Bernhard in Vietnam Laos Kambodscha und Thailand

Bangkok

2009-02-27T21:38:00.009+07:00

hi!
last days i did some shopping tour in bangkok with my "Tilak"
i visited also the sister and brothers from her family in nonthuburi, but the girls family is from sakon.
me, oil's sister with her baby ekeu and oil

the boy from her sister learning thai alphabet

they invited me for a thai papaya salat pet pet (very spicy). a loy mak mak!
i can eat every thai food now - i enjoyed it a lot the spicy thai food.

she prefer more the tuktuks, i dont like tuktuks (bababobo and peng mak)
i think taxi and bts is the best way for transport in bangkok.
the buses are only interesting for some routes

praying to buddha at wat chai chana songkhram near khaosan road

wai (thai greeting)

oil and bernhard
(pom ja ow kun tam mia!)

yesterday at 23:55 local time i did a 12 hrs flight with aua from bangkok to vienna.

oebb (2 hrs and a half from vienna to losenstein)

in bangkok i had 35°C
in losenstein i have 5°C
in 22 days we will get spring so i am looking forward to do some nice summersports again! ok perhaps some snowkiting at lipno or some nice skitours would be also great... we will see.

thats it! i feel now sad! it was such a nice trip with a lot of nice experiences and many new friendships... i met a lot of interesting people. the buddhism religion has fascinated me alot because the people are so poor but they feel really satisfied happy and have compassion, freedom, faith, confidence balance and complete mental and spiritual freedom.
i think we western people can learn a lot from the buddhism. ok reincarnation is not my thing but i like the art of happiness!
i had some problems with my mountainaccident and with the scamming in bangkok. but nevertheless i am very happy to have visited southeastasia!
i am sure i will do a new trip like this one in the future, perhaps serengeti? whats your suggestions?

so i hope i can meet you in the near future for some drinks at cafe treff or somewhere else.
thx for reading and writing some comments to my blog - i hope it was interesting and funny to see some pictures.
cya bernhard

Bangkok

2009-02-25T10:31:00.007+07:00

yesterday i visited the pantip plaza - thats the main IT&Electronic-shopping center of thailand.
http://www.pantipnews.com/
wowww...
you get here every software for only about 3 euro...
what software do you like - just send me an email until this evening! up to you.
inside pantip plaza

5 floors full of electronic stuff for electronic nerds like for instance HP (you know!)

thats in geizhals for 15000bht (333euro)

this is in geizhals for 27675bht (615euro)
so comparing is here very good.
not everything is cheaper than in europe, but i think bargaining is here also possible...

what software do you need?

pantip plaza

Pattaya

2009-02-23T17:21:00.007+07:00

sawadee krap!
yesterday i drove in the night with the motorbike through pattaya, there are alot of beerbars with neon lights -many many. you can imagine alot of farangs with young thai girls!
this day i drove to the phra tamnak hill and to the rama IX memorial park.
there you have a nice view over the city of pattaya.
then i visited the jomtien beach for relaxing.

view from my room at the surf beach hotel at jomtien beach
there is a windsurf championship from 3-5. april 2009

pattaya beach

king rama IX

iced coffee is very important in the morning at 26 degrees centigrade

its coffeetime!

pom rag kun

beach at a hotel near pattaya beach

big buddha of pattaya

pattaya

2009-02-22T19:54:00.010+07:00

last day i took the nightbus to bangkok and went straight ahead to pattaya for looking the kitesurf beach... and there is wind - wowww! you will not believe this.
Pattaya, named after the strong winds which come from the South West at the beginning of every rainy season. Pattaya, up until 40 years ago was just a sleepy fishing village, the Vietnam war changed this. America sent soldiers to build the air base at U Tapao (40km sout of Pattaya) and many of these took to spending their leisure time and money in Pattaya.
nevertheless i am now not able to go to the sea ( there is a possibility to buy a glue and glue the wound, but i decided to take more care about my healthiness - wow i will get clever and clever....)
at the evening i visited the sanctuary of truth.

the kitebeach is in the south of the jomtien beach!
the kite rental is about 3000bht for one day...

shit happens!

http://www.bluelagoonpattaya.com/

http://www.iwindsurf.asia/

lagoon kitesurfing

thats the highest building made of wood of the world (100m heigh and 100m wide)

the sanctuary of truth!!

