In 13 months through Asia: temples and forts, beaches and volcanoes, mountains and gorges… India Landing in Mumbai ⋅ Goa ⋅ Kerala ⋅ The Indian Restaurant ⋅ Temple, Temple, Tamil Nadu ⋅ Give me school-pen! ⋅ Hampi ⋅ Hyderabad ⋅ Ellora and Ajanta ⋅ Gujarat ⋅ Udaipur ⋅ Mount Abu ⋅ Jodhpur ⋅ Jaisalmer ⋅ … Continue reading “13 months as a backpacker through Asia”
I have just arrived in Kota Baru, in the north-east corner of Peninsular Malaysia. Tomorrow I’m taking a boat to the Perhentian Islands. Read on 13 months as a backpacker through Asia Ko Pha Ngan Ko Tao Krabi
The sky is cloudy and almost every day there are one or two heavy monsoon showers – it’s obviously time for me to go to Malaysia, because the rainy season is already over there. But when it clears, the limestone cliffs shine beautifully in the sun. A bar on the beach has new furniture made … Continue reading “Krabi”
The charming 15th century ruins of this town (and of Si Satchanalai, another one a little further north) are set in a large park that blends into the green of the surrounding hills. As you would expect, it’s all about Buddhist temples and monasteries, stupas of all shapes, sitting, standing, walking Buddhas…. The kingdom of … Continue reading “Sukhothai”
The much-vaunted flair of Chiang Mai is somewhat relative compared to Luang Prabang, but there are some pretty corners and a few nice temples. An image for the gods is the “Fuck off wankers” shirt by the punk band Exploited, worn by the boy sweeping the floor in front of the golden pagoda. To praise … Continue reading “Chiang Mai”
Earplugs, helmet, life jacket: with the speedboat I race from Luang Prabang up the Mekong for 6 hours (through, how could it be otherwise, wonderful scenery). 8 people fit in the boat – with so much space that the legs hurt. Somewhere in the Golden Triangle (no opium fields in sight) I cross the border, … Continue reading “From Laos to Thailand”
After I finally got my visa for Vietnam, I set off at dawn by bus towards the border. Four hours of driving on good roads. At the border, men, women, children pull fully loaded wooden carts into the neighbouring country and back, on the Thai side a large market offers all kinds of consumer goods … Continue reading “From Thailand to Cambodia”
Old town with beautiful temples near Bangkok (Thailand)
So much for plans: as the Vietnamese consulate is on holiday for a week, I’m stuck for the time being, or rather I can’t leave for Cambodia until half a week later. So I’m going to take a trip through central Thailand first, because what am I going to do in Bangkok for so long? … Continue reading “Bangkok”
Diving off the island in southern Thailand
Dance and relax on the island in southern Thailand
In fact, my train from Varanasi arrived in Kolkata 10 hours late. So I didn’t see much of this city, which seems pretty dilapidated to me. At least I had my beard scraped off my face and got a “modern hairstyle”, so now I look more normal (boring?) again. The flight to Bangkok (after the … Continue reading “From India to Thailand”