlucky with the weather though. It's nice during the day, although a bit chilly, but at night it gets really cold. So cold you can see your breath. You dutchies will probably laugh at me, being used to the winter cold already, but the thing is I don't have proper clothes with me, I don't even have a jacket!

I'm spending my days here with an Austrian boy (again an Austrian, now I get the feeling that all Austrians are really nice) and we have enjoyed our days walking around, eating really good food, renting bicycles and ending up being invited to volunteer at an English school for Lao students (where we indeed taught some English) and at a random party of coworkers of the forestry of luang prabang, of which we don't know what they are celebrating but it involves a lot of beer. With full moon we had to party of course, being in South East Asia, but because all bars here close at midnight, we end up at the only place open after twelve: the bowling club! It was hilarious.

We returned by tuktuk (because the place was in the middle of nowhere) so next morning I had to pick up my bike where I left it. But misfortune strikes again. The bike that I rented got stolen! The bicycle renting place wants me to pay 100 US dollars for the bike, which was in fact quite crappy and old so in no way worth this amount of money, but they have my passport as a deposit so I have no choice but pay. Though, after some bargaining and using the police as translator I paid with "all the money I have" (at least in my wallet, I was smart enough to tuck some of my other cash away earlier) and ended up paying about 50 euro, which is still way too much, but I was happy that I could have a normal conversation with them (with the handsome policeman as a translator) and nobody was getting angry. Within an hour I had my passport back.

But today me and my Austrian friend wanted to see the waterfall about 30 kilometers from here, and decided to rent bikes again to go there. This time, though, we chose proper mountainbikes. I really enjoyed the view on our way and also having some exercise, until on a downhill road going quite fast...

A huge hole in the road which I saw too late. I flew over my bicycle, ended up on the road with the bicycle on top of me. I was bleeding, but from where? It wasn't my arms which had only minor scratches, but it didn't take me long to find out it was my head! Oh my god, what to do next?
We stopped a car driving in the opposite direction and asked the driver to bring me to the hospital in Luang Prabang, and he was nice enough to do so. He couldn't really speak English but spoke a little French so I have been using the few words I still know in French on my way to the hospital.

Don't worry, I'm fine. Got two stitches in my head and some disinfectant on my other wounds, antibiotics to take to prevent my wounds from getting infected, but I'm feeling fine.
All in all, I haven't been so lucky here in Laos. Guess it's about time to go home.

(By the way, I was planning to do a bicycle tour on my last day in Bangkok, but I'm not sure if I'm still willing to.Bicycles don't seem to like me that much over here... )

Water adventures

It has been a while since my last post, so time for an update!

Oh, I loved Bali and I stayed in Ubud longer than planned. This was partly because it is not so easy to travel around in Indonesia with public transport. Often this is lacking or hard to find and you're quite often forced to take tourist tours (such as the Bromo-Ijen one) or tourist buses/ ferries. The other reason was that I didn't really know where to head to next and since I enjoyed Ubud (and its surrounding ricefields: beautiful views!) I extended my stay with a night... and another one... and another one... which really gave me time to relax and read a book as well. I spent some time with the Austrian couple (really nice people) and found a vegetarian restaurant in the street of our accommodation with delicious food and fruit drinks, where I kept going back to.

One of the many galleries in Ubud

Traditional Balinese dance performance

Rice fields around Ubud

I wanted to visit the Gili islands, Lombok (famous for their beaches and diving, and one of the three islands famous for partying as well) and found that the ferries left from Padangbai, at the east coast of Bali, so I decided to spend some days there first to explore a bit more of Bali than just Ubud. Maybe on a motorbike I could ride along the east coast to see that side of the island. Eventually, I didn't end up doing that, but in stead signed up for a diving course in Padangbai. I had been thinking about diving at the Gilis, but from what I heard around me it was actually better to turn it around: beaches at the Gilis and diving in Padangbai. And how I loved it!! My open water course started with reading some theory and one dive in a pool. The next days I had to read more theory, do an exam, and I did four dives in the sea. At the first dives I really felt like I just entered the Finding Nemo movie, haha ;)

The dive school was situated at a restaurant, where I spent some evenings as well with the other divers. At the end of the three days when I got my licence, they said "welcome to the family" and it really felt a bit like that. Also because it was the last night of a girl who had been there for months, there was a little party that night, and also for me it was a goodbye, since next day I took the fastboat to Gili Trawangan (also Gili T).
Gili T is the largest of the three Gili islands, but you can still cycle around the island in less than one hour (which I actually never did), and is considered the party island. Since the last days in Padangbai it had been raining a lot, I figured it was better to go to an island where there's actually something to do if it rains as well, which I actually didn't need because the weather there was great! I met some couchsurfing people, also met the Austrian couple again and watched some sunsets with them, went snorkeling one afternoon and got quite a bad sunburn (just today I noticed that the skin on my back is coming off), and also did one dive again, to see some big turtles and also white tip reef sharks.

