Bangkok
27–30 jan. 2025, Thailand ⋅ 🌙 25 °C
Since we did not want to sit in a bus for an entire day, we chose to take a plane from Phnom Penh to Bangkok. In Thailand, we were welcomed by a taxi driver who brought us from the airport into the city and who could barely stop talking and giving us tips on what to do in Bangkok. Despite talking a lot, he barely spoke English and always used the google translator on his phone while driving. While our trip to Thailand was smooth, our overall start was not as we did not withdraw any Thai Baht at the airport and arrived late in the evening. After checking into our hotel, we went to a restaurant but they only accepted cash. And by the time we got our card from the hotel and got some cash, most restaurants in the area were already closed. A foodstand on the street unfortunately also stopped serving food but at least we could buy a beer to satisfy our hunger a bit. This gave us enough energy to eventually find some food in a restaurant on an underground floor of a shopping mall.
We spent three nights at the LITA Bangkok hostel, where we had a nice little room but unfortunately extremely hard mattresses. However, the staff was very friendly and brought us a topper to save our backs. During those days, we could use the metro for free, which was a measure put in place by the government due to the high levels of smog. So we could save some money at the cost of wearing masks occasionally.
On our first day, we took the metro to visit the Grand Palace. However, we could not enter the palace because we didn’t wear long pants. We could have bought a pair from one of the many street vendors who made a business out of unprepared tourists like us but we didn’t feel like buying pants just for wearing once due to limited luggage space. So we just went to a restaurant to cool down and do some planning instead. We then took a boat to cross the river and get lunch at the Wang Lang market. We then hopped on the boat again to head down the river from where we could see the Wat Arun temple before disembarking and walking to China Town where preparation for the Chinese New Year was underway. After enjoying the crowd in China Town, we headed back to our hostel where we attempted to do laundry but the machine decided not to work. A receptionist then brought our laundry to some other place to get it washed and we could then at least use the hostel’s dryer to dry it. The receptionist also printed some timetables for taking a train to the train and floating market. But this seemed not as straightforward (let’s hear it for the amazing public transportation in Switzerland!) so we just booked a guided tour for the next day instead.
On our second day, we then did the tour to the train market and the floating market. While the train market was similar to the one in Hanoi in that there are way too many people way too close to a moving train, the floating market was something new and special to us. It features small canals through a village that are frequented by small and way overpowered boats. We could hop on one of these boats from where you could tell the driver to stop at any of the stands alongside the canals if you wanted to buy something. We mostly enjoyed the ride but got some coconut ice cream to at least get the experience of buying something at a floating market once. In hindsight, we think it could have been better to explore the markets ourselves to not be as rushed but oftentimes it just is what it is.
The alert reader may have noticed that this was Matthias’ birthday which we celebrated with delicious Indian food at Indique and some cocktails at the Flashback Rooftop Bar before calling it a (birth)day.
And that already sums up our little Bangkok experience as on the following day, we made our way back to the airport and flew to our next destination.
Just a few places we were eating or drinking something which were close to our hotel:
- Breakfast Story Sok (big variety of breakfast)
- Indique - Great Indian Restaurant in Bangkok (This is one of the best Indian meals we had on our journey so far but probably also the most expensive.)
- Pad Thai Kung Yai Siam (Little place where you can only eat Pad Thai.)
- Flashback Rooftop Bar (nice views)Meer informatie
Chiang Rai
30 jan.–3 feb. 2025, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Our plane brought us from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, where we spent four nights. Our base was the One Budget Hotel at Stadium, about 15 minutes outside the city center. The rooms were surprisingly spacious, simple, but modern and the price was almost unbelievable: just 12 CHF per night! With Grab, it only cost a few francs to get into town, and from there we rented a scooter at PP MotorBike for two days. Their bikes were in good condition and only 7 CHF for a day. We highly recommend this place for renting a bike.
Chiang Rai itself is a lovely place. We wandered through the city to see the famous Clock Tower and to discover several temples both in the center and around it before renting a scooter to also explore the further vicinity. The highlights for us were definitely the White Temple named Wat Ron Khun and the Blue Temple named Wat Rong Suea Ten, which are absolutely stunning and a must-see for anyone visiting. The White Temple is a breathtaking work of art by Chalermchai Kositpipat. Especially the shimmering white exterior, with glass mirrors, is truly beautiful. Right after visiting the White Temple, we went to Singha Park. It is a park known for its tea plantations and flower fields. They also offer outdoor activities and have a small zoo. However, we just drove by with our scooter to get an impression, which we thought was enough for us.
Another unforgettable stop was Wat Huay Pla Kang with its 80m tall Guan Yin statue. We could even take an elevator up into the head of the statue for a stunning panoramic view over the area. Inside, tiny Buddha statues and sparkling decorations add a magical touch. And outside, two huge dragon sculptures make the whole place even more special. Definitely worth a photo! Another picture worthy place close to the Guan Yin statue is the Lalitta café. It’s a café where you have a fairytale atmosphere with its mistfilled environment of waterfalls and beautiful plants. However, we only had a look from the outside and decided to head back instead of paying to go in.
We ended our first scooter day with a sunset on a hill at the Wat Phratat Doi Khao Kwai temple. This temple is another hidden gem from which we enjoyed amazing views over Chiang Rai and nature and only surprisingly few people to share it with. On our way back to the city, we drove by a festival which took place on a decommissioned airfield and spontaneously decided to check it out. It was a huge fair featuring a lot of food and clothes stalls. Matthias tried his luck at a shooting gallery and won a little soft toy (turtle). Luckily, we were smart enough to try and remember where we parked our scooter because when we returned to the parking area, it was completely dark and hundreds of scooters came after us, which changed how the parking area looked completely and made it hard to find ours.
Chiang Rai features many markets. Foodwise we were impressed by the Chiang Rai Night Bazaar/Market where we went twice, as it is open every night. Besides the normal market stands, they have a food court with numerous stalls offering plenty of very good and delicious food options. From Curries, Padthai, Pad Kra Pao, Roti, up to Mango Sticky Rice they had it all.
After four days, we left Chiang Rai with full hearts, grateful for its dazzling temples, friendly vibe, and colorful memories. We boarded a bus to bring us to our next destination. Despite not being the newest, this bus offered wide reclining seats and complementary hand sanitizer, water, and snacks, which made for a really comfortable ride.
Restaurants we can recommend:
- Breakfast factory (extremely delicious breakfast)
- The Hungry Nest (breakfast place)
- Snack & Fika Cafe (Try their smoothie bowls and drinks. Just yummy)
- Kalae Cafe / Nangnon Coffee (breakfast spot)
- Papa Pineapple (Cute place is outside of Chiang Rai. It’s a pineapple plantation with a little café. There they have a small menu with drinks and food all made of pineapple.)
