Tata to Eva 18. März 2010

In two days Eva will go to Udaipur and I will go to Jailsalmer (or stay longer here…)

So the trip for us both together will be over then. It doent feel like that – especially when I write it done. Well, we have come so far and seen so much, itwill be always our thing! Nobody can take it and this is it! 🙂

I am happy that we made it together and I am happy that Eva is here and was there with me most of the time to share the experiences, to lift me up and to bring me down! I couldnt have a better travelmate and not a better friend as well! I think I am very very lucky and thank God (or Gods) for that!

Today we saw the Fort in Jodhpur and it is soooo beautiful. This architecure is just soo amazing! I really love it!

And I love the indian culture. The friendliness and helpfulness of everybody!

Ps. There was really the real Santa Claus in Pushkar! It was him!!!! We was wearing a string and went swimming in the pool. I guess in April he has to go back to start preparing christmas!!! 😀 Can I go with him?

Kamel Safari 17. März 2010

Ok, ich bin nun schon seit gefuehlten hundert Jahren in Indien und hab noch nicht einen einzigen Eintrag geschrieben… Aber das seid ihr ja gewoehnt von mir 😉

Mittlerweile sind wir in Jaodhpur angekommen, der blauen Stadt. Gesehen haben wir noch nichts, da wir uns heut von den „Strapazen“ der Wueste erholen muessen. Nach dem ganzen Sightseeing wollten wir mal wieder ein bisschen Spass, und da wir mittlerweile schon alles kennen, muss halt mal was anderes her 🙂 🙂  Zum Beispiel so ein Wahnsinniges Blubberkamel! Aber alles der Reihe nach.

Nach Jaipur gings nach Pushkar, die Stadt in der der Weihnachtsmann Urlaub macht. Ja, es gibt ihn wirklich! Er hat nen langen weissen Bart und muss sich erst wieder seinen gemuetlichen Weihnachtsmannbauch antrainieren… Aber fuer Weihnachten ist er wieder fit, ich versprechs! Dort kam ich auch in den Genuss der guten indischen Aerzte und ich muss sagen, ich bin ganz begeistert! Da mach ich mal eine falsche Bewegung, und ZACK, kann ich mich nicht mehr bewegen, oder bessergesagt mehr so entenmaessig, wie die Mona damals in Australien (bestimmt koennt ihr euch noch alle erinnern). Aber der indische Wunderdoktor hat mich innerhalb von einem Tag wieder zum laufen bekommen, Respekt! Allerdings muss ich dazusagen, dass die Behandlung extrem schmerzhaft war. Er hat diese Punkte an meinen Fuessen gefunden, von denen ich nicht wusste dass sie existieren, und naja, ich hab dann so geschrien und geweint und die Mona hat meine Hand gehalten und gefragt ob sie mir ein Maerchen erzaehlen soll, wie damals in Peru als ich fast gestorben waer (ich uebertreib natuerlich nur unwesentlich 😉 ). Alles in allem, wenig ruehmlich fuer mich, aber Glueck gehabt.

Nachdem ich wieder Kameltauglich war, haben wir Pushkar hinter uns gelassen und sind mit dem Nachtbus (ja, dort kann man sich tatsaechlich hinlegen) nach Bikaner gefahren. Dort sind wir dann nach einer weiteren schlaflosen Nacht um 5Uhr morgens angekommen und haben nur zum Hotel gefunden, weil der nette Mann mit dem Fahrrad uns bei der Hand genommen hat (das ist halt Indien…). Nach ein paar Stunden Schlaf in dem steinharten Bett, sind wir wie „neugeboren“ erwacht 😉 .  Dannach haben wir noch gelernt wie man Aloo Paratha macht (wie kommt denn die Kartoffel da rein?!). Wir muesen unbedingt lernen indisch zu kochen, weils so endslecker ist!