Patong

2009-02-21T14:12:00.006+07:00

this day i visited the wat chat luang and drove to the phrom thep cape for sunset.

wat chad luang

wat chat luang with mrs. oil

phrom thep cape

aaaaaaaaa

bangla road in pattong

no money no honey??

bangla area map

bangla road

ladyboy (Katoi)

Patong

2009-02-19T22:30:00.006+07:00

yesterday i went with two austrian guys to the north of patong!
there is a very nice quit lagoon!
not many farangs like in patong beach.
you can imagine the destroying of the tsunami on 26.12.2004....
this day i did only relaxing at paradise beach

lagoon

paradise beach near patong

shopping center in patong

attention please
the bangla rd is the main bar road at patong!
a must to visit...

Patong Phuket Island

2009-02-16T19:17:00.007+07:00

hi!
i stay now in patong on phuket island.
thats very commercial but there are alot of nice beaches here.
i went with another austrian guy to big buddha (45m high)
and this day i went to the phuket aquarium and to katon beach for relaxing.
very nice. i think i will stay here a little bit longer for finishing my holiday...
cya

for better underwater pictures have a look to
http://www.unterwasserfoto.at

mussel

crab

murane

dragonfish

stonefish

Beaches around Patong (Phuket)

2009-02-14T20:00:00.006+07:00

hi!
this day i went with my rented motorbike to different beaches near patong (phuket island).

thats my hotel in phuket town
thats the oldest hotel in phuket from 1929.
perhaps you remember it from film "the beach"
where are the leonardo di caprio fans? :))

nice beach
on hotel guest can use this beach

that was my private beach near paradise beach

paradise beach

here i got 1hr thaimassage (very good)

happy valentines day!!

mirror

patong beach

patong beach

Phuket

2009-02-13T21:01:00.006+07:00

hi
this day i went with the ferry from ko phi phi to phuket.
i extended my visa for thailand at the immigration office for 7 days (1900bht) and after that i went to the bangkok hospital in phuket for checking my wound. the doctor said to me it is infected and therefore he opened the wound again and cleaned it and i got 11 stitches with a local narcosis.... aaaaah
shit happens again.
the problem is the humidity at the islands and that on the front foot there is a lot of tension (force) you know!
perhaps it was too early to bring out the stitches in bangkok. now i feel pain but i dont take pain killers.... i like to have pain :)))
then i drove with my rented motorbike to the south of the phuket peninsula.

wat chalong

at the rawai beach there i found this kitescool. 1hr costs 1500 bht for kite gear renting... the wind was about 5-6bft but from west( here offshore)
so i drove to the otherside and woilaaa: i saw one kitesurfer and very good onshore wind.
on monday i ask my doctor that i want to do kitesurfing....

taem prom thep

crazy beginners

modelplane flying in nai harn beach

kitesurfing at karon beach

sunset at karon beach.
after that i drove to patpong, that is a very touristic city near phuket. nothing for me... so i went back to phuket town.

Koh Phi Phi

2009-02-12T20:42:00.003+07:00

this day was my relaxing day.
i only read a book and had a oil massage.
thats life...

Ko Phi Phi

2009-02-11T19:18:00.011+07:00

hi
this day i drove with the boat from krabi to ko phi phi.
in the afternoon i did a boatrip through the islands here.
first ko phi phi ley and then koh phi phi and at least bamboo island.
the sunset was not so beautiful but the tour was amazing....

my mother is the best

the cave where the workers are collecting the birds eggs (very expensive)

the beach!!!

attacking monkey

relax chair

monkey like coca cola too.

woww

daydreaming

he is tired

thats the way aha aha i like it...

bamboo island

bamboo island - very white sand beach and very quiet place too

Rai Leh and Tonsai Beach

2009-02-10T18:28:00.003+07:00

hi!
this day i did a one day trip with the boat from krabi to rai leh island!
wow thats the best island so far.
nevertheless there a lot of farangs in rai leh east and west but at ton sai thats the place to be.
relaxing, activities like climbing slacklining, kayaking and diving possible.
i did only some boulders and some slacklines (18m)
i cannot do climbing because the humidity is too high and the danger of getting an infection is very high too. so i do better nothing like hard sport...

