Yellowstone National Park

From Cody it is only a stone's throw to Yellowstone National Park. The landscape of this place is mostly formed by the active Volcano beneath it and it did a fantastic work! Yellowstone is just beautiful! It has got everything: Mountains, rivers, geysers, waterfalls, forests and a lot of wildlife.

The Yellowstone River...

One of the hundreds of hot springs in Yellowstone...

Old Faithful...

Buffalos...

bears...

 elks...

waterfalls...

and much more.. it truely is one of the world's most beautiful places!

Get ya cowboy boots at the Cody Nite Rodeo

While we were crossing more vast plains to approach Cody, we went to the devils tower, a hughe monolith in northeast Wyoming. This single peace of rock is attrackting several hundred rock climbers every year, who dare the thrilling climb

Before we went to Cody we followed General Armstrong Custer on the battle field of Little Big Horn, the only major battle, which was won by the Indians. In a madness run, Custer ran against hordes of warriors led by Chief Sitting Bull, Low Dog and Crazy Horse.  The battle was over before it even started and all of Custers troops were killed. From then on, the Forces if the United States realized, that they have underestimated the strength of the Indians, but acted accordingly and the history took an immediate turn...

In the evening we arrived to Cody for the famous Nite Rodeo, where a bunch of show-off cowboys dare the grossly negligent ride on the back of an angry bull...

It was fun to see and it is a miracle nobody was injured (at least nobody we know of!)...

Badlands

Guess why the Indians called the Badlands this way... The thing is, that the Badlands is not actually bad, but for the Indians, it was useless land. It is a large area of bizarre, rugged stony land, beautiful, but useless.

Deeper into the Badlands, the rocks are getting slightly more colorful...

 
and on the way to the Badlands, the area is getting wilder...

But the real treat revealed itself in the evening, when all of a sudden, the sky darkened and there was the craziest thunderstorm I have every seen combined with the sunset in the background and all that while crossing the amazing great plains... A magical moment!

The place to be for US patriots

The Black Hills in Nebraska and South Dakota are the Black Forest of the USA. This is where some of the most important frauds and massacres between the white settlers and the Indians took place. In the 1920s the Mt Rushmore Memorial was built. Four Presidents of the United States were carved in stone: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. A picture almost everybody knows...

In order not to forget the Indians, (especially in this area, which was supposed to be given back to the Indians for eternity, until the rumor spread, that gold was found), another monument is being built. A gigantic monument is being carved into the stone of Cheif Crazy Horse, 200m tall and believed to be finished within 50 years time. To get an idea, they show a model in front of the actual monument:

The Black Hills with Mt Rushmore is a must see for all US patriots (like me ;))

Crossing the Great Plains

To get to the Black Hills, which are located at the beginning of the Rocky Mountains, one has to cross the Great Plains. It took us two days to cross them, but it was not at all boring landscape. The Great Plains are not just great, but they are also great! For miles and miles, you are passing maize fields until the landscape switches and you'll be passing meager grazing lands below this amazing sky.

The air is clear like in Bolivia and the landscape is flat like the australian Nullabore Plain - a fantastic journey! I just hope to also see a tornado, next time I come here...

Roaming the streets of Al Capone

Chicago – USA’s No.2, but not when it comes to skyline, culture and food. With the Willis tower, the Trump Tower and the John Hancock Centre, Chicago has America’s three tallest buildings. Willis Tower was the world’s highes Building for more than 20 years and you get incredible views from it's 412m high Sky Deck.

Millenium Park is „Chicago‘s Central Park“, just smaller and there is some fun stuff to see, such as The Bean, a gigantic bean shaped metal block in which the skyline reflects.

The evenings should be spent with a compulsory visit in a Blues or Jazz club. First night in B.L.U.E.S., the place where all the legends once slammed, was an absolutely fantastic experience. It’s cramped, it’s filthy, but the more the singer got wasted, the better the show was.

The Green Mill used to be one of Al Capone‘s favourite clubs and is a much classier place to enjoy smooth Jazz sessions.

