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October 02 Gelukkig hebben we de foto's nog...Ik was iedereen nog wat foto's verschuldigd van mijn vakantie op Mauritius en de dagen ervoor in Zuid-Afrika. Alles staat op Facebook. Klik hieronder voor de verschillende mappen.
  May 03 De week van Do (3) - Onderwaterbeestjes en bedouinenHet was een week vol beestjes. Onderwater wel te verstaan. Druk druk druk, daar op de zeebodem. Zowel 's nachts als overdag hadden we de mooiste vissen, murrenes, kreeften, octopussen, nemo's en nog vele andere bewoners van de Rode Zee. Het is nog even wachten op de foto's van onder water, maar boven water was het net zo leuk.
Met uitjes naar Dahab (en ruzie met de taxichauffeur, die niet naar vrouwen wilde luisteren, maar een te gammele bak had om in te stappen...), een tocht dwars door de woestijn, een bezoek aan het St. Catharinaklooster bij de berg waar Mozes zijn tien geboden ontving en een wandeling door een kloof midden in het zand van de Sinai-woestijn. Wat kan een oase heerlijk zijn aan het einde van zo'n wandeling. De tocht duurde anderhalf uur, maar ik heb in die 90 minuten enorm veel respect gekregen voor al die mensen die door de woestijn liepen, vroeger en nu.
April 08 Paris!October 10 Being a frog in SaigonEver played the notorious 2D-computergame with the frog and the trees when you were young? Well, walking the streets in HCMC (Saigon) is just like that. With you being the frog.
As soon as I got here from the trip in the marvelous and beautiful and stunning and whatever-more-words you can make up for a place so beautiful, I got myself a ticket to the Water Puppet Theatre. Had some dinner and took a cab there. The show was great. For 50 minutes I just sat there and had childish fun with the puppets and the Viet Nam stories they show. It was amazingly good, with perfect singers/instrument players and great 'acting' by the men and women behind the curtains. A real insight in Viet Nam culture, probably.
But... as soon as I got out, no ATM would give me money. So I had to walk. It wasn't that far, but I hadn't a clue which way to go. In the cab I had just been looking around, but happily ever after I had talked with the driver about some monuments and parks in town. So I just found my way back. Asking some directions from locals in something most likely to be silent talking an pointing in directions. Another adventure...being a frog... October 07 Lady Tuk Tuk?Today I had another early morning (5.30am) as my pick up for the boat to Phnom Penh would be at the hotel at six. They mostly seem to be on time in this part of the world, so I made sure I was ready. Of course they came to pick me up first and I made a nice tour around town and neighbouring villages again. A 7.20am we departed from the little harbour and for the next six hours I would be stuck on this boat, a fast ferry (really Fast!) but it wasn't boring for a second.
For almost 200 km we had stunning views again, lots of water, but also lots of local Cambodian fishermen. Two hours before arriving in Phnom Penh the water became more narrow and we got a good view at the water villages and the people living there. I think they are living in the middle of nowhere, but I also saw these boats with school children in school uniforms, all together, so there has to be primary school at least somewhere out there.
Arriving at Phnom Penh I had the same experience as I had so many times already. Being afraid of getting in a tuk tuk the first time in Bangkok (they really are crazy drivers sometimes), I really got used to it. So after a short bargain I got in the Tuk Tuk again and checked in to my hostel, which is just around the corner with the Foreigners Correspondent Club (FCC), which is pretty famous for being a home to journalists during war.
As I still feel a little bit attached to this profession I went there for a drink and some late lunch. I read about the history of this country again before getting to the museum of Tol Sleng. This is the former prison from where people were transported to the Killing Fields after being tortured for days, weeks or sometimes months during Pol Pot's regime .
What I still don't get is the randomness of the hate in this regime during the 70ties. I mean, most wars have group against group, which was the case in WW II, Rwanda, former Yugoslavia and so many more places in the world. This regime just mad people so scared of being turned in , that they would turn in their nieghbours, employees, friends or even fathers, mothers or children first, befor anyone could betray you. I just cannot imagine this fear and anger. And yet, I look around the place and I see a lot of poorness, but people are always friendly and the people I spoke to all see a bright future.
The museum was simple, yet impressive and a good preparation for a visit to the Killing Fields tomorrow...
Border crossings, Peace and TemplesAfter I left you with this real cliffhanger on borderstories, I'll fill you in on what happened... After a early morning start (6 o'clock) we went for pick-ups all over Bangkok and we left for the border @8.30. The roads were still perfect and the mini-van better than I've ever had before, so we already were at the border at noon. Nice and easy, the group I travelled with was moved to some upstairs restaurant and there the real fun started.
