Highlights & Lowlights

Best experience of my life!!!

Of course some things were more exciting than others, some events will vividly remain in memory while others will fade. As a very short summary I will give you all the highlights and also the "lowlights" of my trip.

Highlights

Trekking through Tiger Leaping Gorge! The views and people along the way were just incredible!

Visiting the highest place in the world: Mount Everest! The first sight of this incredible mountain and the extremely cold night I spent in Everest Base Camp are moments I will remember forever.

Walking on China's Great Wall! The wall itself isn't that spectacular, but when you see the inaccessible environment where they build that thing... you're awestruck!

Spending a few days with the Chinese Family of my friend Sun Chao. It gave me a new look on this huge country. No tourist in sight for the next 200km, but just experiencing the real Chinese way of life.

Having fun and drinking BeerLao en whiskey while Tubing in Vang Vieng! My first real holiday feeling. No cultural, no temples, no traveling, just drinking and laughing!

Doing a boat trip through Halong Bay near Hanoi. The karst mountains rising from the water give you the feeling you are set back in time.

World's biggest man-made temple complex: Angkor!!! Unbelievable that people can be so dedicated to some gods that they build structures like this.

Partying during New Year's Eve and The Full Moon Party at Koh Pha-Ngan. Being at a house party on beach and going on until the sun rises again :-)

Climbing Gurung Bromo at sunrise! Although the horses did most of the work, the last climb to the top, the surreal surroundings and the smell are things never to forget.

Getting around is easy in Asia, but renting Push and Motor Bikes rulezzz!! Traffics seems to be crazy, but when you go with the flow everything will work out just fine!!

There is one thing you get from visiting all these sites and that is a very good appetite! Luckily Asian Food is among the best in the world and I enjoyed every single meal!!!

Although all of the above highlight sound great, they would have been so much less exciting if it wasn't for The People I met during the trip! Thank you all for making my trip an unforgettable experience!! I can't mention all of you, but Scott, Iris & Matthias, Rodney, Shoshannah, Martti, Sun Chao, Ryan, Alan, Jordan & Dana, Jack & Jess, and Inge deserve a special thank you!!!


Lowlights

Planting my foot in a piece of glass in Tibet. In the beginning I thought everything would be alright, but it ended up in a bad infection and me spending a few more weeks in China as planned. The positive side is that the foot healed perfectly and I had a great time staying in Kunming!!

Not a real lowlight, but more kind of a disappointment: The Terracotta Warriors. I am glad I saw them, but they weren't as impressive as I imagined/hoped them to be.

And in general the Poverty (and extreme difference between rich and poor) you see all around in Asia. Although it does make you realize how lucky we are :-)


That's it... no more Asia tales from Ruudje. But don't be sad... the ultimate highlight still has to come. I love China and this combined with the people I met inspired me to go back there. So in about two months I will go back to China, get myself a teaching job and lead a happy live there!

De Groeten,
Ruudje

The end is near...

Please sir, buy here!! Give me good luck!!

Bali... Beautiful island, completely different from Lombok and Java. In Ubud they try to sell you nothing but pieces of art, while in Kuta they want to sell you t-shirts, sarongs, shorts and more "useless" stuff. Nevertheless, it is always funny to see what prices you can get for their products. For a sarong they will start with anything between 50.000 and 120.000 rupiah and you can get them for around 15.000 to 20.000. What do you mean, hard bargaining..?!



Surfing is the second biggest thing in Kuta. However, the waves didn't look that exciting and I didn't want to spend my entire day on a surfboard. Maybe I will try it some time in the future.
The third thing you are supposed to do while in Kuta is: drinking!! Beer is relatively cheap, especially during the happy hours. Their are also a lot of clubs, but we didn't feel like clubbing at the moment so we just did the beer drinking part :-) haha.



Yesterday we were supposed to fly with AirAsia to Jakarta at 19.20. However when we wanted to check-in they looked at us with surprised faces... didn't we receive the text message? No because they stole my mobile phone a while ago. Oh... well, the flight has been delayed until 22.00 :-( Later that night they changed that time to 23.00 but at least we were in the air!! Arrived at a hostel in Jakarta around 1.30 am... better luck on Wednesday!!

