Dubai - not as good as they tell you

Thursday, 29 July 2010

Dubai - not as good as they tell you

here we are^^
after a nearly sleepless night I started early in the morning to Hamburg Airport. At the afternoon my plane departed towards Dubai.
Arrival in Dubai at midnight, 38°C :) After getting my visa and sending some mails, I got a little more sleep... but not very well :(
Metro to the city started running at 6am. There I met 2 Germans who just came back from a 1 month visit to the Phils after finishing their highschool.
We started walking through Deira... after a ride on the watertaxi we watched the spice souk, a heritage house, gold souk, parfume souk and then enjoyed some breakfast/lunch (for only 3 Drh, so Dubai can be cheap :) )
Unluckily this part of the old town, as well as the others, were not really old at all. I missed Arabic traditions :(
Then we visited "the palm" and it's biggest hotel "Atlantis", already about 45°C by that time^^... well, whenever you are in Dubai, dont do that :P You can get better quality holiday for cheapest price on Mallorca... a place for stupids to waste there money... sad somehow...
Most of new-Dubai is under construction anyways... and of those buildings which are finished, about one third is not in use. So stupid :S
Next on list was Burj Al Arab... well, just a photo which you can get better on internet...
Burj Khalifa I enjoyed... the buildings and park around it looked really great to me :D
Unluckily the opening hours of Jumeriha mosque are way too short... so I just could take a picture... and from outside it is like any other mosque.
At the end I enjoyed the waterfront of Bur Dubai... at least felt some flair of the city there....
All in all the city looks boring to me :(
Tonight I head on to Bangkok :D

Jumeirah Mosque

Crossing the river Deira/Bur Dubai

Burj Khalifa

waterfall in the mall of Burj Khalifa

Atlantis on the Palm

Dubai - city in a desert

Here we go again :D

Sunday, 25 July 2010

Here we go again :D

Well time is up again, a new journey is about to start :)
This time I will keep the report in English. So internationals can follow, and the lazy Germans may practice their English a little :P hehehe


Ok... on Wednesday, 28th of July I start my next Journey.
29th of July stopover in Dubai, 30th of July arrival in Bangkok. After some days of organizing an apartment I will fly to Medan and meet with Benjamin (many of you know him) :D
Then we get on a 7 weeks route from Sumatra over Java and Bali to Lombok.
Afterwards Bangkok is calling me for a 6 weeks internship.
Later on 6th of December I will be back to Germany :P

This time a map for Indonesia is available again (as it was for my travel to Malaysia last year) ;)

So I will try my best to deliver some stories and pictures here from time to time :) probably Benni will write some texts too... so be sure to check the page now and then :D

Stockholm - freezing^^

Saturday, 27 March 2010

Stockholm - freezing^^

Just finished my trip through Thailand, Laos and Cambodia and right away back on the road (or the plane^^).
We (Tobias+Felicitas, Robin, Danny and I... as well as 5 of my fellow students) went to Stockholm by plane, on 23.03. :) Well, I had just come back from SouthEastAsia and was happy that in Germany we already had 15-20°C... it felt like going from summer back to spring... but suddenly we arrived in Stockholm and just before leaving the plane, Tobias told me: "You know it is minus degree here? Looking forward to it, huh?"... I: "What? I thought it is quite same temperature like home, I've got no jacket!"... :D unlucky me... it was -5 to +5°C during our days in Stockholm :P Tobias organized a couchsurfing host for himself, Felicitas and me. Robin and Danny slept in a hostel. Our host, Jonas, was very generous, unluckily he didn't have much time... so he simply left the key of his flat to us.
As we arrived after midnight we were super lucky that Jonas picked us up^^
On the next morning we met up with Robin and Danny at Tyska Kyrkan (church) and started exploring the city :D A charming place with very friendly people and kinda everyone speaks english, luck us :) First we walked around Gamla Stan seeing the Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) and Slottskyrkan. Then we went along the coast to the Vasamuseet (museum) to see the old ship wreck and reasons why it sunk^^ Then we went to see the Radshuset. Anyways, by foot is one of the best ways to explore a city :D On the evening we had a drink and met with Jonas and some of his friends.
The next day (25.03.) we visited the modern museum (moderna museet), where we met my fellow students and the norcid museum (nordiska museet). Then we went through the park behind and saw a cemetery. Later in the evening we met up with my fellow students and had a drink south of Gamla Stan. The next day we got back home^^

freezing, but charming as well :)

Royal Palace

Fun with statues and Radshuset

wicked^^

Nice place, luckily noone can spot I was in Asia just before^^

Nordic museum

Die letzten Tage und die Heimreise

Sunday, 21 March 2010

Die letzten Tage und die Heimreise

Es ging auf nach Richtung Bangkok, chillen auf der Khao San... noch etwas shopping und sightseeing am letzten Tag.