We first had this tiny thing happening in front of us. Some guys came running at this car, got their pistols and got the driver out of it. My first reaction told me to run, but as the only place to go was jumping of the 1st floor of the restaurant, I thought I would be safest up there. Some police officeres got there as well, and it turned out not to be bandits but government guys who arrested the guy in the car. The care safely driven away and the chaos down there back to normal again, we had our first experience with the guy taking us to the other side of the border.
I just sat there, while I already had my visum, so he could not scam me. He tried to cheat on all the other guys, but he couldn't. We walked through emmigration, through nomansland to the other side and headed for immigration. I immigrated easily, although soaked from the hot and humid walk I had. And then I waited. With this group, but at leatst in Cambodia. Only half an hour later our bus turned up (it finally crossed my mind we really needed another bus, because the Combodians drive right side and the Thai on the left) and we hit the road for Siem Reap.
Six hours later we arrived in Siem Reap, whole town seemed happy to give me a ride (so I chose the cheapest, I'm really getting good at bargaining!) and I got to this WONDERFUL hotel. It looked like a jungle and I had my own little wooden house in there. I dropped the bags, had a swim (whiehoo, they had a pool) and got to bed. The next day I decided I would do peacefully nothing. I just wandered around town, got a massage and had a swim. I just did nothing basically for most of the time, which felt really well.
Yesterday I visited the temples of Angkor Wat. You can spend a week over there easily, so I had chosen three of the main buildings for this time. I cannot even tell how beautiful they are, so I'll just put some pics on the web sometime this week (and then still you can't imagine the stunning view they give and the detailed reliefs that are on it).
October 03 Bangkok and AyuthayaSo, after starting to hate Bangkok, I drank some water on the river side. I read my Lonely Planet and first thing I read opening it, is that everybody finds something to love about this city. I was in heavy decline, but well, I started over. In my morning walk I already noticed Bangkok is smelly, chaotic, friendly, busy but safe. No worries whatsoever. I probably would need a shower back in the hotel, but if that’s all? I walked my planned route, which was much more boring, but very nice. I got to the main attractions which are actually the National Museum, The Grand Palace and The Wat Po. I visited all three during the rest of the day and made some friends. The Palace was big and beautiful. Even here they have colonial influences, but besides that it really felt like Thailand with all its power and monarchies. Wat Po is a temple, quite stunning. I got their by express boat. You pay 3,5 B one way (that’s about 7 eurocents) and I had a look from the second level. It’s that steep I didn’t feel safe to go further up, so I enjoyed the view and the boats on the river from there. I was very happy that I made it to see all main attractions and after a good meal I joined with Sofija, a Serbian girl living in New York I met that afternoon at the Grand Palace. We chatted away about traveling, Bangkok and the situation in Serbia nowadays. Interesting. Today I had booked myself on a very touristy tour up to the sight of Ayuthaya, which mainly consist of ruined temples. We also stopped at the Summer Palace of the Thai King, which is beautiful. We were taken back on a boat, very nice and with a very good view on what happens at the river side and on all these boats passing by. Tomorrow I will be on my way to Siem Reap in Cambodia. I hope I will have nothing to tell about that journey, because that would mean everything has gone smooth and safe. Get back to you. Bangkok - how to get lostWell, where to start… after this blog you probably think I am a little bit chaotic, but then I will blame it on the city. Because I think that is what it is: Bangkok is the Thai word for chaos.
I lost my way as soon as I walked out of the hotel. Apparently this hotel has two exits (or entries) and well, that mistake brought me all around town. I thought I knew what I was doing, I prepared very well and even had a route highlighted on the map, but after 5 minutes in the streets I was completely lost.
I walked and walked, sure to recognize something or some name at some time, but… I didn’t. I even asked some Thai to help me out and they are happy to do so, but with only some English written down in the map, they were keen to say ‘yes’ to every question I asked. I started to ask very open questions, like ‘Where am I now?’ or ‘What’s the name of the street?’, but still they answered polite and told me I was right. Well… I don’t blame the Thai, I blame Bangkok again.
After 1 ½ hour I got myself behind the computer and googled the name of the internetshop. Nothing. I found Google Maps online, couldn’t help me out. I googled a map in Thai, printed it and asked the guy where his shop is. ‘Yes.’ Well, this wasn’t gonna help.
