Mademoiselle Roy Travels The World

Christmas? Errm yeah thanks for the reminder!

2015-04-11T14:35:00.000+02:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, but the awesome company I had here on Koh Jum kept me busy. We even got bigger and adopted a Belgium girl named Sophie. She’s pretty cool and I’m quite happy to have her, because that way I don’t have to speak German all the time. Ha!

She is in Thailand to study Thai Massage and just finished a course in Chang Mai up north. She then decided to relax a bit by the beach over Christmas and that is what brought her here on Koh Jum. She also wanted to practice Thai Massage a bit more and was looking for human guniea pigs. haha It should be clear that I offered myself, or? So I got lucky and got a good hour of free Thai Massage! :-) But let me come back to Christmas.

It was so weird for me thinking about Christmas, when surrounded by palm trees, beach and 32 degrees. On top of that I keep on loosing track of time. I cannot tell what date nor day in the week it is, so how am I supposed to remember Christmas? Thank god others did. For instance those guys here at the beach:

For Christmas the bunch of us went next door to have a Thai buffet plus a bit of show. The food was about average I would say, but the company was awesome.

The following day Marc, Urs, Sophie and me made our way back to mainland Krabi. Whilst chatting with some guy in the city we found out about a cheaper way to get to mainland. He said there is a local ferry leaving from the fishing village every day at noon. Price 100 Baht rather than 400 for the tourist ferry. The only thing is that the ferry does not go to Krabi, so we would need to take a taxi for another 100 Baht into Krabi town. Still, only half the price as the tourist ferry. However, upon check out the staff working in our place as well as the one where Mark was staying confused us. They said there is no boat leaving from Koh Jum pier at noon. We would need to take a taxi to the other pier they advised as the boat there is leaving at 1pm. The boys started to doubt the guy in the fishing village even said noon, but I was 100 percent sure about it. So regardless what everyone was telling us we left and walked to the pier. Thank god we did not listen to what the locals said, because of course there was a boat leaving at noon. Happy about this we said goodbye to the German couple and jumped on the boat. We were the only foreigners on the boat, which of course kind of makes sense. No one is telling the tourists about this boat as they would miss out on the commission for the tourist boat.

The Koh Jum crew

Marc and Sofie on the local ferry back to mainland

When at mainland Marc and Urs sorted a taxi and we made our way into Krabi town. Fist we dropped Marc at the airport as he had to catch a flight to Bangkok before we continued to Krabi bus station. Upon arrival Urs, Sofie and me bought tickets for our onward travels the next morning. Urs and Sophie to Khao Sok National Park and myself to Ranong, where I was supposed to meet Thorsten, a friend of mine from Berlin and his girlfriend Kathi. We would then all go to Koh Phayam where Thorsten has a friend, who is running some bungalow resort with a local guy.

After we all got our tickets we checked in some hotel and had some food at the night market. I had the same feeling from Krabi as last time, when I made my way to Koh Lanta (which by the way already feels like ages ago). It is good for an overnight stay, but besides this? There is not much to do and the town for me kind of has no soul. The only good thing about it is the night market. The food there is amazing, such a big variety

This morning we all made our way to the bus station together. Lucky us our buses where nearly at the same time. It was hard to say goodbye to both of them. Having spent nearly two weeks together we became a good team and especially Urs always made me laugh. But we promised to stay in contact and will hopefully see each other again at some point.

The bus ride from Krabi to Ranong was supposed to take 5 hours, however, it took seven in the end. A few people even had to stand up for over an hour due to a lack of seats. Now I am here in Ranong sitting in this super shady guest house writing this post and cannot wait to meet up with Thorsten and his girlfriend to do a bit more of island hopping. Ohh and I should mention it is pouring down. Oh well, let us hope the weather in Koh Phayam will be better.

Note: This post was written on Dec, 27th 2014.

Thai island N°2 – Koh Jum

2015-04-11T13:47:00.003+02:00

I started early this morning to make my way to the pier in Koh Lanta for Koh Jum. Koh Jum is half way on the route to Krabi. Nevertheless they charge you the full fare of 400 Baht (11 EUR/8 GBP) to get on the island.

The island is not yet developed for tourism and only a few brave foreigners get stranded here. There is no electricity nor internet on the island. Although all of the 20 sites run generators to offer electricity as well as wifi between 6pm and 11pm.

Even though it is very basic living here I am glad I decided on getting here. Construction works for the first street made of concrete have just finished and the first cars arrived. The island clearly will change in the next few years under these circumstances. It took me a while to finally decide on going, because it is Christmas soon and I am a bit worried I will spend the very first Christmas without family on a secluded island without any other people I could make friends with. Thank god it is not turning out like this. I already made friends with four Germans. It is pretty weird though, because I haven’t spoken any German in a while (all the other people I met so far where non Germans). But let me go back to the start. As already mentioned I got up early to catch the ferry to Krabi, which would drop me half way through at Koh Lanta. Because there is no pier on that side of the island longtail boats from each resort pick up guests in the middle of the Andaman Sea and bring them to the island.

Longtail Boat of the place I was staying at

As I found out a bit later guests of the resorts would always wait for the longtail boat to arrive to check for newcomers. Makes sense somehow. It is not much to do on the island, so watching new people arriving is kind of exciting.

I stayed at New Bungalow in a simple bungalow with cold shower and a squat toilet for 200 Baht (4 GBP/6 EUR). Toilet, shower, bed and mosquito net- very basic, but what else would I need?

After I had dropped my stuff I took a little walk through the jungle into the village. It was a nice walk along dozens of palm trees with monkeys jumping from tree to tree. The fisher village was pretty tiny and only with a handful houses. I stumbled across a little super market where I filled up on water, bananas and cookies and then made my way back to the bungalow.

Later on whilst having dinner I got approached by two guys, who invited me to sit with them and their friends. It turned out all of them were German. Was pretty weird to speak German again after such a long time of travelling with non-Germans. I found out the couple in the group is always spending their entire year’s holiday on the island and the two boys have just met and are also travelling by themselves. Hanging out with them totally erased the fear of spending Christmas on my own. Now bed, more tomorrow!

Note: This post was written on Dec, 22nd 2014

Beach time! 5 days on Koh Lanta

2015-03-05T15:27:00.000+01:00

After nearly two months of travelling I finally got to see the beach up here in Koh Lanta. It was not that great though due to lots of cheeky jelly fish, who bite people and leave them with pins and needles when coming out of the water. Bummer!

At least the sunsets do not disappoint.

On top the weather is not that great either. It even rained yesterday. It is hot, no question, but clouds all day make everything look dull and depressive. I reckon that is why I have only taken a few pictures during my stay here so far.

Even though it is not the perfect beach weather I enjoy my stay here. It is the people, who make this place so special. I am staying at the Leaf House. A family run complex with five two level bungalows. I am in one of the bottom ones with Terry, a Canadian girl I met in the airplane from Bangkok to Krabi. We got on well and as we both had to stay in Krabi overnight we decided to have dinner together at the night market. She is good fun to hang out with. Same than me she usually is hanging with boys and is not afraid of getting her hands dirty. Haha

Common area at the Leaf House

Entrance

On the second day of our stay she decided to get her diving licence done. This lead to only seeing each other in the evening as she is in the water all day. But hey we just met and we are still girls, so it might be good not spending 24hrs together a day.

On the second day of my stay made friends with Qais, the guy living in the bungalow next door. He’s from Canada and good fun to hang out with. One day at the beach we also ‘adopted’ Viney an American guy living in Tokyo. From that day on we were the 'Lanta Lot' and spend most of the days together exploring the island, dancing into the night or just hanging out at the beach. (The pictures I took of us are all blurry. So no pics. Sorry)

Tomorrow will be the last day for us all together as Qais is leaving to Cambodia, Viney has some friends arriving and moves on to another place with them and I will be leaving to Koh Jum, the little sister of Koh Lanta. It is always hard to move on and leave new made friends behind, but that is how it goes, I guess.

First time seeing monkeys outside the zoo.

Pier in the old town

Once again sorry for the lack of pictures. I guess it is because I had a great time and was too busy to take pictures. I will try to get more done on Koh Jum.

