Monthly Archives: June 2014

Vietnam

Miss Saigon and Viet Cong

I took the bus to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon. Ho Chi Minh City is the name given to Saigon, after 1976. However the Vietnamese still call it Saigon.

The bus to Saigon stopped in Nha Trang, where we had to wait for two hours to change busses. I decided to go for a little straw. I saw people drinking thee and coffee at these little parlour shops along the street. I started to crave for some hot cup of sweet morning tea. I went to one of the parlours and asked for a tea. They explained me that it was only possible to have tea AND coffee. Strange! Ah well, I thought I could always leave the coffee and only drink the tea. Haha. I ordered. Already fantasizing about my hot cup of tea, I got served an ice coffee and an ice tea. Really!? I decided to drink it all up and leave this quest behind. And when I drank up the ice tea the parlour owner poured me some more, because he thought I really liked it. Hahaha.

After a 26 hour bus trip I arrived in Saigon by evening. Saigon is the true metropole of Vietnam.  Crowded streets, billboards, more neon lights. I hadn’t booked a ho(s)tel yet. Together with a guy from Germany and 5 girls from Argentina we searched for a place to stay. They settled with the first place we came across. I decided to search further. I had an address of a Capsule hostel scribbled down. I would try that one, but as I was walking through the crowded streets of Saigon with all my belongings it suddenly started to rain heavily. I was tired, didn’t had no proper sleep for two days. Luckily the capsule hostel was just a few 100 meters away. I decided to go and stay there! Because I had only two full days in Saigon I booked two tours. The Mekong Delta tour with the floating Markets and the Cu Chi tunnel tour. I mostly stressed the importance of the floating markets, which I really wanted to see.

The next day I was picked up by a tour guide really early. A mid-aged Vietnamese man who introduced himself with the words: “My name is Dong! Easy to remember, because it is the sound that you hear when you beat the drums..” and subsequently did a loud impression of this sound: “Dong!! Dong!! Dong!!!” One thing for sure, I won’t forget his name. Hahaha. I was on a bus with predominantly Vietnamese people. The guide would tell a long story about a sight in Vietnamese and then give a short translation in English. And believe me when the guide says: “And right from you, you see a beautiful rice field” after a 5 minute long monolog in Vietnamese, that can’t be the full translation. That’s the really, really short version Hahaha.

Watching at the scenery passing by, I noticed the main building style in Vietnam. They are normal buildings, just like every other city. The only difference is that they are really narrow. Like you squeeze two street lengths to fit in to one. Also I noticed that many rice fields had graves in the middle. Later on I found out that it was normal for Vietnamese to bury their ancestors in the midst of the family owned rice field.

I got in a conversation with the only English speaking people on the bus, a couple from England. A fireman and policewoman. They told me that they did so many tours already, that they decided to do this tour without the Floating Markets. Huh!? I thought this was the one with the floating markets? I checked it with the guide and indeed. This tour didn’t include the floating markets. I regretted really, because that was my sole reason to go on this tour. The guide called with the hotel back and forth. Came out that I was put on the wrong tour, through an error at the reception. Damn!! I still tried to enjoy the tour, but was far from happy. However we sailed the Mekong Delta and rode horse and carriage. A lot of the Vietnamese people wanted to go on the picture with me. And a little Vietnamese boy functioned as translater between me and his family. Turned out that he had learned some English at school. His family members would talk to him in Vietnamese and then push him to translate it to me. “Do you like it here?”, he asked. “Yes, I do”, I replied. “My mom and sister, say they want to sit in the same boat as you.” “O… Kay…”, I replied. Hahaha. It was funny though. The whole boat trip the little guy kept asking me questions. “What is your favorite color?” “What is your favorite music?” “What is your favorite food?” and just when I thought he was finished he asked “Ok and now ask me?” Hahaha! We fed alligators, holding a piece of meat as bate on a wooden fishing rod. To get there we had to walk over a provisionally constructed bridge made out of bamboo. I went cycling through an native village. I learned about water coconuts. I even bought a little bottle of snake wine. Yes, there is an actual snake in the bottle. I had to taste it. It has a real strong taste to it.

Even though the tour was pretty nice, it was a real disappointment that I didn’t get to see the floating markets. Even though I know there is not much to see, it was one I really wanted to see. Even when I had the chance to see the most famous floating market from Bangkok, I declined it, because I was going to see them in Vietnam. Not! The guide made an effort to explain me in words, what I would have seen at the floating market. He also down talked the experience. It was really nice of him, but it didn’t really help Hahaha. Back at the hotel I explained my disappointment. They apologized and I got refunded. They even offered me to go again on the tour with Floating Market tomorrow, free of charge. This unfortunately was a no go, because I had only one more day, and was going to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Guess I still have a good reason to revisit Thailand or Vietnam now ;-) Hahaha

That evening Holland was playing against Mexico. 11 pm local time. I went to a bar to see the match. There I bumped in to Tom, the German guy again. The bar was full with orange shirts. Me not being a great soccer fan, I realized this was my first time watching a game in a bar, ever! I really liked it! But after Holland reached an disadvantage of 1-0, we really went bonkers when the 1-1 was scored. I liked the tension in the bar and the relieve when the 2-1 was scored out of a penalty. I won a bet against Tom. After the 1-0 he was sure Holland would hit the plane back home. Man was he wrong! Hahaha. Một hai ba, yo (one, two, three, yo)! The Vietnamese way of saying Cheers! It literally means 1, 2, 3, Cheers!

Viet Cong

Today I had a tour to go and visit the Cu Chi Tunnels.  One of the most famous tunnels used in the war against the Americans. The Viet cong had a super sophisticated tunnel network, consisting of three levels 3m, 6m and 10 meter deep. It was one of their main advantages during the war. The entrances of the tunnels were hidden. They could pop up out of nowhere and disappear out of nowhere.

I got picked up at the hostel by a guide and put on the bus in the main street. As the bus started driving the guide started talking on the microphone. “Welcome people, today we are on a tour to the Mekong Delta, and the floating market…” What!!? On the wrong tour!!? Every inch in my body said, not again!! And that’s exactly what I yelled out interrupting the guide. The whole bus stopped and starred. I explained my story for everyone to hear: “I have booked a tour for the Cu Chi tunnels, not for the Mekong Delta. Yesterday I got put on the wrong tour, and today again!? I can have one mistake, but this is really too funny for words!” I wasn’t even mad, more in disbelieve and I could still laugh about the incident. The guide stopped the bus, made a phone call. He then asked me to wait on a certain place in the middle of a busy crossing and told me I would be picked up. The people in the bus supported me fully, giving me thumbs up and wishing me good luck as the bus drove off. There I was, in the middle of nowhere, waiting for a.. bus. After ten minutes, still no one came. I asked a passer-by to use his phone to call the hotel. Luckily he agreed. The hotel wanted to send a taxi to come and pick me up. I explained them, that I don’t want to go back, I wanted to go on this tour… and at that moment a guy on a scooter arrived. He took me to the bus and I was on the right tour now. Wow!

