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…

The mighty Mekong

I came to the Mekong (Southeast Asias lifeline) at Si Phan Don, where the Mekong splits up in a delta around thousands of islands, before merging back together to drop down a wide waterfall into Cambodia. Imagine all the water of the mighty Mekong dropping down. however the falls are not very tall, but the falls are wide instead and basically consist of numerous cascades along a 13 km stretch.


A boat took me to a place downriver where the rare Irrawady Dolphins like to hang out. Besides that there is not much to do on the island except of going for a little run in the heat and hanging out on the Mekong river bank and enjoying iced coffee and Lao food, before taking the long haul to Siem Reep, Cambodia...

The Bolaven Plateau

I arrived in Pakse and found out, that going to the temple "Wat Phu Champasak" is not possible for the same day, so I checked out the Bolavean Plateau instead. This area is famous for it's tea and coffee plantations as well as for several different Lao ethnies living in tribes.

The Bolavean Plateau is also home of the 200m high waterfall „Tat Fan“ as well as other waterfallsfor the occasional cool down.

eventually I visited a school for the kids oft he surrounding villages. Lots of smiling welcoming faces of the school’s kids perfectly rounded up this day.

Getting swallowed up by Tham Kong Lo

Located about 3h drive from the border to Laos is the enormes cave "Tham Kong Lo". To get there the bus bound for Vientiane dropped me off at the turn-off from where I hitch-hiked the last 42 km. Finally I got into a small boat, which brought me through the cave. It feels like you getting swallowed up by the enormous entrance.

The cave is about 7.5km long, which doesn't sound very long... but it is. It is long, wide and tall. At some parts you could easily build up football court. It was just amazing! It takes about one hour with a motorboat to get through the cave. I cannot describe the feeling of going through, because it is so huge and it just wouldn't end as you are going through, before getting back to the heat. But fortunately there is always time to cool down in the river before the adventurous trip south towards the Pakse.

Tham Kong Lo is undecribable, so there is just the option of seeing it oneself if you want to have a slight idea of what it is like. It is overwhelming!

Say hello to Uncle Ho

Hanoi is an interresting, yet messy place. The traffic situation is kind of funny and is basically thousands of scooters and motorbikes rolling higgledy-piggledy all over Hanoi. The only chance of crossing a street is: close your eyes and walk!

In Hanoi is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the place where Ho Chi Minh (a vietnamese revolutinary leader and the most important person when Vitnam was founded) is embalmed. Thousands of Vietnamese (and also some foreigners among them) come to see him in the mausoleum.

Sadly I am already leaving Vietnam, although I am ejoying it so much! But I took only good memories from Vietnam and this beautiful country will therefore see me again... that's for sure! But the main thing I have learned in Vietnam is, that you can transport everything on a scooter...

Cuising Halong Bay

First destination – UNESCO World Heritage: Halong Bay, which is peppered with thousands of small beautiful islands.  The best way of enjoying Halong Bay is by a cruise around the islands. The tour took two days with one night on the boad. The group was small, the food was fantastic and the tour guide was very good – really enjoyable tour.

First destination was the „Amazing Cave“. I don’t know exactly why this place is called like that, but I assume it's because it‘s a cave ;)

Kayaking around the islands is a good way to get closer to the steep rocky islands to make you feel even smaller.

Swimming is basically essential to cool down of the baking heat.

The second day was all about cruising around this amazing area and visiting a small fishermans island, before heading back to the mainland and taking the bus back to Hanoi along little villages and rice fields. Halong Bay was a very good start of the trip. It felt like 2 hours on the tour and I would have loved to stay a few more days cruising all around Cat Ba Island (the biggest island of them), but as usual, you have to leave something behind, which makes you come back…

Bangkok Part I

Landed in Bangkok after a long journey at the massive shiny new airport. When roaming around the city it didn't take long to find out that Bangkok has some amazing temples to offer right in the heart of the city. The colorfull temples are amazingly quiet from the inside, in contrast to Bangkok's very fast lifestyle.

Unfortunately time was short, so I headed back to the airport to catch my flight to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, leaving behind plenty of things to see for my next visit here in a few weeks. I am already looking forward to it.

Getting started

After months of browsing guidebooks, I am finally off to Southeast Asia. My first destination is Bangkok and directly continuing to Hanoi, from where I am starting the journey. The plan is to go from Hanoi, through southern Laos, Cambodia, a little bit of Thailand, then flying over to Myanmar and finally stopovers in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, before taking a flight to Boston meeting my parents and taking the car across the continent to Oregon to join Phil's wedding. (I admitt, it is not the most straight forward route, but now that I already packed my backpack, why not taking a little detour.)

This map showes roughly where the Southeast Asia trip is going:

 I try to keep this blog up to date as good as I can and I hope you guys are going to enjoy it.