This post was written on Dec., 19th

Bangkok day 4 – Lumphini Park

2015-02-26T09:44:00.000+01:00

At the cycling trip in Bang Krachao someone mentioned there would be an International Streetart Festival in Lumphini Park today. When I checked where Lumphini Park is located and noticed it is only 20 minutes by foot away my plan for today was sorted.

Lumphini Park is a bit like Central Park in New York. It is a huge green space surrounded by skyscrapers and other modern buildings. It even offers a big lake where you can go boating. The lake is also full of goldfish and especially kids enjoy feeding them. The park also has a lot of facilities for exercise and an area made of pebbles, where people basically walk on to get a natural foot massage.

The Streetart Festival was good fun. It was jugglers, clowns, musicians, dancer, artists and many more from all over the world performing. I definitely had a good laugh watching them. It was also good to have a change and get away from the typical backpacking things.

A cycle trip to Bang Krachao

2015-02-25T17:18:00.000+01:00

I checked the Couchsurfing website the other day and found out some locals are organising a cycle tour to Bang Krachao today, so I met up with them this morning at the Khlong Toei station. Lucky me the hostel I’m staying in is 10 mins walking distance to that station.

It was 14 of us; 3 locals, 2 Chinese, a French guy, 4 Italians, one girl from Lithuania, one guy from Australia and one from the States and me as the only German. We took the taxis to Khlong Toei pier to make our way to the other side of the river. Once there we hired cycles and started our adventure through the ‘Green Lung of Bangkok’ as the locals call Bang Krachao.

us on the boat to Bang Krachao

It felt surreal being in such a quite and green environment. No noise nor air pollution nor tuktuk drivers, who bother one with ‘Tuktuk? Tuktuk?’ just us, the cycles and nature. I was immediately confronted with one of the narrow, elevated wooden bicycle paths that were spread across the island. The corners of the paths were sharp and sudden and despite my cycle skills I did not feel at ease. At least I managed to ride- one girl had to push her cycle, because she was too scared of falling down into the water.

After a while we stopped at the Bang Nam Phuen Floating Market, where vendors had their stalls put up on huge pontoons. I tried sticky rice with mango wrapped in a palm tree leaf and immediately fell in love with this delightful dessert. I cannot wait to have it again. I also tried some really nice sausages (sorry forgot the name) and the typical Pad Thai (fried noodles with vegetables and egg) for lunch.

coloured sticky rice

On the way back we stopped at the Siamese Fighting Fish Gallery. I have never heard of this before, but apparently it is quite popular in Asia. We were not able to see an actual fight, however, could have a look at the different fish. Most of them were really pretty and I could have never guessed they would be able to such cruelty as eating each other.

I am now back in the hostel figuring out further plans whilst having a coconut ice cream. *Did I already mention it is free here all day? :-)* The British girls I was with yesterday told me about 7 Pounds flights to Krabi, so I just double-checked and indeed Thai Lion Air had a flight to Krabi the day after tomorrow for 350 Baht. I just booked it and cannot wait to have some proper beach time.

Krabi is in the south-west of Thailand and connects an island called Koh Lanta with the mainland. I am not keen on going to Phuket, Koh Samui or Koh Phangan as I got told they are way to touristy (Phuket has its own airport!) and most of the people either go there for sex (Koh Samui) or to get wasted (Koh Phangan with it’s Full Moon, Half Moon, Black Moon and so on parties). Koh Lanta is supposed to be quieter. I mean tourism has started there too and especially the Swedish love it, but from what I read it is still a hidden gem.

Note: This post was written on Dec, 13th 2014

Hello Thailand! First stop Bangkok

2015-02-24T06:07:00.001+01:00

10 degrees Shanghai to 32 degrees Bangkok what a difference in temperature it was this afternoon, when getting out of the plane.

German as I am I was totally prepared though. This morning I put on a dress and well-fed tights over a long sleeve and boots. As it was only 6 degrees when I left Shanghai for the airport I also wrapped myself up with a jumper and a soft shell jacket. Some spare flip flops got stored in my daypack and here we go! Shortly before landing I took off the jumper, long sleeve and tights and swapped the boots for flip flops. I then was (at least by how I was dressed) totally ready for the next station of my adventure- the hot and humid climate in South East Asia.

Border control was super quick and after only 20 minutes I made my way to the Airport Link, a train that connects the BKK airport with the city. To be on the safe side I decided to make a quick detour to 7Eleven to get a sim card. I already checked the web and read the provider TrueMove is selling Sim-Cards with 30 days unlimited data for 199 Baht (5 EUR). It took me a while though to get the right card as the person on the counter initially only offered me the much more expensive and only 7 days valid tourist SIM-Card. After I told her I am looking for a month card including data for 199 Baht, she checked with her colleague and gave me the right one. She even helped me setting it up.

I then made my way down to the trains. I hate being ripped off and that is basically what all the taxi drivers in Bangkok do. I heard of people, who paid 500 Baht to get into town- going by public transport did not even cost me 60 Baht.

I staying at the Da Talak hostel, which is not anywhere near to Khao San Road (the backpacker area in Bangkok), however, it is conveniently situated only 5 mins walk from the MRT station Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. It feels more like a family up here rather than a hostel with lots of backpackers, who just want to get drunk and party all night. On top they offer free coconut ice cream all day and very yummy jam cookies. I’m staying in a 6-bed-dorm, but it seems like it is not fully booked. For tonight it is only a French girl, two Brits and me staying here. The British girls arrived only ten minutes after I did and we soon started chatting. They had just come from India and told me, that they are really looking forward not to eat curry all day every day. Haha

Because it was the first time in Bangkok for all of us and we kind of had the same plans we decided to explore the city together the next day. We started after breakfast and made our way to Khao San Road. We were nearly there when we got stopped by some local guy asking us where we are heading to. We told him Khao San Road and he advised us not to buy anything there, because prices are much higher than anywhere else. I mean not that we were already aware of this, but we thought it is really nice of him to warn us. He then said he works for the tourist information around the corner and is just on his lunch break right now. He asked us what else we are planning to do and we told him we are thinking of visiting the Grand Palace later on. He showed us the best way to get there on the map we got from the hostel. He then mentioned it is Day of the Buddha today and we should go in the evening as the Grand Palace stays open till midnight on this special occasion. As most of the tourist don’t know about it it will be less crowded. He then pointed on a few other things to do in Bangkok until the evening. He said we should get a tuktuk for the route and negotiate the price to 100 Baht (2,70 EUR between the three of us) as everything above for a day trip would be too much. He also advised only to take official tuktuks with the registration number and the picture of the driver displayed on the front. Whilst he was saying this a tuktuk driver passed by asking if we need a ride and the guy we just met told him the route and negotiated the price exactly to 100 Baht. By then we were not aware that we are in the middle of a scam.

the two British girls and me in the tuk tuk

our tuk tuk driver

The driver took us to a few temples and after roughly 3 hours he asked us, if it would be fine for us to do a slight detour to go to some Tourist Information. He said we only need to be in there for 15 minutes and in exchange he would get a voucher for free petrol from them. He warned us not to book anything, because they would well overcharge us. I needed a map anyway and the girls wanted to double-check, if the route they had in mind makes sense, so we agreed on doing this and he dropped us at the Tourist Information. We went in there I got my map, the girls checked the route and when the super friendly lady serving us found out we are not buying any of her overpriced tours we got kicked out. We then checked for our driver, but could not find him anywhere. Another tuktuk driver approached us, if we need a tuktuk and we told him we already have one and if he would know where the guy is gone. He then told us our driver went to the petrol station. Hearing this we decided to wait for him. Maybe he thought he can make it in the 15 minutes we agreed on being in the Tourist Information and it just did not work out. After another 15 minutes of waiting we kind of got confused. The driver had already taken us to a lot of temples for half the day and we haven’t paid him yet, so why would he disappear? It would make sense, if we would have paid him already, but like this? Maybe he gets that much more out of the free petrol than we would have to pay him? We decided to wait for 15 more minutes before making our way to the Grand Palace on our own. He didn’t show up, so we had a quick look on Google Maps for directions and made our way to the palace.

yummy coconut ice cream

Lily and me showing off the coconut ice cream we just got

It was nearly four and of course the Grand Palace was closed already. When we told the security guy about the Day of the Buddha he just shook his head saying there was no 'Day of the Buddha' and the palace did already close an hour ago. Now we got even more confused. It seems like we were part of a scam, however, we didn’t pay anything and even got half a day of a tuktuk ride for free. The only thing we missed was the Grand Palace, which we weren’t even sure, if we want to see it anyway. Reconsidering everything the guy who approached us and warned us about the prices on Khao San Road must have been friends with the tuktuk driver. It was basically planned that he stops by at some point. The Tourist Information he dropped us to get the free petrol probably was the Tourist Information where that guy was working. They probably thought they could sell us one of the overpriced tours. But why the hell did the tuktuk driver warn us then not to buy? The whole thing is just too weird.

