weather, water and other curiosities

At first, forget all about you heard about Vietnam. Now listen.
It's like Thailand, just cooler. Greener. Better coffee. And the people...
Right now I can't think of a story to tell, buuuut... some interesting things at least.

It's almost been half a year since we've left, and we're so used to the constant heat, sweating all day and night, that's it became annoying but bearable. Walking into a room with a/c set on 25°C feels like walking into a fridge. And watching people in coats, on tv for example, seems like the strangest thing ever. Maybe once a month we wear proper shoes, ie. something else than flip flops. We like to shower multiple times a day, and also the amount of water we drink has doubled since we've left Germany. Shame you  have to pay for water here...

the best water is the one to swim in! - in Phong Na National Park with Philipp and Giacomo

By now Klaus and me look like two well baked buns, and though we put sunscreen on or wear long clothes, we seem to get more and more tanned. Hello, skin cancer! Lots of people in South East Asia cover almost every inch of their body, wearing a hoody, mouth cover, long pants or socks and even gloves! We were told different reasons for that, one story says that Vietnamese or Thai people don't want to get tanned because dark means farm worker and white means rich. Another explanation could be that the cities are so dirty from the cars and motorbikes that you can get an abscess on your skin if it's not covered. Both Klaus and me have been fine so far, but also we've always preferred being away from big cities.

Ankor Wat, 38°C, sunshine, people in gloves

The times we've been sick can be counted on the fingers of one hand (fingers crossed!), and for me this was mostly because of the sun. Stupid me sometimes forgets about water, tsts. Klaus doesn't seem to like some of the food, but so far the light medicine has always been enough. Luckily we had no malaria, no viruses, nothing. Though we eat in the streets quite often (no meat or fish), and we had been drinking strange water in Nepal for example. On top of that we cuddle every dog and cat we can lay our hands on, as you may have noticed. 

you can imagine my amazement seeing guinea pigs next to the street! (Ho Chi Minh City)

Asian people like chili and garlic, so maybe we've upgraded to immune system 2.0, or we're just sweating it all out. Most likely it is just not as bad as may have learned Asia would be. Just because we grow up in a sterile world with rubber gloves and tiled kitchens doesn't mean it's safer than a little wok in the street. Comparing sanitary systems here and there, I came to the conclusion that the word "clean" is an elastic term. Usually I rather sleep in a bamboo hut on a farm than in a hostel, as long as I have a mosquito net, of course. (keyword: spiders! or scorpions. or ants. I don't like ants anymore!)

common thing to see inside a street restaurant: Vietnamese people sharing food

The best thing so far has been couch surfing, as we're doing it right in this moment. You may remember Petch, the cool Thai with the pool we stayed with in Bangkok, and Franzi and Rob who showed us the most amazing waterfall north of Chiang Mai, and of course Niko and his beautiful wife and baby in Phnom Phen, Cambodia. Now, since some days we've been lucky enough to be hosted by Paul and Jyldyz in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital. Not only do they have a huge house, where we have 2 rooms and one bathroom to ourselves AND a kitchen we can use as well. Most importantly they are interesting, having lived in so many different places in the world; and very friendly and generous, for hosting us also for longer than we'd asked for, making us feel like we're at home. When you're constantly on the road, traveling from one place to the next within days, it's a feeling you can't beat to arrive somewhere. Here we have time to rest, let the impressions sink in, and to sleep until noon, nobody cares. For us, couch surfing often is like visiting friends that you didn't know you have.

Ok, enough cheesy text. I need to shower and eat some cake before Jyldyz and me go out shopping. Yesterday I taught her how to bake, today she will help me find something to wear in Halong Bay. We're a really good symbiosis!
Now some music instead of more photos, transferring our travel impressions of the last 3 weeks...