Gili Trawangan

Gili Trawangan

Gili Trawangan

I was doubting again where to go to next (I was a bit indecisive these days..), either to Lombok or back to Bali. The main attraction in Lombok is mount Rinjani, but since the rainy season had started, circumstances for trekking this mountain were probably not ideal anymore. The other thing Lombok is famous for, is beaches, but I already was staying at an island with beautiful beaches. Back to Bali then, where I had already been? What did I really want to do? There was just one answer actually: more diving. So that is what I decided to do, and I immediately knew that if I wanted to go diving again, I wanted to go back to the same dive school in Padangbai, and maybe this time I could see the east coast of Bali on a motorbike as well.
Again, I didn't. I ended up doing two fun dives, the advanced diving course and on my last day, why not, two other fun dives. And I don't regret not seeing the east coast of Bali, because I saw such a beautiful world in stead underwater! But after another five days of two morning dives, afternoon chilling at the restaurant and evenings drinking beer and all these things while being surrounded by the nicest people, it was time to say goodbye. But there are no last dives, so I'd say: "till next time, beautiful Padangbai". My body and my bank account might have been happy that I left, though.

After-diving afternoon entertainment ;)

For the people who don't have facebook, here a video of one of my dives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNvEeh9ZcmA
Oh, and one of the days on the boat heading to our dive site I was so surprised! Who did I see there? A post-doc from the lab where I did my last internship at the NKI! What a small world... (she didn't even recognize me at first, since I'm blond again and while doing my internship I was a brunette :p)

Padangbai

I flew from Bali to Bandung, because from there I had my flight to Thailand, but I planned two days in between those flights to say hi again to Yudi and Hendri in Cianjur. Had a nice (but short) time there again which made me realize even more that the downside of traveling is having to say goodbye too many times to all the nice people you meet. But I was ready for new adventures. After a brief stop at the airport of Singapore, I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand, however, welcomed me with a food poisoning with the unfortunate timing of being on the night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, so I didn't really have a good night. The first day in Chiang Mai I spent in bed with a book and luckily next day I was already feeling better, ready to jump from a 15m high cliff into the water. I'm staying at this typical backpacker hostel, where almost every day activities are organized for the guests staying here and they really try to convince you to join. For me it is a little bit too much about getting drunk every night, but well, whatever you like.

Chiang Mai is really full of temples, of which I saw a couple, and then decided it was time to taste some real thai food and have some vitamins again, so I was lucky to find a place that served both. A delicious fruit juice and a thai green curry which was actually a bit too spicy for me, but still good. Happy to notice I was getting hungry again, because even though I was feeling alright, the days before I didn't really eat. And I needed to be better as well, because I was going to trek for three days, in the jungle around Chiang Mai. The tour I booked was a little touristy and included an elephant camp as well, where you could ride on an elephant (I felt bad for these animals, though), but it was nice to have a good workout on our hikes, and of course beautiful views. We slept in really basic bamboo huts up in the mountains and could see thousands of stars at night. Unbelievable that people are actually really living there this way.

Temple in Chiang Mai

Temple in Chiang Mai

Our guides were the craziest tour guides that I have ever seen. The first thing they did when we arrived at the village where we were going to stay, was taking their bong and smoke some weed. The next thing was trying to convince everyone to try some of their magic mushrooms that night. And the next evening they called over the 'doctor' of the village, for some opium. Haha, is this representative for a Thai life style? These guys would really be disappointed if they ever come to the Netherlands, I think, and see how 'normal' this country is ;)

One of the tour guides, magic mushrooms on the table

At the elephant camp

One of the views

Where we were sleeping

The last day of our trekking included white water rafting and bamboo rafting, which was nice but quite short... after lunch we returned to Chiang Mai and I was dropped off at my hostel. Forgot to ask contact information of any of the other participants of the tour, so probably will never see them again, which is sometimes also a strange thing about traveling....

