Change of Plans

I know I promised great travel stories from Asia. But you all know that planes can change. Mine just did. I got a job offer in the Caribbean and I’m already at the airport.

The job will bring me as a Quality Manager Assistant on Mein Schiff 3. The cruise ship is part of Tui Cruises and in the Celebrity group. For 10 more weeks the ship will stay in the area before it crosses the Atlantic in order to conquer the Mediterranean Sea.

As this is my first mandate on a Ship there will be a good bunch of things to be shared regarding job, crew drill and everyday life. Of course there is also a lot of information being restricted but stay tuned for interesting insights and amazing pictures!

The next big thing

After four fruitful years with AccorHotels I’m facing the next big adventure. Travel plans should bring me to the Arabic peninsula, India and South-East Asia. You are invited to join this voyage by following this blog. Travel start will be the 28^th of January. Stay tuned :)

Not worth the Money

After the border crossing the train became dirtier. Malay train staff apparently didn’t really care about their vehicle. We eventually arrived on time in Butterworth from where I took the ferry to Penang. After a quick walk I reached my guest house and tried to check-in. The guy was friendly but without bringing Malaysian Ringit he didn’t get me into the room. So my next stop was the nearby mall in order to change some cash. The room itself was a bit awkward with a choice of furniture and an air-con randomly put in the room. The place could also be cleaner...

Penang is not as nice as expected. When keeping in mind that it is a UNESCO world heritage I would have expected more. The view from Penang Hill was nice but due to the ever horrible traffic in Malaysia I missed sunset. The guided walk on the next day for 8 US$ was definitely overpriced so I was happy to be off for Kuala Lumpur around noon next day. The bus travel was comfortable but delayed for an hour. I’m not even sure if the shady travel company had as many busses as shown on the schedule.

Arriving KL with its high rise building is a stoning event. But to finally reach the centre we had to beat the bad traffic. We were dropped in front of the central bus station and I made my way to the central market where I did my check-in at Marquee Guesthouse. Staff here is great and the location can’t be beaten. Whenever you’re in KL make this your base!

KL I explored on the Hop On bus but here again the only thing which came up to standard was the high price. Commentaries are barely made and only in English. On the open deck you normally don’t have any. But it brings you to the good places of KL and is convenient. Personally I liked the view from the independence monument and the visit of the Orchid Garden in the green belt. Next stop was KL Tower from which I walked to the Petronas Twin Towers. The KL landmark is just impressive and standing in front of it and looking up must fascinate everyone.

Later on I headed for the Kuala Lumpur Pub Crawl. The crawl is a nice thing to team some travellers up and to have a good night together even doe the drinks served for the 25 US$ where not that special. At a pub crawl in Barcelona or Amsterdam you definitely get more for your money.

The hangover next morning I enjoyed during my bus ride to Malaka. Malaka is the second Unesco World Heritage I visited in Malaysia. I have to admit that Malaka is definitely nicer than Penang. The ever present traffic jam of Malaysia is present here as well but it was not as bad as in KL or Penang. The pleasant old town I walked for about four hours before boarding the next bus which brought me to the Singapore boarder at Johor Bahru.

I planned to jump over the border and take the bus to the city of Singapore for dinner and some photos. Unfortunately the administration took more than two hours due to holyday season. I rarely saw so many people at one border. The queue for the bus was more than 400 meters! When finally arrived in the Woodlands I jumped into the next taxi which gladly brought me to the airport just in time to reach my flight. So this time I spent about one hour in Singapore…

The flight back home was as pleasant as the first flight. I would definitely recommend Singapore Airlines whenever traveling to Asia.

Land of Smiles

My flight to Bangkok was OK. Just the 40 years old baby who pushed constantly against my seat was a bit annoying. Immigration took some 20 minutes but the most challenging was to get transport to the city. As Dong Muang has no trains after gastro-intestinal, diseasesupposed to queue for about an hour for a taxi. Luckily an Asian girl teamed me up with her boyfriend and a German girl and we eventually found a taxi on the main road bringing us to the city for 350 Baht (around 11 US$). The drop of the German girl and the couple was rather easy. But unfortunately the driver had no idea where my hotel is. And instead of locking for it in the web we drove up and down in Bangkok’s night for another hour. Remember, I got up at 5am this day and now it was 1am and we were still searching for the hotel...
When finally arrived I had a decent check in and a good sleep at the ibis Bangkok Riverside. The next day I started with breakfast on the hotel terrace overlooking the Bangkok River. Whenever you’re in this city make sure this hotel is your base!
I left the hotel at around 11am for discovering the beauty of Bangkok. Just after crossing over by ferry I got offered a boat tour to a nearby floating market (not the famous one) for a 1000 Baht. I finally accepted for 400 Baht which was still overpriced. The boat trip was pleasant and the market a nice sight but nothing more. The good thing is that the tour ended at the Wat Pho and the royal palace. So I visited these sights next. While I was impressed by the visit of Wat Pho and the lying Buddah for 100 Baht I found the palace for 500 Baht overpriced. Further you have to queue for some sticky clothes (free) when not appropriately dressed for the palace.

