On the road again South-East Asia

Jemaa El Fna Food

2009-06-01T19:48:00.001+02:00

Jemaa El Fna Food, originally uploaded by ibeepix.

Happy New Year!

2008-04-14T03:36:00.002+02:00

Songkran 2008, originally uploaded by ibeepix.

I'm back in Bangkok, and what a change it is from Australia. It's very hot, about 40 degrees during the day, 30 at night. And after 2 months of being confronted with severe water shortages I seem to have arrived at the biggest water fight in the world. Yes, it's Songkran, Thai New Year, and people celebrate it by splashing water at each other.It's bigger and crazier than I could ever have imagined, especially in and around Kao San Road. Yesterday there were thousands of people there, all armed with giant water guns, drenched, covered completely with talcum powder and hardly able to move. In other parts of the city celebrations are a bit more gentile. Groups of children, teenagers and the odd granny are on the streets, dancing around on loud music or in trucks driving around and trying to get as many people wet as possible, shooting water at passers by, cars and into the open windows of buses. Even the bus drivers are joining in and are shooting into the buses of their fellow bus drivers.
So far I haven't been able to take any pictures, but today I'll try to make some...

Songkran 2008, originally uploaded by ibeepix.

Busy in Bangkok

2008-02-03T11:06:00.000+01:00

Yesterday morning I arrived back in Bangkok. And for the first time ever I had a hard time finding a room. I usually stay in Rambuttri street, not far from Kao San Road. My train arrived around 6.30 AM, so I was quite early. But not a single guesthouse had a room available, not even the more expensive ones. I think I walked around for an hour with my heavy backpack and then decided to stay in one place and wait until somebody checked out. After about another hour without any progress I checked whether any of the nearby guesthouses had any rooms available yet, and luckily the place where I wanted to stay from the beginning had a single room for me, I just had to wait for it to be cleaned. By 10.30 AM I finally could go to my room...
When I went out for a little stroll, I bumped into Sarah, an Australian girl who'd been staying in Nongkhai for the last 2 weeks. She left Nongkhai a day before me and was doing her last minute shopping before flying home. I joined her for some more shopping and we had some great Indian food at 'Spicy Affair' (this place has possibly the best Indian food in the Kao San area, even though it never seems to be busy). After we said goodbye and she took a taxi to the airport, I got a very nice massage.
Then I decided to check out the dentist since I bit of a little bit of one of a tooth while sleeping a week ago. Somebody recommended 'Dental Time' on Chakrapong road to me. And it turned out to be a good dentist. Since it was only a tiny little bit that had broken of my tooth, they only had to polish it a little bit, but they did a good job and it cost me only 100 baht (2 euro).
This morning it was raining quite hard, so I took a taxi to the Panthip Plaza, the place to buy computers, camera's and game consoles. I bought myself a new external hard drive, because the one I had already is nearly full, and a cheap lightweight tripod for my camera.
Then I walked to Siam Square to enjoy the air-conditioning in the luxurious malls, had some great Japanese food and took the bus back to Kao San...
Tomorrow evening I have my flight to Melbourne, so from now on you can follow my adventures on my Australia blog...

The Good Life

2008-01-30T10:46:00.000+01:00

Lunch at Lee's (from left to right: Silvie, Stu, Sarah, Susan and Dave)
I've been in Thailand now for exactly 3 weeks and the end of this stopover in Thailand is slowly coming closer. Friday I will take the train back to Bangkok and monday I will fly to melbourne. Once again I can say it has been absolutely wonderful. Nongkhai is such a nice place. Though I'm sure that a lot of people would think it's the most boring place in the world since there's not that much to see here.
I've been hanging out with my friends here, working on my portfolio and writing job application letters for a job in Melbourne, having lunches at Lee's, who makes the best vegetarian food ever, having fresh coconuts while listening to live performances of The Rubberband (listen to some songs I recorded down below) in the Gaia Bar (a great bar floating on the Mekhong). And I think it was during one of their songs I thought to myself: 'This is the good life'.
But as I said, it's all coming to an end soon, and that's ok, 'cause I'm sure Australia is going to be great too...

The first 4 songs were played by the whole band (Anton on the accordion, Lee on the violin, Christina on the guitar and David on percussion), the last 2 are played by Lee (voice and guitar) and Susan (flute)...

Moving time

2008-01-20T09:38:00.000+01:00

Today, I'm finally moving to a single room:-) The room that I wanted became available and I will move there later today, which is really nice 'cause the room I was in was quite nice and small.

I've been working on my new Australia blog the last few days and now I can finally declare it open for business. So please go check it out. The new address is australia.inebeerten.be. It's very similar to this blog. I haven't written anything interesting yet, since I'm not in Australia yet, but that will change soon...

Vandaag verhuis ik eindelijk naar een nieuwe kamer. :-) De kamer die ik graag wilde hebben is vrij gekomen en dat is heel fijn, want mijn oude kamer was nogal lawaaierig en klein.

Ik heb de laatste dagen ook aan mijn nieuwe Australië blog zitten werken en ik kan nu eindelijk zeggen dat hij online is. Dus ga er zeker eens naar kijken, 't adres is australia.inebeerten.be. Hij lijkt heel erg op deze blog.Ik heb wel nog niks interessants geschreven aangezien ik nog niet in Australië zit, maar daar zal snel verandering in komen...

Technical Problems

2008-01-15T11:04:00.000+01:00

I recently made a new online portfolio. And when I put it online, I erased my old one, and everything else that had been gathering dust on my old webspace. But unfortunately I didn't realise that by doing so, I also deleted the background and header images for this blog and for the blog newsletter. I thought I fixed the problem last week, but apparently I uploaded the wrong images for the newsletter, so that's why the newsletter looked a bit weird. I just uploaded the right images, so everything should be ok now...

Other than that, everything is wonderful here in Nongkhai. The first few days I was very tired from the train trip, but I feel like my energy is up again. I met a lot of nice new people and many of them are staying for a while. The weather is really nice with warm and sunny days and cool nights. And I had a really good massage the other day...

Ik heb recent een nieuwe online portfolio gemaakt. En toen ik die online heb gezet, heb ik mijn oude portfolio en alle andere dingen die stof lagen te verzamelen op mijn oude webruimte, gewist. Maar helaas wist ik niet dat ik door dit te doen ook de achtergrondbeelden voor deze blog en de blognieuwsbrief heb gewist. Ik dacht dat ik het probleem vorige week al had opgelost, maar blijkbaar heb ik de verkeerde beelden voor de nieuwsbrief geupload, en daarom zag de brief er dus een beetje vreemd uit. Ik heb zojuist de juiste beelden geupload, dus nu zou alles ok moeten zijn.

Daarnaast gaat alles goed hier in Nongkhai. De eerste dagen was ik een beetje moe van de treinreis, maar ondertussen heb ik alweer wat meer energie. Ik heb een hoop nieuwe, interessante mensen leren kennen en de meesten blijven hier ook tijdje. Het weer is overdag warm en zonnig en 's nachts lekker koel. En eergisteren heb ik een heerlijk massage gehad...

And back in Nongkhai

2008-01-12T04:06:00.000+01:00

Jenny and I immediately booked our train tickets to Nongkhai. Unfortunately the sleepertrains were all full for the next few days, so we were forced to take a normal train. The trip to Nongkhai was horrible. I think to diesel engine was located underneath our carriage, so it was very very noisy. I didn't sleep for even a minute.
We arrived in Nongkhai around 5am, took a tuktuk to the Mut Mee Guesthouse and made ourselves comfortable in the hammocks in the garden, since the reception is closed until 8am. I ended up in small double bedroom right in front of the noisy entrance, because all the other rooms were full. And it looks like I wont be able to move into one of the 2 best single rooms because they are taken by people who will stay longer than me :-(
But neverthless it is really nice to be back here...

Jenny en ik hebben onze treintickets naar Nongkhai onmiddellijk geboekt. Helaas zaten de slaaptreinen vol voor de komende dagen, en dus konden we niet anders dan een gewone trein te nemen. De rit was verschrikkelijk. Ik denk dat de dieselmotor van de trein onder onze wagon zat, dus er was heel veel lawaai. Ik heb nog geen minuut kunnen slapen.
We zijn om 5u 's morgens in Nongkhai aangekomen, hebben een tuktuk naar de Mut Mee Guesthouse genomen en ons in de hangmatten in de tuin geïnstalleerd aangezien de receptie nog tot 8 uur gesloten zou zijn. Uiteindelijk heb ik een hele kleine dubbele slaapkamer gekregen juist voor de lawaaierige ingang van de guesthouse, omdat alle andere kamers al bezet waren. En 't ziet ernaar uit dat ik ook niet zal kunnen verhuizen naar één van de twee beste single kamers omdat daar mensen inzitten die nog langer dan mij gaan blijven :-(
Maar hoe dan ook is 't ontzettend fijn om terug hier te zijn...

Back in Thailand

2008-01-10T03:37:00.000+01:00

Tuesday evening I left Belgium. My flight to London was quite frightening. At first it was delayed for 45 minutes because of too much wind in Heathrow, but then we did leave, and the landing was awfull. The airplane was shaking very badly, and I was really happy when were back on the ground safely. My flight to Bangkok was really nice. I flew with EVA Air, a Chinese airline that I had never heard of before booking my ticket. I was a bit scared it would be some dodgy airline, but it turned out to be really good., with a very friendly service on board and the food was good too.
I arrived in Bangkok around 3.30pm on wednesday. My friend, Jenny, from Switserland arrived about half an hour earlier on a plane from Frankfurt. And somehow we managed to get through immigration and bagage collection at exactly the same time. It was nice being back I Bangkok with her.

Dinsdagavond ben ik weer uit België vertrokken. Mijn vlucht naar Londen was nogal beangstigend. Ze was eerst al 45 minuten vertraagd omdat er teveel wind in Heathrow was om veilig te kunnen landen. Uiteindelijk zijn we toch vertrokken, maar de landing was verschrikkelijk. Het vliegtuig zwenkte uit in alle richtingen and ik was heel blij toen we weer veilig op de grond stonden. Mijn vlucht naar Bangkok was wel heel goed. Ik vloog met EVA Air, een Chinese maatschappij waar ik nog nooit van had gehoord voor ik mijn vlucht boekte. Ik had een beetje schrik dat het een slechte maatschappij zou zijn, ,maar het viel dus heel goed mee. De service aan boord was heel goed en 't eten was ook lekker.
Ik ben woensdag om 3.30u in de namiddag geland in Bangkok. Jenny, een meisje uit Zwitserland die ik uit Nongkhai ken, was een half uur voor mij geland met vliegtuig uit Frankfurt. En op de een of andere manier zijn we erin geslaagd om op exact dezelfde moment uit de luchthaven te komen. 't Was echt leuk om samen met haar terug in Bangkok te zijn.

Australia, here I come !

2007-11-25T13:28:00.000+01:00

After undergoing a chest x-ray and waiting in agony for 2 weeks, my Australian visa finally got approved this week. I already booked my flight to Bangkok after I got the x-ray, because the doctor told me it was clear. But I waited to book my flight from Bangkok to Melbourne until I got my visa and booked it this morning. So it's all set now :-)), I will fly to Bangkok on the 8th of January and I will fly to Melbourne on the 4th of February. I have almost a month in Thailand, to visit my friends in Nongkhai and maybe do some other things...

I will make another blog especially for Australia when I find the time, but for the time being I will keep on posting on this blog...

The end is only the beginning

2007-11-10T09:53:00.000+01:00

Yes, I'm home again. I arrived back in Belgium wednesday around 11am after that very long and exhausting trip from Bangkok. Eventhough it's always nice going back home, back to a place you know very well, were you can relax and see your old friends again; my return hasn't been too great. I've had major jetlag and a really bad cold, the weather is horrible outside and all kinds of small things seem to be going wrong. But today is the first day that seems to be a bit better.