- Lalitta Café (fairytale café)
- The Winds Chiang Rai Thai Restaurant (great Thai food and big portions)
- Chiang Rai Night Bazaar/Market (typical and freshly made Thai food)Meer informatie
Chiang Mai - Workaway
3–8 feb. 2025, Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C
Once we arrived in Chiang Mai, we first headed to the Chada Vegetarian Restaurant in the center of the city to enjoy some amazing Thai food for lunch. We then took a taxi to get to a place a bit outside of the city center where we started our second attempt at a Workaway (see our Luang Prabang - Sasa Lao Workaway footprint for our first Workaway experience). Unlike the first Workaway, this was at a private home of a couple named Daniel and Ora. Daniel is originally from Canada, whereas Ora is Thai. Based on their Workaway profile, we knew that Daniel and Ora were very busy and would not be around most of the time. Ora is a teacher and usually works all day. Daniel recently had a knee injury and was mostly working from home but still went out by car many times per day to get some tasks done outside the house. He was the one who created the Workaway profile and gave us our tasks during our stay.
Their property was surrounded by concrete walls and featured a fairly big house, some yard around the house, and a small shed behind the house, which used to be the maid’s house back in the day and would now serve as our accommodation. The maid’s house contained a simple bunk bed in a roughly seven square meters room and a small adjacent bathroom with toilet, shower (no hot water and shower curtains), and sink in about two square meters. We were a bit shocked when we first entered our new home as it seemed very run-down, which we think was mainly due to the big rusty road sign on the wall. Besides that, it wasn’t exactly a palace, but OK for a short stay. The beds were not ready when we arrived since the upper bunk bed missed a board under the mattress because the previous one was rotten. So our first action was to hop in the back of Daniel’s pickup truck to get a new board from the hardware store and then cut it to size to fit the bed. Once done, the four of us then took the car to a food cart to eat some chicken and rice for dinner before heading back to the house where we still had some tasks to do to settle into our new accommodation. The biggest of these tasks was to hang our mosquito nets over the beds as well as we could, since we really didn’t want to be harassed by these little creatures that were around in big numbers all night.
On the next day, there was nothing to be done for us in the morning, since we didn’t yet have any tasks to work on independently and Daniel didn’t have time for us. The four of us went to a vegan restaurant to have lunch and then we spent the afternoon working on various small tasks with Daniel. We first went to the hardware store with Daniel again, to buy some metal tubes. This included Matthias’ first ride in a right-hand drive car. He brought us in one of Daniel’s pickups from the house to a parking lot away from the house where we hopped into a different pickup to get to the hardware store. This does not sound like something special besides driving on the left side, but to add to that, the pickups were very old and completely run-down so simply driving them was already an experience. Back at the house we then cleaned some of the bikes and pumped their tires up, cut down a banana tree and discussed a project in the pheasant cage behind the house, which would become our main project for the coming days. We then made some preparations for working in the pheasant cage the next day before cooking and eating dinner together. When we were already sitting at the table to eat dinner, Ora suddenly thought there wasn’t enough food and hopped onto a scooter to buy some cooked vegetables, which she brought home in a plastic bag (as it is common for takeaway food in Thailand). Note from the editor: dinner would have been perfectly fine without those additional vegetables, but it still makes for a fun anecdote.
In the coming two days we worked mainly independently (besides Daniel watching over our shoulders from time to time) on our project in the pheasant cage and went to have lunch and dinner on our own by riding bicycles to a nearby square with many different restaurants, food stalls, and an amazing bakery. The pheasant cage was a metal cage installed between the house and one of the walls surrounding the property. It was a bit more than one meter wide and had tiles on the floor, which were there already when they bought the house. Daniel created some small areas in the cage which were surrounded by stones and mortar and filled with gravel for the pheasants to scratch around in. Since the pheasants would keep kicking the gravel outside of these areas, Daniel wanted us to make the surrounding stone barriers a bit higher. We did this by removing the stones and then adding a layer of bricks and mortar on the ground before putting the stones back on top with some additional mortar.
After two days of working on this project, it was clear that this Workaway was not working out for us, and we decided to leave much earlier than the two weeks we originally planned. One big aspect in this was the accommodation, which did not let us sleep well – especially Marina. Regarding our tasks it was also very difficult as Daniel was often not around and when he was, he was often not able to communicate what and how he wanted to have something done. He spoke extremely slowly and would lose himself in his thoughts while talking. It was not uncommon for us to sit together with him for 15 minutes, trying to get some concrete information on what to do, without him getting to a point where we knew what to do. Also, it seemed that he wanted things to be done in a very specific way but he didn’t know and could not communicate his intentions beforehand, which made it difficult for us to work for him. In the pheasant cage he told us that we should take pictures beforehand as he wanted the stones to be set back exactly the same as before, but higher. This is what we did but after setting some of the stones he was not happy about the gaps between the stones at the top (which were already there before) and wanted us to rearrange the stones to avoid the gaps. While we were working on this, he also wanted to make the gravel areas slightly wider but not too wide such that he can still easily walk by on the tiles next to them. We did what we could but apparently after the two days of us doing and redoing stuff, he was not happy with it. After being absent to get food, we noticed that he knocked the bricks out from underneath the stones we had already set on top with mortar. Since we already decided to leave the Workaway, we never talked to him about this but either the passage to walk by was now too narrow or he just didn’t like the looks or something else. Looks were apparently very important as he instructed us to make the mortar surfaces rough, because he did not like the looks of smooth mortar surfaces. Of course the surface of a few centimeters tall mortar layer under some stones behind the house is something you stare at all day and hence needs to fulfill high visual standards. His inability to communicate what he wanted combined with a very specific vision of how things should and should not be, while changing that vision on the go made us feel useless there. Actually, this was not just a feeling but we were objectively useless there. Our alternative approach: just cover the strip between the house and the wall with gravel and the pheasant cage is done in no time and all problems are solved forever. Life could be simple!
So being useless and staying in a rather shitty accommodation that does not even save us much money compared to a hotel is not at all how we imagined our Workaway experiences to look. Therefore, we spent a day looking for a hotel and planning ahead a bit before having a chat with Daniel to tell him that we would leave, and actually packing our things and leaving after five nights to spend the rest of our time in Chiang Mai as regular tourists.
This experience gave us quite something to reflect on and we found it especially crazy how people can think they’re very busy when their lives are actually incredibly inefficient. Using the car to go get small, single tasks done many times of the day is basically just overhead. Not knowing what to want ahead of time but then having very high demands on things that are just irrelevant (like the mortar surface finish in a pheasant cage) will get you nowhere. This is what we witnessed here over and over again and we were very happy that our lives in Switzerland are so much more efficient. And we also agreed that we absolutely want to make sure our lives will never become this inefficient. So after all, there is probably still something good that we take away from this experience, even if it is just how not to do things.
Delicious drink & food options close to our Workaway:
- Roast ‘n’ Brew Cafe (great coffee and honey lemon drink)
- Nana Bakery (delicious croissants)
- Chum Bar & Restaurant (modern restaurant with a great Khao Soi)
- Peppino Restaurant (We went there twice. Their pastas and pizzas are truly delicious.)