The tour started with a polygon 50s documentary of the Vietnam war. After the documentary the guide made a joke: “You felt a sleep already!” He also knew the documentary was lame Haha. After that we visited a hidden tunnel entrance and even got the change to go in to the tunnel entrance and hide. By means of being funny, the guide made sexy noises while people dipped themselves in to the tunnel hole. Like really!!? Especially the woman looked at him like: Is he actually doing this? Pretty awkward. Hahaha

We walked past a B52 bomb crater and also saw a real tank that had been active during the war. The site was full of jungle and in the background you heard constant war noised of shooting guns and explosions. It really gave you a feel of the background sounds during the war.

The guide seemed to have a deeply rooted hate for Americans. He asked if there were any Americans on the tour. No one replied. “Good!”, he said. When we got to the boobytrap section the guide explained the working of a number of real life used booby traps. He sadistically seemed to enjoy telling us the detailed inflictions the boobytraps made to American soldiers. This one, would cut away all the flesh in your legs and then it takes three hours for you to die slowly and painfully. Looking at the mechanics of all these traps and imagining what the spikes and knifes could do to a human body, shivers ran over my back! Horrible!! Some had the sarcastic nick name: “Hotel California. Check-in oly, no check-out.”

Later on I found out there was actually an American guy on the tour. Guess he was too afraid to come out. Haha.

Then I noticed the war sounds becoming louder and louder.  It seemed that these war sounds were real! There was a shooting base where you could fire an actual M16, AK47 or bazooka. Even though I am not a gun lover, I saw this as a once in a lifetime experience I had to experience. I choose the AK47. I got to fire 10 bullets. The sound and the kickback are super intense. But if you imagine the killing potential of this gun it is also a bit creepy!

After the shooting we went to the final part. The actual Cu Chi tunnel. The tunnel was 140 meters long, with an exit every 20 meters. I’m truly not a fan of small spaces. We entered the tunnel and came in to a small space. This wasn’t that bad, until I noticed a small black hole in the corner of the room. That was the actual entrance to the tunnel. What!? My heart started pounding as I got in to the tunnel squat. It was warm, I started sweating and slightly hyperventilating. I felt the ground pushing on me and felt really, really cramped. After 40 meters I decided it was enough. Not my cup of tea. And then to imagine they made the tunnel 50% larger for tourists to be able to go through them. Respect for the Vietnamese those days! The American soldiers didn’t dare to enter those tunnels to fight those days. They had a special unit with their own rules and values. These guys must have been insane!!

After the tour some of us asked to be dropped off at the War Museum. So did I! Not knowing what an effect this Museum would have on me. The entrance was only 15000 Dong, which is like 60 euro cent. The first impressive thing about the museum is that the museum terrain was full with war vehicles used during the war. Tanks, helicopters, artillery and the most impressive the Chinook, which I knew from movies like Platoon and Television series like Tour of Duty. What an experience to stand next to it and even be able to look inside. The war still feels like it happened recently, so you get a real feel of what it must have been like. You think about the young soldiers, getting in to this vehicle having no clue what kind of atrocities the future had in store for them.

Inside the museum you learn a lot about the history, about the protests against the war and also about Agent Orange. Agent Orange and how the Vietnamese people still feel the effects of it. One gallery is full of second an third generation victims of the Agent orange. People born without eyes, legs, twins stuck together… horrible. And then you see a concrete well standing there, surrounded with stories and pictures. At first it looks like a normal well, but then you discover that it was a hiding place for the three grandchildren of Mr. Bui van Vat who got massacred.

As if this wasn’t enough I then went outside to the section about the imprisonment, conditions during the war. You can see the real life prisons used. Even the infamous Tiger cage. You read about the torture methods which were inhuman. People having to roll over a cooking iron plate, until their skin was completely pealed of and bleeding. One prison had a peephole. Already excited I looked through the peephole not expecting to see anything. Then I suddenly saw and old neglected man sitting on the bench in the dark. I scared up and soon discovered it was just a doll. Wow!! Quelle horreur!

Heavily disillusioned I left the museum. I must admit this had been the museum with the deepest impact on me ever!!

Vietnam

Hoi An Couture

I took the bus from Hue to Hoi An, which is only a 6 hour bus ride. Nothing compared to my previous bus ride. But then when the bus stopped and we got a chance to have something to eat guess who seemed to be on the same bus as me? Alan!, the Chinese guy from England I met in Koh Phangan. We went to the Full Moon party together and parted ways not knowing about each others’ upcoming travel plans. How big are the odds that our paths would cross again! Later on, Peter another guy from our Full Moon party group also arrived in Hoi An. Crazy!!! #unreal

Hoi An, the culinary capital of Vietnam and also famous for its tailor shops and couture clothing is a lovely peaceful city. The traffic is minimal, so you can easily travel the city by bicycle. It is even prohibited to enter the Old Town, an ancient part of the city, by motorized vehicle between 3 pm and 9.30 pm.

Because it was my fourth day of heavy loose stool, I decided to go to the hospital. Just to check if it was more than just bad luck with food. I ended up 2,5 hour at an infuse and got an antibiotic cure. Wow! And I’m still not sure if it was really necessary or that they used a bazooka to shoot at a mosquito just to make some money of my insurance. However, every possible inflammation I might have had in my body will now be killed. :-) And the good news was, that my toes were almost healed. Hahaha ;-)

It was becoming dark now, the lights were going on all around town. The streets were full of beautiful neon lights in every color imaginable, from green to orange. It almost looked like a Christmas circus.  I got hungry from waiting at the hospital. I drove around town and then suddenly I smelt a BBQ. My nose followed the aroma like a cartoon character and before I knew it, I was sitting in a downtown restaurant between local people. There was no menu. Everyone got the same plate. BBQ meat with vegetables and steamed rice. It was delicious. So delicious I ordered a few pieces of meat just for take away. I later on stored it in the fridge I had in my room.

Then my eye cought a tourist couple. They woman came to talk with me, showing me all the exact restaurants, places, shops I need to go, because they were lovely. I was more like, I want to find out myself Hahaha. but she was just being nice. She concluded with the sentence: “I like it here, because I hate tourists!”

Even though the cities really differ, I constantly mistake Hoi An for Hanoi. They don’t even look similar, but they got some strange similarity to them. Because Hoi An is the culinary capital I had to try all it’s delicious dishes. I tried Cao Lau, which is the most famous local dish of ‘m all. It is a regional Vietnamese dish made with noodles, pork and local greens, which is only found in the town of Hoi An.