After half an hour more strolling around I saw the river. I ended up under a bridge with all tuk tuk drivers sleeping (oh yeah, I should have asked a tuk tuk driver to bring me to my hotel and start over again…). After a little puzzle and a map which I turned around about 50 times (woman…) I saw a light shining bright. Gees… THAT far north (I was supposed to walk south, according to my route)?
On my way back, I tested myself and my belief in my never disappearing feeling for north and south (I hear you laughing) again and took some side streets from the main street. And there I was, back in a place that was actually recognizable. Because I could see the same building facing me on the map, I knew where I was. No Buddha but this one will ever make me feel more enlightened again.
October 01 South Side, Macau, Kowloon and ... BangkokWell, I guess I've stopped writing since we tried to get rid of our hangover on Sunday. We went to the South side of the Hongkong Island to swim a little bit. The waves were huge and it was great fun. After that we went to Stanley, which basically remembered me of Waterfront Cape Town. Quiet, sophisticated but nice.
After a good night of sleep we went to Macau on Monday. Macau is another little state like Hongkong with, regarded to China, the same status. After emmigration we got on the boat and we sailed for one hour to get to the place. It was a pretty quick boat, it almost felt like an airplane, the way embarkation and terminals were set up.
After this nice airconned hour we arrived at Macau, a pretty old Portuguese colony, with all it's habits still there. Although probably nobody speaks any Portuguese at all over there, all signs are written in English and Portuguese and sometimes in Chinese. It even felt meditarrenean sometimes. With nice little squares with trees and old buildings not higher than two or three stories. A lot of churches completed the view and the feeling.
The day ended with a dinner in an autenthic restaurant called Alfonso III. We had much fun with some Portuguese visiting as well, but with a history in Macau. The cook was Portuguese, but the waitresses were Macau. We had some good Portuguese food and wine and after that we went back to the boat and back to Hongkong. Emmigration, immigration, they've stamped a few pages of my passport in one single day...
On Tuesday, which was actually yesterday, we went to Kowloon, a whole other story. The Kowloon part of Hongkong is as much Chinese as it gets in the whole city and that means busy, not understandable sometimes, but also with big Japanese shops, shopping malls everywhere and a lot of markets packed with (more) local people. We made a walk outlined in 100% Hongkong which was pretty good. It gave me a whole other view on Hongkong, which has so many different faces. City, nature, Western, Chinese, local, global, efficient but now and then beyond my capacity to understand that efficiency (especially when I'm lost again in a shopping mall). After dinner in a New York bistro (well... that's what I mean), we got to HK Central and had a drink at Azure, a bar at the twenty-something level of a building with a stunning view. We called it a day after we danced the night away at Solas.
And then it already is today. I checked in my luggage in town (again, efficiency) and had lunch with Menno and Lissy. Train, flight (which I almost missed... I only arrived at the gate at final call) and there is Bangkok! On the bus from the airport I met some people who could actually tell me something about Bangkok and the things to do, so that's good. I just walked here and there along the Khoa San Rd, which is mainly backpackers paradise. Tomorrow is another day and I will get back to you ;) September 28 Lantau, the buddha and clubbingWell, a little update for those who are interested. We have been seeing a lot! The last thing I wrote about was our walk through Botanical Gardens and Hong Kong Park. And since then, it's like we never stopped. We went for dinner with some of the locals. Well, I would like to call them global locals, 'cause lots of the people here are local Hong Kong Chinese, but those are not the ones in the clubbing and dining circuit. After a traditional Chinese dinner, which has most similarity to the tapas we know and love in Europe but then with a every-ten-minutes repeating question 'what THAT?', we went for a beer. To knock out the jetlag forever I guess.
A little bit more from the anthropological point of view. People here are all young, hot, hip and happening. It's very funny to see that even the ones that would probably be stuck home because of children, are always everywhere. The nanny/maid solves their problem. And those, of course, are mostly Phillipines. The richest here are the Chinese, but I don't think we met them. And the poorest, well, I didn't see any real poor people, but I guess the fishermen in Tai O or the ones working all night to pick up garbage are the ones that are on the downside of the financial ladder.
Well, back to sight-seeing. Yesterday we went to the island of Lantau. It's a beautiful part of Hong Kong with the buddha as it's main attraction. Public transport (what else..) took us to the cable car, which took us to the buddha. A little themed village is build for tourist purposes and after a good cup of tea at Starbucks (on every corner...) we had a vegetarian lunch at the monestry. It was very nice and it gave us the power to walk up to that amazing statue. Enlightened we started our journey back to Hong Kong Island. We took a taxi to the ferry. The trip was beautiful. It took a little bit longer than we'd expected, so suddenly we had to hurry up. We were only at the harbour at the moment we had a reservation at the restaurant, but... we made it. A taxi took us up in 3 minutes, we changed clothes in 5 and we got back downhill to the restaurant in 5 as well. Wow, again, this is efficient!
