South - East Asia, the land of smiles

We decided that since this was a very special trip, we will make a special post on it. Instead of our usual blog entries (booooring...) we decided to let you explore SE Asia from our view on this map. (We hope you have large screens with high resolution.)



Obs. for the less computer nerds: you can click on the pushpins on the places we visited to experience them from our view (our camera's view anyway). Some of the routes we traveled (shown by lines) also contain entries. For some places you will need to zoom in close to see all pushpins!!! Best viewed in Full-Screen (press F11)

Olvasoinknak, akik szamitogepek teren kevesbe jartasok: a terkepen kulonbozo helysegekre vagy utvonalakra kattintva, fedezzetek fel Del-Kelet Azsiat a mi szemszogunkbol. Egyes kornyekeken, ahol sok kozeli pont van, kozeliteni kell hogy minden bejelolt pont latszodjek!!! Teljes kepernyon a legelvezetesebb (F11-et kell megnyomni)


ATTENTION! GAME: we have a game and we have a prize: the first person to comment (not email) on this post with the correct order of the pushpins on the map as we visited them, wins the prize. (which is a surprise present we brought home with us, and it's not the malaria).
SECOND GAME: the second game is hidden within the photos, the one to find it and answer it correctly (by posting a comment, no email) will win the second prize.

Have Fun.

BTW: view the pictures from Picasaweb.com and not .hu or .ro, etc. These do not have name tagging enabled yet :-(

Phi Phi Leh, Paradise on earth

This island, as this youtube video, based on the the movie "The Beach" which was filmed here, says: "Somewhere on this planet... there must exist... a place... an experience... an encounter... that changes everything... I found it...". Its true its a place that changes a lot, the way you feel, the way you look at nature...

Phi Phi Leh is really an amazing place. Due to the fact that its a national park it is uninhabited and thus somehow protected. The beaches are white, clean and undisturbed, all surrounded by huge limestone rocks which are so full of vegetation, that one can't help to ask: where to these plants grow from??? its all rock!!!



We hired a longtail boat from Phi Phi Don and visited this little island.
Our favorite was the little, less known romantic Pileh Bay, where we enjoyed almost perfect privacy and peace:



We did some snorkeling in Koh Samah, sinking into marine live that one would think only exists in an aquarium.

Then we headed for the most well known beach in the area, the Maya Bay, which was the setting for the above mentioned movie with Leo DiCaprio:



This is where the sunset began, which meant we had to leave, again a difficult thing to do :-(

All our pictures from Phi Phi Islands, Paradise on earth

Phi Phi Don

After a few rainy days, we arrived to the Phi-Phi Islands on a perfect sunny day with blue sky. The journey could only hint on what a beautiful place we where heading to. The ferry made a circle around Phi-Phi-Leh, the smaller of the two islands, before heading towards the harbor in Tonsay bay. This gave us the chance to take probably the best pictures we took during our entire trip.



After arriving we checked in into our room, with the most amazing view:



We felt like the luckiest people alive, not only did we arrive to paradise on earth, but it was the day of the Loy Khratong festival, when Thai people launch flower rafts on the water as a sign of gratefulness for the rainy season and to wash away all the harm they did. Our hotel staff was kind enough to offer all their guests a Krathong for us to float and we all celebrated this nice festival together. They, the hotel staff had a large, extremely elaborated Krathong, prepared with great care throughout the day:



A further element of this festival is the launching of the Khom Fai (the linked video is from Chiang Mai though where since they don't have a sea they only launch lanterns, but a lot of them), a hot air lantern. As soon as we got ready to launch one, a group of nice little local children gathered around us to help out. It didn't take long for our Khom Fai to rise beautifully up into the night sky.



Later in the evening, we enjoyed a spectacular fireshow on the beach before returning to our room for a well deserved sleep:



The next days we spent by enjoying the beach, the perfectly white sand and the "view":



We didn't leave though without climbing up the painstaking 300+ stairs and further steep trail up to the Phi Phi Viewpoint (in tropical heat, TWICE!!!: once for sunset and once for sunrise) which rewarded us with great panoramas over the narrow stretch of inhabited land between the two bays of Phi Phi Don Island:



The only bad part of our visit here was that we had to leave, which wasn't easy :-(
All our pictures from Phi Phi Islands, Paradise on earth

Phang Nga Bay

Probably 90% of the tourists traveling to the southern part of Thailand and Phuket island would sign up for a day-trip to Phang Nga Bay - and most of them would expect the James Bond island tho be the biggest attraction of the tour!