Anyway, we didn’t pay anything for half a day of sightseeing, so why bother. We then made our way back to Khao San Road as initially planned. We had a stroll along the stalls and sat down at some restaurant for dinner.

Back in China – two days of Shanghai

2015-02-24T04:45:00.000+01:00

I must confess I initially was not planning to come back to China so soon, however, Stephany (the girl I meet in Xian, who invited me to her home town Chongqing) connected me with her best friend Emma, who she went to university with and kind of pushed me to see her in Shanghai.

It is not the worst thing to do tho. haha. I was actually glad I got another chance to experience the diversity of China even more.

Shanghai is an amazing city full of great architecture, food and most of all extremes. On one hand you have ancient buildings, cute little alleyways and people living a traditional Chinese life and on the other hand you find hundreds of skyscrapers, western lifestyle and people walking around in western brands like New Balance, Adidas and Nike. When walking through the different quarters of Shanghai I also felt a huge contrast between poor and rich.

To me Shanghai felt very metropolitan and way different than all the other places I have visited in China so far.

As Emma is working for a Chinese Airline she and her husband (who works as a pilot in the same company) live near Hongqiao airport. It’s a bit out of town, but with the subway nearby very accessible. The first day of my stay I went into town to see the old district of Shanghai with its markets, pagodas and temples. I in particularly loved Yuyuan Garden. The garden is already 400 years old and makes a pleasant stroll with ist numerous pavilions, halls, rockeries, ponds and cloisters. I think I stayed there for more than 2 hours.

In the evening I met up with Emma and her husband to have dinner and see The Bund, a famous waterfront, where you can enjoy the best view of the Pudong area with its modern buildings.

The next day I decided to take the train to Dianshan Lake. It’s meant to be very beautiful, however, I had a bit of bad luck with the weather. It was cloudy and felt like it is going to rain anytime soon. It would have been a much more pleasant visit, if the sun would have been up. The lake is massive and people go boating on it to explore the more quiet areas, however, I wasn’t keen on this as I was too afraid it might pour down in a second. I took a walk along the river and watched the boats coming in and going out as well as the many men flying kites.

I am pretty sure it is a really lovely place, when the sun is out, but I just did not enjoy the stay due to the weather. I wish I had stayed in Shanghai to explore the city a bit more.

Back into town Emma, her husband, brother and me decided to check out the German Christmas market. It was good fun having a bit of the typical Christmas feeling and showing them the traditional food we have for Christmas, however, the market was not as good as the Weihnachtsmarkt back home.

Emma, her brother and me

Emma + husband and me

Last stop Osaka

2015-02-16T15:38:00.000+01:00

Until the day before yesterday I was still in two minds about visiting Osaka. People I was asking about did always answer; ‘For food it’s worth to visit. Otherwise don’t go.’, so not very promising for a person like me, who sees food only as necessary to keep the body going rather than celebrating it.

I checked for hostels/hotels and said to myself; ‘If you find a bed/room below 10 EUR you go. How delighted I was, when I actually found a room with fairly good reviews for a bit less than 7 EUR. It sounded a bit too good to be honest, but as I’m relaxed when it comes to very basic living I gave it a go and booked me in for a night.

I told Motoi (the Couchsurfing host from Tokyo) about it and he said ‘This hotel is by the zoo- That’s were all the Mafiosi stay. The ones with the missing finger. You know?’ I thought he was kidding, but he made it very clear that he is not. He told me he wouldn't go in that area as he thinks it’s not safe. ‘Cool’ I thought ‘It’s gonna be a great time in Osaka’.

After I arrived in Osaka I got the underground to near the hotel. When coming out of the station I noticed straight away, what Motoi meant. It was dodgy looking people and tramps everywhere and I could hardly spot any women. I immediately felt insecure. Luckily I only had to cross the street to get to the hotel. Upon arrival the picture I got of Osaka did not get any better. The hotel lobby was full of dodgy looking people as well as men I assumed that where alcoholics.

I checked in and went up to my room. As I opened the door I could not believe my own eyes. They gave me a prison cell! Seriously, the room was that tiny it could hardly fit the single mattress. Window and three hooks, no wardrobe, no chair, no desk, not even decoration like a nice picture or so- that was the room. No wall paper nor painting only the cold concrete. On top the window didn't shut properly, so I assumed it is going to be bloody cold in the night. Anyway, what do you expect for less than 7 EUR a night?! At least the sheets were clean.

After I got over the room situation I decided to explore Osaka. I took one of the free bicycles the hotel offered and had a loop around the zoo first. There I could find a lot of food stalls, but as I wasn’t hungry at all I decided to skip food and cycle further into town to the Dotonbori area. I now got a completely different view of Osaka.

Up in Dotonbori it felt a bit like the little sister of Tokyo. There were shopping streets with Uniqlo, H&M, Urban Outfitters and Co, lots of souvenir shops, cafés and restaurants. Also the bright billboards advertising all sorts of stuff.

I locked the cycle and had a little stroll along the canal. At some point I noticed people piling up across the canal. I got curios what they might queuing up for. So I looked for a bridge to cross and went back to the point where the people did queue up. When checking the menu I found out the restaurant is one of the oldest Ramen places in town. As my stomach was rumbling anyway I decided to give the restaurant a go. Once in the line a friendly waitress approached me and asked me to fill out a sheet, where I was basically asked, how done I wanted my noodles, how rich the stock should be, how spicy I want, if I like garlic an so on. After 10 minutes of waiting it was my turn to finally leave the cold and enter the restaurant. Before getting placed by the waiter I had to buy a ticket for the noodles at the vending machine. I then got placed.

It was one of the typical Ramen places, where everyone gets their one booth. Once I sat down the bamboo shutter went up and the chef asked me for my ticket. I then handed him the ticket I got from the vending machine as well as the sheet of paper I had to fill outside and after not even five minutes got my food served. The noodles and especially the overall experience made my trip to Osaka finally worth it.

I then went back to the cycle and made my way home. Back in the hotel I tried to stay in the lobby as long as possible. It was the only place within the hotel with wifi and on top of it the only warm one too. So I gathered next to the radiator and skyped with my sister. The dodgy people from when I arrived where no longer there and I actually met some really nice people. An Australian guy, who had just moved to Osaka and works as an English teacher and a Canadian, who is already travelling for over 6 years and tries to earn money by creating and selling art. Both were a lot different to me, cause they’ve already been travelling for years, however, we still had a good laugh. Around midnight I felt brave enough to go back into my ‘prison cell’ for a bit of sleep. In the end all went fine and it wasn't that bad as the blanket was doing the job and kept me warm.

Now on my way to Saga where I will be flying to Shanghai tomorrow.

Note: This post was already written on Dec, 7th

Harte Kost – A day in Hiroshima

2015-02-15T17:39:00.000+01:00

I went to Hiroshima today, which was the most serious and emotionally intense leg of my trip so far.

After arriving in Hiroshima station I went to see the Bomb Dome first. It was at 8:15am, on August 16th, 1945, when the atomic bomb detonated approximately 600 meters above and 160 meters south east of the building and killed 66,000 people instantly and critically wounded another 69,000. The A-Bomb Dome is the only ruin that was preserved in the destruction of Hiroshima, making it a national landmark and a memorial to all of those lives lost in the explosion.

by day

and in the evening

After that, I entered the A-bomb Memorial Museum. The exhibits were all about the history of Hiroshima, Japan's involvement in the world war 2 and the specific effects of the bomb. It was an intense museum to walk through, especially because it not only featured before and after photos and models of the blast, but it has exhibits featuring recovered belongings of specific people who were killed. The whole visit was chilling.

