Shanghai…finally…I’m back again in this city I’ve lived in for 2,5 years. I’ve longed to see Shanghai again. And now that I’m back I have the odd feeling of not having been away too long. Maybe that’s due to wrong expectations: Friends said Shanghai has changed dramatically. So I had expected not to recognize much any longer. But in my eyes it’s not that bad: While there definitely is a lot of changes these changes are “under the hood” (actually mostly underground ;)). True…there are certainly some new buildings, but I don’t see them as a radical change: There had been a lot of high rises. And now there are a few more. Continue reading Shanghai cleaned up
New Zealand
In December 2009 / January 2010 we are in a rental car trip through New Zealand. Given our tight itinerary I know for sure that I won’t be able to keep this web site up-to-date with daily blog articles. But I might be able to post some photos on Flickr every once in while. Check out my New Zealand album on Flickr!
Today’s Lesson: Check out Flickr!
Categories: ReiseNew Zealand
Originally Created: 01/02/2010 09:49:40 AM
Last Edited: 01/02/2010
Vientian – Capital City
Along Laos’ highways are milestones marking the distance to the next places. The actual place may vary–the next village, or a major place further afar. When trying to make out the distance to Vientiane while on the bus I could never find “Vientiane” on the milestones…until one time we hat slowed down sufficiently for me to read one of the milestones saying “Capital City”. Apparently this is what Laos would like visitors to think of it. Reminds me of old pre-reunification signposts on Eastern Germany’s highways, reading “Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR”.
We’ve planned two and a half days in Vientiane, fairly many given our generally tight schedule–it’s about as much as we had in Hanoi. We thought it would be worth it. It wasn’t. But there are good coffee bars… Continue reading Vientian – Capital City
Phonsavan – Plain of Jars
We knew it before arrival: Phonsavan is not the most beautiful of cities. We couldn’t know that it would be so boring that the first thing we looked for was the fastest way out…and even accepted yet another night bus, simply because the next flight out of this incarnation of boredom was two days later only. In our original itinerary Phonsavan occupied three days: One day of bus travel from Luang Prabang to get there (that still took place on 30-AUG), one day for visiting the Plain of Jars (the main and for most tourists only reason you get here at all, 31-AUG), and one day to travel on to Vientiane. With the night bus option we could save that travel day and made it instead a travel night. Continue reading Phonsavan – Plain of Jars
Luang Prabang – Tat Kuang Si
Tat Kuang Si are a series of beautyful waterfalls 32km away from Luang Prabang. Tours are offered everywhere, and even any Tuk Tuk could bring you there. We had opted for a tour. Probably not so bad a deed as we where transported by van instead of tuk tuk. And it was an hour’s drive. Continue reading Luang Prabang – Tat Kuang Si
Luang Prabang – Alms Giving, Pac Ou Caves, Mega-Wat
Alms Giving
The Alms Giving procession is part of Luang Prabang’s daily life (and actually of the life anywhere in buddhist countries). Here it is so photogenic and attracts tourists every day due to the many wats around, housing so many monks. And the monks live off alms given to them every morning by the locals. The locals kneel on the pavement along the streets (staying lower than the monks!), the monks pass by and open their jars for the locals to put in some food (mostly a small ball of sticky rice, but also cookies or whatever they feel like giving). Continue reading Luang Prabang – Alms Giving, Pac Ou Caves, Mega-Wat
Luang Prabang – Our Gate To Laos – Wat-Wanderung
Laos – Considered the country with the lowest development level in Southeast Asia. We haven’t been there before. And even before starting to travel we felt like we would go there only once. I write these lines in a western style cafe in Vientiane on our last day, only waiting away the time until our flight to Bangkok starts. And by now we know for sure: It was worth coming here! But once might indeed be enough for quite some time. And now we also know: Good that we started in Luang Prabang, which was by far the most beautiful, most tranquil, most inspiring place in Laos of those three that we have seen. I have select 24 photos just for the first day of walking around the town (calling it “city” would be slightly exaggerated). And there are two more days in Luang Prabang to come… Continue reading Luang Prabang – Our Gate To Laos – Wat-Wanderung
Halong Bay
Halong Bay…that sounds like the vacation within the vacation that we–despite “only” two weeks on the road so far–believed we deserved already. In the pursuit of seeing as much as possible our schedules are sometimes a bit cramped and time for relaxation scarce. So we opted for a comparably highly priced version of this two-days-one-night trip to Halong Bay, that you can buy at any other street corner in Hanoi. The boat itself kept its promises. But unfortunately the service did not live up to the same standards. Continue reading Halong Bay
Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh, Shopping, Temple of Literature
Hanoi still and by far is the more relaxing, and by the same time more lively city, compared to Saigon. I thought so two years ago, when it was the first city of Vietnam I saw. And I still think so this year, when it is actually the last. And so thinks Nina. Continue reading Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh, Shopping, Temple of Literature
Hoa Lu & Something around Perfume Pagoda
It was mainly for convenience and time saving reasons that we treated ourselves to a private driver today, so that we could combine the 60+ kilometer distance from Ninh Binh to Hanoi with two sightseeing stops on the way. Hoa Lu was not that far away from the hotel. Could be done by bike, but was in the same direction. And the Perfume Pagoda is something I had left out two years ago as I was running out of time. It receives top reviews, but is a site far out of Hanoi (or any other major city, that is), so it is a day tour from anywhere anyway. Continue reading Hoa Lu & Something around Perfume Pagoda