viewpoint to ton sai beach

blue lagoon at

rai leh

climbing such stalagtites is very wonderful

u can imagine it needs one year for 1cm for a stalagtite...

thats at phra nang beach

there is one hotel (rooms for night from 23000 to 54000 bht) more than 1100 euro....

behind is a water highline

superb limestone climbing at ton sai beach

The mighty Thaiwand Wall with Phra Nang Beach on the right

basejump rock

the the slackline was no problem for me

Krabi and Phang Nga

2009-02-10T07:57:00.005+07:00

last day i arrived with the nightbus from bangkok to krabi and drove with my rented motorbike from krabi to phang nga.
thats a very scenic road through jungle and a lot of karst and caves country....
i did a boatstour in phang nga to james bond island...

mangrove sump

james bond island

bangkok

2009-02-08T17:05:00.003+07:00

hi!
yesterday i went shopping to the chatuchak weekend market.
thats the largest market in thailand and according wikipedia the largest of the world.
it covers over 35 acres (1.13 km²) and contains upwards of 5,000 stalls. It is estimated that the market receives between 200,000 and 300,000 visitors each day.
it is a must to do i think.
after shopping i went to a barber for cutting my hair. muhaa there is also a head massage included...
after that i did a 2 hrs. thaimassage for 350bht (7.8 euro) that was a really great experience.

more handsome? :))

i hope that some windsurfer like felix will not kill me.....

scamming solution day

2009-02-06T15:56:00.006+07:00

this day i got the jewellery from austria and so i went to the minstry of commerce in nontuburi and had a negotiation with erawan lapidary.
finally i got 90% refund back. i am now happy and more clever....
the tourist police offered me 80% refund and i have to pay the tourist police 20000bht (corruption)
the austrian embassy said to me only they cannot do anything, i should work with the tourist police....
and they gave me some "good" lawyer, but with not a big chance to win..

this was the place where i got my money after some negotiations back.

Center of Complaints room 20301
Internal Trade Building
Ministry of Commerce
44/100 Nonthaburi 1 Rd.
Muang district
Nonthaburi 11000
Tel. 025475356

btw: Thailand is according to the Global Corruption Report 2008 from Transparency International on 80th place, with Brasilia, Burkina Faso, Marokko and Saudi Arabia. the list is about 180 countries, bottom of the table is Myanmar (178) and Somalia (180).

http://www.der-farang.com/?article=2009/02/ruffert
http://www.der-farang.com/index.php?article=2009/03/ruffert

Bangkok

2009-02-06T15:50:00.009+07:00

some pics from last day.

a lot of people are
living in bangkok on the street and do begging.

wat suthat

wat suthat

wat suthat

grand palace at dusk

night view from bayoke 2 tower

Temple in bangkok

2009-02-04T08:18:00.002+07:00

king monk

that is the highest monk of thailand...

Scamming in Bangkok

2009-02-04T08:15:00.007+07:00

hi!
last friday after a long night i wanted to go to visit the grand palace. on the way near the royal hotel a men told me the grand palace is now closed because of the buddha day. it will get open at 2pm, now the monks are praying...
(Thai people are not normally so forward. However, please give them the benefit of the doubt unless, of course, they give you the codeword "Big Buddha" or "Lucky Buddha". This is then their admission of guilt.)
he said he is an electrical engineer in the royal hotel and he showed me some nice temples at the map where i should go with the tukuk for only 20 bht because this day the government pay the tuktuk drivers...
yesterday at the tv there was an advertise and this morning i could read it in the newspaper he told me...
i said ok lets do it. why not.
then the tuktukdriver brought me to see the big buddha and the lucky buddha.
then i was brought to the tat office (government controlled travel agency) when you buy a ticket the tuktuk driver get some coupons for gasoline(200 bht).
then he brought me to a tailor made shop and then to the temple wat buranasari.
there a men told me i have to wait because the monks are praying.
i sat down and another tourist sat down and he told me he is on a short holiday trip for buying some jewellery and then he will sell it at home for the double price.
after some minutes a guy from germany ame to us and he told us he is also doing this every year.... what a bitch.
this is the last day for promotion (-20 percent)
so i decided lets go to this company and have a look.
then the tuktuk driver brought me to the erwawan lapidary.
there i bought a jewellery fake set for good money.
then they helped me with their taxidriver to get to the postoffice to sent it with ems and insurance back home.
then the taxidriver brought me to a temple far outside (50km away)
i think that is because you should not be able to do googling and stop the ems package before sending to overseas.... you know.
on the next day in the morning i did some internet search and put only erawan lapidary at the google search engine..... what a fuck...
so i decided to go to the touris police... they tried to catch the ems package before sending it back to austria, but i was send at 23:55 with the austrian airway to vienna already.
hmmmm.
ok so my mother has to send it back to the tourist police at kaosan road.
thats why i am waiting here in bangkok, also because of my feet, last day the cut mt stitches...
the wound looks not really good, not good for climbing or diving....
now i think also the police is corrupted too.
some policestation get 2 million bht per month from these companies. i think they earn a lot of money from the naive tourists.