After the visit a Tuktuk showed me the remaining sights (including two tailor shops) and finally dropped me at the main railway station. Here I bought my night train ticket to Malaysia and went on to visit China Town two blocks down the road. China Town was not as expected. While in many other cities China Town is a pedestrian area with narrow roads the main trough here is a road with heavy traffic.
Another Tuktuk brought me back to the hotel where I had a dip in the pool and great dinner. After nightfall I jumped on the shuttle boat and arrived at Riverside Asia. This is the all new entertainment district in the south of Bangkok and a visit is highly recommended.

The following morning I spent at the hotel pool gaining some power for the oncoming travel. In the afternoon I made my way to the shopping district and was amazed by the massive malls. Compared to them the Glatt shopping mall next to my home is a little market...
After a quick Motorcycle Taxi ride I reached Thon Buri railway station in the morning of the 25th November. Here another adventure started. At 7:50 I boarded the death railway train to Nam Tok. The 4th class train was more comfortable than expected and with a train fare of 100 Baht (3 US$) for a 5 hour ride relatively cheap. The ride was great passing first the rural Thailand and later climbed along the mountainous river area of Kanchanaburi. The highlight was of course the crossing of the Kwai Bridge.

We eventually arrived in Nam Tok with a delay of 70 minutes. Here I partied with some people to share transport to the Death Railway Memorial Museum at the Hell Fire pass. This is so far the best museum I have visited on this trip. A very good audio guide shows you the place and gives many background stories about the working conditions at that time. And all this for free!

Later on I was supposed to take a Cannu from the nearby Hintock Riverfcamp down to Resotel but the planning did not tie. So I travelled back to Resotel pier where I took the hotel boat to reach my night stay. At 55 US$ this was my most expensive stay on this trip and I must admit that the place was nice but a little run down and definitely overpriced. Further it was hard to reach and private transport in the Kanchanaburi area cost almost 5 times as much than in Bangkok. Here they know how to squeeze the money out of the tourist.

After a comfortable sleep I had ok breakfast at the hotel and visited the not so impressive and overpriced lava caves. The hotel boat took me back to the pier where I found transport back to the main road. Here I flagged down the public bus who took me the 80 Kilometres back to Kanchanaburi at a rate of 60 Baht. At Kanchanaburi I planned to visit the usual sights but bus station staff informed me that the last bus to Nakhon Pathom is leaving in 10 minutes. So I jumped into the drab old bus hoping it will not break down before reaching the train station of Nakhon Pathom. Both wheels finally exploded 1 km before the train station. Accordingly I can also tick Thai bus breakdown on my “do not experience” list.

In Nakhon Pathom I had 3 hours to spend. So I had good and cheap lunch (70 Baht), visited the famous Jedi and strolled along the market. A little after 16.11 I boarded the night train to Malaysia. In my opinion this is one of the most comfortable and peaceful ways of travelling. Trains in Thailand are clean and well cared. Make sure to have a lower bed as the upper one has no window.
Thailand was also the country I had my first travel infection. The first sights I felt during my last afternoon in Bangkok and had to fight them down with Neocitran. On the next day and night I developed diharoe making me confident to have a gastro-intestinal diseases and no other more severe infection. From experience this infection lasts about 24 hours which was again the case. So I’m fit again for Malaysia!

Beautiful Cambodia

We approached Phnom Penh with a delay of 4 hours during dusk. It is an amazing experience to see this metropolis coming closer after the long time in the jungle. Now I have an idea how the refugees felt in the beginning of the 20th century when reaching New York.

 

The passenger port is in the middle of the pleasant river front where one can find numerous pubs, bars and hotels. It is the face of the city and the counterpoint to the dark Khmer Rouge history of the 1970s. Here you also see a lot more cars than in Vietnam and one can feel that a lot of reconstruction money has been transferred to Cambodia in the last 40 years.