So the end is the beginning. Of what? As some of you already know, I have some new big plans. I'm planning on going to Australia, hopefully in januari. On my way to Australia I will visit my friends in Nongkhai again for a few weeks, and after that I will fly to Melbourne, were I'm going to try to find a job and will stay for a while, maybe indefinitely, if I really like it there. But right now I'm trying to organise this trip to the land of Oz. I've started my visa-application, something that shouldn't be to hard, but of course for some reason that I don't know (though I think it has to do with the fact that I've been traveling in poor countries in the last few years) they have asked me to get a chest x-ray, before they can approve my visa. Monday I will get the x-ray, and hopefully everything will be ok, so they can approve my visa, and I can book my flight. I'll keep you posted on my progress in organising this trip. And I'll post the link to my new Australia blog as soon as it's ready...

The long journey home

2007-11-06T09:26:00.000+01:00

This morning I got up early, around 5am. My 6am minibus to the airport left half an hour late, and I was a bit scared that I would arrive too late at the airport, but there was really no need, because we somehow managed to get there in only 25 minutes (usually it takes about an hour or more). My flight to Singapore was very relaxed and we got here with a slight delay, around lunchtime. And now I'm stuck here in the airport until my flight to London leaves around 10.45pm. So I have a lot of time on my hands to discover everything there is to do here in the airport. So far I've already had some nice sushi, watched some television (unfortunately they were playing Terminator II on the moviechannel, I'll have to check again later to see if there 's a better movie on), had a cappucino, walked around in the shops, looking at very expensive things that I would never buy, used the free internet and had a footmassage by one of those footmassage machines...
Yeah, I think I will be happy when I arrive back in Belgium, tomorrow around 11 am (that's about 30 hours or more (I seem to have some calculating problems with all the time differences, but it sure is a lot of hours) after I got into that minibus in Bangkok).

Last day in Bangkok

2007-11-05T09:50:00.000+01:00

Leaving Nongkhai was harder than expected. Physically, because there was a train strike, the first one in about 20 years, which meant I had to stay one day longer in Nongkhai. But I didn't really mind staying longer. And mentally, because I had to say goodbye to so many lovely people. Nongkhai really feels like a second home now.
But I finally arrived back in Bangkok, and I've been indulging myself with shopping, massages and good food. The shopping isn't completely going to plan today, because I kind of forgot that most of the market stalls in the Kao San area are closed on mondays. I hope they will open tonight, but I'm afraid they will not. But I've had a few nice massages. And I've had some really good food at Spicy Affair (Indian food), their Malai Kofta is delicious, and at Maykaidee's, the best vegetarian food in town.
All that's left for me to do now is pack my bag and have a good night sleep before embarking on the long journey home...

7 days to go

2007-10-30T05:44:00.000+01:00

Yes, indeed. I was quite shocked when I got an email this morning reminding me that I'm flying to Singapore (and on to London and Brussels) in exactly 7 days. The last 5 months have flown by very quickly. Indonesia and Malaysia seems like ages ago. But I think it was all good. The first 2 months were a bit harder for me, not feeling completely at ease where I was, but it was nevertheless a great experience. And the last month was just great, staying at Mut Mee, which kind of feels like home now. They even offered me a job here, but I kindly declined. In the last few days many friends have left Nongkhai though, so I think it's a good time to leave too. Thursday I'll take the nighttrain to Bangkok for some final days of shopping. Tuesday morning I'll fly to Singapore and wednesday I"ll be back in Belgium...

The Naga Fireball Festival

2007-10-30T05:18:00.000+01:00

On the 26th of october, at the end of the buddhist lent and on the full moon, the Naga Fireball Festival takes place in Pon Pisai, about 45km from Nongkhai. The guesthouse organised a trip going there by bus and returning on a late night river cruise with dinner on board. So a big group of us decided to go there and hoped to see some of these mystical fireballs. Three years ago I also went to Pon Pisai, but that night we didn't see any fireballs, apparently they saw some the next day, when I had to do a visarun.
I was quite excited to go back. There were thousands of people, mostly Thai, sitting on the banks of the Mekhong, having a picknick, enjoying some (rather disappointing) fireworks and simply having a good time. People were lighting rice paper lanterns and watching the show on the river with thousands of candles floating down the river and many with fire decorated boats going by. But the fireballs once again didn't show. The Thai people didn't seem to mind though, they were just there to have good time and thats exactly what they got. Around 9PM we boarded the boat and began our long journey upstream to Nongkhai. We had a nice dinner on board, but I think we were all happy to get off the boat when we arrived back in Nongkhai at 3.30 AM...

Dragon Boat Races

2007-10-18T10:50:00.000+02:00

Yesterday the festival season officially started in Nongkhai with the Dragon boat races. Today there isn't much happening, but in the next few days it should become pretty crazy with more boat races, parades, markets and the Naga Fireball Festival on the 26th.

God is black and grew up in a ghetto in Chicago

2007-10-17T03:45:00.000+02:00

I met him two days ago. He came to the Mut Mee restaurant with two of his disciples who hung onto every word he said. Actually the whole restaurant listened to what he was saying because he made it very hard not to hear him talk. He loved using words like "fucking" and "shit" and if this would have been broadcasted on American television you'd probably only hear beeps. He started explaining how he grew up in a ghetto in Chicago and how his mother was a drunk and his father made a lot of money but was screwing around. He became a member of a gang eventhough he was white, but his gangmates called him a nigger too. He was kind of the first white nigger, the original M&M. Oh, and he could use the word nigger, he didn't use it because he was a racist, but he was one of them, he was one of the brothers. He said his gangmates hung out in his garden drinking beer, and his mom would come out being drunk and abuse them verbally, calling them all kinds of racist things, and then she would go out to buy them all a beer. He said that hip-hop now wasn't really hip-hop and that those famous rappers were definitely not as gangsta as he was. And then he started to say he was all spiritual, and that in fact Chicago was a very spiritual place probably the most spiritual city of the US.
He also started talking politics and history, saying that Western Europe didn't like America that much, but Eastern Europe did, since they owe a lot to the US. He said that both World War I and II started in Yoegoslavia. And he didn't like Europe, especially not the Euro. Europe was not good at all. He said Turkey was already part of Europe, though one of his disciples said him straight, so he said Turkey was lucky that they weren't part of Europe yet, and if they were smart they shouldn't become part. He also said that Australia was full of serial killers now, a bit like the USA in the 60's and 70's.
He talked for hours and hours only stopping to have a sip of his beer, and you could see people in the restaurant first trying to move to another table, further away from him and then just leaving, because there was no escaping him in the restaurant.
After some hours he finally got up to leave and pay his bill. He signed it with "God"

Nongkhai III

2007-10-11T11:39:00.000+02:00

Once again I apologize about not writing any new posts for such a long time. The weather has been really bad the last week as the tail of that typhoon that went over Vietnam, swept past Nongkhai. It was raining almost every day non-stop for a week. So there wasn't much to do here in Nongkhai except for hanging out with the other longtermers, watching some movies and reading some books. The internet was down a lot too, because apparently a big fiberglass cable got cut in Bangkok and it took some time to repair it.
But it's all starting to look a bit brighter now. The sun is out again. My friends Frederike and Zeger, who also did the yogacourse in august, came back to spend the last days of their trip in Nongkhai before they return to Holland. And saturday there's going to be a big party in the Gaia Bar...
And I'll try to upload some more pictures in the next few days...

Nogmaals mijn excuses dat ik alweer zolang niets heb geschreven. Het weer is de laatste week behoorlijk slecht geweest omdat de staart van die tyfoon die over Vietnam is gegaan, over Nongkhai hing. Het regende bijna nonstop voor een week. Dus er was niet zo heel veel te doen hier in Nongkhai, buiten een beetje rond te hangen met de andere long-termers, een paar filmpjes bekijken en boeken te lezen. Het internet werkte ook vaak niet omdat er blijkbaar een fiberglass kabel in Bangkok was doorgesneden, en het duurde wel effe eer die gemaakt was.
Maar ondertussen begint het er allemaal weer wat beter uit te zien. De zon schijnt weer. Mijn vrienden Frederike en Zeger, die de yogacursus in augustus ook hebben gedaan, zijn terug hier om de laatste dagen van hun reis hier door te brengen voor ze weer naar Nederland vertrekken. En zaterdag is er een groot feestje in de Gaja Bar...
En ik zal de volgende dagen weer wat foto's proberen up te loaden...

Back in Nongkhai

2007-09-29T11:00:00.000+02:00

As soon as my computer was fixed I took the night train to Nongkhai. Surprisingly the train arrived with a delay of only 5 minutes (usually there's a delay of 2 or 3 hours), so I was at the Mut Mee Guesthouse at 9.30am. It is nice being back here, as it feels a bit like home. My old room was already taken but I got another one that is even better...
I'll be staying here untill a few days before the end of my trip (6 nov), so I can work a little bit, make some stock illustrations and make a new portfolio. And I'll be able to keep on doing my yoga practise and go to the free meditation sessions.
For me Nongkhai is probably the best place to stay for a longer period of time. It is a very relaxed place, the locals are friendly and there are not too many tourists, but enough to have a nice conversation once in a while. There are also a few foreigners staying here longterm. There's a nice market and there's an interesting Buddhist sculpture parc. And of course it's on the banks of the mighty Mekong...

Zodra mijn computer gemaakt was, heb ik de nachttrein naar Nongkhai genomen. De trein kwam verrassend genoeg aan met maar 5 minuten vertraging (meestal is 't 2 of 3uur vertraging), en dus was ik om half 10 in de Mut Mee Guesthouse. 't Is leuk om terug hier te zijn want 't voelt toch een beetje als thuis aan. Mijn oude kamer was wel al bezet, maar de kamer die ik nu heb is nog beter...
Ik zal hier tot een paar dagen voor 't einde van mijn reis blijven (6 nov) , zodat ik een beetje kan werken aan stock illustraties en aan een nieuwe portfolio. En ik kan hier ook mijn yoga blijven doen en naar gratis mediatie sessies gaan.
Nongkhai is voor mij de ideale plek om iets langer te blijven. 't Is een heel relaxte plaats met vriendelijke locals en er zijn niet te veel toeristen, maar toch genoeg om af en toe een interessant gesprek mee te voeren. En er zijn ook een aantal buitenlanders die hier langdurig blijven. Er is een leuke markt en een interessant buddhistisch beeldenpark. En 't ligt natuurlijk op de oevers van de Mekong...

New Photos !!

2007-09-27T12:54:00.000+02:00

Yeah, finally some new photos! I know you all have been waiting for new pictures... And I will be uploading some more during the next few days.

Computer troubles

2007-09-25T08:06:00.000+02:00

The morning after I arrived back in Bangkok, I took the bus to the train station to buy my train ticket to Nongkhai for the 24th. But unfortunately my computer decided that I should stay in Bangkok a little longer. As I told you before, my parents took my laptop to Cambodia, I asked them to do this so that I would be able to work a little bit when I return to Nongkhai, where I will stay until the end of my trip. But when I used my laptop last week it was incredibly slow and when I was back in Bangkok I discovered there were some serious problems with the operating system, and possibly the hard disk. Luckily there is an Apple Service Provider in Bangkok, so I paid them a visit and they agreed that there was a problem and would look at it. I went straight to train station and delayed my departure for 2 days. This morning I phoned the Apple shop and they had good news, they were able to fix the problem by reformatting the hard disk, off course this means I lost all my software, but I shouldn't have too many problems reinstalling them. All my documents were on an external hard disk so I still have them. And I'm happy that it was all fixed relatively quick and cheap (it cost me about 25 euros). And if all goes to plan I will be on my way to Nongkhai tomorrow evening...