thats why i decided to go to the ministry of commerce. http://www.dit.go.th/diteng/

The buyer need to make complaint at this office:
Center of Complaints room 20301
Internal Trade Building Ministry of Commerce
44/100 Nonthaburi 1 Rd. Muang district
Nonthaburi 11000
Tel. 025475356

because i was naive and get scammed by the jewellery mafia would like to write this article that you won't have these problems in future.
now i get to know that the tourist police is corrupted too for sure. everyone here is courrupted. woww.

http://www.bangkokscams.com/

this is the wat brunasari near the sanam luang.
where a men from signapur said to me he is on a short holiday trip to buy jewellery and to sell it at home with the double price.

this is the fucking german bitch who told me he flews every year to thailand for buying some jewellery and to sell it at home for at least the double price...
at this temple i met before him a tourist from signapour (he is a thai guy) and said me the same story...
btw: this photo i have done 2 days later at an undercover photo shooting tour. i gave this picture the tourist police. they will wait for more actions, then they bring him into prison for at least 5 years.... i will get the picture when he is sitting in the jail.

Difference of Hotels in Bangkok

2009-02-04T08:02:00.003+07:00

harn guesthouse in kaosan road
250bht (5.5 euro)

bajoke suite hotel

38th floor

2600bht (58 euro)

what a nice breakfast at 43 th floor with sunrise over the skyscrapers....

bangkok

2009-02-01T14:16:00.005+07:00

this sunday i went to the phra thi nang viman mek.
thats a very old teak house for king rama V.

this tuktuk driver said

tuktuk driving is highlife.

he did very fast sharp curves. i did enjoy it...

skyscrapers

robotor building

banana plantage in the city :))

Bangkok

2009-01-31T20:21:00.007+07:00

diesen blogeintrag schreibe ich in deutsch da ich nicht eingesperrt werden will, wie ein australier der gegen die thailaendische regierung im internet gepostet hat.ok!am abend fand eine oeffentliche kundgebung der roten partei (peoples party) im sanam luang in bgk statt. der ganze platz war voll von armen leuten (eher bauern und arbeiter). alle leute hatten ein rotes tshirt mit dem aufdruck truth today an. die leute sind sich noch sehr uneinig, was demokratie wirklich heissen und bringen soll. ein us student namens eric wird mir eine umfrage zukommen lassen, die er entwickelt hat und an soviele leute wie moeglich bei dieser demonstration ausgeben wird und teilnehmen lassen will.
die gelbe partei ist die regierende partei die vom militaer unterstuetzt wird, aber von den normalen leuten finanziert wird. dort sind aber eher die reichen wie banker , firmenbosse und hohe beamte angesiedelt.
i hoab mit einign leitn gsprochn, fue woin den kini nimma geschweige vom jetzign preimmienista.
gestern zb. bin ich 50km nach bangkok zurueck gefahren am highway und das ist ein teil der koenigsfamilie in die andere richtung ausgefahren. am ganzen highway waren links und rechts alle 300m polizisten. und gar kein auto sicher 10km zu sehen. dann kam das geschwader....alle anderen autos mussten sicher eine halbe stunde warten. warum das wohl notwendig ist, ist eine gute frage....
red in the land
(sozis ins land einikreun...)

i glaub es wird nu etwas dauern, aber vielleicht in zwoa bis drei joa kans moegli sein....! ois guate!