Climbing up high over Toronto

Toronto is Canada's financial centre and business hub and the metropolitan area has some 8 million people. Coming into Toronto just feels like coming to a US american city (to all my US and canadian friends: sorry to say that, but if there wouldn't be canadian flags instead of USA flags, I wouldn't recognize any difference!).
Besides Torontos skyline there is a castle build on a hill by a rich business man, who fulfilled his dream and lived there until he lost all his money and had to give away the castle. (what a shame for him, but at least he left a pearl in Toronto and is now open to visitors).

The skyline is affected by the CN tower. The cities embleem built in 1973 used to be the world's highest structure stretching 555m into the sky. The highest observation deck however is just 447m high, but high enough for stunning views. Furthermore, the tower was equipped with a glass floor on which you can walk looking down onto the city.

It doesn't have to be Iguacu...

Many people told me, that I should not be disappointed about the Niagara Falls and they might not live up with the expectations... Well, I totally disagree! After having seen the Iguacu Falls in Argentina/Brazil, they are still incredible and are totally worth a visit. The difference however is, that it is sooooo touristic! There is such a high number of luxury resorts and other hotels on both, the american and the canadian side!

Niagara Falls consists of two falls, one smaller fall, which is 100% in the US and the larger horseshoe falls. For a closeup it is good to visit the american side and to go down to the bottom, where the water is pouring down on you at the Caves of the Winds.

From the Canadian side, you'll get the better view, especially on the horseshoe falls, which mainly means mist coming up from the falls:

50 stars and 13 stripes

After a 30h journey over the northpole I arrived in Boston and met my parents in the hotel. The next morning we hit the Freedom trail, a two miles long path on which all of Bostons important sights are located, which lead to the declaration of independence.

In the afternoon we checked out the campus of Harvard university, which is just a few minutes north of Boston downtown. Hardard is one of the best and one of the most expensive universities worldwide. This is also reflected in the splendor of the campus. Just look at their library:

Overall Boston is actually much nicer than what I had in mind and I am curious, of what else is waiting on the trip over to the westcoast...

Hong Kong; Last destination in Southeast Asia

The last stopover in southeast Asia was in Hong Kong. It was pretty much like I expected: crazy city, very fast lifestyle and shopping, shopping, shopping. I have seen people queing up in front of a Louis Vuitton store! And of course Hong Kong has a nice skyline...

But as I had to find out before, to get good views, don't come during rainy season. It was mostly cloudy, which made the trip to the Peak dispensable (Hong Kong Island's hill, which provides the best view over Hong Kong). But one more reason to come to Hong Kong is the food and I am not talking about McDonalds and TGI Fridays, which are found on every corner, but about the exciting mixture of all Asia's fantastic food... Delicious!

Back to shopping malls and 7eleven...

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capital of Malaysia and as expected there were McDonalds and 7elevens on every corner, unlike in Myanmar, where such things don't exist due to the embargos. KL is home of the Petronas Towers, which used to be the world's highest building from 1999 until 2004, when the Taipeh 101 was completed.

Considering that KL's population is only 1.5 million, it has a quite impressive skyline and I was wondering how all these useless Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton stores in all these shopping centres in KL can make money?! For a great view over the skyline it is best to go up to the observation deck of the Menara KL, the television tower of KL.

The Golden Rock

In the early afternoon I took a train from Mandalay to Bago and the ride was about 14 hours. For the adventure spirit I booked ordinary class and I had so much fun for the first 8 hours. The train and the tracks are in terrible condition and the ordinary class is packed full of people. The train is going way too fast for the quality of the tracks and is therefore jumping up and down such that I sometimes hit my head on the ceiling, when flying around in the train... I guess it's a burmese style rollercoaster and a miracle that the train didn't derail (although it often does). It was absolutely great and a must do experience in Myanmar!

In the early morning the nightmare was over and I took some more highly questionable motorized vehicles to reach the Golden Rock. A rock with a little pagoda on top is fully covered in gold and located on the top of a mountain there is supposed to be an amazing view, but lucky me, it was so misty, I could baredly see the Golden Rock.