1. Kodaline - Love Like This (the Irish Coldplay, seen on MTV Vietnam)
2. Bastille - Pompeii ("...if you close your eyes, does it feel like nothing changed at all?")
3. Daft Punk - Get Lucky (dancing in Siem Reap, Ohrwurm everywhere)
4. of Montreal - Wraith Pinned To The Mist (Hostel Memories, same same Siem Reap)
5. C2C - Down The Road (best to be heard in all those endless bus rides...)
6. The Strangles - Peaches (billiard, cigarettes and traveling on the mind)
7. Patsy Cline - Walking After Midnight (heard in Phong Na Farmstay, last guys standing before midnight)
8. Band Of Horses - The Funeral (backpacker's ohrwurm, in memory of Giaco & Phil, hehe)
9. Parov Stelar - Chambermaid Swing (because we can't get enough of him, swing on!)

by Lia

up and around

Yesterday morning
Peep. Peep. Peep.
The alarm! It's 5.50am, on a very important day. At 7am we have an interview at the US ambassy to get our visa. Yes, that's right. An interview. Because we don't have a return flight and they fear we'd stay in the country. Ha! I'm fully awake quickly, filled with excitement, but with the fearful one. What if...?
It's a long queue and one short terrifying moment when they first reject Klaus because his photo doesn't have the right size, and then me because mine is older than 6 months (ie 7 months). Not only because of all the annoyances before, including having to pay for that appointment, but because all kinds of bureaucracy suck!

Soundtrack: Die Aerzte: Das sind Dinge...

I feel the tears coming to my eyes, leave the building, get a new picture where I look like I was beaten up, and queue up again. Klaus, too. This time they don't find anything else, let us in... DONE!
"Pick up your passport on Tuesday."
Are you cereal??

the night before
We have the top seats in the bus, going from Chiang Mai back to Bangkok. Second floor, in the front, no seat belts, top starting positions right through the window in case we crash. The TV is running on full volume, I'm afraid my ears will burst. Thai people don't mind loud things, our German hosts even had the theory that either they have a huge tolerance or are a little deaf. We ask them to turn the TV down, they turn it off.
I watch the massive lanes filled up with cars as it's slowly getting dark, feeling an excitement coming up. The good one, accompanied by potential adventures, and just dreaming of them makes me happy.

Neil Young - Natural Beauty

The moment we get out the bus we're knocked down by the heavy heat and surround by eager taxi drivers. Nothing new, and so we make our way back to our Thai host Petch in the center of Bangkok. We can hear his swimming pool calling! It's a little bit like coming home, and the pizza we allow ourselves to eat supports that impression.

Gotye - Better than before

last night
Since Petch is a super-great host, he takes us out to the coolest restaurant in town, not in the guidebook. It's a Thai place full of Thai people and good food. Someone comes in and we say:
"Hey, are you an ultimate frisbee player?"
He is indeed. Also, he has some of our players from the Singapore team couchsurfing with him, and he wanted to show him the best restaurant in town. Haha. Conincidence, your name is "war ja klar!"

Sebastian Tellier - La Ritournelle

We chat a little with our teammates for the weekend, and then head off with Petch to do karaoke. There's a nice place in the MBK shopping center, where people could see us through glass windows, but hopefully didn't hear us. I don't know what you think, but we loved it!

Tattoo Colour - Kha Mhoo

The rain had stopped when we headed home at around midnight, the streets were lonely and wet, the temperatures bearable. We fell on the couch and talked for several hours about German and Thai culture, our travel plans and why getting visas sucks.

Tomorrow
We will get up early, try to catch the right bus to the fields, trying to remember all the names of our Singaporean teammates and play our first game against the team from Ho Chin Min City. You can guess how we feel... Super excited. The kind where you wish it was already tomorrow.

Ratatat - Beat 1

...and because I am so great, I already made the playlist




Enjoy!
PS: Miss you all!

Of Monsters And Men - Love love love

by Lia

music and people

da wir in Kathmandu nicht viel zu tun haben, sind wir schon wieder im Internet... Mir ist aufgefallen, dass zwei sehr wichtige Dinge fuer das Glueck auf unserer Reise bisher relativ unbeachtet blieben. Musik und Menschen. Das holen wir jetzt nach:

Enjoy the music, Nepal O.S.T.:


And now some of our friends:

the GREAT Lara (GER/ Windarra)

the incomparable Gansham (INDIA/ Windarra)

the memorable Moijtaba (INDIA/ Windarra)

sweet Bree (GB/ Windarra)

cute Mokscha (Sweden) and Sina (IRAN/ Windarra)

Carina (BRAZIL), Lara, Lia, Bree, Lydia (RUSSIA) and Maite (BRAZIL)

beautiful Namoh (PORTUGAL) and Mojib (INDIA)

funny Leela (GER/ Auroville) and her friend and Klaus

the incredible Massi, Sion and Laura