Maybe it was because I became sick, but a couple of days a go for the first time I actually was glad that I will be returning home soon. I still enjoy my travels, having no worries except for where to go next to, but I'm starting to miss home as well... So see you all soon!

Cats and dogs [edited!]

Edit: I just saw that by some copying and pasting my story was a bit messed up and the order wasn't right... I fixed it now (so you might wanna read the story again ;) ) and.... added pictures!!

Why did I all of a sudden decide to go to Indonesia? Well, while traveling you meet a lot of fellow travelers and exchange experiences, and I heard so many positive stories about Indonesia. When people asked me if I was planning to go there I used to answer "No, I have to do that once on a seperate trip, since it's such a huge country". But after a couple of more positive stories I started thinking about if and when there will be a next possibility for me to travel for a longer time and visit South East Asia again. You never know and since I was close anyway now, I took it into consideration. It feels a bit like tourists from outside Europe wanting to see Europe in 2 or 3 weeks. Indonesia has over 17.000 island which all have a slightly different culture so if you only visit one or two, you haven't really seen Indonesia. But I guess this doesn't mean you shouldn't go there. And secretly, I also liked the idea to change my travel plans just because I can ;)

So I checked flights to Indonesia (not too expensive) and started to read a bit in the Lonely Planet. When I came across 'Cianjur adventure' recommended there, I immediately knew I wanted to go there so I sent an e-mail and when they had accommodation available I confirmed and booked a flight. One of the best decisions so far!

Cianjur is a smaller city in West-Java, a bit higher up in the mountains and not really touristy. I stayed with a local family, of which the man started this homestay after having traveled a lot himself. He has a team of guides which can show you around Cianjur in different tours and for the three days I was staying there I had my private awesome tour guide :) We really became good friends in those days and had a great time! The first day was a tour to a rural village, where farmers live next to a small path up the hills living their simple but happy life. Well they seemed to be very happy, have a smile for every passenger and are extremely welcoming. The bamboo huts that they're living in all have this kind of 'terrace' (or just outside extension of the floor) where passengers can rest for a bit. There are chickens, cats and dogs running around everywhere, often with their babies (here baby animals are born all year around since they don't have a season like spring). I learned a lot about the different trees that are growing there (for spices such as nutmeg, it's why the VOC had been so interested in Indonesia) and food that they are harvesting (rice, brown sugar...) Also the other tours I did were impressive but I won't describe them all here but in stead add some pictures. The people in Cianjur are so surprised to see a 'Bule' (=westerner) here, once saw a priceless face of a little girl after she saw me passing by on the back of a motorbike. They all say 'hello' or 'hey mister' (they don't care if you're a guys or girl ;) ).
Indonesia is clearly less developed than Malaysia. Where in Malaysia everyone drives a car, here everyone has a motorbike and there are much more motorbikes on the road than cars, which makes the traffic quite crazy. Usually there is more than one person on a motorbike or a lot of baggage, once I even saw a whole family with both parents and three kids on one motorbike!

Bamboo hut in the rural village

Rice fields in Cianjur

Floating village
(with also a fish spa, where I put in my feet waiting for the fish to nibble my skin: tickly!)

You can see almost anything carried on a motorbike. In this case bird cages with birds.

After three days I headed to Yogyakarta by train. Had to leave the homestay at 4:30 in the morning, to arrive in Jogja at 3 pm. There I couchsurfed at a girls house in a village just outside Jogja. It was very interesting to stay there since she has such a different life then I do. She is 22, has been married for 3 years and lives together with her husband. Waking up so early became regular for me, since my host usually started her day at 5 (that's after the first prayer). Even if you want to sleep longer you will wake up by the loud prayer of a mosque which is always near (this was the case in Cianjur as well, since Java is mainly Islamic).





My first full day in Jogja I went to the temples of Borobudur, which are actually a Buddhist remainder. I really felt like I was the attraction, in stead of the temples. I think I have been on twenty pictures with random people there and also gave some interviews to school children. Bizarre. 