Am naechsten Tag (nach ein bisschen Pflichtprogramm und Shoppen) gings dann in die Wueste. Erst mit dem Auto bis zum Startpunkt und dort wurden wir schon von unseren beiden Kamelen und deren Herren erwartet. Das eine mit Wagen, das andere ohne.

Was soll ich sagen… Wueste ist toll, besonders nach den stressigen, laermenden, indischen Megastaedten. Es gibt nichts zu sehen (Entspannung fuer die Augen), ausser ab und zu mal ne Antilope. Schlafen im Sand unter den Sternen, Schaukeln auf dem Kamel (endsunbequem), oder doesen auf dem Karren. Heiss ist es schon, meine Penatencreme beweist es… weggeschmolzen 😉 . Aber in den Mittagsstunden, wenns am heissesten ist, laesst sichs im Schatten von einem Baum trotzdem aushalten. Natuerlich mit ner Tasse Tee in der Hand. Sogesehn passen wir beide extrem gut in die Wueste, da wird halt staendig Tee getrunken. Und unsere beiden Kamelmaenner konnten alles… auch Brot backen bei Dunkelheit!

Die schoenste Erfahrung waren natuerlich wieder die Begegnungen mit den Menschen aus den Wuestendoerfern. Die Kinder begruessen uns scharenweise mit „tata“ und „ramram“ und strahlenden Gesichtern und winkend 🙂 Die Familien laden uns zum Essen und Tee trinken ein. Man kann sich zwar nicht unterhalten, aber anschauen und bewundern kann man sich gegenseitig schon! Und angeschaut wird man in Indien immer und ueberall. Als ich am dritten Tag die Augen aufgeschlagen hab, standen da zwei kleine Jungs und haben uns beim Schlafen angeschaut… Sehr interessant!

Ach, und der Abschluss war auch wieder landestypisch! Der Rattentempel! Tempel haben wir mittlerweile unzaehlige gesehen, aber dieser war… anders. Schuhe ausziehen ist generell angebracht und normalerweise kein Problem, aber hier lag so Zeug am Boden. Und das Zeug hat sich als Futter rausgestellt, denn ueberall liefen Ratten rum, und nicht zu wenig! und es hat gestunken und fliegende Ratten gabs auch! Inzwischen bin ich nicht mehr besonders empfindlich, aber das war echt eklig! Aber was soll man machen, die Ratten sind halt heilig. Ist halt Indien…

Taji… 5. März 2010

Wow, time passes – sometimes to slow and sometimes to fast.
Now to slow, or too fast… I cant decide!
We are now in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan and we are sooo tired. We got up at 4 am in the morning to catch the train at 5.10 from Agra to Jaipur.
But before:
we arrived in Dehli and first of all couldnt find something to eat – that is a really serious problem for us! 😦 It was Holi, which is a big festival here and everything was closed! For 2 days!!! But it had also some advantages: first off all we could see holi! Its colorful because people throw colored powder on everything but mostly people and even 5 days later we see people with still pink hair, fingers, t-shirts etc. You maybe saw the pic 🙂 Second of all the streets were really empty and that was nice! No horning alllll the time!
So after that we saw the really Delhi with traffic and noise and … we went to the Bahai Temple, which was awesome! Have you ever heard about Bahai? Its a philosophy or religion (or whatever you want to call it), where all gods are the same and peace is the most important thing! Sounds very very appealing to me! 😀 And the temple was amazing: the form is a lotus flower!
Then we saw the Red Fort which was nice, but after seeing the Agra Fort not so impressive anymore.
But in total Delhi was just to loud and full and … Well, we were happy to get out there!
On Wednesday we took the bus (only 2 hours to Agra… yes yes, it took us 6!!!) to Agra and saw the beautiful and absolutely amazing Taj Mahal! It is difficult to describe, so you better come and see it yourself 😀
A day later we went to the Fort and that was also really nice. And you have a perfect view to the Taj form there!
Thats basically all what we did there, and now we are here – in Jaipur! Our time is really running, especially when you know how many places are still to see in just 3 weeks (or 4 4 me!)…
Ah, one thing – in Agra we took a Bicycle-Riksha instead of the normal ones. It was hard to see the man working so hard and we were just sitting there and relaxing. The bikes are realllly bad. The chain even broke (hehe, we should have had a lighter breakfast I guess… 😉 )! But its the mans living and at least we didnt pollute the air… Still – poor guy! 😦
The food here is really amazing. Especially after Thaifood, which we both dont like that much! Ah, the naan and the dosas and the currys and masalas… everything is so delicious! I can eat indian food all day long without problems! 🙂 Well, breakfast is not that good though.
What else…
– cows eat trash
– we saw camels
– women carry stuff (like wood, bins etc.) on their head (crazy)
– cars horn alll the time (even more often)
– saris are sooo beautiful (I want one!!!)
– more naan for everybody!
– we saw a goat – black with brown dots and white with black dots… on the same animal…
😀

