Well...it is already some time ago since I updated my blog - except my travel route which is alway up-to-date (just in case you didn't noticed :)). AND it is already a long time ago that I was in Cambodia. Currently I'm actually in Borneo and I have already passed Thailand and some parts of Malaysia ;). So my excuse...here it comes...I have none...I just was toooo busy with travelling :). So I hope you can forgive me anyway :).

Cambodia, what to say about cambodia. For sure it was one of the most poorest countries I travelled through...but also it was one of the countries with the friendliest and most helpful people of all the countries I travelled through so far. The little kids on the country side very often are running around naked (probably too expensive to buy new cloth all the time)...and most of the housings are build on stilts to protect them from floots - I assume. Very sad: the first English words the kids learn in English is: 'One Dollar. please! Lady, please one Dollar!.' The local currency actually is the Riel...but the inofficial currency and most preferred currency is the US Dollar. Also on the ATMs you will only be able to draw US Dollars.
The Cambodians have with the Khmer Rouge an very tragical history behind them. Khmer Rouge was the ruling party of Cambodia during 1975 until 1979 and is responsible for the death of estimated 850 000 to 1.5 million of cambodians (through execution, forced labour, starvation). Still today you meet a lot of people that experienced awful things durings this period of time.

My travel route in cambodia led first to Phnom Penh the main captial of Cambodia and afterwards to Siem Reap to explore the temples of Angkor.

Phnom Penh

The view on the lake from the Guesthouse I stayed...nice :). But I have to say...luckily you are not able to smell the lake in the picture :)


On our way through Phnom Penh in the Tuktuk - Micheal, Charly and Izzy


Somewhere on the streets...the most I counted where 5 people on one motorbike :)


Streets - chaotic as usual :)


Very common picture in Cambodia - the petrol station :)


An evening in Phnom Penh with Chris , Micheal and Izzy.


The royal palace


The russian market


S-21 a former school which was used during the Khmer Rouge time as a prison...more than 20 000 people where killed here. Only 7 poeple survived this prison!


Sometimes the Cambodians have a strange way to see things...in case you cannot read the part below the drawing...it says 'Oh, happy hours!' - not so sure about that when I look at the program.

Siem Reap (Angkor)
Most impressive in Cambodia was Angkor with its thousands of　years old temples. I stayed there for 3 days and I still have not seen everything...but most of it :).


On the way to Siem Reap - picture taken out of the bus - that's the way a lot of Cambodians travel - on the roof :)


Angkorwat at sunrise - the most impressive and biggest temple of all. I spent there more than 4 hours!!!


Angkorwat a little bit closer


In Angkorwat


On the way to another temple - little boy happy eating some sweets :)


Chris and me, after a loooong day full of temples...trinking Angkorwat beer...:)

I also was in the famous Temple which can be admired in the movie Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie...but unfortunately I forgot the CD in the hotel...so the next time I will upload some more pictures.

The Hawaii of Vietnam is Phu Quoc Island, which is the most south part of Vietnam. If you want to spend your holidays on the beach...well...here you are on the right place :)


From the bungalow - the way to the beach approx. 100 meter ..and that for 10 USD per night :)


On Long Beach: Well, this is not Ibiza!! :)


In the evening at Long Beach


On this little, very nice spot I went snorkeling...please note the color of the water. No! I didn’t use Photo Shop! :)


Sao Beach....to good...


Me on Sao Beach...

THANK YOU VIETNAM for the wonderful time! Off it goes to Cambodia :)

Saigon or in Vietnamese Ho Chi Min City (SAME SAME...but different! This is the most spoken sentence in whole south east asia :)) is an 8 Million City ...with 4 million motor cycles !!! :) and lies in the south of Vietnam. Saigon is the most modern city in Vietnam...but unfortunately is missing a little of the charm of the Old Quarter in Hanoi. But nevertheless I had a very good time in Saigon :).
Here some impressions:


A few more motorcycles than in Hanoi...if you are not close to a red-light the street crossing is just impossible :).


Lost of bananas


Some Vietnamese gambling in the middle of the street


Well, no comment :)


With Charly, Micheal, Izzy and Chris in a bar in Saigon


At the CuChi Tunnel, 70 km from Saigon away. The CuChi Tunnel is a subsurface, 200 km long tunnel net. The tunnel net was built during the Vietnam War by the Vietcong.

Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta lies in the southeast of Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of tributaries. After the high life in Saigon I went on a three day boats tour through the quiet Mekong Delta.


Some houses at the Mekong River


On our way ...