Well, the James Bond island is certainly the most famous spot in this bay, but it is just one of the hundreds of spectacular limestone cliffs raising out of the sea. We have found the scenery of the entire Phang Nga Bay very spectacular as we have been cruising between the limestone islands, most of them being covered by evergreen mangrove forests. Along the tour we also had the chance to explore some hidden coaslines and caves by paddling sea canoes:



Another famous spot of the bay is Koh Panyi, a muslim fishing village; here we had our lunch, as most of the tourists boats organize there lunch at one of the seafood restaurants of the floating village.
Our tour ended at the Suwankuha Temple, also known as the 'Monkey cave'. Zoli decided to feed the monkeys with bananas and approached them with a lot of enthusiasm. All of the sudden, he was surrounded by a group of even more enthusiastic monkeys determined to get a piece of the delicatesse in his hand. There were many of them coming from all over, even mother monkeys with little babies hanging on to them. It wasn’t long until Zoli dropped all the bananas and looked around with big scary eyes (saying "baszzatok meg") - as you can see on the picture below:



For all pics on the Phang Nga Bay, click here.

Elephant trekking and canoeing in Khao Sok N.P.

Although the weather wasn't the best, we had a great time on our trip to Khao Sok National Park. The Park itself is located north of Phuket island and it is really an amazing place, covered by rainforests and huge limestone mountains raising up in the air.
We have started to explore the jungle of Khao Sok by an elephant trekking tour and we must admit, that Tutu, our elephant did a great job: he was taking us deep into the rainforest, climbing uphill along the river until we reached one of the hundreds of waterfalls in Khao Sok. As a reward for this nice experience, we have offered some bananas to Tutu, which he happily accepted from our hands.



After having a traditional thai lunch in Khao Sok, we have been canoeing down the Sok river, passing limestone hills covered by dense tropical vegetation.



For more pics on our trip to Khao Sok N.P., click here.

Arrival to Phuket Island

After a week of sightseeing in SE ASIA and two, extremly hot days in Kuala Lumpur, we started to look forward very much to have some rest and spend the next day by just lying on a nice, sunny beach of Phuket Island. We have chosen to stay in Kata, which has a beautiful, but quiter and less crowded beach than, for instance, Patong (the most popular resort of Phuket island, famous for its nightlife).

In Kata we have found a friendly guest house owned by a Norvegian guy who, several years ago decided (just by traveling around the world) that he wished to spend the rest of his life in the Land of Smiles - so he sold everything he had in Norway and moved to Phuket Island. Now he owns a small guest house and a restaurant and he seems to be very happy with his life ...and he does everything to make his guests happy, too.

We enjoyed a lot the friedly atmosphere of the guest house - however, we did not spend too much time in Kata, as we decided to visit two national parks around Phuket: Khao Sok and Phang Nga Bay (see relating blog entries) on the following days.

From ASIA - THAILAND - Phuket & Krabi

All pics from Phuket & Area

Malaysians love tall things

We have arrived in KL at 5am, tired of what we thought would be a comfortable journey on the executive bus from Singapore (well, the bus was indeed comfortable, but we had to get off at each border to present our passports, fill in forms and sign papers... besides, the driver was driving way too fast, so by the time we would have felt asleep, we have already arrived to KL)

Having checked in to our hotel room, we had a well-needed nap, then we headed off to the KL Tower. Situated on the top of Bukit Nanas natural reserve, the Menara KL Tower with its 421 metres, is the fourth tallest communications tower in the world. We took a ride to the observation deck, where we enjoyed a magnificent 360 degree view of the Kuala Lumpur City below.

Later we headed to the Batu Caves, which is about 15 kms outside of KL. And here we started to realize that Malaysians must love tall things! An enormous statue of the Hindu deity - the tallest one in the world - guards the entrance of the huge 200m high Cave.



We have climbed the 272 painstaking steep steps up into the caves while monkeys met us along the way, hoping to get some food, or even just a can of soda or a bottle of water. .. no wonder they were so thirsty, as it was probably the hottest day of our entire journey to SE ASIA. Thus we have decided to refresh ourselves in the pool of our hotel - but not before making a short stop at Merdaka square and having a delicious lunch in Little India.

Later in the evening, when the outside temperature started to be bearable, we took a cab to the Petronas Twin Towers - the world's tallest buildings until 2004. In order to enjoy 'the best view of the Petronas Towers by night' - advised by our friend, Jimmy -, we went to the Skybar on the top floor of the Traders Hotel and ordered some cocktails. The view from here was breathtaking - a scenery which certainly makes Malaysia place itself on the map of must sees.

