T-5 and a Physics-Question

121 days ago we left Germany at about 17 degrees and sunshine on a mild September Sunday afternoon. Four months, 6 countries, over 50,000kms and a few ups and downs on the thermometer later we are close to the end of our "holiday". Angkor Wat was a closing highlight for our Cambodia journey. Start with pic 82 to see some tourist-pictures. We safely arrived in Bangkok (that taxi driver trying to trick us should have got up earlier yesterday!) and enjoy a nice hotel and the Spa-menu (all of it!).

Today's Thai massage created some weird cracking noises on my side of the room, but the Aromatherapy Massage tomorrow will hopefully be smoother. Apart from that we (possibly) will do a little bit of sightseeing. And cooking.

While travelling we have learned about a few things:

• Chaotic traffic runs better when there are a lot of motorbikes involved. The more cars (or elephants) on the road, the higher the risk of a traffic jam. It actually works better when everyone is ignoring street lanes, traffic lights and driving directions.
• Mooses make friends. Even really grumpy tourists smile when they see two stuffed animals accompanied by their so-called-grown-up owners. This rule can also be applied to 8 spoiled kids with 2 helpless mums on a business class flight, who are clearly marked by 1 week "off" their nannies/au-apairs. And suddenly the "little bastard" (quote!) is quiet/sleeps.
• No matter if you travel for 3 days, 2 weeks or 4 months. You I always pack too much. And you I always carry stuff you never wear. This time a woolen poncho which I thought would be great for cold evenings (those that were cold required a parka not a poncho). Fazit: I have packed and unpacked this thing at least 75 times, but I like it too much, to throw it away (and there is not even 1 single picture with it, go figure). Fazit 2: Packing sucks! And a fancy front-zipped backpack doesn't change that a little bit.
• If you are homesick - go to Mc Donalds. No matter what letters the menu is in, what direction they read & write in and whether they speak 1 word of English or not. You already know what you are going to order anyway and you know what you get. Easy point-it picture menus included. And if you are lucky, they even show Bundesliga.
• Good hotels are a heaven. Period! Only Pippilotta and a tent on the beach can measure up.
  
• Oxygen-mask bags do not inflate. (Obviously Philipp paid attention to one of the 12 emergency procedures announcements we heard since September, good boy!)
  
  
• And now a Physics-Question: Salt in warm areas is always clotted - no matter how much rice you add or how small the whole is. It is also the same with graters and saltshakers that have a lid. Anyone any ideas to solve this?
  

A little bit respect and a little bit of fun

... sometimes simply seems not to be part of the travellers world.

Have you ever noticed that a lot of travellers look grumpy?
They sit in a Tuk-Tuk somewhere in Asia and look annoyed (ok, it is 40 degrees outside and the Tuk-Tuk is not a brand new BMW). They sit on a boat while cruising some turquoise islands and look hungry (well, no Schnitzel on the Fijis or proper bread in China). They squeeze into a tiny guest house and complain about the old mattresses (perhaps they should have invested more than US$ 5 for a double-room?!). But also in a 4-5 star "etablissement" like we are currently staying at in Angkor the people mostly do not look happy. It seems there is always something that does not work for them: the weather, the food, the tour programme, the (or no) internet, their company, the money they paid, ...
I still think about 2 swedish girls who would spend their days in Phnom Penh sitting in front of the TV, watching Hollywood movies. Sightseeing is boring, especially when it involves history.

While spending the last 2 days mostly in religious temples and places of worship it is amazing how many people simply cannot read, not even a stupid simple sign. They climb the temple towers to prove they can do it, they wear close to nothing or complain about the uncomfortable walk-ways. They pat every kid's head and ignore the "No pictures"-signs wherever possible (Is this because you bought a very expensive D5 which you just cannot handle?). Why did they decide to travel 20,000 kms, when all they want to do is to behave as (badly as) they do at home? For example, yesterday I had to listen to a(nother) "Tschörman tourisst" who assured me about 20 times that the typical tourist pictures are nothing he would normally do and that he is really ashamed of doing this (ähm, then why?). After that he took off and positioned himself in the middle of the "real" Aspara dancers and pretended to be some kind of very cool Heavy Metal band lead with his groupies. It was obviously one of the highlights of his holiday! Then - of course - he discussed about 5mins whether the prize for the picture would be 5,000 riel (about 50 cents) or 1 US$.