That notorious bustrip from Siem Reap to BKK

2007-09-23T06:26:00.001+02:00

Yesterday morning I took the bus to Bangkok. This bustrip is quite notorious because of the state of the road between Siem Reap and the border, I wouldn't really call it a road and definitely not a highway like they do in Cambodia, it's a bunch of potholes in the dirt. And there are a lot of scams they try to pull on you, during this trip, especially when you do it in the other direction.
They picked me up at 7am, and after picking up enough other tourists so the bus was completely stuffed with people and luggage they started their trip towards the border. For about half an hour the road was still quite good. But then it got worse and worse and worse and... But eventhough we were being shaken alover, we were proceeding at a more or less decent speed, because the road was in a 'good' shape as it didn't rain. After stopping for lunch and driving through a lake in Sisophon, the road seemed to get better and I started to think that maybe we would be able to make it to the border sooner than expected. Off course about a minute after that thought we heard a strange noice coming from underneath the bus, and yes, it had broken down... We had to get out of the bus and the driver started to work on it. A French guy who had taken this bus many times already said that it would most likely take about 2 or 3 hours before the bus would be fixed. But the gods decided to be kind to us and after about half an hour we were back on the road continuing our journey. The road got worse again, off course and after another 2 hours we finally reached the border in Poi Pet. It was 3.30pm by now, it took us about 8.5 hours to travel 150 km. Crossing the border was easy and on the thai side we got another bus, true luxury compared to that Cambodian bus. For some reason the busdriver didn't want to drive fast though, saying that he wanted to drive 'safely' and we didn't arrive in Bangkok until 8.45pm. It was definitely an exhausting trip, but I was happy to be back in Bangkok in one piece...

The temples of Angkor

2007-09-22T05:59:00.000+02:00

Monday morning I hired a motorbike taxi to visit Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in the morning. We left at 6am, hoping to beat the crowds. But at Angkor Wat that is simply impossible to do. You have to approach the temple on the west side, and according to the guide book 'there is nothing to prepare you for the majesty of Angkor Wat'. But I found that slightly exagerated. To be honest I was not that impressed by Angkor Wat. Yes, it's a big temple, and there are a few beautiful carvings, but I felt a bit let down and I'm not sure why. Maybe I got my hopes up too high after hearing all these wonderful stories. After visiting Angkor Wat we went to the Bayon inside Angkor Thom. The Bayon is probably one of the most interesting temples inside Angkor Complex. The temple has 54 (if I remember correctly) towers with 4 huge buddha faces each. All those faces looking at each other and at you, they're great. After visiting a few other smaller temples inside Angkor Thom I retuned to Siem Reap as my parents would arrive around lunch time.
It was nice seeing them again after being on the road for about 3.5 months. We spent the afternoon in town and decided to rent a car with driver and guide for the next 3 days to see the temples. This was a very nice way to see the temples, and I wouldn't have been able to afford it on my own. It was quite exhausting visiting al those temples. Sometimes it was really hot and sometimes it was raining. And most of those temples were built artificial mountains, which means off course that there is a lot of climbing involved. But after seeing almost all the temples in Angkor I have to say that eventhough Angkor Wat itself didn't really impress me, the whole complex did. It's absolutely worth seeing the temples.
Thursday evening my parents left again, continuing their trip to Phnom Phen. I stayed 1 more day in Siem Reap, so I could visit a few temples again where it was raining the first time.

Siem Reap

2007-09-16T11:06:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I took a bus to Siem Reap. I arrived at about 3pm at the bustation and was welcomed by a big group of shouting and touting men, trying to get me to come to their guesthouse. It reminded me a bit of Jaisalmer in India. I decided to go with a tuktukdriver who said he was rom the buscompany and would give me a free ride to my choice of guesthouse anywhere in town. Of course after I settled into the tuktuk, he said the ride was only free if I would promise to use his services as a tuktukdriver the next day to visit the temples of Angkor Wat. Since I was planning to go by bicycle I didn't need his services, so he said he would take me to my guesthouse for 1$, which was fine or me. But suddenly he couldn't bring me anymore, his friend would bring me. After driving about 2km, the tuktuk driver stopped and said that that was only as far as he would go for 1$ and that my guesthouse was at least 5 km further. If I still wanted to go to my guesthouse I had to pay 2$. I told him that I wasn't going to pay more, because he knew very well where my guesthouse was when we agreed on the price. So he said that I should pay 1.5$. I said he should drive on, thinking that I wasn't going to pay him more than 1$ anyway. After 500m he drove into a small dust road and stopped. He talked to some people and I assumed he wanted to say something to a friend before resuming the journey, but he said we were there and that my guesthouse was around the corner. I was a bit suspicious,'cause a minute ago he was telling me that my guesthouse was still 5km away, but decided to follow him and indeed he was right, there it was, my guesthouse. I gave him a dollar bill and when he asked for half a dollar more, I shaked my head and laughed very loud. It seems wherever you go tuktukdrivers are never to be trusted :-))

Phnom Penh

2007-09-13T06:39:00.000+02:00

After a short but turbulent flight I arrived in Phnom Penh 2 days ago. My first impression of Phnom Penh is that is very wet and chaotic. From the airplane it looked as if the whole of Cambodia was flooded and it was raining when I arrived. And the traffic in the streets around my guesthouseis crazy, Bangkok traffic is nothing against this. Yesterday morning I woke up to discover a bright blue sky and after switching to another guesthouse across the street with better rooms and a nice outside sitting area, I made my way to the national museum. Walked around a little and in the afternoon and went to the Orussey Market which is close to my guesthouse. This morning I visited the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. But I have to admit that I was not very impressed by it, I guess I've already seen too many realy beautiful palaces and temples before...
Tomorrow morning I will take the bus to Siem Reap, where I will visit the temples of Angkor Wat and see my parents in a few days.

Na een korte maar turbulente vlucht ben ik eergisteren in Phnom Penh aangekomen. Mijn eerste indruk van Phnom Penh was dat het ere erg nat en chaotisch was. Vanuit het vliegtuig leek het wel of heel Cambodia overstroomd was en het regende bovendien keihard toen ik aankwam. Het verkeer in de omgeving van mijn guesthouse is superdruk en chaotisch, het verkeer in Bangkok is er niks tegen. Gisteren was er een stralende blauwe lucht toen ik opstond en nadat ik naar een andere guesthouse ben verhuisd met betere kamers en een fijn terras buiten, ben ik naar het nationaal museum gegaan. Ik heb een beetje rondgelopen en ben naar de Orussey markt vlak bij mijn guesthouse geweest.
Deze ochtend ben ik naar het koninklijk paleis en de zilveren pagoda geweest, maar ik moet eerlijk toegeven dat ik niet erg onder de indruk was, ik denk dat ik ondertussen al veel te veel mooie paleizen en tempels heb gezien...
Morgenvroeg zal ik de bus naar Siem Reap nemen, waar ik de tempels van Angkor Wat ga bezoeken en over een paar dagen mijn ouders ga zien.

2007-09-08T11:51:00.000+02:00

Two days ago I came back to Bangkok. I managed to get here from Ayuthaya for only 25 Baht (about 0.5 euro) and using 4 modes of transport (my feet, boat, train and bus). I decided to go for 'luxury' this time and went straight to the Rambutri Village Inn Hotel. They have single fan rooms with private bathroom, window and some space around the bed for 290 Baht. And best of all, they have a swimming pool on the roof. Ususally I stay in a depressing 150 baht matchbox room with shared bathroom and no window.
The problem is that getting a room at Rambutri Village is difficult, the single fan rooms are almost always fully occupied. Luckily I arrived at the right time, check-out time, and after waiting for about an hour I managed to get the only fan room that became available :-)
I've been doing some shopping yesterday, enjoying the airco at the malls around Siam Square and trying to find a laptop backpack, because in about 10 days I will be travelling with my own laptop :-), my parents are taking it to Cambodia...

Ayuthaya

2007-09-03T10:00:00.000+02:00

I know, it's been ages since I've written anything really interesting. But there wasn't much to write about when I was in Nongkhai as I was only relaxing and reading some books.
Anyway, this morning I arrived in Ayuthaya. I wont be doing to much today because I'm still quite tired from the train trip and arriving really early in the morning and having to wait for another 3 and a half hours before I got a room...
Tomorrow I will rent a bycicle and visit the old temples around town. Hopefully the weather will be a bit brighter than today because it's quite grey today. It's been raining a lot the last few days, which is sometimes really nice as it cools down a lot after the rain, but I'm here to take photos so I wouldn't mind some good light...
In a few days I will go to Bangkok again before flying to Phnom Phen on 12/09/07.

Yahoo Mail Problems

2007-08-30T06:18:00.000+02:00

There seems to be a problem with yahoo mail, I guess it has something to do with their major upgrade a few days ago. I'm receiving blank emails from people with yahoo accounts and I'm not able to send any emails myself either. So if I'm not replying to your emails this is the reason. Let's hope they'll be able to fix this soon...

Er is blijkbaar een probleem met yahoo mail. Ik vermoed dat 't iets te maken heeft met een grote update die ze een paar dagen geleden hebben gedaan. Ik krijg lege emails van mensen met een yahoo emailadres en ik kan zelf geen emails sturen. Dus als ik jullie emails niet beantwoord is dit de reden. Hopelijk kunnen ze 't probleem snel oplossen...

Nongkhai II

2007-08-29T11:40:00.000+02:00

Still alive and still in Nongkhai. I've been here for about 2 weeks now, being quite busy doing the 7 day intensive yoga course, reading books and relaxing. There isn't much else to do here in Nongkhai, but that suits me fine. I'm slowly preparing to leave though, probably the day after tomorrow, my next stop will be Sukothai. I want to go back to the beautiful temples and ruins at the Sukothai Historical Park and take some more pictures with my new camera (well, not really new anymore). Then I'll probably go to Chiang Mai for a few days before returning to Bangkok, from where I will fly to Cambodia.

Nongkhai

2007-08-19T06:50:00.000+02:00

I arrived in Nongkhai a few days ago. Nongkhai is a town on the banks of the Mekong and on the Lao Border, close to Vientiane. I was here in december 2004, when I did a 7 day intensive yoga course. And that's why I'm back here again, to do some more yoga. Nongkhai has been upgraded a bit since I was here last time. There were only a few places where you could see the river, but now they have built a beautiful path with sitting areas next to the Mekong. And the Mut Mee Guesthouse where I'm staying has a new bar, floating on the river. For the rest it's really still the same quiet, laid back town with not too many tourists.

New Pictures!

2007-08-11T10:20:00.001+02:00

I just uploaded a batch of new pictures. Most are from Penang, cause I didn't take many pictures in KL or Koh Phangan.

Ik heb zojuist weer een hoop nieuwe foto's online gezet. De meeste zijn van Penang, want ik heb niet zo veel foto's in KL of Koh Phangan getrokken...

Bangkok re-visited

2007-08-10T11:52:00.000+02:00

It's almost 3 years ago that I arrived in bangkok for the first time. I remember feeling a bit overwelmed and scared at first being on my own in such a big and crazy city. But the more I traveled through Bangkok during those 5 months in thailand, going back and forth between the north and the south of Thailand, the more it felt like home.
So when I arrived in Bangkok yesterday morning it felt a bit like seeing that old friend you haven't seen in years, again. Bangkok has changed a bit, there are new hotels, reaurants and shops, but it is still the same in many ways. It's nice to be able to walk around not needing your guide book or map and knowing the scams they'll try to pull on you...
I'll be here until tuesday and then I'll be off to Nongkhai for some yoga...

Bijna 3 jaar geleden kwam ik voor 't eerst aan in bangkok. Ik herinner me nog heel goed hoe eng 't was om voor 't eerst in zo'n grote, gekke stad te zijn op mijn eentje. Maar hoe meer ik door Bangkok reisde, onderweg naar 't noorden of 't zuiden van Thailand, hoe meer 't als thuis ging voelen.
Dus toen ik gisterenochtend aankwam in Bangkok voelde 't een beetje alsof ik een oude vriend tegenkwam die ik al jaren niet meer gezien had. Bangkok is wel een beetje veranderd, er zijn nieuwe hotels, restaurants en winkels, maar is ook nog 't zelfde op veel vlakken. 't Is fijn om te kunnen rondwanden zonder een reisgids of kaart te moeten gebruiken en te weten op welke manier ze je zullen proberen af te zetten...
Ik ga hier tot dinsdag blijven en dan vertrek ik naar Nongkhai om wat yoga te doen...