I stayed for two nights at Ma Mates Villa which was not easy to find. Further it didn’t have a real backpackers’ atmosphere and they overcharge for additional services like bus tickets. So make your choice when going to Phnom Penh.

The evening I spent with follow backpackers at the river front having Cambodian food and some beers.

For my only full day in the capital I rented a motorbike. A good decision as it provides the necessary flexibility and mobility to reach some of the remote sites like the killing fields but one has to get used to the adventurous traffic rules of South East Asia. Unfortunately I was stopped by Phnom Penh traffic police officer 27217. It proved that the Cambodian police here is corrupt as he directly asked for a 20 US$ bribe. After some negotiation he let me off for 10 US$ which is the worth of a light dinner for two in an average Cambodian restaurant.

 

My Moto safely brought me to the Choeung Ek Killing Fields, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the royal palace, the market and the main train station. While the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum were about the sad but very interesting and well presented history of Khmer Rouge the other sights reflected the current Cambodian life. The evening I enjoyed by having dinner was at a good Indian place near the passenger port followed by the very recommendable dance opera at the national museum.

 

 

In the morning of the 21st of November a Tuktuk picked me up and brought me to the bus agency. The bus was supposed to leave at 8:30am and should arrive 6h later. We finally arrived in Siem Reap at 3.30pm.

 

A Moto-Taxi costing 1.50 US$ transferred me the last 7 km to the Mantra Boutique Hotel. It is a nice and welcoming place close to the archaeological park of Angkor. The hotel is not primary a backpackers’ location as most rooms are rented on a monthly base. But service was great anyway.
For my Angkor visit I had to get up at 5am. For 2 US$ the hotel rented me a bicycle. Perfeclty in time at 6:09am I was at the pond inside Angkor Wat. But unfortunately it was cloudy and the sunrise experience limited. Breakfast was a 1 US$ ice Coffee (use negotiation skills!) next to the pond inside Angkor Wat. The great view is included!

  

 

I followed the rout of the small cycle towards Angkor Thom where I easily spent another 3 hours. The nice thing with the bicycle is that you are very mobile and can drive around Angkor Thom and the park following your preferences. Next bigger stop was Ta Keo which I liked very much as it was not overcrowded. Tour groups don’t stop here so I had a longer rest on this temple before playing Indiana Jones at Ta Prohm. On the way to Phnom Bakheng I detoured at Sras Srang and cycled around the artificial rectangular lake. 13 hours of cycling and 4 litters of water later I reached the summit of Phnom Bakheng. Here I and hundreds of other people were rewarded with a beautiful sunset. The way back to the hostel was rather pleasant as there was heavy traffic on the road and as a last two kilometres before reaching the hotel my bicycle broke down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a little fresh up and a good dinner at the hostel I was ready to take my Moto-Taxi to get to the airport. Here I boarded the 9:45pm AirAsia flight towards Bangkok.

Good morning Vietnam!

I know that this title is outdated. But on a later point you will see why I have chosen it anyway.

The reception at the New Saigon hostel was awesome. The hostel has Friendly staff and a glass of juice is served while the room is prepared. After a quick shower I was ready to explore the city. But as the city tour was limited I decided to change plans and visited the Chun Chi tunnels. These tunnels were used by the Vietcong during the Vietnam War. The tunnels were good fun to crawl around but also interesting and depressing. But the biggest fun for most tourists seemed to be the shooting range. Only our guide Ken (not relate with Barbie) seemed to hate it. For dinner Alessandro and I plus some other guys we met on the tour went to a great noodle soup shop in a corner of the back packers’ area followed by some beers.

The second day was devoted to the beauty of the city of Ho Chi Min. For about 6 US$ I booked into a group tour bringing me to all important sights the city provides. Our tour guide Casey was ok and the group quite funny. We started at the War Remnants Museum and got some insight of the cruel heritage the USA brought with Agent Orange. Next stop was the obligatory factory stop followed by the Thien Hau Temple and the quit funny Binh Tay Markets. The afternoon was devoted to a very interesting tour in the Reunification Palace. Then another fabric was squeezed in before we ended the tour with a photo stop at Notre Dame Cathedral and the General Post Office. The city hall was skipped due to time issues (remember the fabric visit) but it is under construction anyway. As I wanted to explore the area I left the group at the Post Office and finally went back to the backpackers’ area by Moto-Taxi.