Subcontinal India 27. Februar 2010

As you know (or not) we are now in India – the subcontinal India, which is a very true thing. India is Asia, but would you think of India when you think about Asia – I dont think so!

So what is India? How is India? Thats kind of easy: India is diffrent! Diffrent from everything we have seen so far on our trip! Its more dirty (even than Southamerica), there are more people, the religion is so diffrent, the dressing (not the salat dressing( well, it might acutally be very diffrent) but I mean the clothing! 😉 ) ,  just everything.

We arrived in Mumbai last Saturday at 4 am in the morning – what a stupid time… but as you read in the old post Ajay, our host, picked us up personally and drove us to his aparment which was thank god not very far away! So at 6 am Eva and I were sleeping in our nice bed till about 12 am! Ajay lives outside the center, so we took a riksha to Anderi to catch the train to the centre. We were already quite overwhelmed with the mass of people, the bad traffic and the even worse streets! In Mumbai we were walking to the Victoria Station (nice!) to get a ticket for Tuesday to go to Goa relaxing for a few days, before we will fly to Dehli and do sightseeing in Rajasthan! We got our ticket (after asking a million people, where to get it… well, we found it in the end! ) and went straight back to Ajay. The train trip back was a reall indian experience. It was full… but really full! German trains (or japanese or french or whatever!) are much smaller that the trains here, but still its not enough space. We were lucky and had a seat from the beginning, but constantly women (there are seperate parts for woman in the train – thank God!) were asking us, where we get of, so they can have the seat afterwards. 😀 This was funny, because I couldnt remember to whom I said yes or no or whatever… Well, I guess they handled it for us… 😉 So the train was full – you had to FIGHT to get of, because people were squashing themselves into the train. And only at the station we saw, that the man were even much much much more and that they were haning outside of the open doors with just one leg and one hand inside of the train… Crazy! Its no big suprise, that everyday 8 people die just riding a train (getting hit by a sign etc.)

This experience gave us the understanding why indians are so unpolite – they just have to push all the time – the stronger person wins!!! So Indians in generall are not that polite. Everybody starres at you, pushes you etc. But apart from that necessity they are friendly and like to talk – ok, obviously to sell something, but you can talk to them and get a glimpse of the diverse indian culture.

So we had the ticket and after a nice daytrip to the villages around Mumbai, feeling a bit sick, buying a Tunika with pants to arouse less attention, we went on our train to Goa and had problems: The guy checking the ticket told us, we dont have a ticket… Aha… We first didnt understand what he meant, because we had a ticket (and his english was hard to understand 😉 ) but then the shock setteled in: The woman sold us a ticked on the 23.03 and not the 23.02!!! Both dates are a Tuesday, but on in March and one in February… We didnt realise that when buying the ticket, so… well we didnt have a ticket! The first controlleur was nice, he forgot us, but the second did charge us a fine and we had to buy a new ticket (ok, A ticket!). It was a stupid error and basically ours! We didnt check it carefully enough. But we could gave one ticket back and only paid 10 Euros each more (still annoying)! Thats something to learn from… 🙂

The first night in Goa was… horrible – we arrived late and took the first hut which was so disgusting, that I dreamt of spiderweps in my face and got up to light it to fire… which was stupid, because there wasnt a web at all. And when I say this you must not forget that I am not squeamlishy at all! But uah… that was not nice 😦 BUT the next day we found the perfect hut: only 1000 Rupees, direct beachfront, nice people, and amazing view on a amazing beach in Palolem! 🙂

What do you need more? I could need a night spleeping without lying awacke for hours and some health… I have a cold and its annoying (but not to bad).