- Thai Home by Hong Kong (good Thai food)Meer informatie
Chiang Mai
8–14 feb. 2025, Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C
After our Workaway experience, we moved to a cozy hotel a bit outside of Chiang Mai named Sleep Mai Lifestyle Hotel Chiang Mai Airport. It was definitely an upgrade and felt a bit like luxury after our Workaway living situation, even though the hotel was next to a noisy street. One of the first things we did at the hotel was having a warm shower. Having a long shower never felt so good! In places that are not clean or don’t have hot water, like at the Workaway, we just don’t feel like having a shower every day because it’s simply not appealing at all. Furthermore, the day we moved out of the Workaway we treated ourselves to Indian food at the Curry Express for dinner.
The following three days we often stayed in our hotel to catch up on some computer work and complete tasks like booking flights and hotels in upcoming destinations. On some evenings, we were simply too lazy to go out of our hotel, so we ordered dinner via Grab and ate in the hotel lobby. During our time at the Sleep Mai Lifestyle Hotel, we also did a bunch of sightseeing by renting bicycles through an app and pedaling to the city center. Sightseeing is quite nice in Chiang Mai because of its many temples. One day, we visited the annual Flower Festival in a park where they had colorful flower sculptures. They also had a parade for which they decorated many carts with thousands of flowers. We did not see the parade but could still marvel at the beautiful carts. This was very impressive! Later that day, we dove into the lively and crowded Sunday Night Market where we had dinner at the food stalls.
On another day, we joined a cooking class at Passion Food School. We learned how to make authentic Thai dishes such as Papaya Salad, Pad Thai, Khao Soi and so on. We had a really good time as we were cooking and having fun together with several people from other countries. There was even a young Swiss couple with whom we had a great chat. At the end of our cooking experience, we were literally full of food and we got a little recipe book so that we can create the dishes we have learnt at home. It was definitely one of our highlights in Chiang Mai!
On our last night at the Sleep Mai Lifestyle Hotel we ordered Indian food from Curry Express to eat at the hotel once more. While their food was delicious as always, Matthias’ retainer wire decided to give up on life and broke off all the teeth on the left side. The still attached wire with a loose end made it difficult but not impossible to continue eating, but it was an issue that had to be addressed immediately. This was very unfortunate and annoying as the retainer was installed only six months ago in Switzerland shortly before starting our trip and it was expected to last much much longer than this. Already in the months prior to this day, there were small bits of glue breaking off but Matthias hoped that it would still make it through the entire trip. While the precision milled titanium retainer did not live up to Swiss quality standards, it at least cost a fortune.
After this fourth and last night at the Sleep Mai Lifestyle Hotel, we moved to another hotel to spend two more nights in the heart of Chiang Mai. The hotel was called Singharaj Boutique Hotel, which was small and stylish with a quiet vibe. The day we moved to the hotel we dropped off some clothes at a laundry place to have clean clothes for our upcoming destinations. Also, we went to a random dentist that seemed reasonable according to google maps to see if Matthias could make an appointment to get his retainer fixed in the little time we had left in Chiang Mai. They said that their orthodontist is not around but gave him an appointment in the afternoon to see with one of the dentists if they could fix it instead. Matthias then went back in the afternoon and the dentist said that they could not fix it but they could replace it with a new wire. And so they did. No precision titanium milling, no fuss, just a dentist bending a stainless steel wire by hand and gluing it to Matthias’ teeth. The whole procedure of removing the old retainer and attaching a new one took only 30 minutes and cost 150 CHF. At a small fraction of the cost of a Swiss retainer, the only question that remained was if it would now last. We waited for nine months to publish this footprint just so we could inform you that this new retainer did indeed last longer than the original one. Until now, no glue has broken off and the teeth have not moved. So when the dentist reassured Matthias that “they were professionals” they were not bluffing.
While Matthias was getting the new retainer, Marina went shopping. Unfortunately, during her shopping trip her phone didn’t react anymore without the possibility of being rebooted. Hence, she couldn’t communicate with Matthias about when and where to meet after his appointment and also could not just take a bicycle through the app to ride back. So, Marina just walked back to the hotel in the hope that Matthias was there waiting for her. But what if Matthias never came back to the hotel? Legend has it that she is still at the hotel waiting for him. Just kidding, due to the very quick procedure he was already there and could look up how to force Marina’s phone into recovery mode and get it unstuck.
Our last day in Chiang Mai couldn’t have been more perfect. We spent the day at the Baanchang Elephant Park where we got to feed, touch, and walk with the elephants. This was an unforgettable experience getting so close with these gentle giants. In the evening, we joined a food festival, sampling local dishes, and later enjoyed watching the 6ixcret Drag Queen Show. What a fun and colorful end to our Chiang Mai chapter!
Favorite restaurant spots we treated ourselves:
- Baan Buri (breakfast place - yummy pancakes and French toasts)
- Lazy Lemon (breakfast place)
- Curry Express (lovely Indian food)
- Coconut Shell (amazing Thai food for a good price)
- Chada Vegetarian (healthy, flavorful and affordable food / big portions)Meer informatie
Surat Thani
14–16 feb. 2025, Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C
Our journey from Chiang Mai to Surat Thani turned out to be a bit more adventurous than planned. We had a rather short layover in Bangkok during which we had to re-check our luggage, which was a bit stressful. To top it off, our connecting flight was then delayed by two hours. But that’s all part of the travel experience, right? We made use of this additional time by having lunch in the form of our “classic” travel meal: Burger King. It has almost become a little tradition for us since it usually was the most reasonable food option at airports for us. Quick and dirty :-P
Once in Surat Thani, we checked into the Evergreen Suite Hotel, which was comfortable and a great base for our short stay. Later in the evening, we headed out for dinner to a restaurant called Som-Jai. The food was delicious, but we had to wait 1.5 hours for it.
The next morning we went to Cafe Yu where we treated ourselves with French toast and pancakes. We then stayed in the café and spent a couple of hours working on our laptops. Marina was organizing her emails and Matthias was creating graphics for his “Schnitzelbank” group. After our working session, we explored the local street food night market, sampling all sorts of street food. We then headed home because the next day we had to get up early to catch a bus and then the ferry to a place we ended up loving.
Food options:
- Cafe Yu (great for breakfast)
- Som-Jai (Cool location to sit outside. They make fancy cocktails.)
- Street Food Nightmarket (Here you can try different traditional Thai dishes.)Meer informatie
Koh Tao
16 feb.–7 mrt. 2025, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
After a few hours of an enjoyable ferry ride, we arrived on Koh Tao. We were a bit worried about the ferry ride at first because we read that people get sick on them regularly but apparently that only happens in bad weather which was thankfully not the case for our ride. We spent a total of almost three weeks on Koh Tao and ended up loving the place for all the activities and all the great and cheap restaurants it has to offer. During this time, we stayed the first seven nights at the Aiya Resort and the last 12 nights at the Living Chilled Ko Tao Hotel, which are both located at the north end of the Sairee beach on the west coast of the island. The main reason for staying this long was that after one week of good weather, it rained heavily for about five days straight and we just wanted to spend a second week with good weather on the island. And thanks to not planning and booking ahead much, we could easily just extend our stay in the second hotel.