Didn't they all make the choice to leave their comfortable home to explore a different country and experience something new - something that they cannot see or do every day at home in Wanneikel?

We of course also had our days of frustration and 3 weeks of continous rain may be a blessing in some really dry areas of the world. Sure, in the meantime, I am absolutely craving a "Leberwurstbrot" and a proper washing machine. And the never ending "Mistaaaaar, please buy this. For school. Very cheap prize" at every possible corner can be hard to take. But on the other hand: We didn't go away to be home.

We went away to find something new. To learn (... to relax (guess who ;-) ?), to cope with the heat (guess who ;-) ?), with the food, with different ways of sleeping, other languages, weird bus schedules, ...) Which we did, maybe in little steps, but we did. Amazing things every day. The pictures prove it:

• China & Hong Kong
  
• Australia 1 / Australia 2
  
• New Zealand 1 / New Zealand 2
  
• Fiji
• Vietnam
• Phnom Penh / Angkor Wat

Thank you, world!

No words

To those who know me well, it may be surprising but the "sightseeings" of our past days has left me kind of "speechless", in this case more "writeless". It is hard to put into words what we learned, saw, read, heard and experienced. It was both - pure beauty and pure horror.


The pictures - might be able to - tell our story:

• Mui Ne: 2 nights on the beach - see Vietnam album starting with pic 67
  Relaxing: beach - Margaritha - white sanddunes - sunset
  
  
• 3-day Mekong-Delta: Floating markets and villages and snake for dinner - see Vietnam album starting with pic 111
  Pure life: snake wine - wedding crasher - ferry logistics - floating markets - real pasta - west meets asia
  
  
• Phnom Penh: Khmer Rouge history horror and fried spiders - see Phnom Penh album
  (and our last blogpost)
  Unspeakable horror: lost future - cries for help - brutality - ideological obsession
  
  
• Siem Reap: Quite relaxed and excited to meet the 8th wonder of the world - see Siem reap album
  It is all about architecture: balance - interior - and more to come ...
  

By the way: The countdown is running. We will be back home in 10 days. Unbelievable!

Knallstock in Absurdistan

So here we are in Cambodia. We did travel to Phnom Penh from Vietnam, so there wasn't much of a cultural clash. The first impression was that the country is even poorer than VN: The irrigation-pumps were mounted onto wooden carriages. The motocycles were older and until now nobody opened a taxi-company within a bigger city.

Second impression: It is definitely a poor country. The overcrowded minibus-shuttle (18 people in a Toyota Hiace) droped us in the eastern part of Phnom Penh so we took a Tuk-Tuk to our hotel and there it started. The guy did speak reasonable good english so why is he "only" driving a Tuk-Tuk? Obviously it pays off to charge the tourists with higher fares instead of working in an office where his still astonishing language skills aren't appreciated that much. We liked that funny driver (Safety First!) and arranged to pick us up for a typical tourist-tour in Absurdistan the next day:

• Killing Fields
• Happy Club Shooting Range
• Genocide Museum

Sounds a little bit weird? Ahhh ... don't worry. If you have ever seen a German KZ you will see that it is the same thing on a smaller scale. There are no words to describe this. Neither the cruelty which has been commited here nor the feeling you have leaving such a place. However the Cambodians have something to "cheer you up": The Happy Club!

Although this establishment is run by the 911 Para-Commando Battalion they really make sure it looks less like an army installation and more like gun & rod club - I've never been to one in the US but this is how I imagine them to be. We drove by two barracks before we entered a side-street and ended up in front of a huge gate. The guard on duty looked like he had a good time but fortunately he was unarmed. I'm always a little bit freaked out by people with guns where I'm not sure what they are doing with this thing. So he opened the gate and our Tuk-Tuk driver from hell (Safety First!) entered the gate only to find ourselves in front of two APCs. From there on is was pretty straight forward and not different from ordering a pizza at the Italian around the corner.