Funny is, that there are cows on the beach as well! 😀 Thats sooo cool. And in Mumbai city centre you had goats, cows and chickens on the streets as well! CITYCENTRE! Well, that is India!

The food is great and much more appreciated by Eva and me than the Thaifood. So much better! Yam!

Tomorrow we fly to Dehli and then… we will see, but we already know, we like India a lot! 😀

Ps. It is a shame that Eva and I are writing so much here on the blog, sometimes postcards or emails and not getting a response or comments here. I do it also for myself, but it would be nice to know if somebody is reading this blog. It is a lot of time and effort we are spending for YOU! Evas Family is a big exeption and I am grateful for that. I understand the reasons of my family as well, but the rest? Hello??? Is anybody out there? Get a grip!

PPs. No Worries, chicken currys… 😀

Wer ko der ko! Und mia kenna! 17. Februar 2010

Haha, we will get picked up by our own private driver in Mumbai at 4 am in the morning for free…
Any questions? 😀

Tiggers and Lions 15. Februar 2010

Wow, its been a while since I wrote my last blog entry and it happend quite a lot.

Eva told you already about the trip to Cambodia and Angkor Wat. I just can add, that I really enjoyed the country by itself. From the first moment I really liked it and it made a very good impression on me – although it looks (and probably is) quite underdeveloped and not rich at all.

The temples were really amazing to see. The thing I enjoyed most was that we had the real ruin feeling. Machu Picchu didnt looked like a „romantic place“, but these tempels covered in trees and moss were really impressive just from the atmosphere they have around them. Eva is of course right, the Incas were better architects… We have been wondering since we saw all this ancient high developed cultures (or the ruins of them) what made them fail?! Because there must have been something!

Ok, but lets move on to more recent events. In Bangkok we stayed this time at Khao San, the tourist area and that is really nice. The streets a smaller, there are a lot of restaurants, stalls etc. So for hanging out it is acutally a better place than Sukhumvit. The sunday we came back from Cambodia we went to the Weekend Market, which is said to be the biggest in the world… 😉 I have seen so many biggest, highest, tallest, deepest, etc-est things that this doesnt impress me anymore. The market was nice, but the ones here in Chiang Mai I still like better.

The next day we went to the palace (see pics) and that was impressive! So much gold and beauty can only be beautiful. We saw the emerald buddah and the temple was really nice, but we both thought that the Buddah would be bigger – he was smaller that a meter (I have to guess because he was far away!) 😉 So if you do it like us and dont see anything in BKK – go and check the Palace out 😀

The next day we left on the night train to go to Bangkok. The train was relativly comfortble, but the air condition was freeeezing 😦 So, it could have been an enjoyable trip, but with the lights on and the cold, we still arrived tired in Chiang Mai 15 hours later.

Chiang Mai is as nice as everybody tells. In the beginning we didnt plan to come here, but after realizing that we will have plenty of time for that and only hearing good stuff about that area, we decided to go and didnt regret it at all! 😀 Thats the way it should be! 🙂

The first day we did nothing big, just hanging around and organizing our trip to the jungle. So then on Thursday we went trekking with 9 other nice people and had one of our best treks ever! As you might remember – that is not that impressive as the other ones were often not that goodl. The big diffence are the people you have in your group. The jeep tour in Bolivia… an really aweful couple was with us for example. Now we were all from diffrent countries, which is always cool: France, Australia, Germany (thats us 😉 ), South Africa, Austria, Korea! The youngest about twenty and the oldest about 65! It was GREAT! Just everybody fitted perfectly and we were having a great time.