The toilets are also somewhat funny. I sometimes ended up in the woman toilet because some of them only say: Nam and Nu. Which one am I!!??? Lol! Nam is man. Just reminded it by spelling man backwards ;-)

I stayed in a guest house with a nice family. The grandma sometimes scared up when she saw me, but each time greeted me with a big smile afterwards. Hahaha Here I finally solved the mystery of the flower-texture hoodies on the scooters. I asked the daughter and she explained me that they do it for sun protection. It is way cheaper than buying sun cream each time. Ok! Guess the flower-texture is just the fashion-statement. ;-)

I went to the Old town which is entered by the Japanese covered bridge. After that I went to the Quan Cong Temple and the History and Culture museum. Next to these buildings was a market. At the market I was approached by several woman, who all used the exact same script, identical to the letter. It went like: “Where you from sir?” “When you arrive in Hoi An?” “How long you stay in Hoi An?” “Come have a look in my shop with beautiful shoes, custom-made suit. Only watch!” After three times, it really started to become unreal. They must have been following the same course or something. One woman however was inventive. She saw that I was looking for a place to park, because I wanted to visit the Quan Cong Temple. She waved me over. Free parking sir, free parking here. I parked there and then she came to chat with me normally. And just when I put my guard down she also started about her shop. I politely excused, but when I came back from the temple and the museum to pick up my scooter she was still sitting there next to my scooter. With a straight face she said, “50 dollars sir”. I was completely surprised. She kept looking at me with a straight face and now raised her hand to receive the money. “50 dollars sir for the parking”. I was clearly flabbergasted and just before I repacked myself and was getting ready to start an argument with the sentence: “But you just said..” she helt her belly and almost fell to the ground, laughing! “Just joking sir, just joking! Hahaha” She had fun, and she got me. I had just been pranked by this Vietnamese woman. Lol! Hahaha.

In the old city I spontaneously decided to buy a kite. I wanted to go kiting at the beach. That seemed like a fun, silly thing to do and also it would cater to my child within ;-). Full of excitement I drove to the beach. Took the kite out of the package, constructed it and let it up in the air!!! Only to find out that the string was only 1 meter long. :-( The wind was pretty good though, so if I had had a longer string. However, I can officially say I kited on the beaches of Hoi An ;-)

The next day I got up and wanted to eat the BBQ meat I saved in the fridge… it already had a rotten smell to it. I skipped this one, because I didn’t like the Vietnamese hospitals that much hahaha. I rented a bicycle instead of a scooter. I realized it had been a while since I’ve ridden a bycicle. It was real nice. I went to the beach to relax and swim and after that it was almost time to catch my bus to Ho Chi Minh City!

Vietnam

Hue that Durian smells

At the exit of the Mausoleum in Hanoi I got in to a conversation with a guy from Israel. He had just returned from a trip from HCMC all the way up to Hanoi by manual motorcycle. He had never driven a manual motorcycle before, but learned it in a few minutes, he stated. He made it seem soooo easy, however when I looked at his arms and legs, they were full of injuries and flesh wounds. Still I was thinking about doing the trip from the North to the South by motorbike. I could buy one here in Hanoi or in Hue and then sell it in HCMC. It is pretty easy! I even did a test drive on a manual motorbike and learnt it pretty quick. A nice lady of the hotel let me drive hers up and down the street. I even arranged an address where I could buy the motorbike for only 250 USD. I would be able to sell it for at least 150 USD in HCMC. However eventually I made the wise decision not to do it. Most of all because I don’t like driving that much and I would spend more than 24 hours on the bike to get all the way to HCMC. That is not my view of relaxation. Secondly I’m a bad driver Hahaha and currently a lot of road construction work was going on in the south. Last but not least bikes do break down and I’m not a good mechanic as well. Hahaha. Noo, I stick to my bus.

But the Open Bus…. that is a whole other story. The busses are so called sleeping busses. Meaning the seats are almost horizontal, layed out behind each other in a train-like position where your feet are in a cabin under the back of the person in front of you. The front of the bus is reserved for local  people. A litlle woman dictator stayed in one seat at the front of the bus and any tourist who dared to go and lay in one of the seats in the front of the bus was screamed to the back of the bus. “No! No! No! V.I.P. go back! Go back!” Some tourist still had the nerve to ask for an explanation: “Why can’t I lay here. I have a ticket, I…” “NO! Back! Go! Go!”, she would reply politely ;-) Mad woman! Lol! Hahaha. And believe me every bus had a person like that. I guess they got hired on unsocial behavior. No footwear is allowed in the bus, so you have to put your shoes or flip flops in a bag before entering the bus. The foot cabin was just a little too small for me to fully stretch my legs. The inside and outside of the bus featured bright neon and Christmas lights. In the bus there were two Tv’s with Vietnamese dubbed Hollywood movies. And the Vietnamese dubbing is the most basic I have ever heard. One woman’s voice impersonates all the character in a monotone voice. Imagine Tom Cruise in an action scene screaming out “Watch out for the bullets!!!” followed by the emotionless, dry translation of the woman’s voice. Funny! Hahaha. Also the volume of the Tv’s was so loud that you could feel your stomach vibrate with the sound. And each time we arrived at a stop, the driver played corny Vietnamese ballads on an even louder volume! The bus had Wifi though! :-) Hahaha.

The ride to Hue was a 20 hour ride, and the day before, I started suffering from an immense loose stool. I have travelled India for a month, with hardly any problems, but now Vietnam got me!!?? Wow! I would spare you the details, but a 20 hour ride with loose stool and your aching toes in a just too small foot cabin is… not your relaxing bus ride. But I managed!

In Hue I had a wonderful hotel and the staff was real nice. The city was also warm and full of good energy. And again I saw a lot of woman on scooters all wrapped up in flower-texture, hoodies.

I visited the Dong Ba Market, which is huge!! There I bought a whole Durian, the famous stink fruit. I had to taste it. It was ok, but not really my cup of tea. I put the remainder of the fruit in the coach luggage compartment of my scooter. “How bad could the smell be?”, I thought. I also went to the Imperial City, Old city or Citadel as people call it. It is a huge site with palaces, tombs and also the forbidden city where the emperor housed his many mistresses. Eventually I went to the evening market under the Truong Tien Bridge. After 7 pm the bridge is completely covered in all sorts of lights, which is loved in Vietnam.

I read about the Vietnames history and found out that the Vietcong was only a small part of their history. Vietnam knows a long history of oppression by different countries like the Chinese and even the French. The Americans just happened to be the last ones. And the way the Vietnamese people see it, is that many countries tried to oppress the free founded Vietnam, but no one succeeded, because each time Vietnam produces a hero that saves them from oppression. That’s a proud vision! I immediately looked different at the Vietnamese people.