When the bomb detonated, it left Hiroshima in ashes, contaminated completely by radiation and unable to support plant life for a long time. The stories told about people's deaths were deeply upsetting, as a great many of them were children caught in the blast on their way to a school that was right in the major centre of the blast area. Out of all the things I experienced in my trip to Japan so far, this stop was the most humbling.

On my way out of the museum I stopped by the Children’s Peace Monument. It shows Sadako Sasaki- the post-atomic bomb Japanese icon of hope.

Sadako was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. She was two kilometers away from where the bomb exploded. Most of Sadako's neighbors died, but Sadako wasn't injured at all (at least not in any way people could see). However, when eleven years old Sadako found out that she had leukemia (at that time called the A-Bomb disease). In Hospital a friend told her about a legend, that if a sick person folds 1,000 paper cranes, then that person would soon get well. After hearing this Sadako decided to fold 1,000 cranes in the hope that she would get well soon. She kept folding cranes even though she was in great pain. She always tried to be cheerful and hopeful. However, she was not able to fight the cancer and died. By then she had folded a total of 644 paper cranes. Children from all over the world still send folded paper cranes to be placed beneath Sadako’s statue (right picture above).

After the years of struggle after the atomic bomb, Hiroshima clearly has successfully rebuilt itself. The city looks so peaceful, you wouldn’t even expect that something so intense hit them at one point in history.

PS: This post was written on Dec, 4th.

A day trip to Nara

2015-02-10T18:05:00.000+01:00

To make the most of my train pass I decided to take a few day trips during my stay in Kyoto. So here we go today I went to Nara.

It took me 35min in the train. First thing I did after leaving the train I went to the tourist information and asked for recommendations. The people there were really friendly and explained the main attractions in very good English. They even provided me with a map, which made it very easy for me to navigate through the city.

First stop on the recommended route was the Kofukuji Temple. When getting there I was already greeted by a dozen deer, the towns famous landmark. Literally everything with the name Nara on it is showing a deer. All over Nara I could find postcards, key rings, soft toys, tops, plates and many more bric-a-brac with deer in all kind of variety.

The route then took me into Nara Park, where I could see even more deer. They were literally everywhere. They even bow for food. Seriously you can buy deer cookies and when feeding the deer it would bow first and then take the food. When someone told me I initially could not believe and was very impressed as it actually did happen in front of me.

of course the vending machines again

The next stop took me to the Todaiji Temple. However, I found the temple pretty boring and enjoyed the deer more. I then walked up to Kasuga Taisha as the lady at the tourist information recommended it to me for the great view over Nara. She was certainly right; the view is absolutely stunning.

Can you spot the deer?

Todaiji Temple

The 15 metres tall Buddha in Todaiji Temple

View over Nara

Only in Nara- deer doing a bit of window shopping

Entrance to Kasuga Taisha

and again; spot the deer!

Kasuga Taisha

Look how much they love their deer!

After I had finished the Kasuga Taisha I had a look on GoogleMaps where about in Nara I was and noticed some bookmark nearby. I couldn’t remember the reason why I put a pin on this address, but I always bookmark locations for a reason and therefore decided to check it out.

I’m glad I did. The place was actually an old traditional Japanese house (Ryokan), which functions as a museum explaining how housing back in the days looked like.

View from the living room in the garden

from the garden into the living room

The hallway in the front and the living room in the back. To the right you can see the staircase for the 1st floor.

living room

hallway with staircase to the 1st floor

Look what I got, when I left. So cute.

I then made my way to the train station. When checking for the best way on the map a guy approached me and asked if I needed help. I told him that I want to make my way to the train station and he was like; ‘Cool, come with me. I have to go that way anyways.’ We had a nice chat and he told me he’s Canadian and currently on a sabbatical. Japan is the last stop for him before starting work in Canada again. He at some point had to leave and I made my way to the train station. But our paths should shortly cross again as he was in the same train to Kyoto than me. It’s always good to have company, so I decided to sit next to him and we talked a about travelling, taking some time off work and Berlin (it turned out he’s works as a DJ in his free time).

Overall I had an amazing day in Nara. The deer and the old Ryokan totally made my day.

Kyoto – enjoying the traditional Japan

2015-02-09T17:54:00.000+01:00

I took the bullet train (officially known as Shinkansen) from Tokyo to get to Kyoto. Travelling with the bullet train is probably in the top 10 of the things to do in Japan for most of the people (including me). With a distance of 363,7 Kilometres (226 miles) the train connects both cities in two and a half hours. Houses, trees and mountains flew past as the train was moving with up to 320 km/h.

Upon arrival I went to see Brent and his friends, who spoilt themselves with a decent mansion found via airbnb. We soon made our way to Nishiki Market, a five block long shopping street lined by more than one hundred shops and restaurants. It is also known as "Kyoto's Kitchen", which totally makes sense, because this lively retail market specialises in all things food related, like fresh seafood, knives and cookware and also seasonal foods and Kyoto specialities, such as Japanese sweets, pickles, dried seafood and sushi. It took me ages to decide what to go for. In the end I went for different pieces of fish and also some green tea ice cream for dessert. Seems like Japanese people love green tea. It basically comes with everything; Green Tea Kit Kat, Green Tea Latte and even Green Tea popcorn. No, not kidding a friend of Brent spoilt himself with a portion of Green Tea flavoured popcorn topped with Green Tea ice cream.

We then set off to Arashiyama with its stunning Bamboo Groves. I liked how the light found its way through the groves and did create a special atmosphere.

us in the Bamboo Groves

Just outside the groves. Seems like we picked the right time. Autumn leaves are full on.

The next day Brent and me hired cycles and went on a tour around Kyoto. We both particularly wanted to see the Fushimi Inari Shrine with its hundreds of gates. Have you seen the movie ‘The Geisha’? You might remember the scene with the many gates she was running through- This basically was shot at the Fushimi Inari Shrine. (Warning: Orange overload on the following pictures!)

people make a wish and ring the bell to have it come true

Brent going mad because of the orange, I reckon

stunning view over Kyoto after we had reached the top

Autumn leaves!!!

We then cycled back and met the others for dinner. Japanese food is just soooo tasty. You can’t go wrong with Japanese food. The quality is amazing and the taste even better.

Brent, his brother + wife and obviously me waiting to stuff ourselves with yummy Japanese food

On my way home I passed Gion the geisha district of Kyoto. Especially around five you can see lots of Geishas on their way to work. Unfortunately, I was not fast enough to get my camera out, so no Geisha picture for you guys. However, I at least managed to catch the romantic and cosy atmosphere on a few pics.

Ohhh and I also found this amazing ice cream vending machine! Vending machines are everywhere here, however, I have not seen an ice cream one so far.

Just next to the hostel I was staying in (by the way an incredible good one! Check Gion Ryokan Q-beh) is the Yasaka Shrine. It looked stunning with its thousand lights and hundreds of lampions, so I had to stop there as well.

Overall I like Kyoto much more than Tokyo. Tokyo is good for shopping and entertainment no doubt, but when it comes to natural beauty and charism Kyoto wins. Tomorrow day trip to Nara. Excited what this might bring. Stay tuned!

PS: Sorry for the backlog of posts. This was written on 3rd of Dec, 2014.

Tokyo day 4 - Tokyo bay Odaiba

2015-02-09T17:51:00.000+01:00

Odaiba (お台場^?) is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. It was initially built for defensive purposes in the 1850s, dramatically expanded during the late 20th century as a seaport district, and has developed since the 1990s as a major commercial, residential and leisure area. - Wikipedia

On my last day in Tokyo I decided to go and see the bay area also known as Tokyo Bay. I really enjoyed the modern architecture and went for a little stroll in the massive shopping centre. I definitely have to come back to Tokyo as soon as I’m settled somewhere. There were so many lovely things I wanted to buy, but as I’m travelling I can’t. Aaarghhh soo annoying.