Some Coconut drinks on the boat :)


At the floating market in Canto


How the steer a boat? Please view above :)


Tooooo much...I need a break :)

The most horrible bus ride I ever had was the one from Hoi An to Nha Trang over night. 12 hours and didn't sleep a minute as the street must have been made out of potholes. In addition the bus was sooooo full....that I had to give up the second seat -which I tried desperately to keep....well..
Arrived at Nha Trang I had to recover from the loooong bus ride on the beach... after a decent breakfast ....and that is what you usually do in Nha Trang - going to the beach :) .


The beach


In the evening, me and Chris -who I met in the bus to Nha Trang- eating street food....hmmm....was really good :).


The next day on a boats tour around Nha Trang - Life Music on the boat :). In case you can not read it - the drummer uses buckets for playing on which is written YAMAHA :).


Our lunch


On our way to snorkeling, an underwater marriage :).

From Hanoi I went with the night train to Hue - which was quite comfortable to my surprise.
As there is not soooo much to do & to see in Hue I only stayed half a day and went directly to Hoi An which is about 5 hours with the bus from Hue away. Hoi An is very famous for it's tailor made cloths, it's really beautifully little houses and the latern festival which takes place every month when it is full moon.

Hue

A temple in Hue....sorry cannot find the name....






Actually I was thinking about taking the elephant to Hoi An instead of the bus :)

Hoi An

Tailor made cloth and beautiful houses


A typical picture in Vietnam


The Japanese bridge...the girl with the skirt is me :)


Hoi An river side


Latern festival


Latern festival


The beach next to Hoi An...nice :)


My Son - half an hour from Hoi An by Bus.

I always thought that the streets in China are really chaotic, as you always have to pay attention not getting hit by a taxi or by bikes in the back when crossing the street. Well, in Hanoi you just have to survive hundred of motor bikes coming towards you, even if they have red light :). Just a view days ago somebody told me that the traffic in Saigon is ten times worser than in Hanoi...I wonder how this works...I will find out :).
Besides the heavy traffic on the streets the people in Vietnam are unbelievable friendly. They even say sorry when they jostle you on the street. Which I am absolutely not used to anymore after six month in Shanghai. Nobody says sorry there > First comes first serves. I was just about to say: "No Problem. Just do it again!" - Just to hear the sorry again :).


Many, many motor bikes...are making crossing the street quite a challenge :)


On the lake in Hanoi


A street market in Hanoi




A little boy on the streets


Very interesting in Vietnam, you can see a lot of buildings like this: In the front not very wide but very long in the depth.

Halong Bay
After a day in Hanoi I went on a two day trip to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is very famous for its three thousand little islands.


The first night I stayed on the boat...but our boat was right on the end. It is quite difficult to climb several boats with a 15 KG backpack on the back....an experience with muscle sore as result :)


Halong Bay


The "Surprising Cave" we visited on one of the little islands


The view outside the surprising cave and me


Little market on the water


In the afternoon we went Kayaking next to one of the millions fisher farms in the bay. To get to the kayaks we had to balance aaall the way to the other side :). Luckily they were not growing any sharks there :).


The next day we went hiking on Cat Ba Island


On the top...yeahhh :)

In Hong Kong I had to stay for four nights as my Visa for Vietnam was only valid from the 25th of March on. Besides going shopping, going up the Victoria peak and making an harbor tour, there is not much to do in Hong Kong. And that's what I did :).


With this cable car I went up Victoria Peak


The view from Victoria Peak...the weather was unfortunately not really the best


They even have a Hollywood Road in Hong Kong :)


On the streets in Hong Kong


On the waterfront in Hong Kong


Matching to the Hollywood street there is an alley of stars at the waterfront with hand prints of Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Jet Li


Me on the waterfront


Here we have Jackie Chan


On the harbor tour

After my stop in Guilin I flew to Shenzhen and took the ferry to Macao where I stayed for two days. Macao lies next to Hong Kong and can easy be reached with a one hour ferry trip. Macao is an ancient colony of Portugal - not from England like Hong Kong. Luckily, otherwise it wouldn't be soooo beautiful today :). Macao was given back to China in 1999.

I have to say I really was fascinated by Macao. You can see and feel the Portuguese influence everywhere. I had the feeling to be in Portugal itself...and this in China!