Sawatdee Kah*

2007-08-05T11:28:00.000+02:00

Yes, indeed, I'm in Thailand again. I left Penang thursday and arrived on the island of Koh Phangan the next morning. But unfortunately I'm not doing that yogacourse that I was planning to do. Before I left Penang I read some bad reviews, though I still wanted to check it out by myself. But on the nightboat to Koh Phangan I met a guy who'd been living here for several years already and he has some friends who did the yogacourse, thinking it was an ordinary yogacourse, but after about 2 weeks it became clear it was some kind of sex cult. Anyway, I decided not to go there and go to another beach, do some yoga on my own and try to figure out what I'm going to do next.
Being in Thailand again is nice though. The food is great and it's nice to see these little details, that I already forgot about, like people wearing a lot of yellow (because they like their king so much and yellow is his birth color), the language that almost sounds like they're singing, ...
Thailand has become a lot more expensive though, not that the prices have gone up that much, but the Baht is a lot stronger, while I got about 50 Baht for a euro last tie, I'm only getting 40 Baht or a euro now, and that makes a big differnce in my budget... I guess I'll simply have to spend a little more money while I'm here...

*in case you didn't know: 'sawatdee kah(p)' means hello in Thai

Nederlandse tekst komt er aan als ik een plek vind waar 't internet wat goedkoper is...

Sometimes traveling is like that

2007-07-31T14:21:00.000+02:00

This morning I woke up at 6.54. I got a message from Michael, the new tennant of Volkstraat nr 45, my old apartment. Apparently he's been getting bills and warnings from the internet company on my name, and he got my electricity bill on his name. I guess both companies stuffed up.
At 7AM I was behind the computer, making use of the hostel's free internet, trying to rectify the problem of the bills.
After that I had a wonderful breakfast at a Chinese place, 2 steamed red bean buns, shrimp dim sum and fabulous Chinese tea for only 5 Ringgit (1 euro).
Then I tried to find an ATM, while doing this I saw a dead rat, a ladyboy with a very real looking boob hanging out of his/her top while he/she was joking around with an Indian prostitute and a man who asked me whether I wanted free sex through the car window.
After getting money from the ATM I organised my Thai visa. I also managed to swap that brick I've been carrying around, that Indonesia Lonely Planet for a Thai LP at the second hand bookshop.
For Lunch I had vegetable fried noodles with egg. I organised my busticket to Koh Pha-Ngan for Thursday. And while walking up and down Lebuh Chulia, people driving by honk at me, apparently thinking I somehow like being honked at. Others start talking to me, pointing out the obvious. "Wow, you are tall! Where you from? Mmmm, Belgium must be a fine country" while looking at me from head to toe. Or asking me whether I'm a model or a basketballplayer. Some days I hardly notice any of this, but on days like today I just want to shout "Fuck off!", but I never do.
Yesterday I went to visit a Tibetan buddhist temple in the street where I'm staying. A Thai guy immediately offered to guide me, eventhough there really was no need for this. At the end he offered to take me to the beach of Batu Ferringhi (which by the way is quite dirty and not interesting, at least that's what I've heard) for free. When I declined and said I had to go, I tried to shake his hand and he tried to kiss me! On the cheeks, but still, I was quite shocked, though I managed to duck away right in time. Kissing is simply not something Asians do, they should only put their hands together and bow, and maybe, if they want to greet like westerners, shake hands, but kissing? never...
Anyway after getting my busticket, I went to the mall to buy some showergel. I got a capuccino at Starbucks. It was my first time ever going into a Starbucks and I soon regretted it. I thought I would enjoy a decent capuccino, but the guy behind the counter was very unfriendly and they didn't even have coffee spoons, they only had these plastic "stirrers". That completely ruined the experience, cause I like to scoop out the foam with my spoon :-(
When I left Starbucks I ran into that guy who tried to kiss me yesterday, I looked at him angrily and walked on.
When I returned to the hostel I finished the book I'd been reading, "The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss. I really liked it, especially the last part.
For dinner I ended up at Ecco, an Italian restaurant, for the third day in a row. For some strange reason many restaurants in Georgetown close right before dinnertime and Ecco is one of the few decent and not too expensive places that stay open. The pizza was great...

I guess I have been rambling a bit, don't worry, everything is still great, but sometimes traveling is simply like that...

Ik ga zelfs niet eens proberen dit te vertalen

Georgetown

2007-07-30T09:40:00.000+02:00

I arrived in Georgetown saturday evening. It's a nice and relaxed town, not too big, easy to walk around. There is a lot of Chinese influence, with a lot of Chinese signs, temples, clan houses and restaurants. And there are also a lot of Indian shops and restaurants. I hoped to find some kind of meditation course in Penang, with all those buddhist temples around, but so far haven't really found anything. I did find 2 flyers for yoga courses however. They are both in Thailand, one of them I already did once and was great, but It's only a 7day course and it's in the north-east of Thailand, against the border with Laos. The other course is in Koh Phangan, it's a month-long intensive, though you can also stay for a shorter time. So I think I'm going to check out that second course. I'll have to organise a 2-month visa for Thailand here in Penang, and then I'm off ...

Nederlandse tekst komt nog

Still in KL

2007-07-27T09:48:00.000+02:00

KL is proving to be a nice city. Not that there are a lot of special things to do here, except for shopping and hanging around. There are of course the Petronas towers and Chinatown and it's nice to be able to enjoy all that great food... I also haven't been able to decide where I would go next, until today. I just bought my busticket to Georgetown (Penang) for tomorrow. I will be there in the early evening...

KL blijkt echt wel een leuke stad te zijn. Niet dat er echt heel veel te doen is buiten shoppen en relaxen. Er zijn natuurlijk wel de Petronas torens en chinatown and ik heb al genoten van al het lekkere eten... En ik wist ook niet goed wat mijn volgende bestemming zou zijn, tot vandaag. Ik heb zojuist een busticket gekocht voor Georgetown (Penang) voor morgen. Tegen de avond ben ik daar...

What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours ...

2007-07-23T14:23:00.000+02:00

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia early in the afternoon. And my first impressions of the city are quite positive :-). It's a cultural diverse place with a lot of Malaysian, Chinese and Indian people, with of course their own restaurants, I've already had some good Indian food, mmm. And I've already met more backpackers then during the 6 weeks in Indonesia. I'm staying at a nice hostel, called The Haven. It's still very new and it isn't in the guide books yet, but it's great...
So it seems that I'm going to like Malaysia :-)

Ik ben in de vroege namiddag in Kuala Lumpur aangekomen. En mijn eerste indruk is alvast heel positief :-) 't Is een cultureel diverse plek met veel Maleisische, Chinese en Indische mensen, natuurlijk met hun eigen restaurants. Ik heb daarjuist al heel lekker Indisch gegeten, mmm. En ik heb ook al meer backpackers ontmoet dan gedurende die 6 weken in Indonesie. Ik verblijf nu in een leuke hostel, The Haven. 't is nog heel nieuw en staat nog niet in de reisgidsen, maar 't is er tof...
Dus het ziet er naar uit dat ik Maleisie wel leuk ga vinden :-)

the last day in ... Indonesia

2007-07-22T09:58:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I decided that there really is no reason to hang around in Solo any longer, so I tried to change my flight to Kuala Lumpur, hoping I would be able to leave earlier, if possible today. Of course this was a bit too optimistic, but I was able to change my flight so I can leave tomorrow morning. By lunch tomorrow I will be in Malaysia. I'm happy that I was able to change the flight cause I really feel like I'm already too long in Solo. Solo is a place where you can stay for 2 nights, but not a whole week, it simply is not that interesting.
So maybe this is a good time to reflect on my stay in Indonesia. I've been here for 6 weeks now, 3 in Bali and 3 in Java. I do have some mixed feelings about it. The country is beautiful without a doubt, the pictures proove that. But I have the feeling that you would be able to enjoy the country much more if you're able to travel with a bigger budget. Taking public transport has been a big hassle, especially in Bali, where the bemo drivers try to rip you off every time again and again with prices that are 10 times as high as they should be. And you always have to take several bemos to reach your destination even if you're not going that far. In Java transport was a lot easier and cheaper and the prices were correct, except on the bus to Borobodur. But what I missed most here in Indonesia was other solo low-budget backpackers. I can count the ones I met on one hand.
People think I don't like touristy places, but that's actually wrong. I do like them, and I definitely like to have the tourist infrastructure, cause it means that there are good restaurants and places to relax. But I don't like touristy places that are only meant for big-budget or package tourism people. Because when you talk to those people they are on a different wavelength, they haven't got a clue what low-budget means (for example my budget is about 15 euro/day) and for them everything here is cheap. And it seems that most of the tourists in Indonesia are that kind of tourists... So I'm happy to go to Malaysia, cause I hope to find some more people there that are on my wavelength, and if not, Thailand is not that far away...

Nederlandse versie komt nog...

Thank you for all the comments

2007-07-21T09:38:00.003+02:00

Yes, I do read all those comments and I really appreciate them, thank you very much for taking the time to write something...

Jaja, ik lees ze dus wel echt, alle commentaar. En ik vind het heel tof dat jullie de tijd nemen om af en toe iets te schrijven, dus hartelijk bedankt!

Tawangmangu

2007-07-21T09:07:00.000+02:00

Even though the road to Tawangmangu was very beautiful with lush green vegetable plantations and rice terraces, Tawangmangu itself was not that spectecular. It's a hill town built for Indonesian tourists. The only interesting thing to see in town is the 90m high waterfall, which I admit, was nice. I also visited the Sukuh and Ceto Temples, but I think it would have been just as good if I had visited them from Solo. Tawangmangu is only a little bit closer. The Ceto Temple was the nicest of the two temples, but I think only because there had been a special ceremony a few days ago, and everything was still decorated. The way to Ceto is also very beautiful, going through hills with tea plantations.
The Sukuh Temple is special cause it looks like a Mexican temple.
Yesterday I returned to Solo. I had a very nice Italian meal at 'O Solo Mio', which to my surprise has some real authenthic Italian food. It was nice to eat something different for a change, cause I'm starting to get enough of all the fried rice and fried noodles. Being a vegeterian (or semi-vegetarian cause I do eat fish) is not the worst thing in Indonesia, because they have tofy and tempe, but especially when you're in little towns like Tawangmangu you end up eating the same thing again and again. I did discover another nice dish yesterday evening though, called Nasi Liwet, and it's made of rice steamed in coconut sauce with a topping made of papaya and spices , mmmm. I'm happy that my trip to Malaysia is coming closer though, cause I think the food will be a little bit more varied there, because they also have a lot of Indian food.