The good part about the delay was that we received a voucher for a free meal at the airport McDonald's. So we ordered that mail and a McChicken Menu. That was possible, but would take around 15 minutes... waiting 15 minutes at a Mac?? Strange! After 15 minutes we suddenly saw a motorbike approaching and a guy wearing a McDonald's jackets jumps off with a take-away bag. Our food... haha. But he forgot the French fries so he had to drive back to the down town Mac to get them. Hilarious!!



Just 2 more days in Jakarta and then I will be back home. Feels kind of strange, but good at the same time!!

See you soon!
Rudi

Bye Bye Lombok

Gili Trawangan is a small paradise!!

The minute I arrived at Gili Trawangan I forgot all about the stolen wallet! Had some fun days there doing absolutely nothing :-) Also went for two dives and saw some great underwater creatures like turtles and cuttlefish!!! Inge got her first underwater experience through the PADI Discover Scuba Diving course. She really enjoyed it! My taint is back to a nice brown one and the only unfortunate thing that happened is that I got some kind of rash on the last day... might have something to do wih the food, drinks, sun or my new shower creme but I am not sure yet. I went to a doctor and he said it was an allergic reaction to something... I have antibiotics and anti-itch pills but still have some small problems with it :-(





Yesterday was again a long day of travelling but currently I am on Bali in a place called Ubud. Nothing to do here except to look at lots and lots of artwork they expect you to buy... haha! Did a great motorbike trip to a lake and volcano. More details will follow when I find a cheap and reliable internet connection to play with... hopefully that will be before I am back home ;-)

Probably my best picture ever!! Fishing @ Pangandaran!


The Borobudur


Sunset @ Gunung Bromo


Relaxing on Gili Trawangan


For now, that's all folks!!
Just a few more days of holiday and then I am back in Holland. But not for long... France, be prepared we are coming again!!! And soon after that... China!!

Houdoe,
Ruudje

Hati Hati

Careful, careful...

After visiting the very nice city of Yogyakarta and an early trip to Bromo with Barney and Tari it was time for a very long bus trip from Probolingo to Lombok (read 20 hours). No problem except that someone thought it was necessary to sneak towards me and steal my bag with in it amongst others my wallet, mobile phone and camera. Luckely we stopped right after I found out and with my last remaining money I called my mother to block my ATM card and phone. Spent approximately 3 hours at the police station in Lombok to get a report for the insurance, but it all worked out. Again a bad experience in Indonesia, not my favorite country so far!!



However, Mount Bromo was great. Got up at 3.45 am and took a horse to the volcano to see the sunrise. The smell was so bad I had the worst astma attack in years. The views however, were absolutely stunning!!! I really want to show you the pictures because I have some great ones, but Internet in Indonesia sucks!!



Tomorrow morning GILI TRAWANGAN!!! Beach, sun and Bintang!!!

De mazzel,
Ruudje

Nasi, Mihun and Satay

Indonesian food is "LEKKER"!!!

The trip to Pangadaran took a little longer than expected (although you really should not expect anything when you are traveling in an Asian country...). The bus was supposed to leave at 10 am from the bus station. Around 10 they told us the bus was delayed and would arrive around 11. That changed to 12 and luckily we met an American with a guide who had the same problem. The guide arranged minibus transportation for us at 15.00, no stops, in 5 hours to Pangadaran... NOT!!! After driving around for one hour and 15 minutes we finally left at a bus station approximately 150 meters from our hotel... The good thing was that we met Steve, Barney and Tari and had some company for the trip! Got ourselves a nice room and went to bed early.



The next day we met up with a German girl and her mother for a trip through the national forest to a waterfall. Beautiful trip with some monkeys, but the guy at the top of the waterfall forgot to pour water down it while we where there... Spend the afternoon on a beach!



The second day we had a great day on an organised tour to the Green Canyon. Visited several factories on the way there, did some swimming in the gorgeous canyon and had a great fish meal on the way back! The only unfortunate event of the day was that Inge hurt her foot and leg while slipping down some rocks at the canyon. Nothing time won't heal!! That night we (Barney, Tari, Inge and I) took a night bus to Yogyakarta.