In the city center on the evening of my arrival



The old house of Mercy


Beautiful lanes just everywhere


Very interesting in Macao: the official language is Portuguese and Cantonese. So, all streets signs are showing both languages...which is a quite irritating picture...:)


The view on Macao


Guia Fortress


Just beautiful houses everywhere




In a public garden




Mount Fortress


Ruins of saint Paul


On the street an interesting ritual

If you want to know where I am right now have a look here:

• 16th of March 07 - from Shanghai to Guilin (China)
• 20th of March 07 - from Guilin to Macao (China)
• 23rd of March 07 -from Macao to Hong Kong (China)
• 25th of March 07- from Hong Kong to Hanoi (Vietnam)
• 27th of March 07 - from Hanoi to Halong Bay (Vietnam)
• 30th March 07 - from Hanoi to Hoi an (Vietnam)
• 03rd of April 07 - from Hoi an to Nha Trang (Vietnam)
• 06th of April 07 - from Nha Trang to Saigon (Vietnam)
• 8th of April 07 - from Saigon to Mekong Delta (Vietnam)
• 10th of April 07 - from Mekong Delta to Saigon (Vietnam)
• 12th of April 07 - from Saigon to Phu Quoc Island (Vietnam)
• 17th of April 07 - from Phu Quoc Island to Chau Doc (Vietnam)
• 18th of April 07- from Chau Doc (Vietnam) to Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
• 22nd of April 07 - from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap (Cambodia)
• 25th of April 07 - from Siem Reap (Cambodia) to Bangkok (Thailand)
• 30th of April 07 - from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (Thailand)
• 5th of May 07 - from Chiang Mai to Ko Samui (Thailand)
• 7th of May 07 - from Ko Samui to Kho Phangan (Thailand)
• 10th of May 07-from Ko Phangan (Thailand) to Singapore (Singapore)
• 16th of May 07 -from Singapore (Singapore) to Ko Samui (Thailand)
• 17th of May 07 -from Ko Samui to Ko Tao (Thailand)
• 24th of May 07 - from Kho Tao to Phuket (Thailand)
• 25th of May 07 - from Phuket to Ko Phi Phi (Thailand)
• 28th of May 07 - from Ko Phi Phi to Krabi (Thailand)
• 29th of May 07- from Krabi to Ko Lanta (Thailand)
• 30th of May 07 - from Ko Lanta to Phuket (Thailand)
• 01st of June 07-from Phuket (Thailand) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
• 4th of June 07 - from Kuala Lumpur to Pulau Prehentian (Malaysia)
• 10th of June 07 - from Kuala Lumpur to Penang (Malaysia)
• 12th of June 07 - from Penang to Sandakan (Malaysia -Borneo, Sabah)
• 13th of June 07 - Sandakan to Kinabatangan River...somewhere in the jungle (Malaysia - Borneo, Sabah)
• 16th of June 07 - from Kinabatangan River to Semporna/Sipadan Island (Malaysia - Borneo, Sabah)
• 19th of June 07 - Semporna/Sipadan Island to Tawau (Malaysia- Borneo, Sabha)
• 20th of June 07 - Tawau (Malaysia) to Bali (Indonesia)
• 26th of June 07 - Bali to Gili Trawagan (Indonesia)
• 2nd of July 07 - Gili Trawagan to Bali (Indonesia)
• 4th of June 07 - Bali to Nusa Lembogan (Indonesia)
• 8th of June 07 - Nusa Lembogan to Bali (Indonesia)
• 9th of July 07 - Bali (Indonesia) to Shanghai (China)
• 15th of July 07 - Shanghai (China) to Frankfurt (Germany) >> END OF TRIP

Middle of March 07 Egon, my backpack and I started our three month trip to South-East Asia in great expectation. On this occasion I would like to thank Melek, as she picked the name for my backpack. THANK YOU Melek!


Me, on my way out of the door in Shanghai

After the cold winter in Shanghai with air conditioning heating I was really looking forward to some warm weather. Therefore I decided to do my first stop in south of China.
So, on the 16th of March 2007 I was flying from Shanghai to Guilin. After arrival I unfortunately had to find out that it was rainy and really cold....even colder than in Shanghai :(. And as I didn't packed too much warm cloth I had to buy some more- which I left behind in Hong Kong :).
The next day I took the boat from Guilin to Yangshuo, which I was told is absolutely beautiful. Guilin and Yangshuo are very famous for its very interesting shaped little mountains.


On the way to Yangshuo




Me on the boat


A not quite unusual image


On the boat I also meet a group of Americans, with whom I spent a very nice time in Yangshuo. Jack and Mike: You really should improve your ability with the cubes :). Thank you for the nice time.


In Yangshuo...soooo nice.


In the streets of Yangshuo, very touristic.


The view in front of the silver cave, not far from Yangshuo.


In the silver cave....looks rather green than silver...


In earlier times the cave was also used to store wine.

My Birthday
in September 06
It is amazing how fast you get people together in Shanghai - even if you don't know anybody - to celebrate your birthday :). Well, after that I knew a few more in Shanghai :).