Yes, there is seriously a Statue of Liberty at Tokyo Bay

The Fuji TV building during the day...

...and illuminated during the night.

Sunset over Rainbow Bridge

This is so Japanese, isn't it?

Sushi I had in the shopping centre

Rainbow Bridge at night

PS: Sorry for the backlog of posts. This was written on 1st of Dec, 2014.

Tokyo day 3 - Edo-Tokyo Museum & Robot Restaurant

2015-02-08T18:03:00.000+01:00

Because it was supposed to rain today (which in fact it did not) I decided to go and visit the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It displays models and life-sized recreations of structures and events to show the daily life of Tokyo during the Edo, Meiji and early Showa periods. I found a lot of good reviews about it and as I am always eager to find out about the history of cities I am visiting I thought going there would be a good idea.

It definitely was. I really liked the concept of the museum. Especially the miniatures showing how certain places of the city to a certain time period looked like. They even had spyglasses, so that one can even enjoy more details.

The entrance. Quite futuristic, ey?

one of the miniatures

In the evening I meet up with Brent and his friends for the Robot Show. I probably wouldn’t have gone by myself, because it is quite expensive (5000 Yen = 37 EUR/27 GBP). However, when Brent told me about it and I checked the reviews on the internet I got excited.

sex sells, right? Lady selling beer during break

It was such a weird show filled with flashing lights, lasers, colourful decorations, even more colourful and weird dresses and of course a lot of robots. In the beginning it was really distracting, however, after I good used to it I really enjoyed this weird form of entertainment. Where else can you enjoy such a weird and futuristic show.

In the end everyone was able to take a picture with the robots.

To calm down a bit and give our ears and eyes a bit of relaxing time we went to a very traditional area of Tokyo with a lot of tiny alleys, where even tinier bars and restaurants were waiting for customers. Seriously! It was quite hard for us seven to find a bar, because most of them would only fit four up to six people. After strolling around for half an hour we were able to find one, with several levels and space for us in the 2nd.

Brent then told me, that they are all heading to Kyoto tomorrow and I was like ‘Hey I’ll be going to Kyoto the day after tomorrow as well, so let’s meet up!’ Even better times to come I reckon.

PS: Sorry for the backlog of posts. This was written on 1st of Dec, 2014.

Tokyo day 2 – Harajuku & Asakusa

2015-02-08T16:16:00.000+01:00

Today Motoi showed me around his area a bit. He lives really close to Harajuku station, which is the center of Japanese youth culture and fashion. It also hosts a lot of design and fashion institutes and with Takeshita Street a really famous shopping street.
I’m backpacking, so unfortunately can’t go shopping, but walking around the shopping street was definitely worth it. I got a good impression on Japanese youth culture. For instance those girls with logos and writings in their face; I asked Motoi about the meaning and he told me they adore some singer and put those ‘tattoos’ to show their sympathy.

Takeshita Street in the rain. Full of umbrellas.

Waffles displayed on Takeshita Street. You pick one and tell the number...

...and this lady then served me.

I went for the brownie one. Ice cream and brownies stuffed in a waffle. Heaven on Earth!

Those flyer girls...

Another food display...

Isn't she cute? As everything in Japan...

...even the signs telling you what not to do.

One of those face tattoo girls.

And another one.

Some of Harajuku's legendary cos-players posing at Jingu Bashi Bridge

We then went to Sensoji in Asakusa district. One of Tokyo's districts, where an atmosphere of the Tokyo of past decades survives. At Sensoji Temple they have this rite to take a box with lots of sticks and shake it until one stick comes out. You then check the number on it and find out about your future. It pretty much acts as a fortune teller. So I shook the box and when I handed the stick, which came out to Motoi he laughed. I asked him why and he gave me the paper with the information about the stick written on it. Gosh, I got ‘Bad Fortune’! How can this be? It made me so upset. In my opinion there should not be a stick that tells someone bad fortune.
Lucky me, before exiting the temple we found a place, where people who got bad luck could leave it behind to make sure it stays in the temple. Fingers crossed this really is the case. I don’t need bad luck on my journey.

The paper telling me bad luck.

Leaving the bad luck behind...

Sensoji Main Hall

Advertising for some comedy show.

PS: Sorry for the backlog of posts. This was written on 30th of Nov, 2014.

Tokyo day 1 – Long time no see!

2014-12-27T10:49:00.000+01:00

Sorry guys for my lack of posts up here. Same than in Hong Kong I also had company in Japan that kept me busy.

Kind of by coincidence I met Brent a guy I hosted through Couchsurfing in Berlin back in 2010. When we first met we clicked immediately and stayed in contact over the years. I was truly considering visiting him in his home town Los Angeles sometime, however, a trip to the states never really fitted in the schedule. We are connected on Instagram and when I captured a picture of Hong Kong Airport ‘Bye bye Hong Kong, hello Tokyo’ he got back to me saying that he also just had arrived in Tokyo. We met up the next day and he introduced me to the friends he was staying with in Tokyo. They were quite a big party (6 people) and good fun to hang out with. So basically from the first day on we were exploring the city together.

They stayed in a hotel and I used Couchsurfing again. It turned out that their hotel was just one subway station away from where I was staying. We met up for a stroll in Yoyogi Park to see the Meiji Shrine. However, the park itself was already a highlight with its colourful autumn leaves. Red, orange, yellow, green…so beautiful. And it even got topped by a Japanese wedding we were able to catch a glimpse on at the temple.

Meiji Shrine

people write wishes and hang them at the temple to have them come true

Groom and Bride

For the evening Brent suggested to go and see New York Bar, which is basically the Bar Bob (Bill Murray) in the movie ‘Lost in Translation’ was hanging out. It was quite pricey up there, but the view was definitely worth it.

view from New York Bar

We then met up with my Couchsurfing host, Motoi. When we headed for dinner I got introduced to the typical Japanese way of ordering food. Step N°1 you have a look in the window of the restaurant to find their food options displayed with lots of plastic models of the actual food. Step N°2 you choose one, find the number on it and press the button for it on the machine next to it. Step N°3 you pay and take your ticket. You then go inside the restaurant for Step N°4, which is basically to hand in the ticket. You then sit down and get the food served after a couple of minutes. The whole system is quite funny, cause you get exactly what is displayed. So if you see two pieces of meat on it you will get two of them, if you see one floret of broccoli please don’t expect to get two...

Cause we were quite a bunch of people we decided to go to some karaoke bar afterwards. Definitely a good choice. We had so much fun.

many karaoke rooms waiting for 'customers'

Hong Kong day 5 – History Museum & Market Stroll

2014-12-15T19:50:00.000+01:00

Because the weather forecast was showing a possibility of rain I decided to visit the History Museum today. Seems like the bad weather came in the right day, cause all museums are free in Hong Kong on Wednesdays.

I expected it to be really crowded, however, it was not the case. I would guess it was roughly 100 people in the museum. I must confess I’m not a big fan of museums, but this museum just managed to keep me entertained. They had a lot of galleries showing how shops, tea houses and rooms would have looked like back in the days and a lot of short videos explaining a bit more about the particular topic.

traditional Hong Kong Opera

A grocery store back in the days (sorry can't remember the exact year)

Housing around 1930

Whilst in the museum Orlando texted me to find out what I’m up to and when I told him I’m at the museum and was planning to go on a walking tour afterwards he said he would join. We met up at two o’clock and took the bus to the Mong Kok district. I mean that was the plan, but due to the Umbrella Movement the bus was interrupted. Thanks to internet and google maps we figured we better get off the bus and walked a bit to reach the first destination of the walking route; the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden and Market. People go there to buy birds and food for their birds (living grass hoppers, worms etc), but also to take their birds for a walk. Haha I’m not kidding! They take their birds and hang the cages in the park, whilst sitting down and doing ermmm that’s a good question, what are they actually doing? Sitting there watching them and socialise, I reckon.