i hoab mi dann ausn staub gmoacht, da i nur eric und sonst keinen anderen falang gsehn hoab...

bangkok

2009-01-31T20:10:00.009+07:00

hello!
this day i went to the royal palace and to the wat phra kaeo and to some other places...

the famous emmerald buddha
(here it is forbidden to take pictures)

this property bought a guy for 2000 mill. bht.(45 mill euro) at the nana place. i think in some years he has doubled the price.....

seen at the famous patpong street

Bangkok

2009-01-30T20:09:00.005+07:00

hi!
last night i slept very less....
i was very lucky because on this friday (only once time a year) the governement is paying to the tuktukdrivers the salary to bring the tourists to the buddha temples.
i visited the custom tailor made shop (image collection)
i got into buying frenzy.... now i like bangkok city - really nice food and lot of interesting places and very good nightlife too

big buddha
i bought there 3 birds and gave them the freedom, before i praid for some wish...

lucky buddha

at the custom tailor made office

biggest buddha

600 years old

golden buddha

Bangkok

2009-01-29T19:13:00.007+07:00

wow.
bangkok is a small village...
7million people in the city and more then 10million included the outside suburbs...
the roads are smelling from the stinky tuktuks. but after one day you get used to it :))
i visited the jim tompson house musem and then the baiyoke tower 2 with 304m the highest building in thailand. it has 85 floors.

these piles were needed (309 pcs.and 65m depth)

The concrete jungle of central Bangkok

khaosan road - i stay there at the eastern end at the harn guesthouse. (250bht)

Bangkok

2009-01-29T11:57:00.002+07:00

sawadie khrap!
yesterday i took the nighttrain from chiang mai to bangkok. travelling with the train was very nice - i slept very good in the 2nd class.
in the morning there was a big rush hour so the best transport is a motorbike not a tuktuk or a taxi...
i went to the hua chiev hospital but the doctor said to me its better to wait one more week for bringing out the stitches. http://hc-hospital.com
then i went to the canon customer service at the ma bun khrong center for cleaning my eos20d ccd chip because i am not possible to clean the chip (very dirty).
i tried the new canon eos5d mark2 (it costs 2100euro only the body)
it has a fully format sensor and it is possible to do full hd videos.
the price in geizhals is 2155euro - so its not much cheaper to but the camera in bangkok...

bangkok is a very clean nonsmoker city(2000 bht fee for throwing away some rubbish and more for smoking inside an official building or restaurant) but the air is very bad especially in the rushhour driving on a tuktuk...
kop khun khrap.
pop gan mai.

Chiang Mai

2009-01-28T15:32:00.003+07:00

this day i went to wat chedi luang - 700 years old temple.
there i did a chat with the monk - very interesting!

Chiang Mai

2009-01-28T09:58:00.004+07:00

yesterday night there was the happy new year party for the chinese people in china town.
they had a ms. chiang mai china town contest...

wat chedi luang

Chiang Mai to Pai

2009-01-27T18:47:00.010+07:00

saweidi krap!
this day i drove with a rented supermoto kawasaki 250 d-tracker to pai and back to chiang mai. thats about 260k's two way.
there were 2 passes up to 1250m above sealevel with a lot of sharp curves in a wonderful autumn forest surrounded. great.
sometimes the back wheel was a little bit sliding - muhaaa
and the thailand car drivers doest many times come to my side - so it was very important to drive defensive :))) ok when needed.
in pai i saw a lot of muslims.

thats the geyser on the way to pai. 90 to 99C

mineral pool - but nothing for me (foot)

thats in a lisu village near pai ( they were playing a game while celebrating their happy new year (chinese happy new year)

pai

i had there a very good lunch for 1 euro

chiang mai 122km

a lot of nice autumns colors

but i did not do many photos because riding the bike was better - i enjoyed it a lot.

i put the pics on the other side because in thailand it is needed to drive on the other side - you know - like in new zealand...