Amazing was also the second guide „Jungle-Man“: he catched squirrls with his hands, grilled them, catched a deer during the night time and did other cool stuff. Our reall guide was unfortunatly a bit dissapointing and we didnt learn as much as we wanted to about the Karen Hill Tribe people, but he was not too annoying and ignoring him was easy 😉 I only got a bit angry when I gave him my nearly new shoes for his village and he wasnt gratefull at all… Now I wish I would have kept the shoes and gave them to somebody who would have appreciated them more! Never mind! 😉

So these 3 days of hiking were great: right amount of exersice, great company, really cold freezing nights (nobody could sleep, I got a cold) and a lot of fun 😀

With Ronan and Darren (South Africa and OZ) we went on Sunday to the Kingdom of the Tiggers – you maybe already saw the pics. I love cats, no matter what size and I always wanted to touch them – especially the big cat family ones (like tiggers, lions etc.) and that was our chance!!!! 😀 Oh god, they are sooo beautiful! Its crazy! Is there a more peaceful image than a cat relaxing??? I dont know, but I love them and they are so gracious and serene (except the 11 month old Johnny Depp Lion – he was snapping! Scary!!!)

As you see, we are having a great time and during that we just realized, that it is LESS THAN A WEEK for India!!! And India is our last stop before going back home! Than its over… Now the time is even running faster. The feeling of homesickness has passed by and real life will have us back soon… About 7 weeks for me, one less for Eva…

Where did all the time go?

Angkor Wat 4. Februar 2010

bestimmt wartet ihr alle schon sehnsuechtig auf einen neuen Bericht 🙂

und es gibt mal wieder jede menge zu erzaehlen… wir sind mittlerweile in cambodia angekommen und haben auch schon 2 extreme tempeltage hinter uns. die anreise war fast wie in unseren guten alten tagen in suedamerika, wenig kilometer, dafuer viele stunden und natuerlich ein unbequemer bus. das muss ich allerdings gleich wieder zuruecknehemen, da wir den ersten teil der reise, von bangkok bis zur grenze luxurioes in einem privatwagen verbracht haben. die grenzueberquerung hab ich natuerlich besonders genossen, die letzten hatte ich ja immer nur am flughafen, endslangweilig. das visum hatten wir bereits in bangkok besorgt, was eine gute idee war, da man an der grenze der willkuer der leute ausgesetzt ist, dann zahlt man halt jeden preis, denn zurueck will man nicht mehr. in cambodia eingestempelt, gabs erst mal einen kostenlosen bus bis zum busterminal. und der naechste bus nach siem reap haette dann um 14uhr abfahren sollen, also gabs erstmal ne mittagssuppe. der bus fuhr dann aber doch erst um 14.30 ab… wir sind dann auch 5min gefahren, bis wir wieder angehalten haben. und da standen wir dann… und standen und dann wurde uns mitgeteilt, das wir noch auf jemanden warten, der noch mitfahren soll. um 15.30 gings dann tatsaechlich los. hhmm, is halt nicht japan 😉 und das arme slowakische maedchen musste doch ihren flug erwischen, da sie nicht ueber land nach thailand einreisen konnte… unterwegs haben wir dann noch mal 45min gehalten zwecks verkoestigung, man soll ja schliesslich sein geld im land lassen. um halb 8uhr abends sind wir dann auch schon angekommen, nach unserer ersten tuk-tuk fahrt.  muede und staubig in einem unbequemen bett (dabei war mein ruecken gerade erst wieder versoent, nach einer woche in einem top-bett in ko chang und mehreren thai-massagen).