Man taking his bird out for a walk

I rather found it sad to see so many birds in tiny cages at the market stalls. Most were smaller birds, but we did see several parrots and other large species confined in very small spaces. However, the pet birds, relaxing in the garden, seemed well cared for and were signing happily. After we had enough of living insects and birds we head off to the next stop on the route the goldfish market. There were a lot of shops selling all sorts of fish and it was quite interesting to see.

The route then took us to another market (I forgot the name, sorry), which basically has a lot of stalls selling fresh fish, crabs and also vegetables.

fresh crab

all sorts of shell fish

all the fish and shell fish were still alive and were only killed after purchase

We then noticed a lot of police men and also press vans and cameras. I asked Orlando, what was this about, but he had no idea. I then got a call from Yvonne another girl we had met at the Couchsurfing BBQ. I agreed with her earlier to have dinner together. And now she was basically calling to say, that it might be hard to get to the dinner place later, cause the police is starting to clear the area of the Umbrella Movement and her mum doesn’t want her to go there. I asked her which area she was talking about and it was actually the area Orlando and me were in right now. Now everything made sense; the hundreds of policemen, camera & press people. After we decided on another meeting point for later in the evening Orlando and me decided to find the protesters. However, we had no idea where to go and there were lots of little alleys, so after we were searching for nearly an hour we gave up and started to walk to the meeting point as agreed with Yvonne. 30 minutes later we were with Yvonne, who had also invited Patrick & Juong two people, who were also at the BBQ. They’re both German and work for the German toy company SIMBA up here in Hong Kong. We took the ferry to Central and went to some really good Dim Sum place suggested by Juong.

They were my favourite. A bit like German 'Hefeklöße' filled with sweet egg-ish mousse

We had so much fun and laughed a lot, so decided to move on to some rooftop bar near by. The bar is on the 22nd floor and the view from the bar was just stunning. Of course drinks were quite expensive (50 HKD for a cranberry juice), but nevertheless it was a good experience.

us at the Rooftop Bar

Around midnight we all went home and I was the only one heading central (seems like Randy, the guy I’m staying with earns a lot, cause no one really lives central) so I decided to take the tram back. I’ve already seen it a lot in Hong Kong, however, ever found the right occasion to actually take it.

Hong Kong tram

The tram is still as it was 100 years ago and moves slowly through the streets of Hong Kong. It is the only tram system in the world operated exclusively with double-decker trams. Compared to all the other forms of transport in Hong Kong it’s a lot cheaper and only costs 3,20 HKD (GBP/0,32 EUR). Back in the apartment I had a chat with Randy and really felt sorry I hadn’t spent time with him. I was so busy with the Couchsurfing people, that I was basically out every day from 9am in the morning till 9pm in the evening. I sometime even came back later. He is a really nice guy and whenever we had a short chat we got on well, so it’s quite a shame. I hope I didn’t leave the impression I was just using him as a hotel, cause this was definitely not what I was aiming for. I would have never thought, that I will make so many friends during my short stay here. Especially Orlando- I’m so glad I’ve met him. Because he just came back from travelling in Europe we clicked from the beginning and I couldn’t think of any better company I could have had up here. So in case you’re reading this Orlando; Thanks a million! I hope we will stay in touch and I will surely visit you in Macau at some point.

Now bed time, tomorrow Tokyo. I hope I will not get sick due to the difference in temperature. It was roughly 25 degrees up here in Hong Kong during my stay and I was always in summer clothes. Checking the weather forecast for Tokyo I found out it will only have around 15 up to 17 degrees up there. Brrrrr. Ohhh and I should mention I don’t have a winter coat with me...

Hong Kong day 4 – Lantau Island & Tian Tan Buddha

2014-12-14T16:50:00.000+01:00

As already mentioned in the previous post Orlando and me got on very well and we decided to spend another day together today. I read, that local people in Hong Kong would have Dim Sum for breakfast, so I asked Orlando, if we could do this for breakfast before heading to the Buddha. He agreed and I was really happy about it, cause he is from Macau and therefore speaks Cantonese (the local language in Hong Kong) meaning besides being good company he brought in the extra plus to be the perfect translator.

I really enjoyed the food. You get a card where you pick from several dishes (dumplings, noodles, rice, meat, seafood etc) and hand it to the waitress. You then sit down and wait a couple of minutes until you get the food ordered. People also have tea with the food and it’s fairly cheap. We had a lot of food and only paid 50 HKD each (4 GBP/5 EUR). After we finished the food we head of to Tung Chung station, where a cable car took us to the Tian Tian Buddha on Lantau Island.

view out of the cable car

view on the Tian Tian Buddha out of the cable car

We had to climb 260 steps, which was quite exhausting at a temperature of 25 degrees and humidity of 85 percent. The Buddha is really impressive with its twenty-something meter height, however, there are bigger Buddha statues elsewhere, but apparently these are not seated, outdoors or made of bronze.

view over the island from the plateau of the Tian Tian Buddha

After we had seen the Buddha we took the bus to Tai O a small fishermen village 30 minutes by bus away. It was so cute with its tiny alleys, little houses and boats. We had a stroll along the market and could see the local people selling fish. After an hour of walking we sat down at some small restaurant with an awesome view on the river to have some tofu and seafood. I totally trusted Orlando on this, cause he is at least more local than me and speaks the local language (if you haven't read the previous post; Orlando is from Macau). I don’t know, if he could read my mind but he just ordered the right things and I really enjoyed the food. We then had a little walk around the village and went back to the bus station. Unfortunately, the last bus back to the cable car was already gone and the queue for the bus back to the MTR station was ridiculous long. I somehow remembered, that there was a ferry service from the Island to Hong Kong as well. So we checked times and were lucky that both bus and ferry were still running. I think at around 8pm we arrived back in Hong Kong.

remember the last post? I love this sugary tofu!

Hong Kong day 3 – Sha Tin to Tai Po by cycle

2014-12-13T14:42:00.001+01:00

Today I moved houses and left Alex to move in with Randy another Couchsurfing host. His apartment is located downtown only a 15 minutes’ walk away from the Central Station.

Even though I liked staying with Alex I was happy to move in at Randy’s, cause at Alex' I was sleeping on the upper bunk with him and at Randy’s I had an own room. He also provided me with a key, which gave me the freedom of leaving and coming back at any time. Randy is American and works for an US software company. I got on well with him and upon my arrival he provided me with a bunch of brochures about Hong Kong attractions. One was about a cycle route along the coast and because I love cycling as well as being at the coast I decided to go cycling today. Orlando the Macau guy I had met on the Couchsurfing BBQ was texting me to ask about my plans and when I told him he decided to join for the cycle trip. We met at noon and took the MTR (local subway) to Sha Tin the starting point of the route I was suggesting. The bike was 40 HKD (3.20 GBP/4 EUR) each for the whole day. The tour I picked was wonderful and took us along the shoreline towards the mountains.

Orlando & Me

We stopped at some waterpark for a little rest before we head back to the starting point. After we had returned our cycles Orlando introduced me to Douhua. Which is basically very soft tofu topped with sweet ginger or clear syrup. You can have it hot or old, but because it was quite a warm day we decided to have it cold.

Douhua - sooo yummy!

I’m really happy I met Orlando at the Couchsurfing BBQ. He just came back from travelling through Europe for three months and is way different to most of the Asian people I have met so far. Most of them haven’t travelled outside of Asia yet and are therefore not familiar with the European culture, which sometimes made it hard to fully connect with them. Totally different with Orlando though, so I was quite happy, when he offered to show me the Tian Tian Buddha tomorrow.

So stay tuned for the next post!

Hong Kong day 2 – Lamma Island & The Peak

2014-12-07T19:48:00.000+01:00

Today I took a 30 minutes ferry ride to Lamma Island. My friend Ines recommended it to me, when I was seeing her in Beijing and I’m glad she did. The island is so beautiful. Except ambulance there are no cars on the island and its famous for its hikes.

The island is fairly small so you can hike from one site to the other in 45 minutes. When I got off the ferry I was impressed by the variety of fish in front of the many seafood restaurants. You basically see what will end up on your plate later on.