Chiang Mai

2009-01-26T19:00:00.013+07:00

good evening.
wow this was a great day in chiang mai.
in the morning a 74 years old sielor (taxi) driver(mr. chairat aphichai) asked me to do a tour with him. i said ok lets do it...
first i visited a orchid garden then a snake farm with a good show then a place where you can touch tiger - http://www.tigerkingdom.com/ and in the afternoon i visited the nice show from maesa elephant camp. http://www.maesaelephantcamp.com/ - great!!
in the evening i visited the Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep very famous buddhist place and some other temples in city.

king cobra

i got the poison...

you have one hour after you were beaten - then you die - easy isn't?

kiss me darling

this snake can jump 1 meter ( not posion)

that was a really amazing feeling to touch sucha tiger

my 74 years old guide mr. chairat aphichai

the elephants makes nice sounds - trrroeee

bathing in the river

they were so cute

mouth organ playing elephants

goal!!!

really nice artists! great! i couldn't believe this before.

elephant massage

bananas - yummy

thats the paintings - great!

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep

chiang mai

Chiang Mai

2009-01-26T09:07:00.005+07:00

good morning.
last day i took a flight from luang prabang to chiang mai.
now i am in thailand.
you can imagine that was a big shock for me because before i was in a quit village in laos now i am in a busy town in thailand. something really different. but friendly people there and i was happy to see the sunday nightmarket - with a lot of people!!
i went also to the biggest gem jewelry store - prices from 40 to 7000 euro.

i cleaned my wound this morning by myself.

so on 26 and 27.1. there is the happy new year from china and vietnam..... big party.

Muang Ngoi

2009-01-24T19:01:00.010+07:00

last day i did a boattour to sop jam village.thats the next village to the north on the nam ou river
from muang ngoi.

buffalo is thirsty

stalagtites outside on a overhanging rock

the vietnamese grow the rice
the cambodian looks when the rice grow
and the lao people listen while the rice grow.

bamboo is a very universal material

sop jam village
on the on side a lot of coconut and on the other side a nice rock for climbing... and a lot of weaving women

i was invited at mr sons house for dinner. mr mang is his brothers and he is working as a guide in nong kiao for tiger trail.
he will get married in odumxai at 27.2.2009

thats the nice rock behind - it must be good for climbing!!

mr son is planing

heading back to muang ngoi

that was in the morning when a lot of people from the villages came to the morning market ( thats every 10 days)

noodle soup ( for 1 euor for tourists, the local people pay the half)

thats mr mang - he invited me to his wedding party in oudumxai at 27.2.2009

what a big tomb (from one tree)

the sound is great!!

Muang Ngoi

2009-01-24T18:30:00.006+07:00

after luang prabang i went to nong kiao with the bus and then with the boat to muang ngoi. thats like an island, because you can only go there with the boat...
it is well surrounded with a lot of mountains and a river and some ricefields and some caves and waterfall and a guesthouse for 0.5euro per night (but thats outside from muang ngoi) i paid for one bungalow with a hammock at the river 2 euro per night. thats ok too :))
so relaxing chilling is the main programm because of my foot.
electricity only from 18:00 to 22:00.

i need someone woh carry my luggage (1000kip - thats 10 cent)

the mainstreet in muang ngoi

a cluster bomb unit (cbu) there were up to 650 bomblets (blu 26) inside
in the second indochina war the usa threw 2 millions tons of bombs to laos

the children play petanque

morning

the first bierlao at 10:00 in the morning

they did a party - wowww

lazy dogs too - i would eat this dog - it looks great....

making the 'material' for ricebandnoodles

rate for dinner (yummy)

Luang Prabang

2009-01-22T07:48:00.006+07:00

sunsetboattour at the mekong river

this silver necklace costs here 150000 kip (15 euro)
who want to get a present?

night market in luang prabang

alms givings to the monks

Nong Kiao - the day after my mountain accident

2009-01-21T16:04:00.007+07:00

this day i went to the hospital in nong kiao with a friendly local people - he is a rice farmer called mang.
yesterday the men at my guesthouse told me there is no hospital. i should go to luang prabang!
lazy idiots!!

thats the map where i get into troubles...

thats a sitting place at my guesthouse ( thats a bomb)

thomas a funny guy from switzerland with the lady from the restaurant in the morning for having breakfast.

the local hospital in nong kiao - what a strange feeling in middle of the jungle

7 stitches without narcosis

the op costs me 6.5 euro :))
excluded the tip :))

that was the bus (old chinese model :)) from nong kiao to luang prabang. because in nong kiao there was no atm and in nam bak the internet in the bank didnt work since one work so i had to go to luang prabang - fuck...
it is not easy here the travelling in the northern countryside part of laos. woww
so i do this day some organisation for going to thailand and checking some cash...
so i have booked now a flight on 25.1 to chiang mai to thailand. lets see. first i thought i could visit the vietnamese happy new year and do some kitesurfing in mui ne again with chongo but now i changed my plans....
i hope i will get not an infection!!!