aber nun zu den tempeln… fuer unseren ersten tag haben wir uns einen guide und einen tuk-tuk  fahrer organisiert. die beiden haben uns den ganzen tag begleitet. der fahrer wartet waehrend man einen tempel besichtigt und faehrt einen dann zum naechsten, extrem effektiv! unser guide war super (wieviele gute hatten wir jetzt eigentlich auf unserer reise, viele koennens nicht gewesen sein…) karriere vom arbeiter auf dem reisfeld, zum tuk-tuk fahrer und dann zum guide. respekt! sie muessen eine ca. halbjaehrige ausbildung machen, nen haufen kohle zahlen, ne pruefung bestehen und englisch sprechen (er hat englisch bei einem moench gelernt, im austausch hat er ihm mathematik beeigebracht). er moechte das die besucher zufrieden sind mit der tour und das ihnen cambodia im allgemeinen gefaellt, damit sie zu hause allen erzaehlen wie toll es war und das sie unbedingt auch dort hinfahren sollen. und am besten in der selben gegend uebernachten und dann wieder ihn als guide bekommen. das sind doch mal langfristige plaene, sehr vorbildlich! und bei uns hats auch schon geklappt und hiermit mach ich gleich mal werbung: fahrt nach cambodia… und kauft… alles nur ein dollar!! hosen, t-shirts, vielleicht darfs ein kleidchen sein, oder ein lonley planet, was immer das herz begehrt… for you only one dollar, lady!!! kaufen sie, kaufen sie 🙂 also, wann kommt ihr her?! nicht das dann shcon alles weg ist 😉

ok, wo war ich… ah, angkor wat, alles unglaublich gut organisiert. am eingang kauft man ein ticket, in unserem fall ein 3-tages ticket, man wird fotografiert und bekommt gleich einen ausweis mit foto! asphaltierte strassen, am wegesrand wird der urwald gefegt (muss alles seine ordnung haben). hhmm, so hab ich mir das irgendwie nicht vorgestellt. an jedem tempel wird gearbeitet, restauration im vollen gange. jeder tempel in kooperation mit einem anderen land… ok, ich drueck mich nicht laenger drumrum… die tempel sind faszinierend, aber es hat mich nicht so wirklich umgehauen… die steinschnitzereien sind allerdings der hammer. und diese geschichten dazu… was soll ich nur mit dieser ganzen information anfangen?! am besten alles gleich wieder vergessen 😉 am liebsten mochte ich die elefanten und loewen und die schlangen sind natuerlich auch gut und die smilenden gesichter und die taenzer und und und die baeume, die die tempel langsam aber sicher aufessen 😉 was war zuerst da, der tempel oder der baum? einige tempel sind einfach nur grosse unorganisierte steinhaufen… andere sind sehr gut erhalten, bzw. sehr gut restauriert… bin da kein profi. super interessant fand ich auch diese umorganisation vom buddhistentempel zum hindutempel. da wird halt dann der gemeisselte buddah aus der wand wieder entfernt. ok, dann natuerlich noch der vergleich zu macchu piccu (weiss schon gar nicht mehr wies geschrieben wird). machu picchu hatte wesentlich groessere steinbloecke, die auch viel besser gearbeitet waren. da gab es keine grossen fugen zwischen den steinen. aber ich masse mir mal nicht an zu bewerten, beides hat seinen charme und ich bin froh es gesehen zu haben und dann fehlen mir natuerlich noch die pyramiden der aegypter und der maya… naechstes mal 😉

muss schluss machen, mona schimpft schon und fotos gibts vielleicht morgen noch ( die computer hier haben ihren eigenen willen :))

Relaxing in Thailand 28. Januar 2010

So, we arrived here, acutally not here but in Bangkok (with g, gell Eva? 😉 ).

Bangkok is basically stinky, but to tell the truth we saw absolutly nothing the 2 days we stayed there. Nothing means we went to get a massage (very nice, but painful) and we found a tailor to get two suits: one for Eva and one for me! 😀 Thats kind of exiting and we are looking forward to the result! 😀

Now we are in Ko Chang the Elephant Island and do basically nothing. Doing nothing includes sleeping, reading, going to the beach, lying on the beach (which includes turning around sometimes), petting some animals (dogs), showering and of course eating! Today we had a Schnitzel with Bratkartoffel (Mona) or Kartoffelsalat (Eva). We thought we have been away for about 10 months now (WOW) and that it is totally ok for US to go to a German restaurant! 🙂 But to tell the truth, seafood here is sooo nice and I rather eat that than german food (anyway only 2 more months!)