Also, to realize that anyone older than 50 has experienced the war is unthinkable. It is soo fresh, but still you don’t see any real signs of it. When I see older people, in a restaurant, or have a small talk with people on the streets I wanted to ask them about their experiences in the war, out of pure curiosity, inquisitiveness and involvement. But I feels inappropriate to do. Mostly I think, because I am afraid it would open chambers they haven’t opened themselves yet. I guess the trauma’s are suffered in silence.

After driving around for a while I opened up the coach luggage compartment of the scooter and a penetrating smell beat up my nostrils. The Durian!!

Vietnam

Ha Long Bay & Hanoi the Northen start point

When I think of Vietnam, I think of Platoon and Tour of Duty… the Vietnam War. Images of American soldiers, Chinooks and Apaches fighting people in rice fields with conical Asian hats. Of course these images are way to limited to depict modern day Vietnam.

My plan was to start in Hanoi in the North and then move through Hue and Hoi An all the way down south to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), former Saigon. I bought an open bus ticket for only 40 Dollars. You can travel a lot of cities with it and can decide when you want to move from one city to the other. The only rule is that you have to travel in one direction. Fair enough!

As soon as I arrived in Hanoi, I didn’t feel none of the heavy energy of it’s relatively recent war. Instead, the streets were crowded with people and the atmosphere had a sugar sweet feel to it. The street view was filled with these conical Asian hats, called nón lá (leaf hat). Later I found out that they dip these hats in water to wear it as an evaporative-cooling device while working the land for example. You also see a lot of people walking with ??Stengel met weegschaal?? holding their fresh products they want to sell. And just like in India, the overloaded bikes are a common part of the street view. They literally transport anything on their bike from dozens of boxes, TV’s to dead pigs. The streets had actual clear street signs and all the houses were numbered, which I can’t say for each country. The traffic lights show the number of seconds until they will jump to another color. Which I think is handy ;-) And just like in Costa Rica you can pay with Dollars as well as the local currency: Vietnamese Dong. Everywhere, from the airport staff to the streets you see the Ao dai, Authentic Vietnamese silk dresses. I loved the design of it! Real nice! There are also a lot of art stores here, selling Vietnamese art. One particular design I liked was the one with the pink flowers on a silver silk background. One thing I didn’t understand were the thick hoodies with flower textures, which Vietnamese woman wore on their scooters. They were completely wrapped around in it. It must be freakin’ hot!

When I arrived at the Hotel, I got to meet the slightly darker side of Vietnam. The first thing I noticed was that Facebook was blocked. The government says that it is an error in their networks they have to fix, but the truth is that it is probably done on purpose. However with a little effort it is easy to get past the block.

In Hanoi I just walked around a lot. At night Vietnam is covered in Christmas-like lights in all sorts of colors, green, orange, red… they love it here! I love it! Hahaha. Also in the streets, you had these street food restaurants, with colored, tiny, plastic stools where you could get delicious, street food.

The next day I did a day trip to the famous Ha Long Bay which was one of the main things I wanted to see in Vietnam. On the bus I met an Indonesian couple who travel the world a lot. The guy was saying that he travelled almost the whole world etc. etc. I have an iPad app that let’s you fill in the countries you have been through and calculate the percentage of the world you have travelled. I invited him to fill in his countries. He was shocked to find out that he had only travelled 14% (which is still a lot). After that the conversation changed to more real life personal subjects. Hahaha After a two hour bus ride we finally arrived at Ha Long. There we took the boot. On the boot we had a great lunch. I sat at the table with the couple and three girls from Singapore we had just met. We talked about both the countries and also my experiences there. The woman of the couple had a conversation with one of the girls in their mother language. This seemed pretty normal, until I realized that the girl was from Singapore and the woman from Indonesia. Curiously I asked how they could understand each other. They explained me that they speak Malay in Singapore and that the Indonesian language originated from Malay, so the two languages are so similar that they can understand each other for 80% or so. Amazing! But the thing I found even more Amazing were the rocks that were suddenly entering my view. We were there Ha Long Bay!!!

The sight was just as in the pictures and I can tell you it is a real unreal feeling to suddenly stand in one of the pictures you were admiring on your computer at home. Lovely! We took a bamboo boat to sail under the caves. Breathtaking! The boats were floating lightly and we had to get on them one by one. They were really small boats actually. When I got on to the boat I was supposed to put my foot in the middle. However I stepped slightly on the left. My weight almost made the boat tilt counter clockwise and me fall in to the water. Hahaha Lucky me! We sailed past the water villages. People who made houses on the water, out of their boats, because they were not able to afford land. The village even featured a school for the children.

The guide also took us to a cave, that was enhanced by red and blue ambient light. Instead of telling us about the history, he pointed at seeming figures you could see in the rocks. “Look there, if you look closely you can see a kissing couple, and there the same kissing couple when they are older” “Look… there you can see an elephant” etc. etc. Super lame!! Lol! Hahaha. I eventually started to play along searching for figures. I discovered a heart! Even the guide was surprised. He hadn’t seen that one during all his tours. Nice!

On our way we drove on the Long Biên bridge passing the red river. Left and right we saw many couples who stopped on the bridge sitting on their scooter, looking romantically at the water or kissing in an intimate hug. This seemed to be THE place for a romantic getaway. It had a nice view over the river and it featured a cool breeze.

My toes were bettering, but I still had to go to the hospital to change the bandages. This time it was free, but they did it so bad, that the bandage just fell off my toes the moment I left the hospital Really the just fell on the street. Hahaha. I decided to use my own medikit and fix it in a makeshift way. Haha. That would be the last time I would go to a hospital to get my bandage changed.

The next day there was no power in the hotel. Here in Vietnam power outs are quite normal. I brushed my teeth in the dark and went down stairs to the reception. “Yeah, power down between 9.30 am and 3 pm”, they said. Wow! The government can just do that. I went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum there was literally a line of at least one kilometer, but it moved real quick. The tempo was the same as a normal walk, so before I knew it I was there. The closer I get to the Mausoleum the stricter it got. Soldiers were walking around, fiercely telling people to keep silence. Then the line entered this big building and in to the room where he lies. You see him laying in a glass coffin in an heavily air cooled space. Impressive! but also kind of sad if you think about the fact that he really wanted to be cremated. However the government decided else. In the same walking pace, the line passed the glass coffin and before you knew it, you had left the building. However with a sight on your retina that was there to stay for a while

Thailand

Hugging Chiang Mai Tigers

From Bangkok I took the train to Chiang Mai. Having been on trains in India I thought I knew a bit what to expect, but then again I should have known better. On this trip nothing is comparable thus far. The train to Chiang Mai looked like a normal sleeping train with two lower and two upper beds/benches in each compartment. That is until you get to the restaurant train-unit. This train-unit had tables and chairs, a bar, neon lights and really loud ancient, cheesy pop hits. The disco unit!! Like wow!! Hahaha. And strangely enough the windows of this unit where open and people were allowed to smoke there as well.