Ondanks het feit dat de weg naar Tawangmangu heel mooi was met groene groenteplantages en rijstterrassen, was Twangmangu zelf niet zo interessant. 't Is duidelijk gemaakt voor Indonesische toeristen. Het enige interessante was de 90m hoge waterval, die zelfs ik ook mooi vond. Ik heb ook de Sukuh end Ceto Tempels bezocht, maar dat had ik net zo goed vanuit Solo kunnen doen. Tawangmangu is maar een klein beetje dichterbij. De Ceto Tempel was de mooiste van de twee, maar enkel omdat er een speciale ceremonie was geweest een paar dagen geleden en alles nog versierd was. Ook deweg naar Ceto was heel mooi, tussen de heuvels met theeplantages.
De Sukuh Tempel is dan weer speciaal omdat hij lijkt op een Mexicaanse tempel.
Gisteren ben ik dan maar weer naar Solo teruggekeerd. Ik ben er heel lekker Italiaans gaan eten in 'O Solo Mio', een restaurant dat to mijn verbazing echt authenthiek Italiaans eten had. 't Was fijn om nog eens iets anders te kunnen eten, want ik begin de Nasi en Mie Goreng toch een beetje beu te geraken. Vegetarier zijn (of semi-vegetarier want ik eet wel vis) is niet het ergste in Indonesie, want ze hebben hier wel tofu en tempe, maar vooral in kleinere steden zoals Tawangmangu eet je uiteindelijk telkens weer 'tzelfde. Maar ik heb gisterenavond toch nog een lekker nieuw gerecht ontdekt, 't heet Nasi Liwet, en 't is gemaakt van rijst gestoomd in een kokosnootsaus met papaya en kruiden , mmmm. Maar ik ben toch wel blij dat mij vertrek naar Maleisie eraan komt, want ik denk dat het eten daar toch ietsje gevarieerder gaat zijn want ze hebben er ook veel Indisch eten.

Solo

2007-07-17T07:02:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I left Yogya and went to Prambanan by bus. I tried to find a nice hotel, but failed. I first went to the Prambanan Indah Hotel, which is mentioned in the Lonely Planet, but all that is left of this hotel are a few walls. It was completely destroyed by the earthquake and they never rebuild the place. There was another hotel in the same street, the Visnu Hotel, but the rooms were not very clean, so I didn't want to stay there. Since the town didn't look that nice, cause it's all centred around the buzy highway, I decided to visit only the main temples and go to Solo immediately. The temples themselves have been damaged as well during the earthquake. They are still very beautiful and definitely worth seeing, but it's a pity that you can't go inside...
So now I'm in Solo (Surakarta). I met a few people who liked Solo more than Yogya, because it's similar but more relaxed, but I don't know. There are definitely less tourists here, but there isn't a lot to do. Somehow there are a lot of French tourists here, which is strange, cause everywhere else there are always so many Dutch people around. I have 8 more days until my flight to Malaysia, but I don't think I will stay in Solo. I discovered there are some nice temples on Gunung Lawu, a mountain not too far from here, and there should also be lots of tea plantations. So I will go to Tawangmangu tomorrow, that's a hill station close to the temples and I will stay there for a few days...

Nederlandse versie komt eraan

Last day in Yogya

2007-07-15T11:28:00.000+02:00

Yesterday morning I visited Kota Gede, a neighbourhood in Yogya famous for its silverwork and shops. I was a little bit disappointed because the main focus was on filigre silverwork, from broches to all kinds of animals and temples. The jewelry was not my style at all. I guess it's the style that maybe your grandmother would appreciate. The Lonely Planet says that they also sell modern stuff, but I didn't see any and I visited a lot of shops...
Tomorrow I will go to Prambanan. I hope I will find a nice little hotel there so I can stay there for 2 nights like I did in Borobodur. I would like to be able to walk around the temples at sunrise, avoiding most of the crowds and when there is good light for taking pictures. The LP is not so positive about the hotels in Prambanan, but since they seem to get it wrong more than once, I decided to go for it and if I don't find I decent hotel I will go to Solo, after a quick look at the temples...

Gisteren ben ik 's morgens naar Kota Gede geweest, een buurt in Yogya bekend voor de zilversmeden en -winkels. Ik was een beetje teleurgesteld want de focus lag er duidelijk op filigre zilverwerk, van broches tot alle mogelijke dieren tot tempels. 't Was helemaal niet mijn stijl. Ik veronderstel dat 't misschien een stijl is die je grootmoeder mooi zou vinden, maar ik zie liever iets moderner. Volgens de Lonely Planet ouden ze er ook wel moderne dingen verkopen, maar daar heb ik toch niks van gezien en ik heb veel winkels bezocht...
Morgen ga ik naar Prambanan. Ik hoop dat ik er een leuk hotelletje vind zodat ik er 2 nachten kan blijven zoals in Borobodur. Ik zou er graag tussen de tempels kunnen lopen als de zon opkomt, zodat ik de grootste drukte kan vermijden en wanneer er ook goed licht is om foto's te trekken. De Lonely Planet is wel niet zo positief over de hotels in Prambanan, maar aangezien ze 't wel vaker fout hebben, heb ik besloten er toch voor te gaan en als 't toch tegenvalt bekijk ik de tempels gewoon snel en vertrek ik meteen naar Solo...

Borobodur

2007-07-12T06:55:00.000+02:00

Two days ago I went to the little town of Borobodur, famous for its amazing buddhist temple. Instead of going on a tour from Yogya I decided to stay there for 2 nights at the Manohara hotel inside the park. The rooms should have nice views of the temple and you get unlimited access to the temple during opening hours. I didn't make a reservation, cause in Yogya everybody said it was not necessary, but of course the hotel full :-(, so instead I stayed at the Lotus II guesthouse, which has huge rooms with big balconies with views of the rice fields.
The becak driver who took me to the hotel knew a Belgian woman, Wendy, married to an Indonesian and living in Borobodur, so he took me there. She has been living in Indoesia for 4 years now and works for "Anders Reizen", a Belgian company organizing adventurous holidays all over the world. The next day she would actually go to Yogya to accompany a group of travelers. Since it was her last day at home they planned to visit a viewpoint of the Merapi volcano not too far from Borobodur and I joined them...
The next morning I got up early to be at the gate of the the temple in time when it opens at 6 am, hoping I would still see a bit of the sunrise. There is also a sunrise tour to visit the temple before opening hours, but it is very expensive so I decided to go at 6 am. And I was lucky, cause the sun was still rising... There were not too many people yet so that was also a bonus. An hour later there were hundreds of people, especially a lot of school groups and Indonesian families. And of course they all wanted to have a picture with me. The first 5 times it's nice to do, but in the end I had to run away cause more and more people came to have a picture with me and sometimes they were quite rude, not even asking anymore, but simply assuming I'd do it. It has happened more than once before in Asia that people ask me to be in their picture, but never like this, it was crazy... So I went back to the hotel and had some breakfast and I thought I would relax the rest of the day. But in the afternoon an Indonesian family moved into the other room and the rest of the day I heard the four children giggling on their balcony cause they wanted to come and say something but don't know any english. In the evening th father came with all the children and he talked with me for a while, but his english was also very limited. And of course in the end they only wanted to have a picture with me...

Twee dagen geleden ging ik naar het dorpje Borobodur, bekend van zij prachtige boedistische tempel. In plaats van de tempel vanuit Yogya te bezoeken zoals de meeste mensen doen, besloot ik in het Manohara hotel te blijven, een hotel dat in 't park ligt. De kamers zouden een prachtig zicht hebben op de tempel en je krijgt er onbeperkte toegang tot de tempel tijdens openingsuren. Ik had niet gereserveerd want dat was niet nodig volgens de mensen in Yogya, maar natuurlijk was het hotel volzet :-(, dus verbleef ik dan maar in de Lotus II guesthouse, die ook wel reusachtige kamers hadden met een groot balkon en zicht op de rijstvelden.
De becakchauffeur die me naar het hotel bracht kende een Belgische vrouw, Wendy, die getrouwd is met een Indonesier en die in Borobodur woont, dus hij bracht me er naar toe. Ze woont ondertussen al 4 jaar in Indonesie en werkt voor "Anders Reizen". De volgende dag zou ze naar Yogya gaan om er een groep reizigers te gaan begeleiden. Aangezien 't haar laatste dag thuis was hadden ze een uitstapje gepland naar een viewpoint van de Merapi vulkaar en ik ben met hen meegegaan...
De volgende morgen ben ik vroeg opgestaan zodat ik op tijd aan de ingang van de tempel zou zijn wanneer die opent om 6 uur 's morgens, in de hoop dat ik nog een beetje van de zonsopgang zou kunnen meepikken. Er is ook wel een zonsopgang-tour waarmee je de tempel kunt bezoeken voordat 't park opent, maar dat was heel duur dus ik besloot maar om 6 uur te gaan. En ik had geluk want de zon was nog aan 't rijzen... En er waren ook nog niet zo veel mensen dus dat was zeker een bonus. Een uurtje later waren er honderden mensen, vooral schoolgroepen en Indonesische families. En natuurlijk wilden ze allemaal met mij op de foto. De eerste 5 keer is 't nog leuk, maar uiteindelijk moest ik weglopen want meer en meer mensen wilden een foto en soms waren ze behoorlijk onbeleefd, ze vroegen 't niet eens meer, ze trokken gewoon aan mijn mouw en veronderstelde dat ik 't wel zou doen. Dit was zeker niet de eerste keer dat mensen mij vragen om met hun op de foto te staan in Azie, maar nog nooit was 't zoals hier, dit was echt erover... Dus ik ben maar terug naar 't hotel gegaan zodat ik de rest van de dag een beetje kon relaxen. Maar in de namiddag trok een Indonesische familie in de andere kamer en de rest van de dag hoorde ik de 4 kinderen giechlen op hun balkon omdat ze iets tegen mij wilden zeggen, maar niet konden omdat ze geen Engels kenden. 's Avonds kwam de vader met de kinderen even langs om met mij te praten, maar zijn Engels was ook heel beperkt. En natuurlijk wilden ze uiteindelijk alleen maar een foto met mij...

Surabaya and Yogya

2007-07-09T11:04:00.001+02:00

After Bromo I went to Surabaya. Surabaya is a huge city with lots of traffic and it's very hot. I went to Surabaya to find the convent where the aunt of my grandmother used to be a nun. At home we have a little book with old pictures of the building and with the old address of the complex of the convent, church and schools. Sadly enough I forgot to take a copy of the book with me, so I only had the address to work with. I decided to stay at hotel Paviljoen, because the Lonely Planet says that the elderly owners still speak Dutch. When I asked the owner if he knew the old address he got out is old map of Surabaya and tried to help me. But the street was not on the map, unfortunately. He also had a list of schools, churches and other official buildings from that time, so I decide to check out 2 of the 3 catholic girl schools. The other one was to far from the hotel. When I arrived at the first school, I could clearly see that this was not the right school, cause it looked very different from what I remembered from the pictures. But a becakdriver told me that that street that I was looking for was not far from my hotel, so I walked back to the hotel and later went to that street the becakdriver told me. But there was not even a school or church there so Im not sure whether he understood me correctly. Afterwards I walked to that other school but that school was again looking very different. So the trip to Surabaya turned out to be invain. Maybe if I wanted to spend more time there and if I had the pictures with me, it would have been easier. But I was happy to leave Surabaya the next day.

I have been in Yogyakarta for 2 day now. And it's a nice city. There are a lot of tourists here, even though I haven't really noticed it on the streets, but many of the hotels are full. I've been walking around a lot. Yesterday I visited the Kraton (Sultan's Palace) where they have free dance performances on Sunday mornings. Today I walked to the Via Via Cafe on the other side of town. The Via Via Cafe is managed by Belgian people and I remembered when the earthquake hit last year the Belgian Radio phoned the manager of the cafe to talk about how bad it all was. When you walk through Yogya today, there's nothing to see anymore of the earthquake, and it's easy to forget that many people were killed and many houses were destroyed. In the Via Via Cafe they have their own little paper in which they write about how they had to rebuild the cafe, but also about how they helped many families of their staff to rebuild their lives...