This day I was so stupid to leave my phone at my hosts house and without a phone I feel disconnected, disarmed, disabled... I didn't arrange a time to meet my host yet and also I would have liked to read some more about the things I was visiting in Jogja that day. Luckily it turned out fine as I found internet, could reach my host and arranged a meeting time and point, and just used tuktuks to bring me to the tourist attractions. The next day my host invited me to a meet up with her friends and after that her family. Such a nice way to really see the daily life of the locals and learn about there customs, culture and religion. I really enjoyed :) I ate rice and fish with my hands for the first time and oh, the real Indonesian bathroom is also interesting. Taking a shower by taking a bucket of (cold) water out of a sort of bath and just shower yourself with it and using a squatting toilet with manual flush were all new to me ;)

A day with my host's family
Her grandma was so cool, she really loved to talk to me although she couldn't really speak English, and I loved to talk to her as well. Before we left she asked me please not to forget her, haha :) Well, I won't.

The next day I was already leaving Jogja and went on a 3 day tour to the Bromo and Ijen vulcanos. Desiana (my host) helped me with booking the tour and I was picked up at the travel agency at 7:30 for an 11 hour ride to the Bromo vulcano. What a trip! The driver drove like crazy in his minivan in which there were me and 3 other tourists (an Australian couple and a Dutch guy). Half of the time he was driving on the right side of the road (while they are supposed to drive left) because he was the fastest on the road. Many times a saw a truck just coming straight to us and so close, before our driver got back to the left side again. I was waiting all the time until we reached the highway, but we never did. There are so many people living in Java that almost everywhere you're in an urban area, with really bumpy roads. I was so glad I survived after all these hours! After a short night of sleep we left the hotel at 3:30 in the morning, to see the view of the Bromo vulcano at sunrise. Well, it was totally worth it! So beautiful! After that we did also climb the active Bromo to have a look into the smoking crater. After another crazy ride of 7 hours to Ijen and again a short night, left at 4 am to climb mount Ijen. On our way up we were guided by one of the miners working down in the crater. They are mining for sulfur under unbelievable conditions. They go down the crater in the sulphur fumes, process the sulfur and walk up with 70-100 kg on their backs, and this twice a day. They carry so much because they are paid by kilogram, 5 cents for every kg. Incredible.

Sunrise near the Bromo vulcano

Three peaks, you can see the smoke coming out of the active Bromo vulcano

Processing sulfur in the Ijen crater

This tour was a bit chaotic for me, as tourists that booked from different travel agencies were put together in the same vans, were split up again and with some others left at the same hotel, so all the time you were in slightly different company. Some people had to pay extra during the trip to include jeep rides, admission fees etc and for others it was included. Since I didn't really know what exactly was included in my tour I just went with the flow and luckily it turned out fine (and I didn't have to pay so many things extra). After Ijen we were dropped at a local bus going to Denpasar, Bali and on this bus only me and one French guy from the tour were left. We got off the bus too early, but luckily we found another bus going the same direction immediately (too bad my French friend left one of his bags in the first bus, but was able to find it back eventually, luckily!).
In Denpasar I met other tourists going to Ubud and we shared a ride. When we arrived, suddenly there was this man trying to convince us to stay at his homestay and showed the rooms to me and an Austrian couple. A bit more luxurious than I really need, but it was really nice to have my own double bed to rest a bit after the hectic tour. And Ubud is beautiful! Very different from Java, since Bali is mainly Hindo, as opposed to the Islamic Java. In the South there is Kuta, the 'Salou for Australians' and I'm happy I didn't go there because apperently it's completely westernized and just a beach/party location. Ubud is a very artistic little place with galleries and nice shops everywhere and if you go outside the center, you can reach the green and quiet rice fields. A real bliss!


So my time in the internet cafe is finished, so I'm finishing my story as well. I'm sorry, it's again a blogpost without pictures since the internet was too slow to upload them in time. Hope they will follow soon!

Refreshing Cameron Highlands and some pictures

I promised you some pictures, so let's start with that.

Petronas twin towers, Kuala Lumpur

Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur

Many monkeys on the stairs up to Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur. Be careful, they might steal your bag or your food / ice cream ;)

Dutch square, Melaka

Can you read it? Grave in Melaka

Sunset in Langkawi

There's a lot of street art in Georgetown, Penang

Also Penang has some nice beaches. Batu Ferrenghi, Penang

Together with my Chinese friend Jen,  who I met in Penang, I went to the Cameron Highlands as I already mentioned in the previous post. Next day, we were joining a tour organized by the hostel with some Canadians, an American and a British.

