19. Cambodia

Cambodia is one of the countries you do not expect too much from. You know that there is the must-do-Angkor-Wat, but besides that everything you have in mind when thinking of Cambodia is pretty sad - poor people, malaria, genocide by the Khmer Rouge, prostitution and so forth. I have to say that despite (or may due to?) all this, we were pleasantly surprised with Cambodia! Angkor Wat was no surprise - it is absolutely stunning and totally worth the visit.

Angkor Wat

There is also prostitution, and of course there are the evil mosquitoes. The big surprise for us were the Cambodians - they were the friendliest and nicest people you can imagine, always smiling despite their dark dark past not too long ago. I will sure spend more time in Cambodia the next time I visit!

It is all about Angkor Wat in Cambodia - even the beer!

About the dark past, in Phnom Penh we went to the torture prison S21 and to the "Killing Fields" where thousands lost their lives. Some people find it disturbing to show where it happened and what happened. I think it is good that these museums were installed. As a German, I do know what it means to live with a dark history, and in my opinion it is better not to forget what happened and to learn to live with the past than to forget about it...

S21 - The Khmer Rouge's torture prison

18. Thailand

Thailand is for me due to the variety of things to do definitely one of my favorite Asian countries. The people are very friendly, the food is excellent, the beer is cheap. What else can one ask for?

We started in the south of Thailand in famous Phuket. Not a bad place, but Phuket City was quite boring and the main beach we went to was very touristy. I am sure that if you invest more time and money, there are some really nice spots to be discovered!

Gay parade in Phuket

Literally on the other side there was Koh Phangan, the island next to Koh Samui, that is famous for its outrageous full moon parties. We missed unfortunately the full moon, but stayed in some really nice bungalows in a little bay in the middle of nowhere. No electricity at night, no phone working, no problems. This place was pretty close to paradise (if you forget about the cockroach and spider "attacks" at night).

Our beach

One of our bungalows

Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, is a busy city. On the water ways, on the streets, there is a lot going on! It has to offer a ton of temples ("Wats"), the king's palace, a million shopping malls and also a really good night life in the tourist area. The one and only Khao San Road is sure not everyone's favorite place, but I sure like having a cold beer, watching football on TV and eating some insects. I celebrated my birthday there with my cotravellers as well as with Flo and Kate, a German-Thai Clark-University-couple that married last year in Bangkok. Good thing to have friends like them in a city like that! :)

Auge um Auge...

Buddha statue

TukTuk - Race! Yeeeah!

In Chiang Mai, a small city in the north of Thailand, it is again much more about nature. We made an elephant ride (sorry Jasmine, but I really did not have the feeling that the elephants were treated that bad) and some other activities and relaxed in our hostel pool before heading back to Bangkok and then to Cambodia!

Thai boxers do not have to be tall...

Elephant riding in Chiang Mai

17. Malaysia

After experiencing Indian craziness, we felt like being back in the Western world when getting to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The city is green, very modern and clean. Besides the Petronas towers the attractions are limited though. In Malaysia we were also joined by our friends from home for two weeks - quality time!

Jonas amazed by the towers - what a spontaneous reaction!

"Monkey Business"

Georgetown on Penang was our next stop as our friend Claudius was working there as an intern. The island on the West Coast of mainland Malaysia offers an interesting mix of Chinese, Indian and Malaysian culture and of course cuisine. This and the beautiful nature (including some really nice beaches) make it definitely a place that is worth a visit.

Temple dorks

Monkey Beach on Penang

Even though we saw only a part of Malaysia, I can say that it is a beautiful island with a relaxed atmosphere. As it is a muslim country, alcohol is a little expensive, but the cheap food definitely compensates!

16. India

India is different - it is a different continent, maybe even a different world. Coming from a very (or even too?) organized country, I asked myself many times how this chaos can possibly work. Well, I did not find an answer yet, but it somehow does.

We stayed with our friends Peter and Frederike (thank you so much!) in Delhi and made some trips in the region. This way, we got some nice snapshots on Indian culture. In Delhi we saw the new and old town and attended a typical Indian wedding reception (oh yes, there was some crazy Indian dancing going on!).

Then there was the world famous Taj Mahal in Agra, which was a stop on our 3-day-Golden-Triangle-trip (New Delhi - Agra - Jaipur), and it really is as beautiful as everyone says!

Amritsar in the North-East was our next destination. It is home to the most important Sikh temple. The Sikh (aka the typical turban-wearing New Yorker taxi driver) had split from the Hindu as they did not agree with the cast system. Their religion is based on the principle of everyone being equal, and this liberal attitude can also be felt visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Amritsar also has to offer another very unique spectacle - the border to beloved Pakistan is closed every afternoon performing a ceremony during which the spectators on both sides (they even built stands for the people!) are cheering for their respective soldiers and countries. The border soldiers walk up and down as if they applied for the ministry of silly walks and finally close the gate - just hilarious!

Last but not least I have to admit that I was once again surprised with the delicious Indian food. Vegetarian or not, it is all so good!

Pictures will follow as soon as Franziska has uploaded them - check out her Picasa Web Album.