In the restaurant, ordering food


A Japanese restaurant, where they prepare the food in front of you. The food there is really good - so if you ever come to Shanghai you have to try the Teppanyaki Restaurant on heng shan lu.


Melek and me


The boys, performing a strange game :)


At Zapatas - Melek and Marco performing a little birthday dance for me...on the bar -their favorite place :)


The security guard (was in a really good mood that day :)), Marco and me.

Jiaozi - How to make Jiaozi?
in October 06
Well, probably you are thinking: What are Jiaozi??? Jiaozi are the Chinese version of Italian Tortellini and tasting incredibly good. I have to confess: I love Jiaozi!
My chinese work colleagues found out very fast. So, Quency and his wife invited some of my other work colleagues and me to his home to teach me, how to make jiaozi :). Quite a challenge ....that I can say :)


Quency's wife, myself and Quency


High life in the kitchen :)


Quencies wife is cooking


Jiphiii...my first Jiaozi....I won't tell you how many times I tried before :)


Jane and Zhang Lei making Jiaozi.


Sooo many jiaozi...


We are eating Jiaozi...a lot of them :)


Jane, is really hungry from making jiaozi :)


Some exercise in the park after a looong afternoon eating jiaozi :)


German Ball
in November 06
The German Ball in Shanghai is "the event" everybody wants to go - even if they are not German :). The entrance tickets are really expensive and most of the time already sold out after two hours. But as I did a remarkable good job with my project in Changzhou, my boss decided to give me a ticket as a bonus :) (...hmm..ok, actually he wanted me to accompany a friend of him).
The evening was incredible nice - a huge buffet with everything you can imagine from caviar to oysters, life music and many shows.


Harald, Elsi, me and my Boss Joerg


hmmm....:)


Oli and Michael enjoying the beautiful girls of the Philippine band :)


Melek and me on the dance floor


Oli and me, trying to rock the dance floor :)


At four o'clock in the morning we continued without our shoes...:)


On our way home..about six o'clock in the morning :)


Eric Clapton in the town
in January 07
In January we had a visit from the great Eric Clapton itself in Shanghai. As I had visit from my mother these days, we went together to see the Eric Clapton Concert at Shanghai stadium. The concert was just incredible ...I never seen a man play the guitar like this before.






My mother and me

My 6 month internship I performed at Hartung:Consult, a German IT consultant company based in Shanghai, Beijing and Berlin. See some pictures below of my work colleagues and the office.


Our office building...


The entrance and our nice receptionist Jessy :)


Jan, our IT Manager @work


Samuel and Quency, some of my Chinese colleagues


Me @work, very concentrated as usual :)


My favourite project team with key users in Changzhou :)


With my team eating hot pot in Shanghai.


With Thomas, Lena, Jenny and Carlos in a Chinese restaurant at one of my last evenings in Shanghai

The Huang Pu River devides the city center of Shanghai in two areas: Puxi and Pudong. I used to live on the Pudong side - Dong chang lu - which is about 4 metro stations away from the people square. The Pudong side is also where the Pearl Jam Tower and the Jin Mao Tower is, the emblems of Shanghai- which was about 10 min. walking distance from my apartment away.
The best of my apartment was actually the view - as I could see the Jin Mao and Pearl Jam Tower from my living room coach in the 16th floor. And not to make you jealous - I had the best Sushi bar of whole Shanghai just arround the corner - where I went at least three times a week :).


The view on Jin Mao and Pearl Jam Tower from the apartment :)


The living room


My room...not much to see...

Shanghai - the city that never sleeps and the place where I lived the last six months. Shanghai is the most modern city in whole China and with its 16 million inhabitants incredible huge. I really was impressed by its dynamic. On this place you can really feel how fast things are changing in China.
Shanghai offers everything you can imagine...starting from whatever food you like (japanese, german, chinese, spanish, arabic..ect.), to relaxing massages over to huge shopping malls with Armani and Gucci, great & modern clubs...and of course not to forget various fake markets (which I -of course- never visited :)).
See blow some impressions from Shanghai.

Place to visit - the Bund...of course.



The view on Pudong and Pearl Jam Tower. If you ever go to Shanghai you have to visit Bar Rouge in the evenig (directly on the bund). It is really expensive and very chic, but the view over the bund at night is just incredible.


Close to the bund the famous Peace Hotel...also famous for its Jazz bar...which is unfortunately very touristic..


The people square...always very busy.


The historical Museum next to the peoples square.


The urban planning museum ...really worth to visit



Something you have to visit in Shanghai...the Yuyuan Garden.


Old Shanghai...which are in fact new buidlings...:)