We started clubbing right after dinner. I don't know the names of all the pubs and clubs we've been to, but it was fun. We ended up at home at about 4 and we played a game of bowling on the Wii (I lost big time).
Besides all hip, hot and happening, I can see what else is going on at the same time as well. Of course, Hong Kong is a financial city and almost everyone is banking or working for insurance companies here. Daily, we meet people who are actually working for for example Lehman Brothers or AIG. It's the talk of the day. What company will go down today or tomorrow and will the bail-out plan of the US government work? Opinions vary widely, but above all I have a feeling that everyone hopes their bank will survive. The only two people I met who are actually very happy with the situation are working with the Wall Street Journal. And their only problem? How to find as many words for 'failure', they say....
Till next time! See if I can wake up my cousin, haha. September 26 Hongkong - First impressionsAfter a good flight I finally ended up in Hongkong! I left the plane and I knew I was there: hot, steamy and tropical. And there it was, in all it's efficiency. A free train picked us up from the terminal and got us to the arrivals, passport control and baggage claim. Apart from this immediate form of Asian (?) smoothness, I had another global experience. It appeared on that same plane, six seats away from me, had been someone I know. We only saw each other at the elevator and the arrival hall. Oh smal -but big - planet.
Menno picked me up from the airport and we hit the train to Hongkong Central. Smooth, fast and simple. Whomever wants to complain about OVchipkaart in Holland, it definitely would work for me! The Octopus card as it is called here is probably more important and more used than any credit card. You pay public transport with it. But also, even at 7Eleven it is commonly used. So no cash needed for attractions, train, bus, trams or a bottle of water.
After a quick shower and a change of clothes, we hit the road. A direct trip to The Peak. After a typhone hit Hongkong only 2 days ago now the weather is nice and we had a perfect view with almost clear skies. The view was stunning. A nice walk up there gave us more nice views and it gave me an idea how the city is build and situated. A lunch gave us the strenght to do another walk (downhill, uphill and more downhill - steeper than steepest). At only 2 we arrived home and I took a little nap to make sure I will make it untill at least 11 tonight.
We hit the road again and visited the Hongkong Parc and the Botanical Gardens. Always funny, those mammals and all other kinds of animals playing and fooling around. I noticed it's safer than any capital I've seen in the world. People leave their bags unattended while working. The people are kind, helpfull and very attentive. They even take time to give you good advice, even if you didn't ask. Perfect.
Now, it's time to explore more (after a third shower of the day...)!
September 22 Hongkong here I come...From Thursday on... new stories. Hongkong and South East Asia in a nutshell.
 August 18 La bella ItaliaAugust 05 Visum nodig?Kriebels heb ik... in september vertrek ik voor 'eventjes' naar Hong Kong en een kleine rondreis door Thailand, Cambodja en Vietnam (alleen het zuiden, verder regent het alleen maar...). Nu ben ik dus bezig met tickets, visa en plaatsnamen onthouden. Dat laatste is een onmogelijkheid, dat eerste gaat best goed en het tweede is een verhaal apart.
Want als je dan dit soort dingen tegenkomt... Voor de beeldvorming -> Ho Chi Minh City ligt in Vietnam, dat is ten oosten van Cambodja. Bangkok ligt in Thailand, ten westen van Cambodja. De snelste weg van HCM City naar Bangkok is dus via Cambodja, maar als ik een visum wil moet ik dat dus halen in Bangkok??? Vreet mij maar op...
Bezoekers die arriveren over land van Ho Chi Minh City, de Bavet Grensovergang in Vietnam moeten vooraf een visum aanvragen waarin duidelijk staat vermeld waar men de grens met Cambodja oversteekt! Dit kunt u doen bij de Cambodjaanse Ambassade in Bangkok.
June 15 D! resettedHeerlijk, een week in Egypte op een boot. Wat was het welkom en wat fijn voelt het dan om volledig gereset weer thuis te komen. In een heel en vol huis ook nog.
De duikvakantie was heerlijk. Lekker veel visjes gezien, gezwommen met een schildpad, gedoken in en rondom wrakken en door lekker verrijkte zuurstof ook nog eens niet echt moe elke avond. Een wonder als je bedenkt dat je elke dag om 6 uur naast je bed staat... Orde en regelmaat, wie zei daar ook altijd weer wat over?