During the trip we suddenly heard a loud hammering sound, like the train crashed in to an iron wall. This actually was the train splitting in two or more pieces. They do that when the track has some significant curves ahead. The separate units are more flexible. As a whole the train is not able to take all the curves on the track. After the curves the train-units click back together. Almost sounds like a scene from the Transformers. Hahaha

I was in a compartment with a Swiss guy and his Thai fiance. They met in Thailand two months ago and were going to get married in Switzerland. They were now on their way to her village to meet her parents and to get some paperwork done. All I heard was: Two months!? Wow! Hahaha

I arrived at Chiang Mai, a relaxed, easy going authentic town. The guesthouse was run by a really tall, bold Thai guy, with the appearance and charisma of a monk. I actually think he is or had been one. His voice was so calm, that when he tried to explain me how to get to the Doj Suthep, I thought he was trying to put me in to a deep meditation. Hahaha The guest house had a real serene feel to it. A swimming pool in the middle surrounded by the cottages. A lot of green, plants and trees. Under a wooden on roof, a big army jeep was parked. The owner told me that only it’s exterior was old. The inside of the car was completely new. It was his hobby old timer.

I rented a scooter at the guesthouse to drive around town. The town is easy to get around. The city center is surrounded by one big road. So whenever I got lost on my scooter I just drove out of the city until I reached the big road and reorientate again. :-) One evening however it was raining. I waited until the rain was finished and then decided to take the scooter and go for something to eat, and may be watch a World Cup match. I sat on the scooter and even before I could turn on the engine I slipped on to the ground with the scooter. The ground at the guesthouse was that slippery. Luckily the scooter stayed unscathed. I wisely decided to leave the scooter at the guesthouse that evening. Besides the scooter, it is easy to take a Tuk Tuk or a Songthaew, a red pick up truck where you share the price with fellow travelers. This makes them the cheapest. I found out the hard way, taking the Songthaew all by myself and wondering why the driver was so happy. Hahaha.

The next day I went to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, which is a buddhist temple on top of a mountain. It was really special. I went there by Songthaew and after arrival I had walked the huge 309 step stairs up hill. When you finally arrive there you see one huge gold Chedi and people were walking around a special white flower in there hand. I joined them. After one round I left the path around the Chedi, only to find out that it is common to walk three rounds. I went back in there and I did the three times. :-)

After that I went to the Tiger Kingdom. It is said that you can hug tigers here. I had to go and see that. You could choose to hug a baby tiger, a junior or a really big one. Of course I went for the latter and of course I had to sign a disclaimer form. ;-) You arrive at the tiger area where you can see them from behind a fence. You wait until it is your turn and then you are allowed to step in to the arena. There were some rumors about the tigers being drugged, because people saw them sleep a lot. So I was a bit skeptic. However, these guys were active as hell. Jumping in and out of the water and playing with each other. There was no suspicion of them being drugged at all. I found out that these tigers were trained by humans from birth, so they are used to human touch. And it is normal for tigers to sleep during the day and hunt during the night. So of course some of them are sleeping. Hahaha. It was my turn! I was explicitly told not to touch their head, neck or front paws. I only thought by my self, what if I did? For example accidently?

I went in! One fence goes up, you step in and the fence closes behind you. Then a fence in front of you opens… and you… are… in… the… arena!!!

I now realized I was between one of, if not the greatest predators in the world. These guys were huge! One just walked past me over the edge of the pool, with an intimidating swagger walk. ;-) The keeper was looking for one tiger I could take a picture with. Some were still playing, some were just about to go in to the pool… “Come here, sir”, the keeper said. One tiger at the back was  just lying down. I got close to the tiger “No, not from the front!”, the keeper whispered “Approach him from the back.” I understood, I should by no means form any threat or whatsoever to the tiger. So I approached from behind and sat down behind the tiger. The pictures were taken, but then the tiger noticed me. He turned his head to me. Shivers went down my spine, but I kept on smiling. He then turned his head back. I gently put my hand on its stomach and could feel it breathe. This is awesome!! I’m here! I’m doing this! We found another tiger to take a picture with and also two tigers who were just relaxing. It was over before I knew it. Amazing experience! #epic Luckily I read about the multiple tiger attacks and accidents at these type of parks afterwards. Hahaha #angelonmyshoulder

Also in Chiang Mai I had to get my toe bandage changed. However on my way there I burned my ankle to the exhaust of my scooter. Really!?? Hahaha, Yeah really! Luckily I was already on my way to the hospital ;-)

My toes were still really hurting. After all the sightseeing and walking I wanted to go for some dinner two streets away. But I overused my toes so much that day, that I had to get a Tuk Tuk. The guy was like were you want to go. I was like: “There!” I could almost point at it! Haha

And I don’t know what it is, but in Thailand everyone wants to stand on my little or my big toe. In the airplane to Bangkok for example. I had my foot in the aisle for one minute and a guy past by, BAM!, stepping on my too. In Bangkok I asked for directions, the guy turned around to point the direction, BAM!, stepping on my too. It started to look like a real bad slapstick cartoon! Haha. I only needed my too to become ten times as big and beating like a pounding heart. Lol! But as I learned in Thailand… “Sabai, sabai” which means, no worry!!!

Thailand

Bangkok Army

One day before I arrived in Bangkok the curfew was completely lifted all around Thailand. I arrived at this beautiful hostel. Nicely designed, with a pond in the lobby and a huge dartboard on the second floor. I put down my backpack and connected to the internet to get the result of the Netherlands vs Spain match. My last update was “0-1” for Spain, so when I saw the score of “5 – 1” I couldn’t help but make a loud sound Jeeej! Hahaha. How on earth was this possible!!!?? I quickly checked the match highlights. Unheard! During my world trip, I’ve been asked a thousand times, which country I live in. When I replied the Netherlands, the subject normally immediately switched to Amsterdam. After this day, the subject switched immediately to the 5-1 match. I only had to put my two hands in the air, 5-1 when people didn’t quite understand where I was from and they would say: “Ohh, Hollaaanda? Great match!!” Hahaha

I stayed in Bangkok for two days and I must say it rained pretty often. I took a taxi to the center, because I wanted to eat some insects. It was on my bucket list. But it was hard to explain the driver to bring me to a place where they sell insects. I asked for a pen and a piece of paper and even drew some bugs for him and made eating gestures. He looked at me like I was explaining politics to a five year old. Then eventually I drew a comic for him. It took me some time, but he looked at it fiercely and than he smiled, he understood. Jeej!! ;-) He brought me to this market at Khao San Road. There I saw a woman with a stand full of deep fried bugs, spiders and scorpions. “You want to try” she asked me as soon as I looked at the horrible things in front of me. My mind said: “Nooooo”, but somehow my mouth said: “Yes!” There I ate a maggot. People who know me, also know how much I like insects hahaha #beingsarcastic. So shivers went all over my back. The taste was quite ok and it was just crunchy, but still… it was a freaking maggot! All the way I kept on tasting the maggot in my mouth and I just couldn’t get rid of the taste.