Nong Kiao

2009-01-20T18:48:00.006+07:00

this day i drove with the local bus to nong kiao.
then i tried to walk bymyself upon a mountain.
you can see the result downwards... fuck.

a streetmarket at the bus top where you also can get some rates

nong kiao

i trekked bymyself up a jungle mountain

with no path - very hard

very sharp limestone rocks

suddenly i slided down.... thats the result

nobody could help me.

i was lucky to bring my own medicine

here we are

Muang Sing

2009-01-19T19:19:00.014+07:00

the last day i visited the seuadeang village and the houayhow village (akhadeejor)
there i drove uphill as far as possible and then i shifted my mtb on a jungle ridge. what a phantastic view.
then i met some hmong people from the kokmouang village they were carrying some wood for the house building to their village. they wondered how i got up here so heigh :))
they gave me an advice to should stop here and hike uphill. this i have done :))
it was very nice trekking their.
then i drove back the jungle path downhill. while the hmong people where carrying the wood downwards. they even could remember me at the market at the next days :))
funny. so i think in the next years you will see some minority people doing mtb in the jungle :))
ok - perhaps in the next 20 years...
lets see.
then i went to the sopeemai village.
the people there invited me for some green tea and then i paid one beer lao, then i visited their house and they cooked for me.
that was the first time i ate a dog. it was really good with a lot of rice and roasted chilli - wonderful dinner. i also have to smoke with them and drink alot of rice whisky (lao lao)
they wanted that i slept there but i felt a little bit scared, so i drove in the dusk drunk home for more then one hour:))
i guesthouse is a guesthouse. and some guide told me i was lucky that nothing happend to me, because there are many drug addiced people (opium) they need some money.....
seuadeang village

stg to make sacrifices to the nature ghosts

one people from the houayhoy village making some basket

the hmong (white) were amazed to see a crazy guy with a mtb here in the mountains and the national park ...

downhill action

another action...

akho village boy

sacrifice place

this people changed the tshirt to a nice white shirt when i asked them to take a picture.

sopeekau village (akha)

really dirty children

drinking tea

the family who invited me for dinner

that was the appetizer for the dog

old men drinking with me beerlao

cooking in the house

inside the house there were many chicken and dogs... very dirty and dusty.

last picture when i left the village

that is the washing place and it is about 1km away from the village

akha info

map

market in muang sing

songtheo

here you can get ganja or opium for 2 euro

Muang Sing

2009-01-19T18:54:00.003+07:00

Hi!
The last days i went to the northern region of laos to muang sing.
what a nice place for mtb and trekking and visiting hill tribes. no internet there, i counted only 5 tourists the first days here. wonderful!
i drove by myself with a rented mtb to the xieng thung stupa (very famous for the lue people) there i met some friendly monk who managed to left myanmar 2 years ago where 2500 monks were killed.
then i visited sobemaiis village (thats an akha village)
then some other villages and i drove to the chinese border, so i was with one foot in china :))
the sunset i spent at an very interseting akha villaged called namdaedmai near the chinese border.
i brought some soap for washing and some fruit for the children. it was very great to play with them.
it was very peaceful on the one hand and on the other:
some woman was threaten me to hit me with a piece of wood, because she thought i would pay some money for a picture, but thats i wouldn't do. i showed before her my camera and smiled so i thought it must be ok to take a picture....