At 4.30 am we arrived at the Borobudur, where we had to wait until six when the thing opened. We were the very first tourists around so we got an unspoiled view of a very nice temple!! After this visit our driver took us to the city and we checked into a guesthouse. In the afternoon we visited the Sultan's Palace and several other fun things in the city. At 20.00 we visited a Ramayana Ballet. People wearing beautiful dresses and showing some kind of religious story. It was a little boring in the beginning, but we really enjoyed the end! Just one of the things you just have to do while you are in the cultural capital of Java :-)





Today we took an early train to Surabaya and are hoping to go to the Bromo volcano in the afternoon. Hope everything works out!!!

Greetingzzz,
Rudi

Het nieuwe jaar in!

Via Thailand naar Indonesie

In Bangkok heb ik eigenlijk niet zo heel veel speciaals gedaan. Slaapplaats gezocht en paar leuke mensen ontmoet (Habib en Hoessein, 2 Zweden...). Naast de onvermijdelijke Ko Sam Road met alle toeristen en een avondje "pingpongballenshows" kijken in Patpong (Red Light District van BK), niks speciaals gedaan. De Thaise TukTuks zijn enorm gaaf, klinken als racewagens en zo rijden ze ook... grappig dus!





De 31e ben ik met Shoshannah met AirAsia naar Sarut Thani gevlogen om van daaruit naar het feesteiland Koh Paghnan te gaan. Oudejaarsavond de spullen bij wat Australiers op de kamer gedropt en meteen naar Hat Rin gegaan waar het feest zou moeten zijn. En dat was het ook, naar schatting zo'n 40.000 mensen op het strand om oud op nieuw te vieren. Vroeg in de morgen m'n spullen opgehaald en een bungalowtje op het rustige deel van het eiland gezocht. Naast superleuke brommertochtjes eigenlijk niks anders gedaan dan op het strand gelegen :-) Behalve 3 januari want dat was de de dag dat de beruchte Ful Moon Party plaats zou vinden. Ook weer enorm leuk, maar het was zelfs minder druk dan oud op nieuw. Vooral een keertje naar toe gaan om mee te maken, maar op zich is het niks anders dan goeie muziek, met veel drank en gekke mensen op het strand.





De 6e 's nachts met een nachtboot terug gevaren naar Sarut Thani om daar 's middags weer in het vliegtuig richting Bangkok te springen. In Bangkok lekker wat rondgewandeld tussen alle andere toeristen en de 8e 's morgens om 5 uur weer naar het vliegveld gegaan omdat mijn vlucht naar Jakarta om 7.10 zou vertrekken. Een korte stop in Kuala Lumpur en om 16 uur was ik in Indonesie. Inge d'r vliegtuig zou om 17.20 landen en dat deed het dan ook mooi. Om 18uur kwam ze dan ook eindelijk door de poortjes en waren we weer samen. Ondanks de moeiheid van ons allebei, meteen in een bus naar Bogor gestapt.

In Bogor hebben we de botanische tuinen bezocht en gewoon genoten van weer een heel ander deel van Azie. De mensen zijn extreem vriendelijk, maar het lijkt wel alsof we in een dierentuin zijn. En dan zijn Inge en ik dus de aapjes. Iedereen begroet ons en kijkt ons ongeneerd na... of dat nu aan mijn 1.89m ligt of aan Inge d'r "blote" verschijning dat weten we niet zeker ;-) Het slapen in Bogor verliep niet geheel probleemloos... Aangezien er nogal wat moslims in Indo wonen hebben ze ook heel veel moskeeën, waaronder eentje vlak naast ons hotel te bouwen. En om de een of andere reden vinden ze het nodig om om 4 uur 's nachts het gebed te beginnen. Op zich niet erg, maar ze sturen dat kabaal via enorme luidsprekers de wereld in en ook onze kamer binnen!! Dus 2 nachten achter elkaar van 4 tot 5 wakker gelegen...