Indian food is the best! Lunch with Jen in Penang

We were picked up in the morning with a minivan, by our amazing tour guide. He was such a nice guy! First thing in the morning (and I woke up late so hadn't eaten any breakfast) was a hike through the jungle to see a Rafflesia flower. This is the biggest flower in the world, and blossoms for approximately one week. To reach the flower we had to cross muddy rivers, climb under and over trees and try not to fall down on slippery paths, but we made it!

Rafflesia flower, Cameron Highlands 

Drinking bamboo water - very clean and refreshing, Cameron Highlands

After the jungle trekking we were dropped off at a Chinese restaurant for a well deserved lunch (we were all so hungry!). We also ordered 'strawberry white coffee', so good!

Our next stop was at the tea plantation, tea factory and tea house, after that a visit to the butterfly and reptile farm and after that we even had time to go to a strawberry farm before returning to the hostel. A full day of new experiences :D

Tea plantation, Cameron Highlands

Now I'm back at KL for just this afternoon. Actually I decided to change my plans and go to Indonesia, because during my travels I heard so many nice stories about Indonesia! First I thought I would need much more time for Indonesia since it is so big, and I would like to visit it once on a seperate trip, but since you never know when your next opportunity will be to travel for a longer time, I decided just to go there now. My flight to Jakarta leaves tomorrow at 7:50 so I have to be at the airport very early. Because of this, because I ran out of cash money and don't want to go to the ATM again and because I'd like to try it once, I'll go to the airport tonight and just sleep there. Curious how this will be.

Malaysia

It's been a while since my last Blogpost so I haven't told anything yet about Malaysia. Before I thought I would fly to Borneo soon after my arrival in Kuala Lumpur (KL), but I met fellow couchsurfers for a daytrip to Melaka and a group of friends going to the island Langkawi and Penang that I could join, so actually I am still in the peninsula / mainland of Malaysia. But I enjoy being so flexible and traveling in a relaxed pace.

My first impression of Malaysia was not very good, as on my way to my hostel I was followed by half-toothless man who grabbed my ass and asked me what I costed, but the people I met later proved that this was just bad luck and not representative for the country.

KL is just a big city with some very tall buildings, many many cars (the Malaysians never walk), almost no sideways and an all year round hot climate. It has huge fancy shopping malls, the famous Petronas twin towers, but also shabby apartments, many street sellers and brown-yellowish rivers. Quite different from Japanese cities.

I liked Melaka better. This is a smaller town with all touristic spots within walking distance from each other and an interesting history. The Portuguese, Dutch and British all left their mark, for example in the form of 'Stadthuys' at Dutch square. Together with a German girl and Malaysian guy (always useful to have a local with you ;)) we explored the city, tried some nice dishes and did some shopping.

In Malaysia there are 3 main ethnic groups. The Malay (Muslim in general), the Indians and the Chinese. This is why you can find Chinese temples, mosques and hindu temples. Also you can find each of the population's food or unique mixtures.

In KL I met a Nigerian guy who could show me KL's nightlife, and I especially liked the fancy sky bar at the 36th (?) floor with a swimming pool inside (unfortunately not allowed to swim there when the bar is openes) and a nice view on the twin towers. With him and his friends I flew to Langkawi which is an island with tax free status (so they came there just to party and enjoy cheap alcohol) but during the day I wanted to see more of the island so an hour after I left the hostel I was actually sitting on the back of a motorbike with an Italian guy. These are things you only experience when you travel alone :)
We checked out some nice beaches but I also just enjoyed riding around, since the breeze was quite refreshing.

From langkawi I took the ferry to Penang, famous for its food and street art and a very enjoyable island. I met some nice fellow travelers, watched a beautiful sunset at the beach and ended up in the reggae bar 3 nights in a row. From Penang I took a minivan (we thought it would be a big bus but turned out not to be) to Cameron Highlands, together with a Chinese girl. Here its much cooler, only around 20 degrees and I very much like it for a change. Tomorrow we're doing a kind of adventure tour so hope to see more of the area then. Tonight I've just visited the might market (everywhere they have night markets and in general lively nightlife, just as the fact that they van a little India and a Chinatown in every reasonably sized city). "nice for you" "shopping" "come have a look" "I can make discount for you" "cheap cheap" is what you hear everywhere when walking through the nightmarket. Copied dvd's and fake Louis vuitton bags (or any other famous brand stuff) is what you can see everywhere.