15. USA

Why visiting the States again? Well, we had a stopover in Los Angeles anyway, so we decided to extend this stopover a little bit and to explore LA for a couple of days! What a nice coincidence that I just had two very nice couchsurfers at my place in Trier last year, so we were able to stay with them, and they really spoiled us! Thank you so much Corry and Stella!

LA

Los Angeles sure has to offer more than most people think. Of course, there is a lot of traffic, and the city center is not really worth going there, but there are also great beaches and the mountains around the corner. As our time was limited, we went to the main spots - Hollywood, Venice Beach and Santa Monica Pier. Nice places even though Hollywood is a lot less spectacular than one would imagine...

Hands fit, same name... more than a coincidence?

Only celebrity we got to see in Hollywood...

Besides that, we had a great time at the Universal Studios and some nights out that we will definitely not forget too soon - thanks Jose and Jen!

Sponge George

Jen and Jose with us

Oh, and what a wonderful timing. We left on the night of the Super Bowl sunday, so we watched it in a typical sports bar on one of the 178 screens! "Go Cheeseheads!" ;)

Super Bowl - Touchdooown!

14. Chile

After my time in Chile in 2006 I was of course excited to come back to this amazing country! Our first stop was Pucon, a little village in the shadow of a volcano and located at a beautiful lake, that has to offer an incredible amount of activities. This is why so many Chileans come here for their summer vacation, and it sure is a little paradise!

Volcano Villarica in Pucon

We decided to go for the rafting which was an interesting experience. It sure was fun at some points, but the question "why?!" came up as well during our hell ride down the rapids. I think I am just getting old...

Down the rapids...

After Pucon we visited my friend Florian and his family in Concepcion at the Atlantic Coast. In 2010, Concepcion experienced an earthquake of 8.8. For someone who has never experienced an earthquake like me cannot understand the power of such a strong earthquake. Chile is luckily fairly well prepaired (at least in terms of architecture), but the 5th biggest earthquake in the human history sure left its traces in the whole region.

Florian and Diego (both big supporters of Hannover 96!)

Last but not least, we had some days in Santiago with a short trip to the old harbor city Valparaiso. As the must-see-places in the capital Santiago are fairly limited, we had enough time to meet up with my old friends and to enjoy Santiago's night life a little bit!

My former landlady and housemate Gini and I in my good old "casa loca"!

Enjoying a "Terremoto" in La Piojera with my friend Sol

Carreteando con "El Loco" (Cristian)

13. Argentina & Brazil

First stop: Buenos Aires, a city you really need some time for - visiting the different areas of the city (colorful La Boca, atmospheric San Telmo), night out in Palermo, attending a tango show or just enjoying the great Argentinean BBQ ("parillada"). We did it all and had a wonderful time in a great city!

Beautiful but dangerous "La Boca"...

When exploring the city by bike with my girlfriend, who was just visiting, we took a wrong turn and found out why La Boca does not only have the reputation of being a nice tourist area, but also of being one of the most dangerous places - we were threatened and mugged by two guys who were suddenly standing behind us. They took one of our bikes and all our belongings. Luckily they did neither harm us nor take anything important. Shit happens!


Next stop was Salta up in the north, a colonial town with a friendly atmosphere and surrounded by the Andes. At the time of our stay, the Rallye Dakar was just passing Salta, and we also got to see some of the impressive rallye trucks.

Colorful mountains in Salta region

Shortly leaving Argentina, we went to Iguazu and stayed at the Brazilian site of the waterfalls, where we had more meat than I ever had in my life. Brazilian all-you-can-eat BBQs are not exactly, what I would call healthy, but so good! The falls (on both sites of the border) were one of the highlights during our time in South America and absolutely breathtaking!

Iguazu waterfalls

On our way back to Buenos Aires, we stopped in Cordoba, a nice student city with the flair of Che Guevara having lived close-by in the mountains (in Alta Gracia for his asthma) during his childhood.

Little Che

From Buenos Aires, we had a flight to the "End of the World", the Southern most city of the world - Ushuaia. At our arrival, the temperature was 6ºC, and all mountains surrounding Ushuaia were covered with snow. This explains why Ushuaia had in the past more prisoners in the local prison than people living there. Day trips to penguin and sea lion colonies, hiking in a beautiful national park and a lot of other activities attract nowadays more and more travelers, so the city is booming and the prison a museum now.

Penguins at the end of the world

In many parts of Patagonia, the local forests are endangered by an increasing number of beavers. The interesting point is that the beaver was not a local animal in the past, but was brought there by people who had planned to sell the beaver furs. The plans failed, but the beaver stayed without a natural predator down there in the deep south.

Dangerous creature...

On the way back up north, we stopped in El Calafate from where we made a day trip to the giant 60m-high Perito Moreno glacier. You can see chunks of ice bigger than houses breaking off and dropping into the water causing tremendous noise. Very impressive!

Gigantic glacier near El Calafate

Before crossing the border to Chile, our last stop in Argentina was Bariloche. Visitors from all over South America come here to ski in the winter and to enjoy the beautiful landscape in the summer. It is sure a beautiful region and very different from the busy streets of Buenos Aires.

Beautiful landscape in Bariloche

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