My photo camera still had a little bit of fog in it, because it got wet at the Full Moon Party. This explains the fogginess in some pictures. Hahaha. The water will evaporate in time I guess. :-)

I decided to go and eat something at a terrace to get the taste away. At the restaurant there was an older man sitting with a woman. He looked at me and greeted me warmly. He invited me to their table. “Come and sit with us my brother”, he said. The woman seemed to be a local and was knitting wrist bandages. He was drinking beer and seemed to be having a good time. I ordered some soup. Then someone with a whole bunch of scorpions came at our table. If I would like to try one? Why not, I already ate a maggot. Suddenly I felt all the eyes at the terrace focusing on me, while I was trying to muster all the courage I could, to eat the scorpion. I looked at the black scorpion on the stick in front of me. It was real, it was black with a red glow to it. It was horrible. Then I cleared my mind and put the whole scorpion in my mouth. The only thing I knew I had to do was chew as if my life was depending on it. I chewed like there was no tomorrow. It was crunchy and it had almost no flavor. I swallowed and tears came out of my eyes. I freakin’ did it!! I ate a freakin’ scorpion. Everyone applauded and then I started to act though. Hahaha, pushing the guys at the other tables to also try it. Hahaha. Yes, like they say courage comes afterwards. I had a little chat with the brother. I asked them how he and the woman knew each other. Seemed that they didn’t know each other. He just sat down at her table a while ago. He then bought a bracelet from her and she excused us and left the table. Then the story started to get even stranger. He started to tell me that he was a teacher without work here and that he needed money for his hotel only to stay one more night, otherwise he had to sleep on the streets. All my alarm bells started ringing fiercely! And then he started to get emotional, tears coming out of his eyes. So please brother, will you help me. The only thing I was thinking about, was: What if! What if this was really a man in need? But as soon as I placed my self in his position I knew this story stank. I looked at his gold watch. I said: “Is that a real gold watch on your arm?” Surprised by my sudden question, he answered: “Yes it is” and then continued his moaning. “So please brother, can you…” “Well, if I was you and was really that deep in trouble, I would first switch from a hotel to a hostel, because its cheaper and secondly I would also try to sell that watch. “Listen brother”, I said “I ain’t stupid! You get a beer from me, but that’s it.” I paid for my food and his beer and left.” I saw a slight grin on his face, saying: “You got me, brother”. His cover was blown. What was he thinking!? Hahaha

I also visited Wat Pho, the Lying Buddha. This immense gold, lying Buddha was really impressive. Also on the sole of it’s feet, there are ancient scriptures. All this time my big and my little toe where far from perfect. I had to go and replace the bondage now and then at a local hospital, but still, these two guys were not going to stop me from exploring hahaha.

Some drivers are funny though. They will ask you if you want to see a ping-pong show. Well… no.. sorry! Hahaha. People at the hostel already prepared me for this. If you don’t know what a ping-pong show is, google it, or better yet just leave this one. Hahaha

 

In Thailand people greet with a wai, which consist of a slight bow, with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion. Even the “Ronald Mc Donalds” clown in front of the shop is making a wai. They really adjust to each culture.. Hahaha.

One evening I took a Tuk Tuk back to the hostel, because the vending machine at the hostel wasn’t working. I decided to go at the supermarket across the street nearby. But when I left the hostel I saw that the street was completely put off by heavily armed soldiers and no smiles. I was allowed to walk to the supermarket. A thought of making a picture came rapidly in to my mind, but left my mind with that same speed. These guys were no joke, this situation was no joke. No time for funny things. I walked past them, while they clearly were keeping an eye on me. In principle I could be anyone, even a possible threat. I bought my water and neatly returned to the hostel. Wow!

Thailand

The Full Moon Party

The Full Moon Party, a once in a lifetime experience they say. Every month during full moon it is held at the beach of Haad Rin on the Thai island Koh Phangan. The trip from Singapore to Koh Phangan was exhausting. At 22:10 I flew from Singapore to the old Bangkok International Airport “Don Mueang”. I arrived at 23:25, but my next flight would departure the next day at 6:50. I waited for hours and slept maybe two. The plane I took at 6:50 arrived at Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport at 8:00 in the south of Thailand. From there I had to take a two and an half hour bus ride up to the Donsak Pier. Arriving at the Donsak Pier at 10:30 I had to wait for another two and an half hours for the ferry to Koh Phangan. There was a long line to get on to the very. I was already exhausted, waiting with my backpack in the hot, fiercely shining sun. I got on the ferry at 13:00. I was so tired I couldn’t even get any sleep on the ferry. Then I finally arrived at Haad Rin,  Koh Phangan Island at 15:00. From the pier I took a little bus to the center. I was dropped of in the middle of a road, which should be near to my hostel. I walked around for half an hour to ask people for directions, but nobody seemed to know the hostel. I sat down at this cafe where a man and two women, one of which worked there, had a lively conversation. I asked them about the hostel. They also didn’t know it, however the man offered to call the hostel. They were coming to pick me up, he said after he hung up the phone. Thank God! Haha. A woman on a scooter arrived shortly. The reason no one knew about the hostel, was because it was a really new hostel. However it was just behind the main street where we were. I could finally lay down in bed and take some rest. That is what a normal person would do after such a Spartan trip. Guess I’m not that normal ;-) Hahaha. Instead of going to sleep, I put my stuff in the hostel, rented a scooter and toured the island. #crazy!

