Memmory trip to Laos :)

Hey friends, since I'm back in Europe now and have fast internet connection, I can finally share with you some images. Hope you are all fine and safe and happy and wish you a Merry Christmas already and who knows, maybe we will meet again in 2014? :)

So long!

Great stuff in Australia 2

Emerald. The largest Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting on an easel in the world!!
How cool is that! 

Great Barrier Reef :)

Went diving.

Great stuff in Australia

We've came across several great things in this great country. Here they are:

Great galah

Great prawn

Big merino

Great pineapple

Great koala

The Big Banana

And the biggest rocking horse in the world!

Australia

Waking up in the tent again. Weather is finally nice and warm, so we don't have to put every single thing from my backpack for the night. After half a year my clothes have finished and I walked Melbourne looking like a weirdo, wearing random pieces of clothing. Funnily enough, I didn't really stand out, because this city is full of space cadets, artists, pseudo artists who spray the streets and their own faces. But the city has a nice vibe, lots of cafes, outdoor eateries, galleries and street greenery. That's also the first city in Australia that really looks like a city, with enough density and street life. Most towns here are settlements with a few thousand inhabitants, wide street with lots of parking spaces and a few one storey buildings along it. 

We left Melbourne with a new wardrobe supplied by Pamela, so now I can show up in Sydney without shame and have a photo taken in front of the opera house. 

In the meantime some paragliding in Bright over the Mt Mystic and climb to the top of Mt Kosciuszko in full milk of clouds and still snowy fields on the top. 

Time is racing and it's already Movember, so grow your mustaches thick and long boys. Over. 

Indonesia from the train

After a week of wondering what are people seeing in Java, I finally get to see that too. Indonesian trains are so slow, one would have thought they are being pulled by a pair of Komodo dragons, but they have an advantage of breathtaking, hilly landscapes, shaped with juicy green rice paddies and other plantations behind the window. Above all that- volcanos, under - little straw and clay huts with red tiled roofs, yes tiled, not tin! 

It immediately changed my mood, that was rather grim after the whole morning spent in the buses on dusty roads. Roads! Always jammed, with no sidewalks, not even even side of the road to walk on, there is no walking in Indonesia, unless you want to risk your life. Airspace seems so much safer so we set off and done some paragliding. From above, where there is no noise and all the trash is not visible, everything looks so much better. Tea plantations with some sparse trees covering the hillsides, rice paddies in the valleys. Never thought people would be so happy to find me crushing (actually landing nicely but smashing some plants on the way) into their rice field. "Hello Mister! Come my home! Welcome!" Eh, falling from the sky... :) 

But apart from that Puncak fell a victim of its own beauty. Hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and ugly shacks quickly built up along the road to accommodate and facilitate the masses of Javanese and Arabic tourists are of bad style and obstruct the views, masses of waste left along the street or simply thrown in the stream pollute and stink. Prices are through the roof and quality disputable. Nights are still loud with traffic or morons who find it funny to shout out loud and ride motorbikes up and down the street with a great speed. 

Speed... Street... Few days ago, 500m from our hotel a bus with bad breaks smashed into the house on the bend of the road and took it with it into the stream several meters below. 20 dead, some more injured. Road jammed with spectators taking pics with phones etc, ambulances rushing up and down the road between the site and little hospital. 

Down the hill drama, above fun goes on. People keep flying, tandem business flourishes (6000 flights a year for one pilot!), there is joy, children playing. The Universe is a balanced place after all.

Two weeks ago

Singapore. Arrived last night around 11pm, fearing everything will be closed and we will have to spend a night on a bench. Couldn't be more wrong. If you want to wake up in a city that never sleeps, this will be the place. In little India the malls and restaurants were still open and full of people at 1am. And it's only the middle of the week... 

The country is an example of clockwork organization. Border crossing reminds an airport, bags and people are scanned to ensure there is no flow of illegal substances like e.g. chewing gums and that absolutely nothing can escape customs. Two Dutch guys we were traveling with watched their cheap, thai cigarettes being destroyed in front of their eyes. Not one smoke was allowed. We were surprisingly allowed with half emptied bottle of wine, the last one for a long time, as we were to realize soon. 

Singapore is a dream after months spent in Asia. A dream for eyes and nerves, not for the wallet. With progress prices jump up so one knows one pays the price for this little bit of comfort on the way. Metro goes often and on time, streets are paved and sidewalks are wide, parks are beautifully designed and architecture... That topic would require a separate entry. They've got some nice and interesting buildings! 

And oh! Cars stop to let pedestrians go! I missed it so much. And older or disabled citizens  can press their ID card to the street lights box for prolonged green when crossing. Little things! 

The sight of elegantly dressed people in fancy tops, skirts and dresses made me miss my summer wardrobe and feel like a scavenger ;) 

Beautiful campus, equipped with newest technology etc, would be a great place to study. 

Yet, apart for all the super sides of Singapore I missed the messy, arty part of culture. It's got big opera titles on the boards but little alternative concerts are hard to find, illegitimate street art - nonexistent. A few street musicians can be luckily spotted around the place. There's nothing cheap in Singapore but great Indian food. Thanks for that!