Nederlandse tekst komt nog

Bromo

2007-07-09T10:29:00.000+02:00

As I already said before, Bromo was great. I decided to stay there for 2 nights even though it was quite cold in Cemara Lawang and the hotels were a bit above my budget (I managed to get a room with hot water at the Lava Cafe for 100 000Rp but it was not easy). Cemara Lawang is a little village on the outer crater rim with great views of the Sandsea and Bromo, but you can't see Seneru from here. I wanted to see the sunrise from viewpoint 2. You can get there by jeep, but of course I couldn't find any other people to share the jeep with for the first morning. So I decided to see the sunrise at the terrace of the Cemara Indah Hotel probably the best viewpoint in Cemara Lawang, but not as good as viewpoint 2. After sunrise I walked all the way to Bromo, which isn't that far and climbed the volcano, which was a breeze compared to climbing Batur. The firt part you can get a horse, but that is really not necessary and then there is a staircase of about 250 steps. There were a lot of people there, cause all the jeeps returning from the viewpoint stop at Bromo to see the crater. After returning to the hotel to have breakfast, I decided to walk to viewpoint 1. You can only reach it by walking and even though it's not as high as viewpoint 2, the views are nice. It's about an hour walking from Cemara Lawang. The last bit is a bit hard, but it's worth it, amd you'll be completely alone to enjoy the views...
The next morning I was able to share a jeep with 2 Dutch couples. We left at 4 am. When we arrived at viewpoint 2 we could see immdiately that there were about 50 othe jeeps there, and that there were a lot of people. It was actually not that easy to find a got spot to see the sunrise and it was definately impossible to use a tripod to take pictures cause there were to many people and they were all pushing... Unfortunately it was so cloudy we couldn't see Bromo or the sandsea. We could only see Semeru far away. The sunrise was nice though. I guess that's just as life, sometimes it's cloudy and all you can do is wait until the clouds go. Of course I didn't have time to wait for that, I had a bus to Surabaya to catch...

Nederlandse versie komt nog...

New Pictures!

2007-07-08T10:25:00.000+02:00

I just uploaded a whole bunch of new pictures and I will upload some more tomorrow. To see them follow the link in the sidebar to see the South-East Asia Slideshow...

Ik heb zojuist een hoop nieuwe foto's online gezet. Volg de link naar de South-East Asia Slideshow in de zijkant als je ze wil zien...

still alive

2007-07-06T09:15:00.000+02:00

Yes, I'm still alive :-)) I haven't been able to get online since we left Lovina, but everything is ok.
Last saturday Katrijn and I left Lovina and went to Lake Bratan. We stayed at a little village called Candikuning, where there is a beautiful temple in the lake. The village itself is not really interesting. When we arrived around lunchtime it was very cloudy and grey. But sunday morning there was a bright blue sky and I decided to visit the temple early in the morning. There were no other tourists yet, only a few Balinese people making their offerings. The area arround the temple is very picturesque, very different from the rest of the village. After being there for a while I heard some drums, slowely coming closer. It was a wedding procession coming to the temple. There were hundreds of people in their best dress, carrying beautiful boxes with offerings. In front of the processing I assume the happy couple must have been walking, but I couldn't really see it. All I could see were some brightly coloured umbrellas. They walked through the temple grounds to the garden of a resort next to the tempel where they were going to have the ceremony. I didn't hang around to see the whole ceremony, cause it didn't seem like they were going to start any time soon. But I was already happy to have seen the procession...
The day after Katrijn and I took a bemo to Denpasar, where we both went our own way, Katrijn went to Kuta for a few days, before she flew back home and I took the bus to Java. Unfortunately I had missed the bus in the morning and had to wait all day to get the night bus to Probolingo.
When I arrived in Probolingo I took a minibus to Cemara Lawang, a little village in the mountains with beautiful views of Mount Bromo. I think I have never seen so many people in one minibus, it must have been about 30 people... Bromo was great. It feels as if your walking to Mordor and Orks and other creatures could be just around the corner... I will write a more extended report later (with pictures).
After Bromo I went to Surabaya, where I am now. It's not a very interesting city, it's very big and there's a lot of traffic and there are basicly no tourists. I'm here to find the convent where my the aunt of my grandmother used to be a nun, a very long time ago. I'm getting some help of the friendly owner of my hotel. But so far I haven't found it yet. There is still one school/church where there used to be a convent that I'm going to visit, so hopefully that will be it. I'll let you know later...
Tomorrow I will take a train to Yogyakarta. I'll probably be able to upload some more pictures there ...

Nederlandse tekst komt nog

Lovina

2007-06-26T04:26:00.000+02:00

Lovina is a really nice place. It reminds me a bit of Palolem in Goa, India, but with not as many tourists. It's a very relaxed place. Only when you walk on the beach all the sellers come to you to try to convince you to buy sarongs, fruit, necklaces, handmade books and other stuff. In the beginning they are a bit annoying, but now they go away quite fast. The sunsets at night are very nice with the view of the Merapi (I think it's not the one near Yogyakarta, that erupted recently, but the one in the east) in Java about 100km away.
We met an English guy, called Martin, who owns several horses in the mountains close to Lovina. He has the horses so disabled children can ride them. But yesterday morning we also made a short trip with the horses on his land between the banana trees.
This morning we got up at 5.30hrs to go for a dolphin boat trip at sunrise. It was very nice. I did a similar boat trip in Palolem in India last year, but this one here in Lovina was much better. There were so many dolphins and they even jumped out of the water...

Nederlandse tekst komt nog

Climbing Gunung Batur

2007-06-24T09:23:00.000+02:00

Friday morning Katrijn and I left Ubud, where it had been raining for several days already. Luckily friday morning there were bright blue skies and we set off for our journey to Mount Batur. We arrived around lunchtime at our hotel in Kedisan, a small village on the banks of lake Batur, with beautiful views of the volcano.
Yesterday morning we climbed the volcano before sunrise. It was very hard, the guide had a fast pace and it was a steep path to the top. With the help of the guide we did make it to the top right in time to see the beautiful sunrise (pictures will follow when I find a better place for internet). After having breakfast we walked to some other craters and started our descend. By then there were so may clouds that we couldn't see any of the nice views they promised us :-(
Around lunch we joined some English tourists to go to the hotsprings. Several ladies tried to sell us a massage, and since we had done such an exhausting climb I agreed to half hour massage for 30000RP. It was really funny, cause when the lady started 4 or 5 other ladies also started to massage my legs and arms, I told them I wasn't going to pay more than 30000Rp but they kept on doing it hoping I would change my mind (which I didn't). Anyway in the end I had a really good massage, maybe even better than the one I had in Ubud.
This morning we left Kedisan and went to Lovina in the North of Bali. Our first impressions are very positive. It's a beautiful and relaxed beach and there are only a few tourists. We found a nice hotel with swimming pool close to the beach. We're probably going to stay here for a few days...

Vrijdagochtend zijn Katrijn en ik uit Ubud vertrokken, het had dar al bijna 3 dagen aan een stuk geregend. Gelukkig was er vrijdagochtend een stralend blauwe hemel en zijn we naar Batur vertrokken. WWe kwamen rond de middag aan in ons hotel in Kedisan dat aan de oever van het Batur meer lag, met eem prachtig zicht op de vulkaan.
Gisterenochtend hebben we de vulkaan voor zonsopgang beklommen en dat was best wel zwaar. De gids ging in een heel snel tempo omhoog en 't was een steil pad. Maar met behulp van onze gids raakten we toch op tijd op de top zodat we de prachtige zonsopgang konden zien. Na een ontbijt op de top wandelden we verder om nog enkele andere kraters te bekijken en begonnen we onze tocht naar beneden. Maar helaas was 't toen alweer helemaal bewolkt en zagen we niet veel van de mooie zichten die ze ons beloofd hadden.
Tegen de middag zijn we samen met enkele Engelse toeristen naar de hotsprings gegaan. Verschillende vrouwen probeerden ons een massage te verkopen, en aangezien we toch zo'n vermoeiende tocht achter de rug hadden wilde ik een massage voor 30000RP (2,5 euro). Het was best wel grappig, want toen die vrouw begon te masseren begonnen er ineens nog 4 of 5 andere vrouwen aan mijn armen en benen te masseren. Ik zei hen dat ik niet meer zou betalen dan die 30000RP, maar ze bleven doordoen in de hoop dat ik toch van gedacht zou veranderen (wat niet gebeurde). Uiteindelijk heb ik echt nog wel een goeie massage gehad, misschien wel beter dan die in Ubud.
Vanchtend zijn we uit Kedisan vertrokken en naar Lovina gegaan, in 't noorden van Bali. Onze eerste indrukken zijn alvast heel positief. 't Is een mooi, relaxed strand en er zijn niet zo veel toeristen. We hebben een hotelletje met zwembad en vlakbij 't strand gevonden. Waarschijnlijk gaan we hier wel enkele dagen blijven...

Rice paddies and Legong Dance

2007-06-20T03:58:00.000+02:00

Yesterday morning Katrijn and I went for another walk through the rice paddies. I had seen some postcards with very beautiful rice paddies and they were supposed to be in Sayan, very close to Ubud. The path didn't seem to difficult on the Lonely Planet map, but in reality it was quite adventurous. Luckily a guy from the Sayan terrace hotel came with us to show us where the path was and to point out the dangers. It was very slippery, narrow and sometimes very steep, but it was definitely worth it, the view of the rice fields and the river was fantastic! The only down side to the walk was that it was very cloudy, luckily it only started raining when we arrived back in Ubud.

In the evening I went to a Legong Dance performance. Legong is one of the many traditional Balinese dances, and it used to be performed in the courtyards before the king. The dancers wear very beautiful make-up and costumes and there is gamelan music to accompany the dancers... It was a very nice performance, I very happy that I decided to see it, I might even go to another dance performance.

Gisterenochtend ben ik met Katrijn nog een wandeling tussen de rijstvelden gaan maken. Ik had enkele postkaarten gezien met hele mooie rijstvelden en die zouden in Sayan liggen, niet zo ver van Ubud. Op de Lonely Planet kaart leek het pad niet zo moeilijk, maar in realiteit was het toch redelijk avontuurlijk. Gelukkig was er een man van het Sayan terrace hotel die ons het pad toonde en ons de gevaren aanwees. Het was een heel glad en eng pad en soms was er een serieuze afgrond, maar 't was 't zeker allemaal waard, want het zicht van de rijstvelden en de rivier was prachtig! Het was alleen spijtig dat 't de hele tijd bewolkt is geweest (niet zo goed voor de foto's), gelukkig begon 't pas te regenen toen we terug in Ubud waren aangekomen.

's Avonds ben ik naar een Legong dansvoorstelling geweest. Legong is een van de vele traditionele balinese dansvormen, vroeger werd de Legong dans vooral aan het hof van de koning gedanst. De dansers dragen prachtige make-up en kostuums en ze worden begeleid door Gamelan muziek... Het was een hele mooie voorstelling, ik ben blij dat ik ben gaan kijken en misschien ga ik nog wel eens opnieuw...

more Ubud

2007-06-18T09:36:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I went to the Ubud Palace, where I shot some great pictures of the sculptures, and to the Lotus Garden Temple (I'm not sure what the real name is). They are both very nice, with a lot of gold decoration... Afterwards I went to the Monkey Forrest, which is was a dissappointment. It's very small. The monkey's can be a bit violent. A woman, who was crossing a bridge over the river, was attacked by a monkey and she almost jumped into the river (which was kind of funny to see, but I wouldn't want that to happen to me).
This morning was very grey and cloudy. Luckily I had an appointment for a Lulur Ayu, or Mandi Lulur, as it is commonly known. A Lulur Ayu is first an hour Balinese massage, then a body scrub made of special spices and herbs, then some kind of yoghurt mixture is applied to the body and afterwards you can soak for some time in a bath with hundreds of rose and frangipani petals... As you can expect, it was very nice :-))

Gisteren ben ik naar het Ubud Palace geweest, waar ik enkele leuke foto's heb kunnen trekken van de beelden, en ik ben ook naar de Lotus Garden Temple geweest (Ik weet niet precies wat de echte naam is). Beide zien er heel mooi uit, met een hoop gouden ornamenten... Nadien ben ik naar het Monkey Forrest geweest, maar dat viel wel wat tegen. 't Is heel klein. En de apen kunnen nogal agressief zijn. Een vrouw, die een brug was aan 't oversteken werd aangevallen door een aap en sprong bijna de rivier in (best wel grappig om te zien, maar ik zou toch niet willen dat 't mij overkwam).
Deze morgen was 't weer heel grijs en bewolkt. Gelukkig had ik een afspraak voor een Lulur Ayu, of Mandi Lulur, zoals 't meestal wordt genoemd. Een Lulur Ayu bestaat uit een Balinese massage van een uur, dan een body scrub gemaakt van speciale kruiden, dan wordt er een soort yoghurtmix op 't lichaam gesmeerd en daarna kan je een tijdje in een bad met honderden rozen- en frangipaniblaadjes weken... En ja, zoals je wel kan bedenken, was dit best wel leuk :-))

meeting people in Ubud

2007-06-16T04:15:00.000+02:00

Yesterday morning it was quite cloudy so I decided not to go on a rice paddy walk, because the light was not so good for taking pictures. So I decided to go to the internet to post some messages on the Bali forum hoping to meet some fellow single travelers, cause I have to say that it's not so easy to meet other single low-budget travelers. It's very different from Thailand or India. Most tourists here are couples (sometimes on their honeymoon) and usually with quite a big budget. But before I even managed to post something on the Bali forum, I met another single traveler like me in that internet place. She just arrived in Ubud. Before she was traveling in Thailand, India and Nepal, and she also thought everything was quite expensive here and that there are not a lot of low-budget travelers around... So we decided to go for a drink and after a while I discovered she's actually from Belgium, from a place very close to my home! Anyway, we decided to do some things together, so that should be fun ...
Yesterday evening I went to the lotus garden, where children were having traditional dance classes. It was very nice to watch them, they were very good!

