Culture
Tofino Carving Festival – Meet the Master Carvers of the West Coast
Autumn was in the air. It was that special kind of weather, which is hard to put in words but which you’ll recognize once it’s there – very bright and sunny but chilly at the same time with a subtle breeze of crisp air, telling you that summer is over. On a morning just like … Continue reading
Reflections about tourism – The big paradox
There are two sides to everything. Good and bad, black and white, light and shadow and a whole lot of different shades of those. Traveling is no exception here. Especially during my year-long journey across Southeast Asia I developed what you could call a differentiated approach to tourism and travel. On the one hand it … Continue reading
The Temples of Angkor. My three favorite sites and an unexpected event
After a month of traveling Vietnam, I left the border town of Chau Doc by boat and went down the Mekong to enter Cambodia. It would be my second time since my rather spontaneous departure more than three months before. After my memorable jungle adventure in Mondulkiri and the Mekong Discovery Trail, there wasn’t much … Continue reading
Vietnam Diaries Pt. 2 – From the highlands of Dalat to the Mekong Delta
Here is the second part of my Vietnam diaries which are supposed to summarize the second half of my one month trip from Northern to Southern Vietnam. As you know by now, my entire camera gear got stolen in Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City and since I also lost all of the pictures documenting … Continue reading
Discovering Hue – Crashing a wedding and raiding the Royal Tombs
A typhoon had hit the coast of Vietnam and our night train ride from Hanoi to Hue turned out to be a full fledged odyssey. Trailing the storm and the massive amounts of rain it brought with it, it took us more then 24 hours instead of 12 to arrive country’s former capital. It was … Continue reading
Pic of the Week 24: Impressions from a Vietnamese wedding
After a more than 24 hour train ride from Hanoi to Hue thanks to a huge delay caused by a typhoon which had just passed the coastal region, we finally arrived in the former capital of Hue. On our first day we were headed for the Citadel and the old forbidden City as we passes by what … Continue reading
7 things to do in Hanoi
After my Myanmar adventure, I flew into Hanoi for about a month of traveling Vietnam. My plan was to cross the country all the way from the North down to the South and into the Mekong Delta. I have to admit that I had mixed feelings about Vietnam. On the one hand I was excited … Continue reading
Inle Lake – Color Explosion and Land of traditional Trades
Inle Lake was my last stop in Myanmar before returning to Yangon and then heading back to Bangkok. It’s on Myanmar’s main tourist trail and probably every Myanmar tourist stops here at one point. Hence my expectations were a little ambivalent – for no reason as I would find out later. I arrived via yet … Continue reading
A memorable night in the monastery
After our two day trek through the Shan Highlands, Aris and I wanted to explore some more of this scenic and relatively untouched region of Myanmar. On our way back to Hsipaw, we had passed a small village which seemed very nice and interesting. Our plan was to make it back there, till having to … Continue reading
Exploring the ancient temples of Bagan
I was bound for Bagan, a place of mystery, magic and many rumors. A place that ranks among the world’s finest cultural heritage sites such as Angkor Wat in Cambodia or Machu Pichu in Peru. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city also known as Pagan, was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, the first … Continue reading