"I'll have a clip of AK47 and ... errrr ... the 60 looks nice but I don't feel like machinegun today ... hmmm ... maybe a Famas? ... ahh what the heck. Just a beer." Yes there is a menu. And yes you can just order anything from a basic Colt .45 up to full scale RPG. Latter you have to shoot at another site but the "small" firearms can be shot in one of two indoor shooting channels on site.

The Lonely Planet strongly discourages travellers to go to the Happy Club (which has been renamed from Thunder Shooting Range. Happy sounds better). They say the country has suffered a lot from war. Yep. That's right and only sixteen years ago the Bundeswehr lost its first soldier on a mission abroad right in Phnom Penh. But now it's good and you can ease our mind by saying to yourself that if you shoot these weapons nobody gets hurt except the arab guy on the target (just in case you misread his facial features, he is wearing a Fez - so far for political correctness in cambodia), the stock of ammunition in this country gets less and moreover the guns don't get any better from using them a lot. Well ... nice try. In the end I believe by going to the Happy Club you fund a military unit. That's the ugly truth. But still >> it's fun!

Anyway. We left the outskirts of Phnom Penh and returned to the city in order to get a nice and decent meal. This time it really should be for the greater good. The only problem was that Martina decided to inspect the food before it was prepared. In this case preparing meant frying and since alive means fresh this one was pretty much alive.

Her scream would have waken the dead arab for sure.

The Happy Club:

The peaceful side of Vietnam ...

... comes in bright colors, soft fur, quiet minutes with your favorite newspaper, a happy smile, bright cakes, your community evening massage, a 5 EUR-dinner at a comfortable restaurant. And motorbikes. Everywhere. Preferred method of transportation for families of five, the recent acquired 3-seater couch or close to due-pregnant woman. Don't worry, they will not run you over - especially not, if they actually can see where they are going ;-). There is no such thing as waiting for a free road, just blend into the flow, it will never stop anyway.

The Cao Dai Temple was an oasis of quiteness in bright pink. The mass could have been a 30-min escape of the busy world outside - if it wouldn't have been for "Klaus-Dieter" and "Ingehold" (all names changed; no similarites intended!) busy trying to trample down every inch of the temple in their white tennis socks (including throwing their camera down the gallery and ignoring the rule of covered arms & legs). Grrrr, tourists! Cao Daismus has some famous followers around the world (one of them was Shakespeare; so says the Lonely Planet) and is actively practised by about 3 Millions around the world. How tree grooming exercises fit into the charta remains a secret to us.

Buildings here in Vietnam come in toast-slices. Does anybody know why? We already learned it is all about style, feeling relaxed & comfortable and the proper view. But we still are not quite sure whether the "Beauty Salon" I visited for a Manicure & Pedicure (EUR 3,20 in total) actually performes these activities on a regular basis. Quote from the advertising: "touch your sense - Staffs are young, beautiful and professional". Aha ... ;-)

So far, so late - again. Hmm, these New Year's resolutions (like: getting enough sleep) start off really bad. Of course all Vietnam pictures (and yes, there are more) can be found in the new apactravel album on facebook. We are off to Mui Ne for the next 2 nights before cruising through the Mekong Delta into Phnom Penh.

Do something fun today!

Travel back in time (to today?)

Our last two days were a journey through time - back into the Vietnam War (like it or not, there is no way around it here). We have visited the Cu Chi tunnels, an underground network of caves & bunkers which served as a hiding & living place as well as strategic "tool" for the Viet Cong. The guided tour included (admittedly "slightly" propagandistic) insights into the structure and history of this scary world buried beneath the ground, some hands-on crawling experience (imagine you "run" down here to seek shelter from gun & tank fire ... and don't forget to hold on to your pink Longchamp bag ;-) ) and the rather hair-raising stories told by a former flight attendant who used to fly in American soldiers and fly out mere survivors at an age of 21. "They were not well, the still are not well" was her summary, still shaking herself today. One wonders, is that the reason why some soldiers volunteered to become the so-called "tunnel rats"? Special forces to destroy the tunnels (and their inhabitants) from the inside. Why the hell would you sign up for a job like this? Crawling in pitch black, claustrophobic narrow tunnels where each turn & corner surely did not contain a pleasant BBQ invitation (not to mention the exploding, slightly hostile world on the outside).