Koh Tao is very well known for scuba diving and while we were there, we at least wanted to try it out as well. While you can spot a dive shop wherever you look on Koh Tao, we chose to have a chat with the folks at Scuba Shack because it had very good reviews and German speaking instructors, which could calm Marina’s nerves a bit. So on our second day on the island, we signed up for a “Discover Scuba Diving” session with Scuba Shack. However, before we could go, due to an answer in the required medical questions, Marina had to visit a doctor who did a hyper thorough 5min check of her blood pressure and ears to allow her to go diving. In the discovery session, we could first do a dive with some exercises and then dive around a bit and go down to 6m. We then both (yes, even the nervous Marina who would normally only go into the water if she can stand and see the sea floor) chose to do a second dive in a different location where we even went down to 9m.
We then gave it a few days for the experience to sink in and decide how we want to continue our diving careers. Marina decided to not continue diving for the time being and revisit it at a later point. Matthias went on to do his open water certificate, which just fit in before the rainy days started, and his advanced open water certificate after the rainy days. The open water course consisted of one evening, two full days, and one morning including many theory video sessions, a long pool session, and four open water dives to practice the required skills. With this certificate, one can go diving basically anywhere in the world down to 18m. The advanced open water course consisted of about half a day of reading theory and then five dives distributed over two days. These five distinct dives aimed to improve underwater navigation, buoyancy, learn to go up to 30m deep, dive around a ship wreck, and dive at night.
While Matthias was out diving, Marina used her time to do a lot of sports either in yoga sessions or a bootcamp where she went almost daily. She also took the time to visit some nice cafes, do some administrative work, or just chill and watch Netflix. She also joined the trip on the diving boat for the night dive to watch the sunset from the boat. In turn, Matthias joined her in the bootcamp a few times.
On non-diving days, we did many trips together to explore the island by scooter. This allowed us to easily see other parts of the island which we could not just reach by foot. By scooter we visited many beaches around the island, like the Chalok Bann Kao Beach, the Aow June Juea Beach, Tanote Beach, Freedom Beaches 1 and 2, Shark Bay, Sai Daeng Beach, and Aow Leuk, where we could swim with black tip reef sharks for the very first time. We also visited several viewpoints, like the Sun Suwan 360 Degrees View & Bar, HoriZon morn, John-Suwan Viewpoint or watched the sunset from beautiful places like the High Rock Viewpoint or the Secret Bar. Finally, we also used the opportunity to try breakfast places, restaurants, and bars which were a bit further away from our hotel and Marina even used the Matthias-scooter-taxi to join a morning yoga session in a beautiful but somewhat remote location at the "High the Moon".
One day, we took the taxi boat to the Nangyuan Island, which are private islands that can be visited. They feature a uniquely shaped beach in between the islands and a viewpoint that offers a great view onto the beaches. After visiting the viewpoint in the blistering heat, we got two beach chairs and cooled off in the water where we befriended a tiny fish. While in the water, we noticed a few fish that would always stay very close to us, either around our waist or even under our arm pits. One of those stood out in affection as it always wanted to swim onto our hands and rest there. We could let it go or even throw it in the water, put our open hand back into the water, and it would swim immediately back into our hand.
And of course, whenever the weather was good, we watched the sunset from the beach or a nice bar with a view. During the entire three weeks we enjoyed delicious breakfast and Thai food for dinner in various restaurants. During one of those dinners, we were approached by a Spanish couple who did not have enough cash to pay for their dinner. They asked us if we could help out and if they could send us the money through revolut. Since we don’t have that, and they were just a few Swiss Francs short, we just gave them the money and asked them to do someone else a favor in the future. Spoiler: we will benefit from such generosity in the future as well so that’s just how the endless chain of good deeds can help everyone.
During the rainy days, we only went out to do sports and eat and otherwise stayed at the hotel playing “Rummikub”, working on this blog, or watching Netflix.
Finally, our last day on the island arrived. We went to a last bootcamp session in the early morning, then checked out of our hotel, did the last laundry at a self-service laundromat, had breakfast, and then rode in the back of a pick-up truck to the ferry port from where we took a ferry to our next destination.
Good Restaurants, Cafes, and Bars:
- De’Coffee & Breakfast Kohtao + Pork Leg (One of our favorite restaurants on Koh Tao. They serve great breakfast and also very good dinner. For sure we visited this place around ten times, either for breakfast or for dinner. If you ever go there, order a papaya salad, a curry or pad thai. Everything is amazing!)
- Blue Shark (Nice little café with good food and drinks. It is a bit of a hipster place.)
- Morning View Café and Bistro (A lot of good breakfast options. Their coffee is not the best but the taste of the food is good. This spot is always full.)
- Summer Café (Nice and quiet place for a lovely breakfast.)
- Living Juices (Great bowls! Try their morning yoga.)
- Taoni (breakfast spot)
- Happy Land Café & Restaurant (They have good breakfast options. Here you find the best coffee and a delicious omelet. That’s why we went here several times. )
- SHAKA (We never ate there but they serve good and healthy drinks.)
- Munchies (They never have a lot of people but their breakfast is decent.)
- Croissant & Ko (They have very good coffee and breakfast.)
- The Factory Cafe (good breakfast)
- Lazy Coconut Cafe (breakfast spot)
- Cactus Café (cute café right at the beach)
- Nui Bakery (What a great bakery! We tried the Caprese salad with their selfmade bread. Wooooow!)
- Idjangs Kitchen (They make the best Khao Soi and Laarb salad. They also do cooking classes. Next time we are there, we will do one. )
- Charcoal Bay Wine & Grill (This is a BEAUTIFUL location during sunset time. The food is excellent but pricey.)
- Thaita (Delicious but expensive!)
- Mama Tam (One of the best Thai food places on Koh Tao!)
- House of Pad Thai (Here you eat Pad Thai of course. It’s good.)
- Oasis (They open early in the morning for breakfast. Their food is okay.)
- High on Chai (expensive, but good)
- Centrico Cafe and Mexican Restaurant (good Mexican food)
- Little India (They only serve Thali but for a good price.)
- Pud (small location but yummy Thai food)
- HoriZon morn (good views and drinks)
- Legend Thai and Burmese Food (Yummi Thai food!)
- La Pizzeria da Claudio (If you don't always want to eat Thai food, La Pizzeria da Claudio is a good option. The food is not perfect but good.)
- Samosa Thai Restaurant (Good Thai food!)