I didn’t notice anything of the restlessness in the country, but then again the curfew for Koh Phangan and the rest of the touristic spots had been lifted already. It was the 11th and I thought the Full Moon party was going to be on the 13th so I had some time to take rest. But noooo!!! The party was scheduled for the 12th the next day!! Guess I hadn’t been looking at the right agenda. I ate shark that night. Just because it was possible Hahaha. Then went to sleep. The next day, still feeling a bit exhausted, everyone was getting ready for the Full Moon party. There was a muggy atmosphere on the island. Across the whole island you could buy the famous buckets. A bucket filled with little bottles of strong liquor, soda and red bull, which you have to mix your self. I met a group of people at the hostel and we naturally formed a group to hang out at the Full Moon party. Three guys from Dubai, a girl and a Chinese Guy from England, called Lilian and Alan and another guy from England called Peter. At the streets we bought some UV color body paint. This special paint glows brightly under blacklight and UV light. We painted our own and each others bodies with all sorts of creative figures that came to mind. Besides the normal buckets there were also the Giant buckets, which were just the size of buckets people use to put the mop in for cleaning their house. The Egyptian guy from Dubai lost a bet and had to go for the big bucket. I decided to join him. Why? Because it was possible ;-). The big bucket contained a bottle of vodka, a bottle of sprite, 8 energy drinks and a lot of ice cubes. These were accompanied by a pack of long straws. I mixed it all up and put the straws in the brewage. The giant buckets drew a lot of attention. People pointed at them, spontaneously came up to us to take a zip from one of the straws, people taking pictures with us. It was just straight up silly. We joked about drinking the whole bucket. Of course we weren’t gonna drink it all, it was just for fun. After only a few minutes sand from the beach and paint from your body gets in to the bucket, so we quickly abandoned them. The party was amazing! Loud music, beach, fire, happy, crazy people, UV body paint. The whole scene was like a dream. However I cut my too on some glass at the beach. Nothing serious really, but luckily an English guy and his wife helped me to put some bandage on it. The next evening I went to eat something. I had to get my ferry that night. In the restaurant I met James and James from England as well. They were funny. We had a good click, talked about our travels and bet on a song that was playing in the restaurant. Was it the Spice Girls or not? Me and James lost to James. Lol! We ended up singing along to the song, all three of us! Hahaha. Crazy! Holand was plaing its’ first World Cup match against Spain. I checked the current match status. 1-0 for Spain. “Hmm is the Netherlands going to loose their first match”, I thought. and then I checked out at the Hostel. It was night time and I took a motorcycle taxi to the Thong Sala Pier where my ferry would departure. But before that I decided to go to a small hospital to have my too checked. Nothing serious luckily. Only some dead skin. I had to have it checked daily at the hospital. While sitting at the back of the motorcycle going up and down hill in the night past some astonishing scenery I realized, that I haven’t even looked up to see the Full Moon during the party. However I guess it is safe to assume it was there :-) Lol! Hahaha.

 

Singapore

The Merlion

Singapore, the only thing I knew about it was that it was really neat, tidy and clean, and that they have an awesome, efficient public transport. I only stayed in Singapore for one night. I took the MRT from the airport to my hostel. The MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) is the main public transport and has a daily ridership of over 2 million. It is “mass” and it also is quite “rapid”, but I expected it to be more of a Star Trek like high tech experience Hahaha, which it really wasn’t.

When I took the taxi, I got this frustrated taxi driver. We got to talk and then he asked me: “What are you doing here!? Why do you want to come here!?” I was like: “Sorry?” “Yeah, Singapore is no good anymore. The government is corrupt they all fill their own pockets. I hate it here you know. How long are you gonna stay?” “Only one night”, I reassured him. “Good. That is more than enough!” Wow, what a great PR for the country. Luckily he was an exception, I later found out.

I went to the Marina Bay Sands. Here they have a large building with a big Boat on top which you can see from a distance. Quite impressive. At night there is a big Light Show and you can see the supertrees. I rushed to see the Light Show one night, but when I arrived I just saw the last couple of seconds. Colored lights, a hologram of singing people and lasers. These few seconds alone gave me a good impression of how amazing it must have been. I also visited the supertrees. These uniquely designed tree-like structures, vertical gardens of 25 to 50-metres tall have large canopies that provide shade in the day and come alive with an exhilarating display of light and sound at night. Wow! To get there I had to walk through this enormous, multi story, over the top, decadent Shopping Mall with all kinds of high end brands for display. The mall even featured a river on the ground floor, fully in Venetian style, including the gondolas. Seriously! It was so over the top, I couldn’t help but to play my cheesy 80ies playlist on my iPod while I wandered to this immense sight. And to be honest it is an experience though.

In the hostel I met a local guy called Wan. His parents went on a vacation and locked the door while he was away from home and his house keys were inside the house. He couldn’t get in the house and decided to stay in the hostel for a few days. Like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone… strange story hahaha, but we all gave him the benefit of the doubt. And mostly because he really was a nice guy! He showed me and some other people from the hostel around town the next day. We got to see another face of Singapore. We went to Sentosa where they have the Universal Studios and a super large candy store. The candy store h

Indonesia

Luwak, Rice Terraces, Hot Springs and Waterfalls

The next day I went with a driver to do some sight seeing. We did a coffee tasting north of Bali. There I tasted Coconut coffee, Vanilla coffee, Ginsen coffee, Balinese coffee and also some teas like Lemongrass tea, Ginger tea, Tumarec tea, Mangosteen tea. The Ginger tea tasted like Surinam “Gember Bier”, but then warm. I tasted some Rosela  and some real chocolate cacao without sugar as well. And believe me, whithout sugar it has nothing to do with the chocolate milk as we know it hahaha. All of the substances were good for some part or organ of your body. One type of coffee was good for the heart another type of tea was good for the stool, yet again another one was good for the blood circulation etc. I guess I am a very healthy man now. Lol! But… the main character of the coffee tasting show, was… the Luwak coffee. The Luwak, a cat-like creature, selects the best berries to eat, in his stomach enzymes seep into the beans, it then poops out the beans and they make coffee out of that. Luwak coffee, unlike the Balinese coffee has low caffeine, but still Balinese coffee tastes like water after you drank the Luwak coffee.

We visited Bedugul where we went to the Pura Ulundanu Beratan Temple. The Tree scandia (Balinese singing) on the background gave it a special feel. I noticed that all of the temples in Bali have a splitting gate. Like the entrance is made out of one piece of stone carving, which was then horizontally split in half to create an entrance. I asked the driver about this. He explained me that it has a symbolic meaning. When you pass the splitting gate, you also have to split your personality in the good and bad side. And leave your bad side behind. Many entrances to buildings have this type of gate and even each village has one. Wow! Impressive!

We went to Munduk a place you visit only for the view, but did I say only!? I fel in love with the view. Green hills and rice terraces. We drove past clove and mango trees on the way and each view is more beautiful than the other. I will definitely come back to this one.

After that me and the driver were getting a bit hungry and wanted some Satay. According to my driver the Goat satay was the best. Kambing as they call it. We didn’t managed to find a place were they sold it, but because we were close to the Banjar Hotsprings I decided to first plunge in to the natural Banjar hotspring and look for the satay afterwards! It was nice! I saw this one in travel programs a lot. Funny to actually be there now. After that we continued our search for satay. The driver told me to look for smoke. As we were driving up and down hill through villages, we focused for any signs of smoke alongside the road. At this point we both had one common goal: Satay! Haha. Finally I saw some smoke. Satay! Unfortunately we had to settle for chicken Satay, but it was no punishment, actually it was really good. The only thing I noticed is that the satays here have tiny little meat on them. So even after ten satays a was left still a bit hungry.