For people who haven't followed the link to my slideshow (in the sidebar), maybe it's interesting to know that I have more pictures in the slideshow, than I post on my blog !

Gisterenochtend was 't nogal bewolkt, dus ik besloot toch maar niet te gaan wandelen tussen de rijstvelden, omdat het licht niet zo goed was om foto's te trekken. Ik besloot dan maar te gaan internetten en iets te schrijven op het bali forum in de hoop zo nog wat andere single low-budget reizigers te ontmoeten, want het is hier toch niet zo gemakkelijk om ze te vinden. Het is hier op dat gebied heel anders dan in India of Thailand. De meeste touristen zijn koppeltjes (vaak op huwelijksreis)en met een groot budget. Maar voor ik ook maar iets geschreven had op dat Bali forum had ik al iemand zoals mij ontmoet in dat internetcafe. Ze was juist in Ubud aangekomen. Hiervoor heeft ze in India, Thailand en Nepal gezeten, en ze vond ook dat alles hier zo duur was en dat er niet veel low-budget reizigers waren... Dus zijn we samen iets gaan drinken en niet veel later ontdekte ik dat ze eigenlijk ook uit Belgie komt, uit As, vlak bij de deur dus! We hebben nu afgesproken dat we de komende dagen samen een aantal dingen zullen gaan doen ...
Gisternavond ben ik naar de lotus garden geweest, waar kindern op dat moment traditionele danslessen volgden. Het was heel leuk om naar te kijken, en de kinderen waren echt heel goed!

Voor degenen die de link naar mijn slideshow (in de sidebar) nog niet hebben gevolgd is 't misschien wel interessant te weten dat ik daar meer foto's op heb staan dan hier op mijn blog...

Ubud

2007-06-14T14:06:00.000+02:00

Yesterday morning I got up feeling a bit sick. I probably should not have eaten the salad that came with the seafood the day before. Anyway, I was supposed to leave the hotel and go to Ubud, so I took some medicine and hoped it would get better soon. Luckily I did feel good enough to leave... I decided to take the bemo, cause the taxi was really expensive (150000 Rp). It took 3 bemos, a lot of haggling and patience (cause the last bemo wouldn't leave until there were enough people), but I arrived in Ubud around noon and it cost me only 40000 Rp. I decided to stay at the homestay of one of the people in the last bemo. The rest of the day I walked around a little and rested a lot cause I was quite tired from being sick...
This morning I felt a lot better :-) I went for a long walk between the rice paddies. Though it was a bit dissappointing, cause most of them were just harvested. Tomorrow I will go to the other side of Ubud, apparently the rice paddies there are still green...

Nederlandse versie komt nog

Villa Puri Royan - Jimbaran

2007-06-14T13:45:00.000+02:00

I thought it could be interesting to write little reviews of the places I stay at, for the people at so they can see where I sleep and for future travellers who are looking for accomodation... So this is the first one:

Hotelreview

I found this place on the internet (I'll post a link later). It was the ideal place for me to stay when I arrived in Bali. It's cheap (about 10 euro/night for the cheapest room, breakfast incl.) and they offer a free airport pickup.
The room was simple and very clean, though there were some marks on the wall from leak in the bathroom, I think. There was a fan, fridge and hot water and there was a nice swimming pool. The staff was very friendly.
For breakfast you could choose between banana pancakes, toast or fried noodles with orange juice (from a package), tea and coffee.
The room had a balcony at the back with view of the village, the temple and even the sea, very far away and at the front of the room there was an area to sit with view of the pool.
It is very close to the beach and the seafood restaurants...

Bali Jimbaran

2007-06-11T07:19:00.000+02:00

Yesterday evening I arrived in Bali. My flight from Singapore had a delay of 1,5 hours but luckily my airport-pickup was still waiting for me at the airport. I immediately saw that I would like Bali. The roads look a bit like Indian roads, a bit dirty, with lots of little roadside eateries and shops. They have the character I missed in Singapore.
This morning I walked a little bit around in Jimbaran. It's a lazy, but busy little town. I haven't seen many tourists here. But apparently most tourists come at night from Kuta to eat seafood on the beach and watch the sunset. I did have a lot of trouble finding a place to internet, I guess there really are not that many tourists here.
Today and tomorrow I wil stay here in Jimbaran and relax a bit at the pool in my hotel. Wednesday I will try to get to Ubud, though I'm not sure how t get there from here. The easiest way would be a taxi, but that would be quite expensive. And I haven't seen any bemo's (little busses) here. If I want to go Ubud by bemo I would probably have to change bemo 2 or 3 times before I get there...

Gisterenavond ben ik in Bali aangekomen. Mijn vlucht uit Singapore had anderhalf uur vertraging maar gelukkig stond mijn airport-pickup nog op mij te wachten in de luchthaven. Bali beviel me direct. De staten lijken een beetje op de straten in India, een beetje vuil en met een hoop winkeltjes en kleine eetgelegenheidjes langs de weg. Ze hebben 't karakter dat ik in Singapore zo miste.
Vanochtend heb ik een beetje rondgelopen in Jimbaran. 't Is een lui, maar druk klein stadje. Ik heb hier nog niet veel toeristen gezien. Blijkbaar komen de meeste toeristen 's avonds met bussen uit Kuta om van de zonsondergang te genieten terwijl ze lekkere gebarbecuede vis,scampi's of kreeft eten... Ik had wel wat moeite om internet te vinden, waarschijnlijk omdat hier echt niet zoveel toeristen zitten.
Vandaag en morgen blijf ik nog in Jimbaran om een beetje te relaxen bij 't zwembad in 't hotel. Woensdag zal ik proberen naar Ubud te gaan, al weet ik nog niet hoe ik daar precies kan geraken vanuit Jimbaran. Het gemakkelijkst zou met de taxi zijn, maar ik vrees dat dat een beetje te duur is. En ik heb hier nog geen bemo's (kleine busjes) gezien. En als ik met de bemo naar Ubud wil gaan zal ik waarschijnlijk 2 of 3 keer moeten overstappen...

something old something new

2007-06-10T06:52:00.000+02:00

Singapore has a strange fascination with everything new. If something gets a little bit old and gets some character it's ready to be demolished and to build something new instead. So I was a bit surprised to see this amazing art deco tower near Bugis Street. It looks perfect, but I wondered how a tower from the 1920's would have survived. If you go inside the tower there's an amazing winebar on the groundfloor. The ceiling is beautifully decorated and apparently in the evening they have 'angels' who fly up and down to get the winebottles out of the very tall bar (waitresses wearing angelwings are going up and down on a metal wire I suppose). I was able to take some pictures before the weitress stopped me, I'll post them later.
The funny thing is that this amazing Art Deco tower is brand new, apparently it was build for a very rich businessman who paid for the in cash! When I left the tower a woman came up to me and told me that all that gold in and on the tower was really just plastic, it was all fake :-))
In the evening I went to party with Anita, Jay and Annette. The party was at an art gallery in an old, but beautiful shophouse in Geylang. Sadly this artgallery has to shut down cause the house will soon be demolished to build something new...

Singapore heeft een vreemde fascinatie met alles nieuw. Als een gebouw een beetje oud wordt en wat karakter krijgt wordt het afgebroken en wordt er iets nieuw in de plaats gezet. Dus ik was een beetje verwonderd een prachtig Art Deco gebouw te zien in de omgeving van Bugis Street. Het ziet er perfect uit, maar ik vroeg me wel af hoe een gebouw uit de jaren 20 het had overleeft. Op de benedenverdieping is er een hele sjieke wijnbar. het plafond is er prachtig gedecoreerd en er zouden 's avonds 'engeltjes' zijn die naar boven vliegen om wijnflessen uit de hoge wijnbar te pakken (ik veronderstel dat 't serveersters zijn met vleugeltje die aan een kabel hangen en zo op en neer gaan). 't Is me gelukt om enkele foto's te trekken voordat een serveerster me stopte.
Het grappige is dat deze Art Deco toren gloednieuw is, blijkbaar was 't gebouwd voor een superrijke zakenman die het gebouw in cash betaalde! Toen ik de toren verliet kwam er een vrouw naar me toe die me zei dat al het goud en koper in en op de toren eigenlijk maar plastiek was, 't was dus helmaal fake, grappig :-))
's Avonds ben ik naar een feestje geweest met Anita, Jay en Annette. Het feestje was in een kunstgalerij in een oud, maar heel mooi 'shophouse' in Geylang. Spijtig genoeg moet de kunstgalerij sluiten omdat het huis binnenkort afgebroken wordt om er iets niew te zetten...

a shopper's paradise

2007-06-09T08:45:00.000+02:00

I've been in Singapore for almost 3 days now and I'm beginning to like it more and more. Yesterday I went shopping. Singapore is a heaven for shoppers. There are so many malls. Yesterday I went to Orchard Road which is probably the street with the most malls. Many shops sell European brands and they are a bit expensive. I wanted to buy some small speakers for my mp3-player and I discovered later that I got totally ripped off! I went to several shops on Orchard Road were they sold them and they all sold them for 29 S$ and they said is was a good price because there were sales. So I bought them. Of course when I was walking around Bugis street, another area with hundreds of little shops, I saw that the speakers were sold there for only 10 S$ :-( I guess they will try to rip off tourists whereever you go...
This morning I had breakfast with Anita and Jay, at a little place close to their house and then I walked all the way to the Malay Village which is a little area where they still have the traditional wooden houses, but I thought it all looked a little run down. However there was a great market next to it. They sold clothes, fabric and and food (fresh fish, meat and veggies) there, it was very buzzy and I regret not taking my camera...

nederlandse versie komt nog

On the road again, for real

2007-06-07T08:28:00.000+02:00

Yes, I'm finally on the road again :-)
Tuesday evening I left Belgium. My flight to London was quite stressful cause it was supposed to leave at 1915h but there was a delay for almost an hour, which meant that I had to run to catch my flight to Singapore. Luckily I was just in time. My flight landed at 17.15h local time and I think I was already at Anita (Belgian living in Sin)'s place at 18.00h.
This morning I came into town with Anita. While she went to work, I went to Arab street, which is really nice, and to Little India, where there are lots of indian shops and restaurants, though I thought it was still very different from the real India. I met Anita again for lunch and afterwards I went to Chinatown, where I still am.
My first impressions of Singapore are that it misses a bit of atmosphere. It is very clean and organised, as I expected, which is very different from other big Asian cities. And I think I miss the chaos you find in Bangkok or Delhi a bit. Singapore is Asia for beginners, and I guess I'm past that stage a little bit... Though I do think that Singapore is an ideal city in Asia to live in for a westener, cause then you don't want to have the chaos, poverty, ... around you all the time.