- Secret Bar (The BEST location for watching a wonderful sunset. We went there twice because Marina loved this place so much. Try the momos and the strawberry juice. Just yummi!)Meer informatie
Koh Phangan
7–13 mrt. 2025, Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Another day, another ferry ride! Three weeks after enjoying beautiful Koh Tao, we took the ferry to go to the neighboring island called Koh Phangan. This island is known for its lively full moon parties in Haad Rin, located in the south of the island, where we booked our room in the Delight Resort for five nights.
The first three days after our arrival in Koh Phangan we were just staying in Haad Rin because the weather was often not that good. One morning brought an unexpected little adventure. While we were having breakfast at a café called Coffee Drinks, Matthias spotted a phone lying on the ground in front of the entrance. A short while after picking up the phone, different people called and only in about the third call there was someone with a stable connection who could speak some halfway clear words. Matthias answered, explained where we were so that the owner of the phone could come to the café to pick it up. A few minutes later, a woman showed up asking where the phone was while almost shouting. She barely said thanks, grabbed the phone with a nervous expression and hurried back to her motorbike before speeding off again. It all happened so quickly that we just looked at each other and were a bit confused. It seemed like the phone belonged to someone who had to take a ferry and therefore had almost no time to get it back. The woman with the motorbike just helped him get his phone back in time, but that’s still no reason to be such an ungrateful jerk.
Besides this, we usually slept long in the mornings, went for breakfast, caught up with a lot of stuff like finishing our taxes, backing up 360 camera footage to free up space for the next adventures, or planning our ongoing world trip. Also, we went jogging, visited Rin Nai Beach, which is located in Haad Rin, for bathing, enjoyed sunsets and went for dinner in the evenings. So the first three days were very relaxing.
On our fourth day, we rented a scooter to explore the rest of the island because the weather looked much better. That’s why we then headed to the well known Bottle Beach View Point in the north east of the island. After a short walk, we were rewarded with amazing views. Thank god we did this little hike! It’s just such an incredible place. We spent some time there to take pictures and enjoy the view. Later that day, we went to two different beaches named Tong Nai Pan and to Thong Nai Pna Yai. Both of them were very beautiful. We would definitely return to Thong Nai Pna Yai beach because the water seemed to be very calm and the sand flat to enter the water.
On our fifth and last full day on Koh Phangan, we explored the north and west part of the island. First we drove to Chaloklum Beach to have breakfast at the Culture Club. Feeling full and satisfied, we continued with our plan and headed to Haad Khom Beach. We spent about an hour there. It wasn’t very crowded, and the gently sloping shoreline made it a great spot for swimming. After this beach, we explored the west beaches such as Malibu Beach, Koh Ma Beach, Salad Beach and Haad Yao. All of them seem to be very family friendly and good for bathing. We then ended our day by enjoying a beautiful sunset at Cookies Bar 94 before returning the scooter and changing the hotel for the last night. That last night we stayed at Buakao Inn Guesthouse close to the pier because the next day we had to catch the ferry quite early. Our last night was not great due to the loud sounds coming from the bars and clubs around the hotel. On our departure day, Marina went for a short jog and then we had breakfast before taking the ferry to our next destination.
Good Restaurants, Cafes, and Bars:
- Black Slow Bar Coffee and Bistro (good breakfast spot)
- Coffee Drinks (breakfast spot)
- Yoghurthome Restaurant (not the best coffee, but yummy crepes)
- Nira’s Home Bakery (good breakfast spot before taking the ferry)
- Om Ganesh Indian (delicious Indian restaurant)
- He eat my favorite (What a restaurant name, but they serve delicious Thai food!)
- Monnalisa Ristorante Italiano (good Italian food)
- Sunrise Restaurant (Thai food)
- Vintage Burgers (prefect burgers)Meer informatie
Ao Nang
13–18 mrt. 2025, Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
From Koh Phangan we took the ferry back towards Surat Thani but instead of going there, we directly boarded a minivan that brought us from the Donsak pier on the east coast to Ao Nang on the west coast of Thailand. In Ao Nang, we checked into the GP Guesthouse where we spent five nights.
The next day we got up late, went for breakfast at the Tan Tribe Cafe, and then walked around to explore Ao Nang Beach and Pai Plong Beach before ending the day with dinner at the Jungle Kitchen. The day after we did a beach day on the Railay peninsula, which can only be reached by boat. We took a long-tail boat from Ao Nang Beach to Rai Leh Beach from where we walked through the village to have breakfast at the D’Oasis Cafe and then continued our walk to the beautiful Phra Nang Beach in the south. There we spent the rest of the day relaxing and swimming. Once back in Ao Nang, we went for dinner at the Wanna’s Place Restaurant, which offers Swiss cuisine. We saw this place when walking by the day before and thought we would go there once just for fun. But as it turned out, the fun would soon be over. Sometime at night, Matthias woke up and felt like becoming sick but wasn’t sure if it was the food or something that would go away shortly after.
The next morning he still did not feel well but good enough to join the boat tour we booked. So we took a taxi to go to the pier to check in for our tour. Luckily, we had some time before boarding the boat and there was a restroom around because Matthias suddenly had to throw up. After that, we boarded the boat and went off on our tour. While it wasn’t the best day for Matthias, it was still a nice tour during which we visited various islands like Chicken Island, Poda Island, and Koh Thap. We could also do some snorkeling and relaxing on beautiful beaches. In the afternoon we just relaxed in our room. While Matthias stayed in the room, Marina went out to have lunch and later watched the sunset and a fire show at the Ao Nang Beach. We then went out together to have dinner at the Thanya restaurant which serves delicious food but, to the surprise of the waitress, Matthias only ordered and ate plain rice.
The day after, Matthias stayed at the hotel to relax and recover further while Marina did another boat tour to the Hong Islands for which she boarded a speedboat very early that morning. There was another woman from France who was alone on the tour, so they quickly became friends. During the whole tour they were exploring things together such as Ko Lao Lading Island for snorkeling, Ko Phakbia Island where they had lunch, Koh Hong Beach for swimming, and Hong Island Viewpoint for a hike and beautiful views. As the tour ended, Marina went straight back to the hotel to look after Matthias. In the evening, we went for dinner together again at the Thanya restaurant, this time ordering proper meals and undoing the shock we gave the waitress the day before.
The morning after, we checked out of our hotel and hopped onto a ferry to get to our next destination.
Good Restaurants and Cafes:
- Much & Mellow Bread & Brunch (incredible breakfast / Try the Birchermuesli!)
- Tan Tribe Cafe (big variety of drinks and food for breakfast)
- The Coffee Club (great coffee)
- D'Oasis Cafe at Railay Beach (good for a small breakfast)
- Jungle Kitchen (lovely Thai food)
- Thanya (Amazing Thai food, that's why we went there twice.)