Zurück in der Heimat haben mich dann unsere Jungen Schafe begrüst :)

Koh Chang

Koh Chang

Nach Koh Totang ging es bei Krong Koh Kong über die Grenze... dann ab auf Koh Chang in Thailand.
Mir wurde empfohlen den am wenigsten touristischen Strand Long Beach aufzusuchen... aber im Vergleich zu Koh Totang war hier Massentourismus^^
Nach kurzer Zeit, durch super Gesellschaft, fand ich das Plätzchen aber ebenfalls super :)

Sihanoukville und dessen Inseln

Tuesday, 9 March 2010

Sihanoukville und dessen Inseln

Angekommen in Sihanoukville habe ich mir einen gemuetlichen Nachmittag gegoennt und eine Fahrt auf die Insel Koh Rong fuer den naechsten Tag inkl. 2 Tauchgaengen organisiert.
Das Tauchen bei Koh Rong war leider nix besonderes. Aber die Insel ist der absolute Traum... super weisser Sand, der quietscht, wenn man darauf laeuft. Ins Wasser geht es super flach hinein... tolles tuerkises Wasser. Nur ein kleines Fischerdorf... der Rest des Strandes leer...
Aber: alles voller Sandfliegen :( deshalb bin ich den naechsten Nachmittag wieder weg... man konnte das Paradies nicht geniessen :(

 Mit einem oesterreichichen Paar bin ich am ruhigen Ortress Beach in Sihanoukville untergekommen... der Strand war nicht ganz so paradiesich, aber dennoch toll.

 In der folgenden Nacht haben wir eine local Faehre nach Koh Sdach genommen, wo uns der Freund eines Freundes abgeholt und nach Koh Totang gebracht hat...
Sehr abenteuerliche Reise... Nachts im Hafendorf auf die Faehre gewartet, nach der Ueberfahrt am Pier geschlafen, bevor wir abeholt wurden. Dafuer wartete auf uns eine kleine Robinson Crouso Insel :) 12 Einwohner + 8 Touristen.

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh

In Phnom Penh angekommen bin ich wie die meisten Backpacker in der Lakeside untergekommen... ein kleines Drogenverseuchtes Viertel. Von Marihuana ueber Opium, Heroin und Kokain bis zu Nutten war alles im Angebot. Fande ich doch etwas arg... aber einen guten Abend Joint konnte man sich ja wenigstens goennen.
Bereits am ersten Abend bin ich das Stadtzentrum einmal abgelaufen... und wenn man sich von den Touristengebieten fern haelt, so ist es eine wunderschoene Stadt. Sonnenuntergang am Fluss beobachtet und zurueck ins Guesthouse...
Am naechsten Morgen den wunderschoenen Koenigspalast angeschaut. Die Silberne Pagoda, ausgelegt mit 5 Tonnen Silberplatten, beherbergt die Schaetze der Koenigsfamilie. Recht beeindruckend fuer so ein armes Land. Danach folgten die traurigen KillingFields der Khmer Rouge Zeit... Nazis im Kleinformat mit etwas mehr Brutalitaet. Am zeitigen Nachmittag ging es zum russischen Markt, der weniger beeindruckend als der weniger touristische Alte Markt im Zentrum war.
Aber da ich im Urlaub gerne laufe, ging es zu Fuss in die Stadt zurueck. Zum Sonnenuntergang wieder am Flussufer habe ich einen Israeli getroffen... nach tollen Unterhaltungen haben wir uns auf dem Rueckweg zum Guesthouse die "gefaehrlichen Viertel" der Stadt angeschaut. Als in Krafmaga unterrichteter israelischer Soldat hatte er keine Bedenken... Aber Zuhaelter mit 1,65m sind auch nicht angsteinfloesend :)
Am naechsten Morgen fuehrte mich meine Reise an die Kueste nach Sihanoukville.