Gister een beetje mislukte dag gehad, want we wilden uitstappen op de Puncak Pass, onze tassen droppen, gaan wandelen en 's avonds door naar Bandung. Dat droppen van de tassen en het vinden van een wandelplek mislukte dus, waardoor we in een of ander vaag stadje terecht kwamen en eigenlijk meteen doorgegaan zijn naar Bandung. Daar hebben we vandaag uitgeslapen, "Jeans street" bezocht, museumpje gepakt en via wat winkeltjes terug naar ons hotel gelopen.



Morgen proberen we met een bus naar het strand bij Pangandaran te gaan. Zien hoe dat verloopt!

Big Hug,
Ruudje

(Foto's komen binnenkort als ik normaal internet kan vinden!)

Even snel tussendoor

Jaja, ik leef nog!

Heel veel plezier gehad met oud op nieuw en de Full Moon Party. Inge is de 8e aangekomen op Jakarta en we zijn nu samen Indonesie aan het verkennen. Indonesie is weer een hele andere ervaring dan alle andere Aziatische landen, maar de mensen zijn geweldig aardig!! Het reizen verloopt niet geheel probleemloos, maar de stranddagen komen eraan. Weg met de busproblemen en op naar zon, zee en strand!!!

Als ik snel en betrouwbaar internet vind komt er weer een lange update!!

Ciao,
Ruudje

Killing an AK47 at Angkor W(h)at?

Christmas time is over and it was different from other years...

Christmas day I spend by going on a trip in and around Phnom Penh by TukTuk. The first stop was the Tuol Sleng Museum, a prison (S-21) where Pol Pot's security forces detained, interrogated and killed approximately 20.000 people. Looked very scary and made prepared us for what was going to be next on the Killing Fields. The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek consist of some 129 mass graves of people killed by the Khmer Rouge. You are literally walking on pieces of bone and clothes of the people buried there... and yes, the pits in the picture are the graves! Again very impressive.



After that it was time for my Christmas gift. We went to a nearby shooting range and I treated myself to 25 bullets and an AK47 ($30) :-) I had never fired (or even hold) a real gun before and now I was holding an authentic Russian AK47. It was loud and I had fun, but I will never be a big supporter of guns, they just are scary! The AK47 was just one of the many weapons you could fire, they also offered handgrenades ($25), pistols, and even a Bazooka ($200).



Ruudje shooting an AK47 (turn your head...)!!! (movie)

Back in town I paid a visit to the central market and walked back to our guesthouse. That night we had a nice Indian diner, but the real Christmas feeling never surfaced. Still had a great time with some great people!



The next day I left early for Siem Reap. Different people told me the trip would take between 4 and 6 hours. That is if your bus doesn't break down... and guess what happened to my bus?! Indeed, we had to push start the bus 3 times after they had to change some parts of the engine. Fun to experience, but my trip took 8,5 hours due to these delays :-(



In Siem Reap I walked around a little and decided to go to the Tempels of Angkor to see the sunset (a tocket bought after 5pm is valid for the next day as well and that's a good thing since they cost US$ 20). Arriving at Angkor and seeing Angkor Wat for the first time, the only thing i could think of was: WAUW!!! The Angkor complex is the world's largest religious complex and that is quite impressive! The sunset was not that spectacular, but still had a great time there.



Today was going to be my big Angkor day. Rented a bike and arrived at the complex around 8.30. Describing what I've seen there is the same as describing the feeling you get when you see Mount Everest or the Great Wall for the first time. Words simply cannot describe it, you have to experience it!! I made tons of photos and walked/cycled around all day, just being impressed by the sheer magnitude of the complex. A recommendation to everyone: go there! Angkor Wat, Bayon, Baphuon & Phnom Bakheng are all stunning pieces of craftsmanship and still look great!











And then it happened... Ruud wouldn't be Ruud if he doesn't crash his bicycle at least once a year. However, the year is almost over and I haven't crashed yet. That was until the chain of my bike decides to snap, propelling me of the pedals and smacking into the asphalt :-( The result: several scratch marks on my left side (leg, but, elbow, shoulder) and some bruises all over my body. Nothing permanent, but it still hurts a little! Cheap ass, Cambodian bikes!!!