The hostels here are quite simple, but luckily quite clean as well. Most of them don't have computers for guests to use so I haven't had the chance to upload any photos yet as I still only have them on my camera. But I promise I'll try to upload some soon!

Wonder how you all are, back in Holland or anywhere else. Hope you all survived the storm?

Traveling back in history

Following capitals, I was traveling back in history. After Tokyo, my next (former) capital was Kyoto. I arrived there on a saturday, when the Japanese had a long weekend-holiday (saturday, sunday & monday). For this reason, the touristic sites were packed during these days! I was queueing to make a picture of the temple at Golden Pavillion, really.

Nevertheless, Kyoto is an amazing city! It is filled with old tradition, many temples, a neighbourhood with old wooden houses were geisha's live and the city is surrounded by mountains. I was supposed to meet with someone from couchsurfing again, but due to difficult communication (not having internet all the time) that failed. But next day there was a couchsurfing meeting at the river side and finally could meet this guy there and he showed me around Gion, this Geisha-district. It is nice to have a personal local guide, who can explain you a bit more about the culture. At one of the temples I visited, a student from Kyoto university offered me a free (private!) English tour and guided me through 'the mother of Buddha's womb', which is a pitch dark track underneath a temple, leading to some holy stone that when you turn it, will make your wish come true. Actually during this trip I have been to places/ done or touched things that all promised me that my wish will come true. I don't even know what to wish for more!

The first two days I stayed at K's house hostel, which is a big hostel chain, but didn't have this personal touch. OKI's Inn however, where I stayed the following two nights, was lovely again, run by a young couple really keen on meeting foreigners, in a narrow shopping/market street. I rented a bike there and saw so many things on one day! Compared to Tokyo, the public transport in Kyoto is quite crap. Only buses (where you enter at the rear and leave at the front where you also pay as you get off the bus) with queues to get on the buses that therefore are packed.

So I was happily riding my bicycle, but walked the path of Philosophy in the morning, running uphill along a small river, in a fresh morning breeze but with the sun already burning on your skin, announcing a hot afternoon. At the end of this path I reached the Silver pavillion. Again a beautiful temple but actually I was more impressed with the garden around it! Japanese gardens are so well designed and are very beautiful. In this garden you could also take a stairs after which you had an amazing view over Kyoto.

I met again with my Mexican friends and we saw a Maiko (geisha-to-be) dance, among other traditional Japanese performances. Next day I had my second hangover in Japan, again after drinking with them haha. Also, by coincidence, I bumped into the German guy I met in Gero and we had dinner together.
But talking about people I meet, the Japanese people are so nice! They are also very interested in foreigners I think, and even though they usually hardly speak English, they try to have a conversation with you. Today in the train there was a lady that gave me little presents and taught me how to make origami birds, without knowing more than 10 words in English, and this is just one example.

Back in history again, I went on to former capital Nara, where I only spent one morning because I had to head to Hiroshima. I went to the island Miyajima with the well known gate in the sea, and climbed the top of the mountain which offered me a great view!
This morning I saw the impressive Peace Memorial park and museum about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The mayors of Hiroshima have been sending over 200 letters to every government that performed nuclear tests asking to refrain from doing that. Last letter in May this year, addressed to Obama.

Now I'm in Osaka, didn't see the city yet, but tomorrow I will have some time to get around here, before at 23:35 my plane will depart to Kuala Lumpur. I feel a bit sad to leave Japan already, I definitely could spend more time here, but new adventures are waiting and I think things will be very different in South-East Asia! Here everything is so clean, well organized, I haven't spent a night in a bad hostel, the Japanese are very trustworthy and everywhere it's very safe. I will miss it.

Bamboo groove, Kyoto

Golden Pavillion, Kyoto

Path of Philosophy, Kyoto
(reminded me of Philosophenweg in Heidelberg)

Maiko's dance, Gion, Kyoto

Garden in Nara

Deer do also visit temples in Nara

First I took the bullet train to Hiroshima...

... then had to hop on a tram like this

The famous Torii at Miyajima

View from the top of the mountain at Miyajima

A-bomb dome, one of the few building that was still standing after de bombing, and they left it in this condition. Other buildings had just vanished.