The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City succeeds well in making you even more sick to your stomach with 100s of pictures of kills, tortures, genetic birth defects due to Agent Orange (be aware, the pictures are painful to the eyes!) and documentations of the sheer madness of this war (any war!). While the Cu Chi tunnels lively highlight the traps & tools to "defend" the Viet Cong against the American attacks, the museum rather eloquently focuses on the "gruelty" of the the Americans towards Vietnam people. The Ho Chi Minh City Museum adds a little more background information around the activities & reactions across the world and allows for different viewing angles. But still, massively one-sided "sightseeing" over here. Very moving, though. Hard to digest ... what would I have done? Why do people fight?

And: Did we learn anything?
Can we make the world a better place by being better people? Does it make a difference? Can we, can you stop fighting? Not there, but here.

Where are we?!

Our dopplr badge led to some confusion - according to dopplr Philipp is back home already. He's not! But we will be (unfortunately) soon: Arrival in Frankfurt is planned for Jan 31, 2010. If nothing happens to Gulf Air or we decide to simply stay in Thailand for the rest of our lives. ;-)

We are currently in Vietnam. But let's connect to our last "route description".

1. On December 26 we visited Karekare and Piha Beach. Great views and some serious magic.
2. Dec 27 we flew to Nadi on the Fiji Islands and spent the night with a couchsurfing host in a real Fiji village - not the ones made up for tourists.
3. Dec 28 & Dec 29 we enjoyed Manta Ray Island Resort - perfect snorkeling & awesome food.
4. Dec 30 - Jan 2 we spent on a very remote island, celebrating New Years until the generator was turned off and sleeping most of the time.
5. Back in Nadi for one night and a big day.
6. Another 2 nights in Auckland to watch Avater 3D and meet big fellas at the Auckland Zoo.
7. On Jan 5 we left Auckland for Hong Kong with a comfortable Air New Zealand Flight - love their entertainment program!
   Btw - question: How do you reduce your hotel prize by 30%? You book 1 night more than you actually need (sure, that was the plan ...) and pay less than you would have paid for 1 night less. Comprende? Ok, Hotels.com helped a little ...
8. Jan 6 strolling around Kowloon, exploring the markets and specialty stores. Either the Sushi that night or a rotten dragonfruit kept us busy with window-sightseeing from the hotel for the next day.
9. On Jan 8 Hong Kong lit up a little - time to visit the Peak. And meet up with some well known guys ...
   Ever wanted to be a Consultant? There is a consultant for every skill set! It's all about a self-explaining name, but we were not quite sure if it would help to make the description even bigger ...
   
10. Jan 9 was even more sunny and put Victoria Harbor and Hong Kong Island in amazing lights. And with a 3h delay we left to Vietnam that night. Arriving at 2am in the morning at an absolute fabulous hotel.
    
11. Jan 10 - City Sightseeing and tour bookings, but above all: enjoying 30 degrees celsius and a bustling scootermadness around us.
12. For Jan 11 we booked a 1 day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels (German) which were used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Can you imagine living 3-10m below the earth, moving through tunnels about 60cm wide and 80cm high? We tried today - fun for 10 mins, no fun for any second longer. And the traps they used to "capture" soldiers hurt by looking at them.
    
13. When did you attend a guided tour the last time? We haven't for years so we decided to change that. On Jan 13 we leave for a 2-night tour to Mui Ne and on Jan 16 we will leave Vietnam towards Cambodia with another 2-night tour through the Mekong Delta.

So far our travel plans. What are you up to lately?
The Hong Kong pictures are online, start with picture 165. Vietnam pictures will follow soon.