Istanbul is a great location for a conference! Pity, it was my first and probably last for a while. While posting, this is also a test of how to post using Nokia LifeBlog, which sucks.... So one should focus on the Istanbul part of the post and not on the layout of the post. Some tips for Istanbul: Sofitel hotel with a view over the Bosporus and the Blue Mosque, the Roxy (an excellent club with a acceptable line....) and enjoying Taxim!
04 March 2008 21:14:46 Here some pictures from my stay in Istanbul
07 March 2008 22:16:26 Here some pictures from my stay in Istanbul
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Saturday, 16 February 2008
Mekong Delta
No more luxury, goodbye Hyatt.......our trip to the Mekong Delta starts at 7:45 when we are picked up by our tour guide and driver. After picking up another couple who booked the same tour, we drive for two and a half hours to XXX. 
The driver and guide unload the bikes and assemble them. Our first real exercise is about to start.
We start cycling to a boat that will bring us to our first destination. After unloading the bikes from the boat, we start biking over small paths next to side rivers of parts of the Mekong. Lunch is served at a restaurant overlooking one of the 9 big splits (still a good mile wide) of the Mekong river. We are served grilled Elephant fish. The waitress shows us how to cut parts of the fish, put them on rice paper together with some herbs and fold them like a spring roll. With a little sauce, it is a great treat (not for Anna though, she gets the vegetables ;-).
After lunch, we cycle another 15 kilometers to the ferry, to be picked up at the other side by our little van. A short drive takes us to the rice paddies. Cycling here, you really understand why the Mekong Delta is known as Vietnam's rice barn. Although the terrace style rice fields in China and around Sapa were stunning, the flat landscape filled with rice paddies is also great.
For dinner, we end up in one of the most touristic places in town on advice from our tourguide.....not the best advice. But French fries fried in fish oil is something special you should taste at least once in your life (trust me, once is more than enough).
Next morning, we visit the floating market of XXX. Since it is hard to describe, I've put in a slide show with pictures of the market (and the rest of the Mekong...PicasaWeb does not allow me to take only a few pictures from an album in a slideshow). The morning ends with another 15 kilometer bicycle ride. However, I decide to do another 5 with the guide into town to see how much a man can sweat in the burning sun ( a lot).
A quick shower in the hotel and we leave for the bus station to say goodbye. Mark and Lou-Ann are brought back to Saigon with the van while we continue our trip to Rachia with a Mailingh suicide express minivan.
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Dalat and Saigon, Vietnam
Here comes the big tip: Never, ever take a bus from MT brothers/TM brothers/MT/TM cafe...we tried to ban the name of the company from our memories, but although we forgot the order of the letters T and M, we remember the letters. The bus trip from Nha Trang to Dalat was supposed to last 4 1/2 hours according to the lady who sold us the tickets. 
It turned out to be 9....It all started with the bus going slower and slower, the airco was turned off and the front door opened (while driving). After 5 hours, the bus stopped to get some water....on the engine! We continued with 20 km/h and after an hour one of the tires exploded. We continued our journey, while being overtaken by other buses, cars motorbikes and......bikes!
After arriving in Dalat, we decided to walk to our hotel: the Dreams hotel. When we arrived, a nice Dutch couple (with whom we had shared the bus, but who had taken a taxi) told us the hotel was full. They had the last room and two German girls just left the hotel disappointed. Almost beaten by lazy people taking a cab, we were so happy that I had called from the bus to make a reservation. For the first time, but at the right moment.
Dalat is supposed to be as French as Vietnam can be. Nice hills, a town build around a lake and trees like the French Alps. They even have a wannabe Eiffel tower! 
Different than in the North, you can even drink something on a terrace. 
Of course, as good French town, Dalat does not only have a catholic church, it has a cathedral!
After cruising Dalat for a day, we were ready for adventure! We rented a motorbike and started driving. First to a town way too far for two people on one bike :-(, than to some destinations more within reach of our limited speed.We started by cruising the area East of Dalat and exploring some waterfalls.
On the 12th (my birthday) we took the bus to Saigon for some well deserved luxury in the local Hyatt hotel and a good dinner in La Camargue, a 'real' French restaurant in Saigon. It really felt like a birthday: The Dreams hotel in Dalat gave me a bouquet of flowers, and after arriving in the Hyatt after our great dinner, a birthday cake was waiting for me!
Next day, the heat really got us. We did three things: we walked a little through the centre, got me a new backpack (the old one I got in Bangkok last year fell apart under the heavy weight of all our new clothing from Hoi An) and booked our trip to the Mekong Delta for the next day. So, no fancy, juicy Saigon stories, but a slideshow (the lazy blog).