Ja, ik ben eindelijk op weg :-)
Dinsdagavond ben ik in Zaventem vertrokken. Mijn vlucht naar Londen was bwhoorlijk stressvol want er was een vertraging van bijna een uur. Ik heb nog serieus moeten lopen om mijn vlucht naar Singapore te halen. Gelukkig was ik juist op tijd. Mijn vlucht is om kwart na 5 plaatselijke tijd geland en ik denk dat ik om 18.00h al bij Anita was (Anita komt uit Belgie, maar woont al anderhalf jaar in Singapore). Vanochtend ben ik samen met Anita naar het centrum gekomen. Terwijl zij is gaan werken ben ik naar Arab street (het Arabisch kwartier), dat heel leuk is, en naar Little India gegaan, waar er een hoop Indische winkeltjes en restaurants zijn, al was het toch nog heel anders dan het echte India. Vanmiddag had ik met Anita afgesproken om iets te gaan eten en daarna ben ik naar Chinatown gekomen, waar ik nu nog steeds ben.
Mijn eerste indruk van Singapore is dat het toch een beetje sfeer mist. 't Is heel proper en georganiseerd, heel anders dan in andere grote Aziatische steden. Ik denk dat ik de chaos van Bangkok of delhi een beetje mis. Singapore is "Asia for beginners", en ik denk dat ik toch al een beetje voorbij dat stadium ben... Maar ik denk wel dat Singapore de ideale Aziatische stad is om als westerling te wonen, want dan wil je die chaos, armoede en vuiligheid niet.

Newsletter FAQ

2007-05-30T10:02:00.000+02:00

I have noticed there are still a few minor problems with my newsletter service. Everything seems to be ok when you open your newsletter in Firefox both on Mac and pc. But when you open your email with Safari or Internet Explorer all you get is white page with at the very bottom a link to watch the email online, this link does work.
I have no idea at the time how the newsletter performs in separate email application.

Subscribing can be a problem too, I've noticed that in Internet Explorer the field to put your email address and the the button to subscribe have disappeared from my blog.
If you have any problems subscribing you can always email me ine_beerten[at]yahoo[dot]com and I'll put your email on the list manually.

I have told Zookoda (the newsletter provider) of the problems and I'm sure they will try to fix this...

Er zijn nog enkele kleine probleempjes met mijn wekelijkse nieuwsbrief. Alles lijkt ok te werken op firefox op zowel pc als mac, maar als je de nieuwsbrief opent in Safari of Internet Explorer krijg je enkel een witte pagina met helemaal beneden een link om de nieuwsbrief online te bekijken, die link werkt wel.
Ik heb geen idee hoe de brief eruit ziet in een appart emailprogramma.

Je abonneren op de nieuwsbrief kan ook een probleem zijn. Ik heb gemerkt dat in Internet Explorer 't veld om je emailadres in te vullen en de knop om te verzenden verdwenen zijn van mijn blog. Als je problemen ondervindt om je in te schrijven mag je me altijd een mailtje sturen ine_beerten[at]yahoo[dot]com en dan voeg ik je emailadres manueel aan de lijst toe.

De nieuwsbrief is voornamelijk in 't Engels omdat de nieuwsbrief enkel de 750 eerste tekens van een post opneemt, voor de volledige post te lezen en dus ook de Nederlandstalige versie kan je gewoon de link in de titel volgen, die gaat naar de post in mijn blog...

Indonesian Visa

2007-05-29T16:27:00.000+02:00

This morning I went to the Indonesian embassy for the second time.This time I had no problems, except for the traffic on the way there. My visa will be ready on monday, just in time for my departure :-)

Bali, here I come !!!

9 days to go / nog 9 dagen te gaan

2007-05-27T20:27:00.000+02:00

I've been counting down the days until my departure for the last 5 months. In the beginning it seemed so far away, but the last few weeks have been really fastmoving. I've been tieing up loose ends. Moving out of my appartment, getting my tickets, visiting friends, getting health checks and I finished my job last friday. I've also organised accomodation for Singapore, I will be staying at the appartment of a very generous friend of a friend. She's also from Belgium, but has been living in Singapore for some time now. I booked my flight from Singapore to Bali. I will fly to Bali on the 10th of june. And I 've also booked my hotel for the first night in Bali with an airport pick-up, cause I'll be arriving late at night.
And I've tried to get my Indonesia visa, but I failed :-( Apparently the embassy can't or won't make the visa if you haven't got ticket out of the country yet, and off course I didn't have my ticket out yet, cause I don't know yet how long I will stay in Indonesia. I tried to change their mind with all of my power, but with no avail. So I returned home and booked my flight out of Indonesia. And I will return to the embassy on tuesday, this time hopefully with more luck.
And there are still a lot of other things I still have to do before I go. Here's a list

- getting travel insurance
- organising somebody who can vote for me on the 10th of june (Belgian federal elections)
- filling my travel first aid kit
- choosing which clothes, books and other things I will take with me, which is kind of hard cause I want to take as little as possible...
- clean my backpack and my teva sandals (they're still dusty from the India trip)
- a last real design job, to make a logo
- ...

De laatste 5 maanden heb de dagen tot mijn vertrek zitten aftellen. In 't begin leek 't nog zo ver af, maar de laatste weken zijn in sneltreintempo voorbijgevlogen. Ikben alles aan 't afronden. ik ben uit mijn appartement in Antwerpen verhuisd, heb mijn vliegtickets gehaald, vrienden bezocht, ben op controle geweest bij de dokter en heb vrijdag mijn laatste dag gewerkt bij Jaga. Ik heb ondertussen mijn verblijf in Singapore geregeld, Ik zal er logeren bij de supervriendelijke vriendin van een vriendin. Ze komt ook uit België en woont al een tijdje in Singapore. Ik heb mijn vlucht van Singapore naar Bali geboekt. Ik zal de 10de juni naar Bali vliegen. En ik heb ook mijn hotel voor de eerste nacht in Bali geboekt, met airport pick-up want ik kom 's avonds laat aan in Bali.
Ik heb ook geprobeerd mijn visum voor Indonesië te regelen, maar dat is helaas niet gelukt :-( Blijkbaar kan of wil de amassade 't visum niet maken als je geen vlucht uit Indonesië hebt, en natuurlijk had ik nog geen vlucht want ik weet helemaal nog niet hoe lang ik in Indonesië wil blijven. Ik heb ze met al mijn macht proberen te overtuigen mijn visum toch te maken, maar ik ben helaas met lege handen terug thuis gekomen. En dan heb ik maar direct mijn vlucht uit Indonesië geboekt. En dinsdag keer ik terug naar de ambassade, deze keer hopelijk met meer geluk.
En er zijn nog een hoop andere dingen die ik moet doen voor ik vertrek. Dit is een lijstje

- reisverzekering organiseren
- een oplossing zoeken omdat ik de 10de juni niet zelf kan gaan stemmen
- mijn reisapotheek in orde maken
- kiezen welke kleren, boeken en andere dingen ik ga nemen, en dit is niet zo simpel want ik wil zo min mogelijk meenemen...
- mijn rugzak en sandalen schoonmaken want die zitten nog onder 't Indisch stof
- een laatste echte job, een logo ontwerpen
- ...

Design hotels in Singapore

2007-04-13T20:22:00.000+02:00

Hotel Review

If I had all the money in the world, I wouldn't hesitate where to stay in Singapore. I would stay at the New Majestic Hotel *****. I looks like a really cool place to stay, with all that design furniture and those great graphics on the walls of the rooms. Rates start at 240 S$, which is way over my budget, but even though I'm considering staying there for a night or so, maybe at the end of my trip, if I still have some money left over...

Another good option would be the Hotel 1929 ****, a sister from the New Majestic Hotel. It's quite a bit cheaper with rates starting at 130 S$ for a single bedroom.

Where to stay in Singapore?

2007-04-09T15:14:00.000+02:00

Hotel Review

I'm thinking of staying at one ofe the following hotels in Singapore:

- One Florence Close , which seems to be a really nice budget place but it's unclear to me where exactly they are located. They don' have a map on their website.

- The Frangrance Hotels seem quite nice too. There are several hotels located in different places, but again I'm not sure whether they are located in a nice area.

- Tekka Boarding House seems to be nice too. Though I think rooms could be small and windowless, but they seem to be new and clean. And it's located in Little India.

- Tekka Hotel is from the same chain. I think it's location is slightly better than the boarding house, but I'm not sure.

- The Robertson Quay Hotel is a bit more expensive, but seems to have a great location next to the river and close to Chinatown and Litle India.

If anyone has stayed at any of these places, please let me know what they were like. Or if you have any other recommendations for budget places...

Singapore, here I come!

2007-04-07T10:48:00.000+02:00

In Januari I booked my flight to Singapore. And I'm getting more and more excited now that my departure is coming closer and closer. Only 58 days to go ...
I'm starting to get more and more prepared. Yesterday I applied for my new international pasport, today I'm trying to get this blog fully operational.

I still have a whole list of things to do though:
- get my pasport when ready
- get indonesian visa
- get travel insurance
- move my things from my appartment in Antwerp to my parents house
- mail Katja's friend in Singapore
- book my hotel for the first night
- ...

This wonderful picture was made by moritz™ on Flickr

Interactive Map

2007-04-01T12:11:00.000+02:00

My Maps Plus - Embed Google My Maps into your website or blog.

About me

2007-04-01T09:38:00.000+02:00

Yep, that's me in the picture in the header. The picture was taken last year in India when I was graduating from my Yoga Teacher Training . So what can I tell you about me?
I'm Ine. A 27 year old girl from Zonhoven, Belgium. I'm a graphic designer and serial globetrotter.
Since graduating from uni and in between jobs, I've been roaming the world, spending 5 months in Thailand, half a year in Berlin, Germany and 5 months in India. When I was writing this post I was on the verge of leaving once again, this time to South-East Asia, as you can read in this travelog.
I'm a big fan of photography. For this trip I'll take my new Canon 400D to shoot pictures. I can't wait to see how they'll turn out... If you want to use any of my pictures please contact me at ine_beerten[at]yahoo[dot]com or leave a comment on one of my posts. If you're interested to see more of my work, please visit my online portfolio.

Inderdaad, dat ben ik op daarboven, toen ik juist mijn Yoga Teacher Training in India had afgemaakt. Tja, wat kan je ik je over mijzelf vertellen?
Ik ben Ine, 27 jaar oud en van Zonhoven, België. Ik ben grafisch vormgever en serie-globetrotter.
Sinds ik ben afgestudeerd aan St.-Lucas Antwerpen en tussen 't werken door, ben ik de wereld beetje bij beetje aan 't verkennen. Ik heb 5 maanden in Thailand rondgereisd, een half jaar in Berlijn gezeten (gewerkt voor Fontshop) en 5 maanden in India rondgetrokken. Op 't moment dat ik dit hier aan 't schrijven was stond ik op 't punt te vertrekken naar Zuidoost-Azië, zoals jullie in dit travelog kunnen lezen.
Ik ben ook een grote fotografie liefhebber. Tijdens deze reis zal ik mijn nieuwe Canon 400D gebruiken om foto's te maken. Ik ben benieuwd hoe ze er uit zullen gaan zien... Als je mijn foto's graag wilt gebruiken gelieve contact met mij op te nemen via email: ine_beerten[at]yahoo[dot]com of door een berichtje achter te laten bij de comments.
Bezoek ook mijn online portfolio als je graag wat meer werk van mij ziet.