Aangezien er niet echt spannende dingen waren (oh ok, met windkracht 8 het Suez oversteken is best schommelig, maar ach, gewoon slapen en je merkt er niets van), ga ik ook maar weer stoppen. De foto's volgen snel! November 12 Who's from where?Voor alles is een eerste keer. Ook voor een all-inn vakantie. Hotel, eten, zwembaden, handdoeken, strandbedden, zeilen, alles is inbegrepen. Lekker makkelijk. Je schept op wat en zoveel je wil eten, je loopt een beetje rond, je hangt wat in de bar en je drinkt en danst zoveel je wilt. Je krijgt er zelfs elke avond entertainment, allemaal inbegrepen. De ene avond wat beter dan de andere, maar er is altijd wel wat leuks te vinden op het resort. Een lekker bandje, een zwoele avond op een terras of een danslesje. Even wennen, maar zoals met al het vreemde is het ook uiteindelijk erg lekker.
Het leventje in zo'n resort is zo gemakkelijk. Alles kan en alles mag. En het went verbazend snel. Dat de service van het hotel echt geweldig is, alles doet met een hele grote glimlach. Dat je nog niet zit of al je wijntje krijgt bij het eten. Dat alles vanzelf lijkt te gaan. Je hebt veel tijd voor andere dingen en naast natuurlijk lezen, zonnen en zwemmen, kijk je dan ook mensen. Na een paar dagen ga je ook patronen zien. In wat anderen doen, in wat 'nationaliteiten' kenmerkt. Who's from where is een leuk spel, en hoe vaak heb je het nog goed ook! Sommige mensen doen mee aan alle activiteiten. Ze spelen elke avond bingo (Duitsers, Engelsen en Fransen) voor een fles rum (die toch al gratis is ;)), ze zetten zichzelf voor aap in de meest rare spelletjes (Fransen en Spanjaarden), of ze drinken zich apelazerus aan de bar vanaf een uur of tien 's morgens (Engelsen, who else ;)). Ze ontbijten met spek en bonen (again...) of ze kijken ongelukkig. Die laatste categorie komt helaas van heel dichtbij.
Een bepaald soort mensen is namelijk vooral heel ontevreden versierd met een toefje wereldvreemdheid. Ontevreden over alles wat wij perfect vonden. De service, de hostess van Arke, de lokale bevolking, de gewoontes van de Dominicanen en het eten. Verbaasd over alles waarvan je mag verwachten dat iemand die naar een niet-Westers land gaat daar minstens over gelezen mag hebben. Dat de slager in het dorp zijn vlees langs de weg heeft hangen. Het vervoer, de hygiene op straat en het feit dat ze geen aardappelen, vlees en groenten krijgen: waar je je al niet druk om kan maken.
Hier wilden we liever niet bij horen, maar helaas, ze spraken onze taal... de Nederlanders. Zo kwam het dan ook dat we letterlijk voor ze vluchtten op de monstertruck safari. Toen voorzichtig gemeld werd dat de truck wel eens wat vol zou kunnen zitten, riepen we in koor, zonder overleg, dat we ook best in de Engelse truck wilden, hoor. We waren het geklaag en het gemekker van de mensen om ons heen in de 'Arkebus' al een beetje moe. Nog een hele dag kreten als 'ulgh, die heeft vast aids', of 'nou ja, zeg, ik wilde vrijwilligerswerk gaan doen in Australie, maar als ik dan ook van die vieze mensen moet helpen, ga ik maar niet' en 'gadverdamme, dat is vies, oh bah, dat vlees krijg ik vast zo op mijn bord' en meer van deze aard, wilden we niet. De Engelsen, Amerikanen en Fransen leken ons een stuk beter. En dat was het ook. Het was een geweldige dag met een leuke groep mensen.
Het is diezelfde groep Nederlanders overigens, die de makkelijke prooi is voor de geile Dominicaan met maar één grote wens: passport to heaven. Vrouwen van 40 die een jongen aan de haak slaan in een discotheek. Een meisje van 19 die zich laat inpakken door een gluiperd van een vent (ulgh) en vrouwen van meer dan middelbare leeftijd die zich in hun tweede jeugd wanen omdat de kerel die ze op het strand gevonden hebben alle dromen ietsjes aanwakkert (brrr). Bah bah en nog eens bah.
En ohja, hoe krijg je dit soort mensen stil? Toen ze op een ander moment weer begonnen over 'kouwe kak', trok ik spontaan mijn witte polo met roze streepjes aan (helaas was 'ie niet van een heel duur merk). Hasta la vista baby ;).
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