Yesterday it was time for the infamous bus trip from Siem Reap to Bangkok. Rumor goes that an airline company is paying the Cambodian government not to fix the road from Siem Reap to the border crossing with Thailand... Getting in a big minivan at 8am, enjoying the rollercoaster ride over the Road-of-Broken-Backbones, changing buses twice in Thailand because it "broke down" (conveniently at a restaurant probably owned by the buscompany) and arriving at 9pm in Bangkok were all included in the the $12 ticket ;-)

Check out part of the bumpy ride (movie)

I will stay in Bangkok for 3 nights and then I will fly to Ko Pha-Ngan. Here I will celebrate New Year and be part of one of world's most famous parties: The Full Moon Party!!! Besides that, I want to doing nothing but lying on the beach and relaxing!

I don't know when the next update will be but for now:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Laa Kawn!
Ruudje

Santa Claus has arrived

Arriving in Cambodia on Christmas Eve!

In the morning we visited some fish farms and a local minority village and after that we prepared ourselves for the 6 hour boat trip to Cambodia. Crossing the border was a piece of cake and the boatride was very, very relaxing! Another 1,5 hours in a bus to Phnom Penh and that was it! Had a nice Christmas Eve together with Jess, Jack, Vanessa and Steve. Some good food and drinks always help ;-)



And below you will find my Christmas card to all of you!! Once again: Merry Christmas!!!



Bis schnell,
Rudi

(I also added lots of pictures to the previous post, so check them out!!)

The south of Vietnam

China isn't the only place they use Chinglish.

Some examples of rules that apply to hotelguests:
4. No weapons, firings, or bad-smelling foodstuff should be brought in the room. These should be kept at the store of the reception.
7. All pets and vegetables are not allowed.

A common remark of motorguys on the streets after darkness set in:
Pssst, hey you, Tiger Beer Boomboom...

Dalat is a cool, laid-back place in the mountains. That means tempuratures drop considerably at night and a blanket is a definate necessity. The first night I spend exploring the city, walking around the lake and enjoying the people out on the streets. The second day I booked a trip with an EasyRider, the EasyRiders are a group of people driving proper motorcycles and they will take you on day trips or multiple-day trips anywhere you would like to go. They are pretty expensive, but for that money you get a fully customized tour including a driver who speaks English (to a certain extent...). During my trip I saw the beautiful countryside of Dalat and visited several factories, farms and a gorgeous waterfall. I ended the night going to a local fair with Tim and enjoyed some real local entertainment.









The next day my bus left early in the morning with destination Saigon (a.k.a. Ho Chi Minh City). The trip took about 8 hours and I felt really tired. Therefor no sightseeing that night, but relaxing and making some new friends at the local Bia Hoi :-)



After a short night of sleep I rented a motorbike and took off to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. Finding it wasn't as easy as I thought, but without big problems I reached the Vietcong tunnels at Ben Duoc. I must admit, these tunnels are the most impressive war "thing" I have ever seen. It is just unbelievable that they actually used to live in them. No wonder the Americans lost that war, those Vietnamese were (are) extremely smart. After a very nice tour I drove back to Saigon and got totally lost in this city with its 8 million people and 4 million motorbikes... Not to worry, some friendly people, a lot of patience and some 40 km later I was back at my hotel ;-) Made the "compulsory" visit to the War Remnants Museum that has some chocking pictures to show and horrible stories to tell (a lot of it kind of anti-American). I ended the day again with some chatting and drinking at the Bia Hoi. Went to bed early since my three day Mekong Delta trip tomorrow will leave early.







Luckely Jack and Jess (an English couple I met in Saigon) are doing exactly the same trip as I. That means I won't have to spend the last days before Christmas on my own :-) The first day of the trip took us on a boat to several small factories. We visited a coconutcandy factory and a honey farm and "enjoyed" the caged animals the Vietnamese tend to keep at every tourist spot... Strange because non of the tourists I met, including myself, likes to see caged bears or monkeys. I have no problem with a snake, but animals that normally are very active should not be in a cage. Besides that I just enjoyed the scenery along the way and the fact that I didn't have to take care of anything.