I wasn't hungry yet, so decided not to stop. I walked along the hiking path and passed a beach were a lot of people had a rest to enjoy the sun. I'm quite happy I decided to keep on walking, cause only 10 minutes later I followed a path to a different beach and there was no one. I mean there was one guy cleaning the surrounding area, but this doesn't count. It was quite a warm day and the hiking made me a little sweaty, so I decided to go for a swim. It was soooo refreshing. I stayed a couple of minutes to dry before I continued with the hiking.

The beach I decided not to stay

Thank god, cause I found my very own beach :-)

Happy Körsti

I passed the Kamikaze Grottos, which the Japanese were planning to use during World War 2 to hide speed boats, however, were never finished due to the end of the war. I soon reached Sok Kwu Wan the village on the other side of the island.

Kamikaze Grottos

Sok Kwu Wan

I was starving, when I arrived there and the fish in front of the seafood restaurants looked tempting, so I decided to have some seafood before heading back to Hong Kong. I paid 200 HKD (GBP/20 EUR) for some deep fried squid and two scallops, which I find is not that cheap. However, the restaurant offers free ferry service to Hong Kong, so I saved on the ferry fare.

sunset over Lamma Island

Back in Hong Kong I took the bus up to the peak. The peak has an altitude of 552 meters and offers a great view on the skyline. I was able to catch the sunset and decided to have a coffee to waste a bit of time until the darkness will set in. The Hong Kong skyline in the dark is just impressive. Definitely a good decision to stay a bit longer. I could have taken the tram back down, but the queue was just too long, so I went for the bus instead.

Hong Kong skyline by night from The Peak

square by Victoria Harbour

Yes German football is popular in Hong Kong

Hong Kong – Hello Western lifestyle

2014-12-07T13:57:00.000+01:00

First of all apologise it took me so long to update the blog. I didn’t expect it like this, but Hong Kong really kept me busy. But let me start from the beginning.

As already mentioned I took the train from Guilin to Shenzhen to go to Hong Kong. You basically step out of the train and walk a few minutes and there it is, the border to the 'Western World'. The queue for Chinese people was massive, but lucky me the one for foreigners fairly small. I think it took me 30 minutes until I had my departure stamp and left Mainland China. I then took the train to my Couchsurfing host's apartment. His name is Alex and he is a local. He works as a kinder garden teacher, however, is currently studying to become a pilot. After I had dropped my stuff at his he showed me around the area a bit. In the evening we went to a BBQ a guy had organised through Couchsurfing. I met a lot of interesting people and had so much fun that night. Hong Kong BBQs are a bit different to German one’s tho. The most popular items on the grill were fishballs.

The CS BBQ crew

I got on well with a few people, so that we decided to meet up again and exchanged numbers. Yvonne a girl born in Hong Kong and raised in Portland, Oregon (US) and Orlando, a guy from Macau, who just came back from a 3-months trip to Europe were the two I spoke the most. As everyone had to catch the last train at midnight the whole BBQ group set off together and took a minibus back to the MTR station. It was quite funny cause the minibuses have aa capacity of 16 people and we were 15. So we hoped the minibus would be kind of empty. Lucky us it was, 3 people were sitting in it, when it arrived and as two people were getting off there was exactly the amount of seats available as we were people. As soon as the other person got off we were having a little party in the minibus hehe

minibus riot

Leaving Mainland China behind...

2014-12-01T05:44:00.000+01:00

As all the good things are three I’m yet again in the overnight train travelling from A to B in China. This time to Shenzhen where I will leave mainland China for Hong Kong.

Time is running so fast. I can’t believe the one month visa I got for China is due to expire on Sunday. One month! I’m already travelling for nearly one month! It feels like yesterday, that my friend Ines was picking me up from the Underground Station in Beijing and we drove off to hers on the scooter.

Ines and me (her scooteer obviously looked a bit different hehe)

‘Gosh, what a traffic and pollution here’, I was thinking. I used to live in London, so I was used to busy traffic and a lot of people, but Beijing was different. That day Beijing for me was noisy and stressful with just too many things I had to pay attention of. Cars crossing the street even though they had a red light, buses, cars and especially motor bikes honking all the time, which made me startling up a lot and so on and so on. Luckily I got used to it quite fast and soon adopted the Chinese way of dealing with the high volume of traffic. Means walking towards the other end of the junction as far as I could and stopping somewhere in the middle to let cars pass before crossing the last bit as soon as the traffic lets me. Below a few examples:

I soon made friends with Chinese people. Michelle, who approached me at some underground station in Beijing and invited me to her home to have lunch with her family. Stephany, who helped me buying a typical Rou jia mo burger on Muslim street and invited me to her hometown in Chongqing.

Stephany & me

Jolly, the best friend of Stephany, who hosted me in Kunming and took me to have dinner with her and some friends.

Jolly & me

And last but not least Sissy and Alex, the students I became friends with in Yangshuo. They took me to the cinema, so that I could watch my first ever movie with Chinese subtitles haha and were so interested in German culture and lifestyle. It’s not the sights that will last it’s those moments you have with people, that will last.

Overall I’m glad I made the decision to travel China. I’ve seen a lot of traditional buildings in Beijing and danced with nearly 100 random Chinese people on a square in Xi’an. I saw Panda Bears chewing on bamboo in Chengdu and had so much fun, when Jolly (the Chinese girl I stayed with in Kunming) took me for dinner with 7 of her friends. I went to see a cave in Guilin to find myself in a different (fairy tale) world and I volunteered at the Zhuoyue English College in Yangshuo to help the students speaking more English. They basically come from small towns, where they don’t get the opportunity to speak with foreigners, so they were really interested in having conversations with me.

I’m impressed how welcoming people over here in China are. Even though they don’t have much money, they would invite you to their house for food. They’re also so interested in European culture and especially German products. They appreciate the quality of German products and of course cars. For them it’s the non-plus-ultra to drive a BMW or Audi. However, German cars are really expensive here. Depending on the model sometimes triple the price than in Germany.

As already mentioned in the beginning I’m currently on the way to Hong Kong and will be arriving there in a couple of hours. I know Hong Kong is way different than mainland China, which makes me way excited.

Yangshuo – cycle trip & bamboo rafting

2014-11-21T09:15:00.000+01:00

Sun was out today so I decided to rent a cycle and go out to explore the countryside of Yangshuo. Because so many people explore the countryside here by bike you can rent them everywhere for really cheap. I paid 10 RMB (1 GBP, 1,30 EUR) for the whole day. Temperature was about 20 degrees and it felt a lot warmer, because of the sun, so I even had to take the jacket off. I checked some cycling routes on the internet last night and decided on the one going south-west, because it would involve a bamboo raft as well.

The route first took me out of town to the Yulong River. I passed a few settlements and could watch farmers working on the field. The rural area is way different to the city. Roads were not sealed and cluttered with lots of boulders. Because of this I became really worried of getting a puncture. What the hell would I do in the middle of nowhere?! After a local woman with a similar bicycle passed by me I became less worried and started to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Mountains, trees with massive pomelos on them and the warmth of the sun made this cycle trip to the best I’ve ever done in my entire life.

This was basically the street I was cycling on.

I at some point reached the Dragon Village, where I had a little rest and bought corn on the cob for lunch. It’s actually quite popular in China to munch steamed corn for lunch. I then took a bamboo boat to enjoy the beautiful scenery even more. I paid 100 RMB (10 GBP/13 EUR) to have a one hour raft downstream. I asked the guide about the cycle and he said it’s ok to take it on the boat. Great, I was thinking, cause this way I would not have to come back. Compared to the bamboo raft I had taken to come from Guilin to Yangshuo this one today was much better. Rather than sharing the raft with 3 other people I was the only one on the raft today. Just me and the ‘driver’ (I call him driver, cause I have no idea of the exact word). Another plus for the boat today; it was an authentic bamboo boat made of bamboo and not plastic as the other one I had taken to come from Guilin to Yangshuo. Cause it had no engine and just moved because the man was propelling the boat with a pole the ride was really quiet and peaceful.

View from Dragon Bridge on Yulong River

Dragon Village

Wedding Pictures again. Seems like they're really popular up here in China.