From ASIA - MALAYSIA- Kuala Lumpur

Next day we had to queue up early in the morning to get tickets for the Skybridge, linking the twin towers at the 42nd floor. Located at 170 meters above ground level, the Skybridge offers a great view of the city and the KLCC park below. However, we have been more astounded by Petronas when looking at the Twin Towers from below or from the Skybar at the Traders Hotel.

From ASIA - MALAYSIA- Kuala Lumpur

Before saying good-bye to KL and continuing our journey in SE ASIA, we have visited the beautiful Orchid Garden and KL Bird Park in the heart of the city.

From ASIA - MALAYSIA- Kuala Lumpur

Our album from Kuala Lumpur.

Sentosa Island Singapore

Sentosa is like a holiday destination itself, with the advantage that it is a 5 minute ride from Singapore downtown. It is beautifully landscaped island with white sand beaches:



palm trees (we found our friend, HZS's tree):


and the Southernmost Point in continental Asia



We also had the chance to view one of the most amazing sunsets:



We then had to leave Sentosa, but not before being spectators of the Sounds of the Sea Fire/ Lights and Water-Show:



All our pictures from Singapore

Singapore

aporeYou notice you arrived in "Switzerland of Asia" the minute you land at the Changi Airport. Clean, modern and for Christ's sake there is even a swimming pool in the terminal. The similarities do not end here though, Singapore also has 4 official languages, and four nationalities with completely different cultures coexist in peace. Furthermore, Singapore is also as expensive in Asia as Switzerland is in Europe. However, in certain aspects Singapore goes even further, like the prohibition of chewing gum, or the national sport: standing in line for something, for a taxi (which you may not just wave from the side of the road, there is a taxi stand for that), for an atm, or nicely one after the other for 50m for a public bus:


We started the day by visiting the Colonial Core with its nice colonial style buildings and walking down to Raffle's landing place by the Singapore river, where the city-state was founded.


We then walked by the Esplanade heading towards the Singapore flyer, the biggest observation wheel in the world:


From here we enjoyed wonderful view of the Marina Bay with the financial district in the background:


After the ride, we started to explore the different cultural districts of Singapore one-by one

- Arab street with its nice almost Istanbul-like atmosphere:


- Little India, full of arcades, silk shops and authentic Hindu temples:


- Chinatown, dominated by the scent of burning sticks and flowers from Buddhist temples:


Later in the evening we took a river cruise and along the way we got a closer look at the Merlion, the symbol of Singapore:


We then finished the night with an incredible Night Safari, where we had the chance to see the night life of a tropical jungle from close proximity.

The next day we took a frozen train ride to the Jurong bird park to let us surrounded by these wonderful birds:

Ancient City

Unfortunately our holiday in Thailand was not long enough to allow us to travel all over the country, so we decided to explore Bangkok's Ancient City, the world's biggest open-air theme park, which is like an open book of Thai history and architecture. Even the park itself is shaped to the outline of Thailand and hosts numerous reproductions of temples, stupas, monuments, statues and palaces from all over the country.

From ASIA - THAILAND - Ancient City

Inside the park we could also visit several traditional wooden houses and sample villages from all regions of Thailand, some of them even on water, recalling Thailand's past when daily life took place mainly along the canals:

From ASIA - THAILAND - Ancient City

This park, dedicated to preserve the cultural heritage of the country with its collection of famous ruins and sites, did a great job in giving us a glimpse of what Thailand used to look like. It seemed as if we did a journey throughout the entire Thai Kingdom in only a few hours.

Our album on the Ancient City.

Damnoen Saduak - Floating market

We got up early in the morning as we didn't want to miss the real trading without tourists flooding the market and turning it into Floating Tourists! At about 8 AM, when we arrived to Damnoen Saduak (the largest and most popular market of its kind, located at about 110 kms west of Bangkok), the floating market was quiet and peaceful and we seemed to be the only foreigners around.

From ASIA - THAILAND - Damnoen Saduak - Floating market

The market was just opening up, with local merchants loading up their wares onto their boats and gently paddling up and down the canals while offering a huge variety of fresh fruits, cooked meals, desserts and all sort of souvenirs.

Our driver maneuvered his boat along the different canals of the floating market, whereas we picked up some fresh coconut pancakes for breakfast.

