Southeast Asia
November 05, 2002 to February 16, 2003

Southeast Asia - that's the most exciting region for me in the world! Not only it offers sunshine all-year-round, but also more than interesting cultures... Cultures that are so different compared to the European or, to be more precise, Austrian culture. Every encounter with a local person is another exciting moment; another lesson of humanity.
People have different attitudes to their lives; have different habits and different ways of handling things. A journey to those countries means to be ready to experience whole new things, to be ready to put aside your own customs, habits and thinking patterns and immerse into Southeast Asian peculiarities :-)
Moreover, you can find everything there: from endless beaches to high mountains, from white water rafting to jungle trekking, from visiting temples or wats to strolling around bustling markets, ... the exotic smells are an experience for all your senses and the humid heat and air pollution is a challenge for your body and health. Well, there have to be some disadvantages, huh? Otherwise it would be too perfect to be true :-)

This journey was a long-cherished dream of mine - after finishing my studies in October 2002, it finally became reality. Although sometimes it looked like that it wouldn't work out, my boyfriend Oli and I eventually left Vienna by plane via Paris to Hong Kong on November 4. The adventure started... and my dream came true!

All in all, we spent 3.5 months in Southeast Asia and travelled to 6 different countries. Our first destination on our trip was...

• Hong Kong; where we admired the breathtaking view down to the illuminated skyline of Hong Kong; where we met up with a friend of mine from India; and where I celebrated my 25^th brithday. Later we travelled on to...
• The Philippines, my 7,107 islands-paradise in the South China and Philippine Sea; where I met up with a lot of friends from my last Philippines adventure in 2000; where I learned how to dive; and where I got to know that paradise still exists - Palawan, the "Last Frontier", where you can still enjoy breathtaking nature and lonesome beaches. End of December we flew over to...
• Singapore. A city, where Singaporeans, Indians, Malays, Chinese and a lot of other cultures live peacefully together and create an exciting mix; and where one can sample every (Asian) cuisine without spending a lot of money. On the last day of the "old" year 2002 we left for...
• Malaysia; where we stood atop the highest building in the world; and where we met up with another friend of mine from India. A week later we left for...
• Thailand; where we enjoyed the islands and the underwater world; but where we also saw, what harm mass tourism can do. On January 18 we travelled on to...
• Cambodia; where we admired the stunning temples of Angkor; where we came across very friendly people; and where we learned more about the horrible past of this poor country. With a deep admiration for this country we left again for...
• Thailand; where we explored thoroughly the northern part and also Bangkok; where we didn't taste fried bugs, grasshoppers and scorpions; and where we ended our journey.

During our journey I kept an Online Diary: on the one hand, it helped me to reflect on things I had experienced and on the other hand, to keep you - family, friends, other fellow travellers, general visitors of my homepage and all the others - informed what we were upto, what we were doing, what we were experiencing, etc. and to give you the possibility of accompanying us on our trip, at least virtually.
Check it out!