Schleni on Tour

Zwei Tage lang war ich mit Laura, einer Niederländerin, auf einer „Kreuzfahrt“ auf einem kleinen Boot in der Ha Long Bucht und der Bái Tử Long Bucht :)
Ha Long Bay heißt übersetzt Bay of the descending Dragon. 🐉Unser vietnamesischer Guide hat uns erzählt, dass der Name der Bucht von einer Legende stammt. Sie besagt, dass eine Drachen Mutter zusammen mit ihren Kindern dem vietnamesischen Volk zur Hilfe gekommen sei, um dieses gegen Feinde zu beschützen, die das Land einnehmen wollten, kurz nachdem Vietnam seinen Ursprung genommen hat - also vor sehr langer Zeit. Die aus dem Meer ragenden Berge bzw. Mini-Inseln sollen demnach von den Drachen geformt worden sein, um das Volk vor weiteren Angriffen an der Küste zu beschützen. 🐉
Wir sind eine Nacht auf dem Boot geblieben und durch die Bucht getrieben. Die Landschaft war tatsächlich sehr beeindruckend :) wir konnten Kayak fahren, an mehreren Stränden auf den Mini-Inseln baden gehen, eine Höhle auf einer der Inseln angucken und abends auf dem Boot Tintenfische angeln und Karaoke singen - unser Guide hat leidenschaftlich fast alles alleine gesungen, was ziemlich unterhaltsam war😅
Morgens um 6:00 konnten wir außerdem Tai Chi auf dem Dach des Bootes ausprobieren - es hat zwar geregnet, war auf eine Art aber auch mystisch zwischen den wolkenverhangenen Inseln auf dem Boot zu treiben. Der Vietnamese, der die Choreografie vorgemacht hat, erzählte uns, dass er diese jeden Morgen um 6:00 und so in den Tag startet. Es soll bei Vietnamesen recht beliebt sein :)Read more

I enjoyed Batu Karas and the chilled vibe over there too much to leave after the three days that I actually intended to stay. Soooo more days to come with banana pancake mornings at Sadati homestay, driving around by motor bike (including aquaplaning) to see other beaches, one time with Jule on my back and one time on the backseat of Tupai my (turned out to be driving veery fast) surf teacher 🫣😄…trying to find ATMs that work and still surfing. Unfortunately some strong currents made me crash with my own board and unfortunately that one wasn‘t a softtop like at home. So my elbow had a collision with the board, which actually turned out to be worse for the board than for my elbow 😬
Dinner with some friendly remote working guys from New Zealand inspired me to search for remote jobs offered by german companies on the internet next morning - have to admit that I kind of like the thought of working in the morning and surfing in the afternoon 🤷🏼‍♀️😄
And when I planned to leave the next day for Yogyakarta (this time for real!) I began to feel sick. When the fever was rising more and more I was panicking because I thought it could be Dengue Fever which is quite common in the area. Sooo Ingrid took me to a „hospital“ near Batu Karas where they tested my blood for dengue fever (very interesting experience since they took the blood sample directly in the waiting hall - which was consisting of a few chairs next to the reception desk where I was sitting in between other sick locals😅… very sterile)

The dengue result was negative (😮‍💨) and I was told to take some pills and go to another hospital the next day to take a covid and a malaria test. At Home I remembered that I brought one covid test from Germany and tested myself (almost hoping it would be covid so it might not be malaria). My prayers were answered (😅😟) and so I had the positive result.
The Following nine days I lived in quarantine in my little hut in Sadati homestay luckily supported by Ingrid, Dadan and my German neighbor. So grateful for them putting food in front of my hut each day😍 my daily highlights: the call of the muezzin (why is it actually never a woman calling?!), listening to the thrilling volleyball match which took place (EVERY DAY) a few houses next to the homestay. The Indonesian live commentator seemed to be very talented, I couldn‘t see and understand anything but still had the feeling to be in the middle of the match the whole time 😂
also I tried to learn some of the Indonesian words in the meantime, but somehow I can only remember hati-hati (Attention!/ danger) sama sama (you’re welcome) and Teri makasi (thanks) 🤷🏼‍♀️
But then finally! yesterday I have been tested negative and am freeeeeeee now😊
and so now I am leaving Batu Karas finally to go to Yogyakarta😊Read more