Ah, and of course we were not that lazy as I told above. We went on an elephant trekking and that was absolulty amazing. I guess the best part was the elephant rider of the other elephant who was laughing (not smiling!) ALL THE TIME. And when I say all the time we mean all the time… You look at him- he laughs, you say something- he laughs, you do nothing- he laughs! Nice guy! 😀  We knew when he would fall off why he would fall off: because of laughing!

We had a great time with him and our cuty Samolea or whatever her name was. She was our elephant, 13 years old, which means only a sweet teenager with „only“ 2,5 tons… Elephants are amazing animals, they smile at you (especially when you have a banana in your hand!), they eat the jungle while they are walking through it( that would save Eva and me PLENTY of time…), they carry you and they have funny hairs and even more funnier skin! Grey and wrinkeled.

We rode them and then bathed with them, which was sooo nice. We both really enjoyed that tour and thats what I like about Thailand: you can just do things here. There are not that many rules so having fun is easier. The regulations are less!

And of course: We are in the Land of Smiles! Everybody is smiling at you and that is so great. A smile can change the day of somebody and will make that day better! So I recommend everybody to smile as often as you can, because then Life will get better, nicer and more beautiful for everybody!

Conclusion: More Worldpeace for everbody 😀 (as that is what I was disscusing with Eva the last few weeks( ok, just two as we found out today!); whenever it was appropiate – which is basically always! 😀 )

Ps. Basically is a nice word! 🙂

 

China – Hong Kong or where??? 21. Januar 2010

Since Sunday we are in Hong Kong and it is sooo different to Tokyo and we miss that.  The people there were so friendly and always nice and here it started again: people squeezing or offering a „copy rolex“ or getting angry when you dont buy anything… Well, I guess thats Hong Kong, but of course not China! Or is it? Who knows?

The first nights we couchsurfed with Roddy, who was really nice and able to tell us a lot of stuff about this weird city and other stuff! 🙂 Unfortunately we seperated a bit strange, because we left our bags in this flat during the day and wanted to pick them up in the evening. But he texted us, that he will be out and that we should pick up the bags the next day… Okay. So we just slept in our stuff, no toothbrush, no changing clothes, towel or anything. Never mind! We picked our stuff up the next morning and one night like that is ok.

Much better was the Ocean Park, which was my Christmas present from Eva 😀 We went there and had a great day of fun. There was only one rollercoaster, but they had pandas, a huge amazing aquarium and other cool stuff! Thanks for that, EVA! 😀

Apart from that… Honk Kong is weird. So many huge  skyscrapers, because there is no space and because of that it is sooo crowed!!! Even more that Tokyo. Possibly not, but it definitely feels like that! Yesterday we went to Macau, which used to be portugues and is very different again! We had a great lunch and a nice stroll through the city with awesome frozen yoghurt! And I could test my new camera! 🙂 It is great!

Well, tomorrow we will go to Bangkok and I am not sure if I should be happy or scared – I guess I am just nothing and will see!

One more thing: WE GOT FINALLY A WORKING TICKET AGAIN!!! We thought that it was basically ok, but it wasnt… Not for me, not for Eva. So we went to Cathay Pacific and hey: Flora couldnt help us, but she called Lucia from Finair and NOW we have a ticket to Munich… YEAH!

Monas Japan 15. Januar 2010

well, you just heard quite a lot from Eva and I just read it and I guess you cant describe it in a way that you would understand what is really going on here… Its just tooo incredible – even Mr. Incredible would have problems describing it… 😉

Wow, now I have the same problem as Eva: Where should I start??? First of all – I really do love it!