Chinese lock

me on the bamboo raft

fisherman on Yulong River

After a good hour the driver dropped me off in the middle of nowhere. It was a good adventure, cause I had no idea where I was. It was just mountains, pomelo trees and bamboo fields surrounding me. No human beings whatsoever. ‘Good’ I thought ‘It’ll be ok!’ and went back on the bike. After seeing more settlements, fruit trees and even some oxen I spotted some foreigners. So I was stopping and asking them for the way back to Yangshuo. They actually were German and on the way back to Yangshuo as well, so we decided to stick together. What a coincidence.

ancient grave near by Yulong River

Being back in Yangshuo digesting what I had seen today I notice more and more how magnificent it was. I’m so glad I went on this cycling tour. With this wonderful weather today it was just the best I could have done.

Yangshuo day 1 - exploring the town

2014-11-20T19:17:00.000+01:00

As already mentioned in the previous post I was taken on a tour around Yangshuo by Charley (the person in charge of the volunteers of the English college I volunteer at) and two students named Sissy and Alex.

left to right: Charley, me, Sissy, Alex

Yangshuo is surrounded by karst mountains, winding rivers and beautiful scenery, which made the stroll very pleasant. It became popular with foreigners in the 80s and nowadays has a big expats community. I think I've seen the same amount of foreigners up here yesterday than I've seen in total during the last two weeks. It's also very popular with Chinese tourists it seems.

Yangshuo is very small and the first thing I noticed; it's not polluted, very clean (by Chinese standards) and seems not to have the usual traffic chaos. Most of the Streets are well kept in the original style, presenting the simple and primitive atmosphere of the ancient town. One exception seems to be West Street. A lot of foreign residents managing cafés and restaurants there, so I could find Italian, German and American food.

woman selling honey on West Street

We then left West Street and went down to the river. It again showed Yangshuo hasn't lost its ancient character. I could see people washing clothes in the river and an old man sitting by his cormorants waiting to go fishing.

I also spotted this cute couple above, who were taking marriage photos down the river. After taking a few pictures we left the riverside and went to Yangshuo park. On the way there I could see the normal life passing by; Men sewing and women playing Mahjong a traditional Chinese game.

funny sculptures of pigs in Yangshuo Park

It's only my first day up here, but I already enjoy the life up here a lot.

In the evening Charley had to leave, however, Sissy, Alex and me decided to stay a bit longer and went for some food. We meet another student on the way and invited her to join us. We ate sticky rice with vegetables and had a good laugh. Especially Sissy and Alex speak very good English and they are so interested in European culture as well as German culture in particular. They told me, that they want to go and see a movie in the cinema and I spontaneously decided to join them. So we went to the cinema to see, which movie would be available in English. It was 'Interstellar' starring Matthew McConaughey & Anne Hathaway. I had no idea what it is about, but as I liked the idea of seeing a movie in a Chinese cinema I bought a ticket (25 RMB). It was definitely good fun. The cinema was a new one, so I couln't find any differences to an European cinema.

us in the cinema

Guilin to Yangshuo by bamboo boat

2014-11-19T19:47:00.000+01:00

I had such a great day today! However, it didn't start that well. I booked a bamboo boat raft to travel from Guilin to Yangshuo. A van picked me up from the hotel to bring me to the pier where the cruise would start. I handed them my backpack and as it was quite heavy and big (yes I still need to get rid of a few kilos for south east asia. Otherwise I won't be able to carry it for longer than 20 minutes) they put it in the boot.

We set off and after not even 5 minutes heard a loud bang. We turned around and saw what had just happened. The woman, who put the backpack must have not locked the boot properly, so that my backpack just fell off the boot and landed five metres away on the street. Fuck, I usually carry the laptop in my daypack, but because of the raft I thought it's better to have it in the big backpack. Now the pack has just fallen off the boot and I was really worried the laptop might be broken. I checked immediately, however, fortunately no damage to the laptop. It's only the pack, who is dirty and ripped off at some points. Really annoying, but what can I do.

So we arrived at the place, where the bamboo raft would start and I noticed that it's actually not a real bamboo boat, but rather a motorised plastic boat looking like a bamboo raft. 'Whatever', I was thinking. The weather isn't that good anyway, so it might be even luck, that the boat has a motor and we will arrive in Yangshuo faster than without. I was sharing the boat with two Chinese people and a guy from Taiwan. His English was really good and we had a pleasant chat during the cruise.

Chinese people love having pictures taken of them and paying a fortune to get them printed afterwards

The nature was just stunning. The raft trip ended in Xingping at exactly the same spot than pictured on the 20 RMB note.

the scenery on the 20 RMB/Yuan note...

...and also in real.

From Xingping we took the bus for a short transfer to Yangshuo. Yangshuo is know as backpacker hang out. A lot of western people travel to Yangshuo since the 80s and I wanted to give it a go as well. I found an English college in advance, who offered me free accomodation and food, if I would take part in their 'English Corners' and speak with the Chinese students for two hours about certain topics in the evening. This sounded fair to me, so I agreed to volunteer. When arriving at the school I met Charly, who is the person taking care of the volunteers. He showed me my room and also invited me to take me on a tour around Yangshuo. He also asked two students to join us and we all set off to explore a bit of Yangshuo. But let me tell you about this tomorrow....

Guilin – Reed Flute Cave & a night stroll

2014-11-19T12:36:00.000+01:00

Whilst writing this post I'm sitting in a small but clean and warm hotel room and feel a bit like a little princess haha. After I was always living with other people the past weeks (friends or couchsurfing hosts) it now feels a bit strange to be on my own. What made you choosing a hotel then you might ask. It's basically that due to the lack of internet in Chengdu I haven't had enough time to find a Couchsurfing host up here in Guilin. Hotels are not so expensive here, so I decided to get myself a hotel room. I'll be staying here for two nights and had to pay 102 RMB (10 GBP/13 EUR), which basically is nothing.

Lucky me the hotel is near-by the Reed Flute Cave, which I was visiting today. Upon my arrival I went to the entrance for foreigners, however, as it is off-season right know and I was the only foreigner they sent me to the Chinese entrance, where I had to join a Chinese tour. This was a bit disappointing, because the entrance was with 100 RMB quite expensive. The only good thing was that the people in the group were all shorter than me, so I had a good view in the cave. The Reed Flute Cave is 240 meters long and I think it took me 45 minutes to walk through. Every formation has a legendary or poetic name such as Crystal Palace, Dragon Pagoda, Virgin Forest, Flower or Fruit Mountain. I believe the guide explained the story behind the names to the group, but as I couldn't understand anything I had to use my imagination to get a rough idea of the story behind.

The glowing sign shows the name of the formation in Chinese and English

Entrance of the Reed Flute Cave in Guilin

I then went back to the hotel to get changed for the evening and took the bus to downtown. Yesterday, when on the way to the hotel from the airport I already noticed a little lake with two wonderful pagodas in it and busy streets around it with people passing by. So I checked with the hotel and they told me this place is known as 'Two Rivers and Four Lakes Scenic Spot'. It refers to the landscape located around the city, which includes Li River, Taohua (Peach Blossom) River, Mulong Lake, Guihu Lake, Ronghu Lake and Shanhu Lake. I asked her about the pagodas and she told me they are called 'Sun and the Moon Pagoda'. She said it's very lively around the area as all the locals go there to meet friends and have dinner there. Yay, perfect spot for me!

Sun and Moon Pagodas

I passed a few food stalls and decided to have some dinner. I had lamb skewers and vegetables, which were really nice. I then passed a stall with something that looked like croquettes. They also sold pastries and candy, so I assumed those croquette things must be sweet and not savoury. As I fancied something sweet anyway I gave it a try and bought a package of six for 10 RMB (1 GBP/1,30 EUR). I'm happy I did. They were filled with banana and were soooo delicious.

After I had a lot of food I needed a little walk, so I went to have a little stroll along the lake. The paths were planted with a large number of precious flowers, such as banyan trees, gingkos, white pines, palm trees or magnolias. The lights along the path made everything look even more beautiful.

After watching the people passing by a bit and listen to some street musicians I decided to take the bus home. Tomorrow I'll be off to a bamboo boat tour on the Li River, so stay tuned for the next post!