Next stop, the Git Git waterfalls. The driver informed me that there was a guide at that place who would bring you to the waterfall, but you had to negotiate the price with him. I asked him what was like reasonable. He said 100.000 is too much. As soon as I put my foot on the ground I was approached. This guide offered to show me all the three waterfalls for only 150.000 each. So this means 450.000!? And wasn’t there only one waterfall? Wow, this guy was really insulting my intelligence Hahaha. After some firm negotiation he offered to show me two waterfalls for 100.000. Then I figured that I came to see the one big waterfall and you can’t even swim in the other one. I finally said I’d do one for 50.000. He said 80.000 for one, which was still far from reasonable, but to cut him some slack and to contribute to the village I went for 70.000. When he walked me to the waterfall he smiled. “It was a good choice to only do the one waterfall”, he said. “The others are small and not even really nice.” Like really!? Can you believe this guy!? Hahaha. The waterfall was amazing though. I jumped of the rock in to the 5 meter deep pond beneath the waterfall. Went swinging on a rope to release it at its peak and fall in the water. Lol! Crazy, childish, but fun!

Later on, we saw another smoke surrounded stand. Satay! And this time it was the Kambing satay! Jeej! ;-) The driver waited around the corner and I went alone to order the satay. We were in a remote village and the stand was run by a few teenagers. Probably the children of the owner. They were really surprised when I ordered, and giggled the whole time. They didn’t understand a word of what I was saying, found my accent funny, but understood that I wanted 20 satays. They showed me the price on a calculator, giggling again. And then when I left, one of the boys said in a bit nervous, but clear manner: “Thankuu ferry mutsj!” and the others chuckled loudly. Proud at their brother that he just spoke English with a falang! Hahah. Funny! And the driver was right, it was really nice! But to be honest, I like the chicken more. Hahaha. We stopped at one of the rice terraces along the road. The driver had explained me all about the rice terraces, how they needed large sums of water at the beginning when they are still young, how the water dries up later. He also explained what the flags were for, which you see on all the rice terraces. The flags were all connected to a system of threads. Sometimes a flock of birds or a swarm of insects attack the rice terraces. When this happens, the farmers pull the main thread so all the flags start moving, thus scaring the birds or insects away. Pretty genius! And because he had promised me to show me how the rice really looks like when it is growing, he stopped here. We took a stem and he showed me the rice inside the sheaths and explained me how they use machinery these days to extract the rice. In the past, they used to smack the stems against the ground manually, to get the rice out. And finally he told me about the Arak which is an illegally, local brewed ricewine.

On our way back, I played some relaxed Jazz music, while I was content fatigue, I saw a few kites in the air, the sun was setting while we drove alongside rice fields and other beautiful landscapes and I was thinking about my trip thus far. It has been more than I could ever dream of. If you asked me what I would have liked to add to it, or what it lacked I couldn’t name anything. The perfect ingredients. I felt really thankful!

We arrived near the hotel. I went to eat at my favourite restaurant with the slowly wabbling lampions. I tasted pisang goreng (fried banana), which I know from back home, but with grated cheese. Strange combination, but really nice! At the restaurant I also tried their famous black bean rice pudding, which is also lovely. Hmmm, my mouth starts to water again as I am writing this.

After diner I went to a traditional Kecak Fire and Trance Dance performance in Pura Taman Sari, performed by the group Sandhi Suara. The performance was held in an open air temple by night. I didn’t understand a word, but still I could follow the story a bit. At least I knew who the villain was. Haha. At the end they burned a pile of coal until it was glowing. Then a man with a stick horse circled around the pile of coal, supported by load singing. He then suddenly kicks the pile fiercely in to the audience, making blocks of coal just come to a stop a few centimeters in front of my foot. Of course I was on the front row and of course I was wearing short pants and slippers. Hahaha. They scraped the still glowing blocks of coal together until the pile flamed again and turned in to a glowing heap. Then the man with the stick horse repeated his kicking again. They did this like five times and each time the audience anxiously waited not to get burned. One time a female in the front row had to jump up however, otherwise she would surely got burned I think! Like wow!! #noregulations I still loved the show though! Amazing experience!

Back to Kuta. I planned on going back to the great Hotel I stayed in before. The owner told me just to call him one day in advance and he would make sure I had a room. No need for Booking.com So I did. Done deal! Only the morning I left for Kuta I saw I had a txt message from him saying, he forgot to check the availability and that there was no room and at thousands of sorries. What!? So I got of the bus, arrived in Kuta, the bus left and there I was with my backpack and daypack and no place to stay. I quickly arranged a new hotel, which was ok. I stayed in Kuta for two more nights and then it was time to head for… Singapore!!

Indonesia

Culinary Ubud and Tulamben

I took a cooking class in Ubud. On my way to the lessons I saw two fighting monkeys. It was quite funny as they kept on going. I was almost late because of this. Haha. The cooking class was great.  I was the only one showing up so it became a private class and we had all the time. I learned about all the spices, vegetables and the cooking styles. I made Basa Gede, Menanak Nasi, Sayur Urab, Opor Ayam, Bali Satay Lilit and Pisang Goreng, which I got to eat all by myself. I rolled out of the restaurant on to the streets stuffed with delicious food. It was so much they gave me a doggybag full of my delicious (even if I say so) food. When I got to the guest house I saw a woman and her child begging at the oil station across the street. I knew about them, because they sat there every night and the guest house staff explicitly ordered me not to give them any money, because it doesn’t help them at all. Gangs, who put them to beg there, take all the money at the end of the day. Horrible!! So if you give them money, the gangs will only continue their practices. I walked over and gave them my bag of food and luckily the woman really appreciated it. Guess the gangs won’t be able to take that away!

The next day I went for Shipwreck diving in Tulamben. A city on the North-east coast of Bali. Just off shore lies a wreck of an US Army ship that was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1942. It was a two and a half hour drive from Ubud. On our way we had a beautiful view of the holey mount Agung. The driver played a cd with 90’s dance hits. The cd was stammering and stuttering all the time, but he didn’t mind. Then I heard the cd was actually a recording of a Dutch radio dance radio station. The one with three numbers, starting with number 5 and ending with 8. Hahaha. Funny! The Shipwreck was immense. We went down, and at first I had some trouble clearing my left ear, but then suddenly you see a gigantic object beneath you. A huge sight and also a bit of creepy, if you realize that dozens of bodies decayed here between these iron walls. It looks like a big monster, all covered with coral, but you can still see the contours of the ship. The windows, the deck and the front of the ship. We even went inside the ship. There are also a lot of sea creatures on and around the ship, even more than at the Great Barrier Reef and just before we got up, we even saw a real Barracuda.

The World Cup is also living here! I asked the driver which country he is supporting. Unfortunately Indonesia doesn’t attend. Indonesia is bad at soccer he told me, they are the best in badminton. Most of the people support Germany. I was like… huh!? Until this day I still don’t see the link, but his words were backed up by the fact that most of the flags hanging outside the houses in the villages were German! Hahaha.