By 9 AM the market started to be packed by tourists boats causing a real traffic jam. The entire place had become a chaotic mass of boats, color and traditions. It was a place to recall the timeless lifestyle of the native Thai people, wearing traditional straw hats and bargaining from their small wooden boats all they long.

From ASIA - THAILAND - Damnoen Saduak - Floating market

A little further away from the crowd of the marketplace, we could take a glimpse into the real lifestyle of the local people, living in wooden houses on stakes and doing their laundry by hand on their front porch…with local children going to school in the tidiest shirts and waving their hands to the tourists passing nearby:

From ASIA - THAILAND - Damnoen Saduak - Floating market

Thailand is called the 'Land of Smiles' and this visit to Damnoen Saduak really proved it. Our entire album on the floating market.

Ayutthaya - the ancient capital of Siam

The third-class train ride to Ayutthaya is an experience which has to be lived in Thailand. Besides the fact that its not quite the ICE of ICN from here, there is a lot that one can experience. A mix of people from the small children going to/ from school to the vendors selling their refreshments to the travelelrs, etc.

Once we have arrived, we hired a tuk-tuk driver to travel us around the main attractions.

Ayutthaya indeed is a place rich in Thai history as evidenced by its temples, Buddha statues and ruins of palaces standing as living proof of a great past, as you can see in our album below:

ASIA - THAILAND - Ayutthaya

Bangkok

First of all, arriving to Bangkok was already quite a special experience since just a few hours before we were still walking in snow. The 30+ degree heat came quite drastically. However the warm climate was definitely welcome.

What we expected: Bangkok is definitely a huge metropolis with everything that goes with that like noise, smell and questionable cleanliness. But what we experience was a whole lot more: a lot of friendly nice people, who manage to have the most beautiful smile on their face regardless of the poor conditions they live in. (we are not going to say as opposed to... so that we do not offend anyone). Bangkok has probably the two noisiest means of transportation ever invented: the longtail boat and the Tuk-Tuk. However, the city itself can change you instantly: when at home it might bother me that the guy next to me listens to his iPod to loud, in Bangkok the loudest noises, the strongest smells, the seemingly chaotic but extremely efficient means of transport, the suspiciously brown water, none of these could bother me, instead all form an avalanche of sensations which amaze you at every step. Its a wonderful city, its truly a place to enjoy.

We started exploring this great city right from its heart, that being the Chao Phraya river where everything once started.

From ASIA - THAILAND - Bangkok

We took an express boat down to Wat Arun, the temple of Dawn, visiting it however just before and during sunset.

It was nevertheless nice.



We than went to Chinatown, enjoying the best banana-pancake we had in SE Asia. A dinner in the famous (rather infamous) Khao San Road, the backpacker's headquarters of the universe, as LP calls it, completed the day.
The next day we started by visiting the Temple of the Reclining Buddha where we were amazed by the beauty of the Buddhist temples and by this 50m long golden Buddha statue.

From ASIA - THAILAND - Bangkok

Our plans of visiting the Grand Palace the same day were disrupted by the King (by merely being there) so we decided to go to Ayutthaya instead but not before taking some time to stop by the Wat Traimit housing the biggest massive Golden Buddha statue in Thailand.

*for Ayutthaya click 89km to the North.
After returning in the evening, we took a wonderful river cruise on the Chao Phraya river, enjoying the great views of Bangkok by night accompanied by the voice of Thai singers singing songs ranging from Yellow-submarine to Genghis Khan (for the sake of the Russian majority on the ship).

From ASIA - THAILAND - Bangkok

The third day we finally managed to visit the Royal Palace with the famous Wat Phra Kaew, the temple of Emerald Buddha. The sighs were all amazing and we enjoyed the visit a lot.

From ASIA - THAILAND - Bangkok

From here we took again a death defying Tuk-Tuk ride (The driver will surely go to heaven, see this joke) to Wat Szuthat and the Giant Swing. We also visited Loha Prasat and wat Ratchnatda from where we climbed up to the Golden Mount, the highest ground in Bangkok until the mid. 20th century.





After a new "bargain session" with a Tuk-Tuk driver, we headed for Siam square, which was probably the highest contrast one can experience without time-travel. From the deepest poverty that one could see when looking down one of the canals to probably the fanciest shopping mall we've seen (and we've been to King of Prussia as well). Also in Siam square we found the ultimate Bangkok sandwich: take a slice of 6-lane city road, place one slice of skytrain, on slice of elevated highway on it, top this with one more slice of skytrain tracks, take all this and squeeze it between two 10 story shopping malls, add some Christmas decorations and some fountains as dressing and there you have it.