what a long and hard work

weaving

this woman wanted to hit me with a piece of wood

Luang Prabang - Vats

2009-01-16T15:04:00.007+07:00

this day i visited the royal museum and many vats in luang prabang. it is a world heritage area
in the evening i will go with the bus to luang namtha to the north (thats on the border china and myanmar and laos)

the mekong river

cobra snake liquer

the lao people are so lazy
wowwwww

now i have no proble, but when you arrived here from europe you will get crazy :))

stupa

handcrafts from hmong people

Luang Prabang

2009-01-16T08:23:00.005+07:00

this morning i visited the alm givings to the monks

Luang Prabang

2009-01-15T21:18:00.005+07:00

this day i drove with a minibus from vang vieng to luang prabang

Vang Vieng

2009-01-14T19:25:00.010+07:00

good evening!
this day i did a 80km long mountainbike tour to the west from vang vieng.
i visited some caves.
tham poukham cave and lom cave.
i drove to the mountain phou hok leftwards, there a young farmer showed me his 'house' and invited me for some fruits for lunch...
v.v. is a really nice place. but too much drugs here - everything you can get happy or special.
that means cookies or drinks with ganja or opium or magic mushrooms - no problem.
sunset at vang vieng

sunrise in vang vieng

big hall in tham poukham cave

blue lagoone near tham poukham cave

view at a mountain top which was very difficult to climb ( 4+ in jungle degree)

i had to cross kneedeep water oftentimes

sticky rice for lunch

this young farmer invited me for some fruits

some beetles to eat - yummy

without my help they were not possible to drive uphill

working in a rice field

roofing shingle production

roofing shingle

good support

tubing in vang vieng - the last bar

lom cave near the tubing

1.5km long and very big halls and lots of stalagmites and stalagtites

fire!!!

sunset

Vientiane

2009-01-12T18:42:00.007+07:00

good evening
last night i took the sleeping bus from paxxe to vientiane.
i did some seightseeing here....
Pha That Luang (the national symbol for laos), Patuxai and the buddha park.Compared to the hectic, bustling capitals in other southeast asia countries, Vientiane's deliciously relaxing atmosphere makes it feel like the small town it is.
Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan) is a bizarre outdoor collection of huge concrete sculptures of Buddhist and Hindu deities and real and imaginary beasts

patuxai

lucy my guide

lucy and the buddha park - really strange

sunset at mekong river in vientiane

at the other side there is thailand

my medicine for trots

i got this in don det because some kitchen there are cooking with water from the mekong river and these causes diarrhea

acute diarrhea is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide.

patuxai

vat sisaket

Bolaven Plataeu

2009-01-11T18:33:00.010+07:00

hello
this day i did a guided tour tour the bolaven plataeu!
This area of highlands situated at an altitude of between 1000m and 1300m is suitable for temperate crops. The French introduced the production of coffee, high quality stock of both arabica and robusta strains. The plateau is crossed by several rivers and has many scenic waterfalls.

coffee beans (arabica)

tea plantation

tools for making a tea

tad fane (120m height - the heighest of laos)

tad yeuang

market in paxxong

thats a skin from a buffalo (ggod for eating after cooking)

she sells a fish soup.... oh my god - it looks terrible

a coffin

red beans for sun drying (about 20 days)

smoking in a village (annemist)

a big stihl chainsaw

village from a alak and katu ehtnic minority

she was asking me for some soap to wash..

other woman asked me to get a medicine for fever

weaving girls

the girls upon 12 gett married and pregnant

they smoke alot

fiesta

here i bought some souvenir

musican

thats a hole where the boys can touch the girls in the night

this is a hut where young couples can stay together before marriage

laven minority people

bamboo bridge

tad pha souam

a laos group

that was our group

Paxxe

2009-01-10T19:37:00.005+07:00

this morning i went from the island don det to paxxe to the north (200km)
here this area is well known for their coffee plantages.
in the night it was really cold now -wow so i have to wear long trousers and longshirts.
thats for me strange since 7 weeks only short clothes needed
latte style lao
franz - you can imagine the nice coffee time with croissants and warm temperatures:))

here in paxxe on the mekong river it must be possible to do kitesurfing if you bring your own gear. there is here since 6 days strong wind every day (about 5 bft)

praying with the monks in vat long at 6pm

4000 islands

2009-01-10T19:26:00.003+07:00

sabaidiiii!
this night i felt bad in my stomach and therefore i had to go to toilet for barfing.
in the morning someone told me that some kitchen here use the water from the mekong river. shittt...
ok so my stomach getting better.

unfortunately to cloudy for a good sunset

relaxing and chilling on don det