- Alibaba Restaurant (good Indian restaurant)Meer informatie
Koh Phi Phi
18–20 mrt. 2025, Thailand ⋅ 🌙 29 °C
Early in the morning we jumped on another ferry heading towards Koh Phi Phi. An experience Marina definitely didn’t enjoy this time. Literally the entire ferry ride from Ao Nang to Koh Phi Phi she kept visiting the ferry toilet. Unfortunately, she came down with Matthias' sickness. Matthias, on the other hand, was feeling better but still tired. Therefore, we went straight to our accommodation called Hotel Hokma located in the middle of Koh Phi Phi. The day of our arrival we didn’t do much because of Marina's situation. Besides, it was also raining. Hanging in the hotel for some time, visiting the town a bit and having lunch very late at Patcharee French Bakery was our program for the day. If you ever go to Koh Phi Phi, do yourself a favor and go to this bakery. They have everything you can dream of and it is super delicious! We then headed back to our hotel to rest again and to go to sleep very early.
The next day, Matthias felt largely good again, but Marina was very weak. With only limited time on the island, we decided to explore it anyway. First stop: Patcharee French Bakery for another incredible breakfast. Then, we headed to Phi Phi Viewpoint 1 & 2. In the beginning, the short but steep climb was very exhausting, especially for Marina. But we finally made it and had a lovely view over Koh Phi Phi town and the surrounding beaches. After that we descended towards the south and went to Loh Moo Dee Beach. A hidden gem with a tiny beach club. We took a refreshing swim and then walked to Long Beach for a snack at Paradise Pearl Restaurant. We had Wonton & Garlic Bread which was very good. Satisfied, we strolled back to our hotel passing Viking Beach. Meanwhile, it started pouring cats and dogs. We even had to stop at some point because it was so stormy. Soaked and cold, we arrived at our hotel where we took a hot shower and a little nap, before going to have dinner at the Good Time Restaurant where we enjoyed a great Khao Soi. One last stroll through town and then straight back to bed.
On our last day we did a tour for which we had to get up at 5.30 am. By 6.00 am we were at the meeting point and shortly after, the tour started. The early start was worth it. We were one of the first ones at Maya Beach. This is the location where the movie “The Beach” with Leonardo Di Caprio was filmed. It got really famous because of the film, which is why there are always a lot of visitors. We also stopped for snorkeling close to Maya Beach, visited the Viking Caves, swam at Pi Leh Lagoon and saw wild monkeys at Monkey Bay. Lunch was on Bamboo Island, a dreamy postcard-like island with incredibly blue water. After lunch, we went to Loh Lana Bay for snorkeling, checked out Nui Bai, and enjoyed the last part of the tour, at least Matthias did. Marina had a bad migraine and dizziness. The ocean was not her best friend that day but it was still a good tour. ;-) When the tour ended, we literally jumped off the tour boat, grabbed our luggage at the hotel, and hopped onto the ferry to our next destination. A hectic but memorable goodbye to Koh Phi Phi.Meer informatie
Koh Lanta
20–23 mrt. 2025, Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
After a two hour ferry ride through heavy rain we arrived in the evening on Koh Lanta where we stayed at the My Home Lantawadee hotel for three nights. Marina didn’t feel great, probably still from our recent sickness, so we just went for dinner and then to bed. The next day we stayed around the hotel, either relaxing in our room, or walking along and swimming at the Khlong Dao beach nearby where we could see many nice seashells and starfishes.
The day after we rented a scooter to explore the rest of the island a bit. We drove south to visit several beaches like the Bamboo Beach, Khlong Chak, Nui Bay, Bakantiang Beach, where we either just had a look, relaxed, or cooled off with a swim. And of course, we used this opportunity to eat at some restaurants which we could only reach with a scooter. In the evening we went jogging, picked up the laundry we dropped off before hitting the road, and went for our last dinner on the island.
The next morning we took a modified scooter as a taxi to the port. These are scooters that feature a loading area that is attached like a sidecar to a motorcycle. It was just enough to transport the two of us including our luggage but it sure did not seem stable as it felt like sitting a bit too far in the front would make the whole thing tip over. But we arrived just fine and hopped on yet another speed boat to our next destination on yet another island.
Good Restaurants:
- Tuesday Morning Small Talk Cafe and Chill Out (breakfast location right at the beach)
- The Oasis Restaurant and Bar (nice breakfast spot)
- Chef Chalong (delicious Thai food for a very good price)
- Jameji Restaurant (Thai food)
- Le Local (Italian dishes)
- Bambooby Halal Restaurant (nice location to have great view over Bamboo beach)Meer informatie
Koh Lipe
23–27 mrt. 2025, Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
At 10.30 am we started our 4 hour speed boat ride from Koh Lanta to Koh Lipe. What a bumpy journey with minimal leg room that was! Arriving in Koh Lanta, we first dragged our luggages all the way to our first hotel called Sunflower Hotel. We stayed here for two nights. It turned out that it was an animal shelter hotel, which was part hotel, part animal shelter. Also, the room was pretty small and there was no AC in the room, which was really uncomfortable with the high temperatures we had these days. Marina didn’t check the hotel properly before she booked it. Well, at least the room itself was nicely decorated. Shortly after checking in, we went exploring the surroundings. We were walking and chilling at Sunrise Beach as well as taking a dip in the crystal clear waters of Koh Lipe. After the first wonderful day, we went to have dinner at Bombay Indian Restaurant and ate Dal Tadka & Paneer Butter Masala with rice and naan, as we usually do when eating at an Indian place.
Our next morning started with breakfast at Bloom Café, with a smoothie bowl and some pancakes that tasted like happiness. Then we went soaking up the sun at Pattaya Beach where we almost couldn’t get out of the water because it was so beautiful. Additionally, the sand of this beach is super soft. Incredible! To wrap up the day, we went to watch the sunset at Sunset Beach and later had dinner at Noy. They do excellent curries. Also, their fish looks so good. The restaurant is always full of people. For sure a good sign!
New day, new hotel! For a long time Marina had been dreaming of staying in some kind of luxury hotel. So she booked us in at the Idyllic Resort for two nights. This time she checked the hotel properly before booking it. But before moving there, we paid another visit to Bloom Café for breakfast. After checking into the hotel, we did exactly what someone should do in a luxury hotel, absolutely nothing. We spent the whole day at the beach, chilling on a sunbed. It really felt like a holiday! Furthermore, we went on a short kayak trip since the hotel rented out kayaks for free. We were also happy that the hotel had a gym because good opportunities to do some sports are rare when traveling like we do. So after the sun was down, we went there for almost two hours. It was fantastic!
To fully enjoy the hotel, we even had dinner here at their lovely and romantic dinner location right at the beach. What a dream!
On our fourth day, we enjoyed the hotel's delicious breakfast buffet. Pancakes, Eggs your way, etc., they had it all! With full bellies, we went to the beach where we spent most of the day with only one break to go to the gym to do some sports again.
For our last dinner, we tried Tonkow Restaurant and ate some nice curries. A small location with very good food and a lovely owner. Afterward, we took a walk through the small town, we strolled along the beach and had some ice cream at Bundhaya Restaurant at the beach. On the way home, we accidentally got stuck in a bar because they had very nice live music.