After a quick fresh up I was ready for a cultural evening starting with the recommendable water puppet show and followed by a dinner cruise. The package came at around 30 US$ and one gets plenty of food (if not to say too much) for the money. I ended the day at the new business tower just next to the harbour area. The bar is at the 52^nd floor and prices are equally high. For a Mojito I paid 16 US$. But it was worth it!

On the next day I already made my pack and left HCMC for the Mekong Delta. The bus pick up worked well and was perfectly on time. But just after approaching the tour office Ms. Kim was sitting next to me asking if they can change me to the 3 day tour instead of the 2 day tour because of a problem with the boat. As my schedule is tight she told me to team me up with another tour company which was fine for me. So until 2 pm I was with the 3 day group watching some floating markets, candy making and rice paper production. After a short bicycle ride we reached a nice restaurant where we had good fish (for a little extra).

Then they putted me on a Moto-Taxi bringing me to the ferry port of Vinh Long. From there a different Moto-Taxi took me to a little restaurant in the middle of nowhere. After a short wait a minibus picked me up and drove me to the highway where they flagged down a big sleeper bus. The big bus drove me all the way to Chau Doc where they kicked me out in the outer skirt and almost drove away with my luggage. Very long 30 seconds latter a Moto-Taxi approaching and showed me an SMS containing something like my name. So I was convinced to go with him and he safely drove me to the floating hotel. At the hotel the receptionist informed me that my tour will continue next morning 7am. This was for me a very weird experience as everyone except me seemed to know what will happen except me. But I finally safely arrived and so far the promised program was fulfilled.

 

The floating hotel is a great choice. It has nice rooms and a good restaurant on top overlooking the river. So on the next morning I really had this good morning Vietnam experience with the whole country shining through my window. As promised the tour continued at 7am with a quick boat ride to a less interesting fish farm and the bit more interesting Cham community. The best thing here was the banana pancake sold by a local lady just before approaching the mosque. We continued whit a very dodgy guide towards the boarder. He collected our passports, the visa fee for Cambodia and his 5 US$ bounty. One can try not to pay the 5 US$ and to do it alone but as the Vietnamese side of the boarder is not really manned it can be challenging to get stamped out. But I definitely didn’t like the guy anymore when he did the trick with the old (false) 20 US$ bill. He admitted that somebody gave this to him (a lie from somebody who works with money every day) and he wants somebody to change it for a new one. He admitted that the bill can be used in Phnom Penh without problems. After admitting that it is a false bill he showed disappointment and half of the group donated 1 US$ to make up the false bill. Further he collected 5 US$ from people who booked the bus and not the ship from the boarder to Phnom Penh. Finally there was no bus.

 

Generally I must admit the all tours have worked out well. The promised program was generally fulfilled. Price wise it is recommendable to book on site and to shop around or negotiate as there is often room for 20 to 30% discount. The Vietnam Experience was great and I look forward to come back one day. But now I’m up for Cambodia...

South East Asia is calling!

Finally the day has come and I will board an A380 for the first time in my life!
Singapore Airlines' big bird is docked to Zurich’s dock E and awaits me to enter on the upper deck. Anyway, as long as you do not use the stairs you won't feel any difference to an international plane with only one deck. What comes really handy is the extra storage space in the box along the window seats.
The great service started with a Singapore Sling for aperitif. It was followed by a good meal and a nice digestive and always accompanied by a film from the wide entertainment selection.
The 12h passed quickly and I arrived at Changi Airport around 6am. The airport is amazingly big and you can walk for miles. As I had a rather short connection I directly approached Transfer E to get my onward boarding pass with Tigerair. But the girl denied and asked for 40 US$. A massive amount compared to the 65 US$ ticket price. So I quickly went trough immigration and queued at the regular check in. After 15 minutes I was ready to leaf Singapore again.
Boarding was somewhat chaotic but OK. In the plane I recognized to have lucky number 13, the emergency exit row. The service must have been great as I haven't been woken up once.
On arrival in HCMC (aka Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon) I had to get my visa. In order to be eligible you need to have an invitation letter which I bought from cheapvietnamvisa.net for 8 US$. Processing was a quick 5 minutes and in the order of application. Anyway, there were not so many people. Visa fee was 45 US$.
Probably one has to mention that you should definitely have your things ready (money, photo ...) as you will run into extra cost otherwise. If you need to change money there is one just after immigration with good rates (even for Swiss Franc).
After leaving the airport I walked to the domestic terminal where I took bus 156 to the centre. If you not sure where to go jump out at the small bus terminal. Or stay two stops more to be close to the backpacker area.
After this long travel I look forward to a great south East Asia trip including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and a bit of Singapore.