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Buddhism in Nha Trang
Although Nha Trang is touristic, we had our most spiritual experience in exactly this place. On Wednesday we met a couple we met in Hoi An before. That day, they went with a guide to a Buddhist Monastery. Apparently it was a great experience, and the guide would take them back the next day (New Years day) in his own free time on a moto bike. They offered we could come along. So the next morning, we got our own bike and drove to their hotel. The guide had no problem with us coming along, so we set off for a 30 minute ride to a place we would never have found ourselves. 
A monastery in the mountains, with a beautiful waterfall next to it. Just before the entrance of the monastery, the graves of family members that had passed away were visited by numerous people. We passed by and parked our bike. After we walked the stairs, we went into a chamber were we shuffled a round box with wooden sticks. Each of these sticks had a number. After shuffling it for a while, one would come out. With this number we went to a monk who gave us a piece of paper (in Vietnamese). With this piece of paper we went to the next monk (yes, Buddhist monks know about red tape and paper shuffling too apparently!). 
Here, we waited in a room, and a nun (indeed, the monk was a nun) explained the paper and our future. My future was bright: I am a talented man who should fear no one and I would be rich soon. However, Anna would have to wait till after she turns 30.....
After hearing our future, we went for the ritual cleaning. We took a glass and put in in the cave (see picture) where it was filled with droplets falling from the ceiling. 
When the glass was full, we took it out and drank half of it. The other half we used to clean our face and arms. Now we had our future read to us and we were cleaned for a new year, ready to enjoy more of Vietnam!
Anna on the motorbike on our way back from the temple
Monday, 28 January 2008
Tuesday, 22 January 2008
Kunming, China
Kunming is a real city, maybe not as big as Hong Kong, but a city it is. From the bus station we took a cab to the Kunming Youth Hostel, Rutger told us to go. However, the hostel turned out to have moved. After a while we found the new location, but it was fully booked 
(that is: the cheap room were fully booked, the $20 rooms were available. However, the girl was so nice to call another option from the Lonely Planet guide ahead and ask if they had some available rooms which they had. However, when we turned up at the Kunming University Hotel, the girl at the counter told us that we were at the wrong place (we couldn't check the name since it was in Chinese ;-), so we headed out. 
On the street we saw a Western couple that turned out to be Dutch. We asked them if they knew where the hotel was (since the girl at the counter had not really been that helpful other than pointing at the door). They told us that it was the building we had just left, and that they had had the same experience that morning. The second the time we entered, the same girl all of a sudden helped us! Welcome to China!
Next morning, we decided to hook up with Joris and Mignon (the couple that had helped us secure the room) and find a way to travel to Vietnam. First we went to a travel agency to see whether we could book a flight to Hanoi. However, these turned out to be somewhat above our budget. Joris came up with the idea of renting a van together to travel to the Vietnamese Border while allowing us to visit the XXX rice fields. The Lonely Planet directed us to the office of Mr. Lee who could indeed arrange such a trip. For $170 we got a van, a driver, gas and toll paid for a nice scenic trip to Vietnam!However, that trip would not start until we had seen some of Kunming. The Blackpool park and some nice temples.
Sunday, 20 January 2008
Dali and the bustrips
The trip from Lijiang to Dali was actually easier than we expected. We took a cab to the station, and waited in a huge line. Although the girl at the counter didn't speak much English, she did understand Dali, and two fingers: we got two tickets to Dali! The bus (picture left) and trip in the bus, were great: the views and the experience of travelling in a local bus with Chinese (who might not have been so happy with those tall and large foreigners.
Leaving the bus, we were immediately 'welcomed' by a dozen taxi drivers (most who gave up after realizing that two Western tourists with bags, will probably not share a motor cab). One girl was the most happy insisting guest house driver and brought us to her family's guesthouse (see picture left). When we arrived, the family was decorating the place for the upcoming Chinese New Year.
Dali is just not Lijiang. It is nice, it has some cute buildings (including the wall and towers), but is just isn't as cute as Lijiang is.Tip: the Tibet cafe might donate part of the revenue to charity, better to just donate the 
money and forget the food: awful is not enough to describe the greasy food they serve. Better food was found at a place on the other side: you can see Anna smile and they even let me take a picture of the kitchen.
After one short day in Dali, we headed off to Kunming. This time in a larger bus. Although the Lonely Planet had advised to tale the train, the girl from the guesthouse explained us that the train takes around 10 hours, while the bus covers the distance in around five hours: an easy choice. Fortunately, the karaoke set remained unused and the movie was The Rock, with Chinese subtitles!
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