From the first day I arrived here, I felt good. That is so simply, but makes such a big diffrence. 😀 Eriko is just totally amazing. I wouldnt even have thought about it, but she offerd us some winterjackets and it is really cold here. Without that all the walking we did (and that was quite a lot!!!), we would have been awefully cold and annoyed. So it was still cold, but bearable! THANKS ERIKO!!!!

Tokyo is one of the best citys I have ever been to. It is huge, it is clean, it is modern, it is small, it is nice, it is crazy, it is crowed, it is sooo much. The mass of people you would suspect here is acutally not that huge. We saw a lot of people, but only in Shibuya. If you would go to the Fussgaengerzone in Munich on a saturday its basically the same – only that there are much more lights, different kind of signs and writing and that you have many kind of centres all spread out over Tokyo. Ok, it is NOT the same, but not that shocking! As Eva said, the culture shock was not there where we were. 🙂 We just simply felt ok here. And this tiny streets!!! You wouldnt even guess that they exists! But they do and here we are – Tokyo is a great place to live. The Air! Can you believe that? The Air is soooo clean! No smog at all and if you calculate all Yokohama etc. with the are its more than 31 million people living in that area!!! Absolulty crazy!!!

 

Nikko was sooo lovley, we enjoyed the onsen and met (as you already know) Julian. We saw our second temples here and they were amazing. I loved the three wise monkeys: children should hear, see and talk no evil! Just great! The first temple was in Tokio and that day my camera broke 😦 This is sooo sad. I really love my camera, but now its broken and I cant love a broken camera, so thanks to Daniel (my personal hero!) I already have a plan what to buy in Hongkong… 😀 Something sweet nice tiny…

Haha, on the way to Nikko we bought some balls in the train (you can buy everywhere food to take away because of the millions of comuters – pendler)… There were made of rice and bean paste and really not nice at all. So Japan has not only nice food, there is also some stuff I dont like. But hey, I ate the meat sipped in raw egg thing, so you cant say, I didnt try… 😉 I love japanese food. And its not about Sushi, which I like as well, but there is so much more. Ah, and all is so healthy and my body loves it (as you might remember the southamerican food had a quite different effect on me…)

Ok, Nikko – Tokyo – Kyoto…

On the way to Kyoto we saw him: Mt. Fuji coverd in snow. Even the mountains are better here 😉

Kyoto is a great place with 1600 (gell, Eva!!!) temples and shrines and stuff to see. We saw some, well only a few, but really nice stuff. Everything is of such a natural beauty here! How do they do it? I loved the Golden Temple and basically all the other stuff as well. Great are also the tiny little streets with the japanese houses – walking in Kyoto is fun (and cold).

Our daytrip to Hiroshima was very interesting. The pictures, the stories and the knowledge that all that was real. How could anybody survive that hell? I saw pictures of people, where the skin… you dont want to know. I just can pray, that somthing like that will never ever happen again and nowhere in the world. We are all so blessed and appreciate that far to seldom.

Everything we saw in Hiroshima was built after 06.08.1945. Everything was gone, expecpt of the Dome – you can see it on the pictures. EVERYTHING!

Japanese people used to build not only the houses, but also the temples from wood. So every temple you see was actually built a first time, a second… because it was so often destroyed by fire etc. Weird, that the clever japanese people never changed that. But wood with the painted colors looks stunning. 🙂

As Eva said, Japan is a place to come back. It has so much history, so much to see and feel. The language is sooo beautiful (especially compared with chinese). Oh, there is a funny thing: a lot of stuff was „stolen“ from China – the writing, the religion, karate, etc. Crazy…

The people are so nice here as well… I could write its perfect, but well, its not! And I will tell you in my last words here some of the bad stuff*

– its hard to get around sometimes (you cant read anything, people dont speak english, the streets have no names, but basically its the writing, although beautiful)

– heating: well, the houses are heated (thats better that Southamerica), but only with airconditioning… Why? Dont ask me! Also the houses are not that good isolated as they are in Germany for example

– … cant think of anything at the moment