Wrapping coconutcandy at lightning speed (movie)










The second day we got up early: 6.00 AM. This in order to make an early visit to two floating markets. The boat ride was once again beautiful, but the floating markets were a bit boring. Not the mass of colors and liveliness I expected. They show their merchandise on a bamboo stick high in the air, that looks very funny! In the afternoon we visited a crocodile farm and climbed Sam Mountain, the highest mountain in the Mekong Delta area. Tomorrow we'll cross the border to Cambodia by boat and we should arrive around 17.00 in Phnom Pehn.







Don't know what I'll be doing for Christmas exactly, but probably something very Christmassy like visiting the Killing Fields... haha!

To all of you:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Best wishes,
Santa Claus

(no pictures at the moment due to a very bad internet connection)

Brommers en water

Dat zijn de twee dingen die ik het meeste gezien heb in Vietnam (oh ja en de binnenkant van bussen).

De laatste dag in Hoi An heb ik voor mezelf een brommertje (lees 100cc, 90km/h, geen helm) gehuurd en ben naar de ruines van My Son gereden. De ruines zijn best mooi en beroemd om de manier van bouwen. Ze stapelen de "bakstenen" namelijk zo op dat het een stabiel geheel vormt zonder ook maar enige vorm van specie (schrijf je dat zo..?) te gebruiken. Het complex was een stuk kleiner dan ik dacht dus was daar redelijk snel uitgekeken. Maar eerlijk gezegd waren de ruines gewoon een excuus om een brommer te huren en de omgeving te verkennen op mijn nieuwe race-monster. Wegwijsborden kennen ze niet, dus het is een kwestie van zoeken en vragen. Paar keer duchtig verdwaald, maar daardoor kwam ik juist in de afgelegen authentieke stukjes Vietnam uit. Mensen zijn daar een stuk vriendelijker dan in de toeristensteden. Ook nog fftjes naar het strand gereden en ik denk dat het in de zomermaanden daar heerlijk vertoeven is!









's Middags in een bus gesprongen met bestemming Nha Trang, waar ik om 5 uur 's ochtends aan kwam. Deze stad staat bekend als de beste duikspot in Vietnam, maar vanwege de huidige weersomstandigheden (bewolkt en erg veel wind) schijnt het duiken nu een beetje tegen te vallen. Maar besloten het niet te doen. De eerste dag beetje rondgewandeld (niet veel spannends hier) en eventjes met een boek rustig op het strand gelegen.
's Avonds kwam ik wat mensen uit de bus tegen en zijn samen hapje en drankje gaan doen. Toen ik terugkwam van de "Sailing Club" werd ik op 200 meter van m'n hotel ineens belegerd door 8 meisjes (lees: hoertjes). Ik was er al voor gewaarschuwd dat deze erg actief zijn in de louche business van de zakkenrollerij. Ondanks deze waarschuwing is het ze toch gelukt. Als er 8 van die kleine, kabaalmakende gevallen aan je zitten (echt overal aanzitten!) dan gaan je handen automatisch naar de meest irritante om ze van je af te slaan. En ik heb er een aantal echt HARD weggeduwd, tot vallens toe, en toch was ik 2 minuten later zo'n 160.000 Vietnamese Dong armer. Geen ramp want dat is ongeveer 7,50 euro, maar toch... Ik had gelukkig alleen geld bij me en een horloge om (die ze ook probeerden te jatten, maar dat kon ik wel voorkomen). Niet erg prettig om mee te maken, maar wel weer een ervaring om nooit te vergeten.

Vandaag een boottochtje gemaakt naar wat eilandjes. Was best leuk, maar de boot was een beetje bagger en de eilandjes stelden niks voor. Maar het zonnetje scheen redelijk veel en ik had een goed boek bij de hand. De lunch op het bovendek en de drijvende bar waren wel weer erg geslaagd! Al met al een lekker ontspannend dagje waar ik een mooie rode buik en rug aan over heb gehouden :-)





Morgenvroeg met de bus naar Dalat. Dat moet een heel mooi, rustgevend stadje op zo'n 1400 meter hoogte in de Central Highlands zijn. Denk dat ik daar eens lekker ga wandelen en waarschijnlijk weer een brommertochtje ga maken. Dat wandelen gaat weer super, want de voet is zo goed als genezen!!

That's all folks!!
Luud