One last breakfast and one last check out on the island, but we could still stay at the hotel, and use their facilities at the beach. We also did some video shots with the 360 camera there. Sadly, we had to leave the hotel around 2 pm to catch our next ferry. Before catching the ferry, we got a snack at Akira Grill Restaurant and Marina wrote a postcard for her mother’s aunt in Germany. But then it was time to go to a new place.Meer informatie
Langkawi
27 mrt.–2 apr. 2025, Maleisië ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
After a smooth ferry trip from Koh Lipe we arrived in Langkawi and had an immigration process that was just as smooth as the ferry ride. This was by the way the first time we entered a new country by something other than a plane. We stayed at the Cenang beach and used the first three days just to relax and plan our trip through Malaysia because we did not prepare anything beforehand.
Fun fact 1: during those days we also started publishing this Find Penguins blog so yeah, it took us more than five months to get started, and kudos to you for reading five months worth of travel blog.
Fun fact 2: “Langkawi” means “Eagles’ Island” and you can indeed spot many eagles almost everywhere on the island.
While Langkawi looks very similar to the Islands in Thailand which we have just visited, it still felt different and it was noticeable that we were in a different country. Malaysia is the first islamic country we visited and when we arrived, Ramadan was still going on for a few days so there were frequent prayers over loudspeakers and fireworks at night. And we found that at least on Langkawi, people seem to be quite into chocolate as there are many shops just selling chocolate including some familiar brands like Ovomaltine, Wernli, Kägi, Toblerone, and Lindt.
And then came the day where nothing went according to plan… We moved to a new hotel just around the corner, which did not provide wifi in the room, and then followed our plan to go to the Langkawi cable car, which we checked should have regular opening hours according to their website. But once we arrived there around 10am we found out that they would only open at 12:30. Not such a big deal as there were at least very few other visitors leaving some hope for short waiting times. In the meantime, we could eat and drink something and use the rest of the time to continue booking our Malaysia trip. But once we made it back to the entrance area, we were shocked to find a huge crowd, various long cues, and zero or false information about how and where to get tickets or where to cue. After one hour of cuing, we made it to a ticket counter where we were informed that we could get tickets for a cable car ride no earlier than 3:30pm. Since we did not want to wait another two hours, we decided to take a taxi back to our hotel. We then rented a scooter for the coming two days and used it to go to a nice restaurant on the beach to use their wifi to continue booking our Malaysia trip. Once we were there, a couple asked us if they could join us at our table. It immediately turned out that they were from Switzerland and instead of booking our trip, we spent our time until sunset talking to them.
On our second last day we used our scooter to explore the island a bit. We first went up to Pantai Rekreasi Kastam beach and Pantai Tanjung Rhu beach in the north of the island. The latter is where one of our helmets got stolen from our bike (they were not locked but we still did not expect that). On we went with one helmet toward the Datarang Lang eagle statue and Maha Tower in the south of the island. On our way we were looking for a store that sells motorcycle helmets but they are all closed due to the national Hari Raya Aidilfitri Holiday. But at the end of the day, we made it back to the scooter rental to get a new helmet. We had to pay 60MYR (12CHF) for the missing one. What a steal! (pun intended). And speaking of good deals, gas in Malaysia costs only 2.05 MYR (0.40CHF) per liter.
On our last day, we finally made it up the Langkawi cable car, this time with pre-booked tickets and no lines at all. (See our “Langkawi - Cable Car” footprint about this)
On our way back, we bought some Wernli Guetzli (because why not), returned our scooter, got our luggage from the hotel, and went to the airport to get to our next destination. At this point, it has been a while since we boarded our last plane but we were kind of forced to this time because they cancelled the ferry service to our next destination a few years ago.
Cafés and Restaurants around Cenang Beach:
- Smiling Buffalo Café for Breakfast (beautiful location)
- Marii Café Langkawi (cute café)
- Restaurant Local Food (very good and traditional)
- Sufra Restaurant (delicious Indian food)
- Hidden Langkawi (nice spot for sunset and food right at the beach)Meer informatie
Langkawi - Cable Car
2 april 2025, Maleisië ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
The Langkawi cable car and park with its attractions and food stands felt like a little brother and potentially the inspiration for the Sunworld parks we visited in Vietnam (See the “Sapa - Fansipan”, “Da Nang - Ba Na Hills”, and “Phu Quoc” footprints). It features a cable car going up to the ~650m high summit with some attractions on it and more attractions around the lower terminus. The main attractions on the summit are the Eagle’s Nest platform and the Sky Bridge. The Eagle’s Nest Platform is a steel construction with a glass floor because of which you have to wear shoe covers when going on the platform. It offers stunning views and a slight tingling. The Sky Bridge is a steel bridge that also offers some great views and even a bit more tingling because it is shaking much more than the platform.
Around the cable car’s lower terminus there are several more attractions like a 3D art museum, the Sky Dome which is a dome shaped cinema, a 6D cinema, or a petting zoo.Meer informatie
Georgetown - Penang
2–10 apr. 2025, Maleisië ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
We took a 30 minute flight from Langkawi to Penang Island. Arriving very late that night, we just went to bed. We stayed in an apartment at The Landmark by Katana in Georgetown for eight nights. The apartment was on the 17th floor with a great view. Despite being so high up, we could still hear a lot of street noises. There’s not much soundproofing in south east asian construction so you typically hear every noise from outside, which can be loud and a lot in a city like Georgetown (Taking soundproofing in construction seriously is certainly one thing we learned to appreciate about Switzerland). What’s noticeable is that many people in Penang tune their cars. As a result, you frequently hear loud cars or motorcycles, also throughout the night and even in the flat. During those days in Penang, we chilled out a lot, went to the gym belonging to the apartment complex (which we could use for free), took care of some admin stuff (real life is still happening), updated Find Penguins, and watched some Netflix. To get around in Penang, we mostly took the public bus. Usually the bus drivers were very friendly and helpful. On our first ride, the driver explained that we could only pay in cash and wouldn’t receive any change. Since we didn’t have the exact amount required, he then asked another passenger if she could change some money for us, but she couldn’t. Another passenger noticed this and came over to help us change money. How lovely!
Besides riding the bus in Penang we visited the city of Georgetown where we explored the streets and discovered all the amazing street art murals and some street food markets. Besides that, we spent some time at Batu Ferringhi (beach) taking a dip in the sea and also visiting the Floating Mosque “Masjid Terapung Tanjung Bunga”. Another special sightseeing we did in Penang was the Kek Lok Si Temple which is one of Southeast Asia's largest and most impressive Buddhist temples. It features a giant buddha statue which is covered by a giant dome-shaped roof standing on even more giant pillars.