The rock has not just a thin layer of gold, since you can easily make big carves in it with your fingernail, which means the gold it at least 1cm strong... I don't want to know how much gold is on this rock. It was therefore already quite impressive, even without the view...

Meet the Moustache Brothers

Hundreds of monks are supposed to cross U Beins Bridge in one of Mandalay's southern subburbs. I went there, but I guess I was too late to see the "Monk Parade". U Bein bridge is with it's 1.6 km still the longest Teak bridge.

When climbing Mandalay hill to visit the pagoda on top of the hill, I was all of a sudden surrounded by locals who wanted to practise their english. Eventually I didn’t pay too much attention to the pagoda and the sunset over the city of Mandalay and the Palace (which was both impressive afterall), but it was so nice to talk to all these burmese students. I spent about 3 hours up at the hill and almost forgot to head back into the center to see the show of the Moustache Brothers.

 

These guys are activists in Myanmar mainly making jokes about the military government. All oft hem were arrested for their show at least once, but since it has become kind of a tourist attraction, they are now more or less tolerated. The show is held in the garage/kitchen of their house in mandalay and they provide some 20 plastic chairs for the audience, which creates kind of a familiar atmosphere.

Next morning 4 am was the time to visit Mahamuni Paya, where a team of monks lovingly washes an polishes a golden Buddha image and a lot of people in front of it praying. In the afternoon it was time to take the train south to Bago…

Trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake

The town of Kalaw is about 65km before Inle Lake and took 3 days to reach the lake. The trek is through hills and jungle, along the rice fields of local villages. The first night we came across a little town with a train  station, where hundreds of locals sell their crops in the train.

The first night we spent at a family in a village. They provided very delicious food, a floor to sleep on and a lovely shower, which was basically a bucket of cold water in the grass. The second day we passed more villages and rice fields, before reaching a monastry in the afternoon, where we spent the second night. In this monastry were five young monks tought by the head of the monastry.

Finally we reached Inle Lake and we took a boat to bring us across the lake, where fishing is the main business of locals.

Myanmars answer to Angkor

We took a night bus, which was supposed to bring us to Bagan, but unfortunately it got stuck in a river. So we took our bags out of the bus... walked across the river to go the rest to Bagan in another busand  and sat in the aisle of the bus. (It needs a little adventure;) And we still arrived in time to start exploring the temples right away.

Bagan is a complex of more than 3000 temples scattered aroung the Town of Bagan. We went out in the early morning and climbed up the first temples we saw and found a stunning view over hundreds of temples!

unshakable we defied the 40 degrees and high humidity and kept exploring the temples. Not much is known about the history of Bagan and basically only dates (around 1000 years old). Maybe more archeological work will be done, once it got more into focus.

In the evening we looked out for a nice sunset view and were disappointed, since it was too cloudy to see anything. The impressions we got were already enough to stun us. It is hard to understand, why there is nobody there. The sight is stunning and yet, you seldom meet other people. But to be fair... this is one thing, what makes this place outstanding and this was an absolute highlight of this whole trip. Simply amazing...

First Day in Myanmar

I arrived at the airport and hooked up with fellow travellers immediately. When we were on the way to the hotel, we could instantly see, that Myanmar definately is much less developped than other countries in Southeast Asia and there ar no McDonalds or 7elevens here;)
The same evening we went out to Yangons emblem, the Silver Pagoda, which is actually golden. We went up the staircase and approached the huge shiny pagoda. 

A lot of people were wandering around praying or simply enjoying the evening breeze. We sat down with some monks, who eventually showed us around. We realized, that were the only tourists. The atmosphere was amazing... this silence, but still a lot of life. Ocationally bells ringing and this peaceful environment al shrouded in the golden light of the pagoda... it was magic!

Take of your shoes before going out...

People say Singapore is so clean, you can basically eat from the streets. Well, yes, it is clean! In Singapore you get very huffily fined for everything. And signs along they road constanly remind you of it. So bottom line, Singapore is a very busy and organized city, compared to the hopelessly messy cities of Southeast Asia. And this city is all about making money and there is big business going on there. A more recent development is to turn the city into a little Las Vegas, which is most visible in Sentosa Island on the southern coast of Singapore.

The centre is mostly about banking and business, but also hosts areas for fun and gambling, such as Marina Bay. The Sky Garden on the 57th floor provides nice views over Singapore's skyline.

Singapore as an international hub for busíness and has everything you are used to back home in western civilization, enclosed in the humididy of the Malay Peninsular. So idea is to supply my wants for western standardized chains, before going into the globalization-desert of Myanmar, where such things don't exist (not that I actually miss it!). I am very excited...

Pulau Perhentian Kecil

The trip to the malaysian Island Pulau Perhentian Kecil was quite a hassle, but here I am. What sounded good at first in the Lonely Planet turned out to be a real disappointment. The island is actually really beautiful, but at some parts you feel like being in a mall.

Yet, there are some beaches which are not yet paved with beach bars and bungalows, but they are pretty small and ideal for a little nap.

Island hopping in southern Thailand

To escape the rainy weather I rescheduled my trip to go further south since the southern Gulf of Thailand tends to stay dry. I went to Ko Tao first but found that besides scuba diving there is not so much more to do. Thus I hopped over to Ko Pha Ngan. The first night I spent in the southern town of Hat Rin with one tourist shop next to the other. To escape this I rented a motorbike and explored the remote parts of the island. The northern and the eastern coast has some spectacular lonely beaches to offer.

But eventually I stayed at Bottle Beach. It was very hard to reach due to the very steep gravel road, but totally worth the hazzle!

In the evening beer, a campfire and roasted marshmallows rounded up the stay in bottle beach.

Ko Pha Ngan was definately worth a visit but also there are a lot more islands down here, which need to be explored...

Return to Bangkok

Not only for the food it is worth returning to Bangkok, but also to see Wat Phra Kaew and Grand Palace. What Phra Kaew is probably the most important temple in Thailand and monks go there in bunches. For good reason... the temples has lot's of treasures to offer, such as a 84cm statue of buddha mado of one single peace of jade. The large temple complex has a magnificent fine design in all kitschy colors in mosaic style.

Unfortunately the king was not here to have a cup of tea with me. Since I am now mortally offended I will leave to the south of Thailand.

Pnomh Penh

I arrived in Pnomh Penh (the capital of Cambodia) and visited Tuol Sleng Museum. What used to be a school was turned into a prision where thousands of arrested people were tortured and executed by the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot. 17000 victims were torured and brought to the killing fields in the short period of 1975-1978. When the Vietnamese liberated Pnomh Penh, only 7 people were found alive. Tuol Sleng really is a shocking place and should not be tackled straight after lunch.


 The rest of the day I spent visiting the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda to cheer up a litte of the terrible impressions of Tuol Sleng. It was only a short and rainy stay in Pnomh Penh, but I enjoyed it.

Angkor What???

I arrived at one of the highlights of this trip… Angkor Wat. The area of Angkor has hundreds of temples of which the main sight is Angkor Wat. To see the temples I rented a bike and took a 40 km roundtrip around the main temples. I started with the smaller temples first, which were already pretty impressive. The nice thing about the temples of angkor is that most of them are still covered with trees, creating a mystic athmosphere. Huge trees grow on top of buildings and throuout the temples. Early restorations already removed all vegetation but during the brutal civil war in Cambodia the temples were reclaimed by the jungle. Bad for the temples, but beautyful in a visitors eye. Most of the temples in Angkor were built about 900 years ago. Especially Ta Prohm has some crazy trees growing over it and was setting for the movie Tomb Raider.

The heart of Angkor Thom is the temple Bayon. This is one of the last temples build before the decline of the Angkor civilization.

And eventually there it was… Angkor Wat, the mother of all temples! You enter the the gate of the outer wall and all of a sudden you are lithified by this stunning peace of symetry. Deepest respect was sparked in me due to it’s shere size and beauty.

Angkor Wat is not only striking in size, but also there are detailed carvings everywhere on the walls of the temple as you approach it. More stunning views were revealed when climbing up to the top of the temple.

Angkor Wat is worth a trip on it’s own. It is unbelievable and I am already looking forward to return…