Good cafés, restaurants:
- Meraki (nice and little café, but outside of George Town)
- Halzan (wonderful location with yummi food at Gurney Plaza)
- Mews Cafe (a place to try local Malaysian food like Laksa Lemak)
- Big Pantry (on the way to the Floating Mosque and the Batu Ferringhi Beach, good place for food)
- Chulia Street Hawker Food (nice street food place, try Curry Me)
- China House (cake place)
- Edo Itcho Island 88 (Japanese food, but out of George Town)
- D’Tandoor (delicious Indian food, but out of George Town)Meer informatie
Ipoh
10–13 apr. 2025, Maleisië ⋅ 🌧 28 °C
From Georgetown (Penang), we took a bus, which, in a smooth 3 hour ride, brought us to Ipoh (not to be confused with the international house of pancakes). In Ipoh, we again stayed in a little apartment, which was even a bit nicer than the one in Georgetown and luckily also much more quiet. By renting this apartment, we could also use the gym in the apartment building for free. The gym was not as nice as the one in Georgetown but we still used it every day to get our bodies their long needed exercise.
While staying in Ipoh, we did walk around through its center / old town a bit to get a feel for the place by strolling through the Heritage Trail and Concubine Lane and seeing some murals and historic buildings like the train station and the town hall. Since we did not feel like spending much time to visit yet another Buddhist temple or a mosque outside of the city, we spent a good portion of our time at home doing things like working on this blog, doing some video calls with folks at home, and Matthias even got the machine out to cut his hair.
Until now, we have not really grown fond of Malaysian food. Maybe we were just spoiled by the amazing Thai food and the many great restaurants we could find there but we feel like it is much more difficult for us to find a restaurant and food we really like in Malaysia. So we were more than happy to have stumbled upon a restaurant, which, among other types of food, serves insanely delicious Sri Lankan food. It was so delicious that we had to go back the next day to fill our bellies with Kottu Roti and String Hoppers again.
When taking a Grab taxi on our last night in town, we got into a conversation with the driver. Our conversation quickly came to the topic of the economy being down due to Trump introducing tariffs only one week prior. He said that Malaysians do regret the low economy and tariffs on Malaysia but it's not that they regret Trump but rather that “the guy was not shooting well”.
All the fun conversations aside, after three nights it was already time to take another bus to our next destination.
Good cafés, restaurants:
- Azlina Kitchen Ipoh (Amazing Sri Lankan food like Kottu Roti and String Hoppers)
- Flufff (very fluffy pancakes)
- JLN Theatre CoffeeMeer informatie
Cameron Highlands
13–17 apr. 2025, Maleisië ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
After the heat of Penang and Ipoh, it was time to cool down a bit by visiting the Cameron Highlands, which are situated at 1600m altitude. We stayed for four nights in a studio apartment nestled among local homes, which sounded super cozy, but was a bit different than the pictures shown on the booking website. Just like in Penang, the windows and doors are mostly a visual cover and, like the walls, provide virtually no sound proofing. Sounds like a non-issue in a small mountain village but combined with neighbors moving furniture all night, the nearby mosque blasting prayers through loudspeakers directed at our house, and the store downstairs starting their day early by hammering and chopping stuff changes things significantly. The bathroom even had “windows”, made of a few glass slats, which we couldn’t close at all. So yeah, additionally to the noise, we also shared the bathroom and shower with ants, flies, spiders and what-have-yous. Besides that, it got relatively cold during the night, so we had to wear long pajamas and be covered in a blanket. It felt like the temperatures in Switzerland, which we were just not used to any more! But enough with the complaining ;)
During our stay in the Cameron Highlands, we visited two tea plantations called BOH Tea Plantation and Bharat Tea Plantation. The lash green bushes were arranged in a grid-pattern and looked absolutely stunning, especially from above. Another natural place we visited was the Lavender Garden. There you can find plenty of flowers, a place where you can pick strawberries, a lot of locations to take pictures, and stalls that sell souvenirs and food. We tried lavender ice cream, which was special to eat because we felt as if we were eating soap.
Matthias had a special encounter with a guy who entered the garden’s restroom after him. This guy used the urinal next to Matthias and repeatedly glanced down at him, which he freely could since there were no walls between the urinals. He then started a conversation by asking where Matthias is from while still glancing down at him from time to time. Finally, while washing hands, he asked if Matthias was married. Upon replying “no”, he looked down at Matthias one more time and just said “big! - I like!”. Matthias then just laughed and left. At least this made for a funny story, right?
While finding a Grab taxi in the village to go to any of the sights in its surroundings is easy, finding one for heading back can be a challenge. We got caught by this when leaving the Lavender Garden where we had to wait about one hour to get a taxi back. But at least we met a German couple who suffered the same faith. On our way back, we stopped by the Forestry Office to ask about the state of the hiking trails and get some recommendations because what we previously researched on the internet was very confusing. As it turns out, there is a good reason for the confusion because the official system is simply ridiculous. It’s the Forestry Department’s decision which trails they officially open and it is difficult to figure out which ones without physically going to their office. Then, if you choose to do a hike, you would have to go to their office to buy a ticket that allows you to hike a specific trail. And finally, you should tell someone which trail you do and let them know when you’re back. While this last part makes sense, the rest just doesn’t and wherever you ask people tell you that you have to buy a tour with a guide if you want to do a hike. And if you do a hike yourself without buying a ticket, which would most likely work fine, there is a slight chance that you could be sent back by a ranger should you encounter one. So overall, it seemed like they just wanted to get some money out of tourists who go hiking and unfortunately they do so in a way that ruins this top tourist activity, which might backfire in the long run. So either you don’t care about all this and just do hikes by yourself (or spend money on a guide) or you will just be frustrated.
We involuntarily chose the second option and anyhow did not feel like doing a hike on our last day so we rented a scooter instead. With it we zipped through mountain roads, heading toward the Mossy Forest, a magical and misty jungle. On our way there we met the German couple again and ended up walking the last bit up to the Mossy Forest and through the forest with them. After this, we chilled a bit in our apartment and worked on this blog before returning the scooter and preparing for our last night in the highlands.
Good cafés, restaurants:
- Amsterdam Café (There are not a lot of breakfast places with good options in town, but if you are looking for one, this is it.)
- Highlands Spices (Yummy Indian food, delicious Roti!!!)
- Scott’s Café (Good Burgers and Spaghetti Bolognese)Meer informatie
Kuala Lumpur
17–27 apr. 2025, Maleisië ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C
Our journey to Kuala Lumpur began with breakfast at the Amsterdam Café, followed by a bus ride from Cameron Highlands to the capital city of Malaysia. Upon arrival, we checked into our first apartment at Taragon Residence where we stayed seven nights. Unfortunately, we did not have the most welcoming start as there was vomit on the curtains next to the bed and the bathroom also smelled of it. Nevertheless, we didn’t let that ruin our mood and the landlord immediately came to remove and wash the curtains, which they had overlooked, and cleaned the bathroom again. That evening, we went to see the modern skyline of Kuala Lumpur and we headed to the lively Jalan Alor Food Street market. In a restaurant, we enjoyed Hokkien Mee, lady’s fingers, and drank our first beer in Malaysia, called Anchor beer.
Our first impression of Kuala Lumpur was very positive since it felt completely different from other big cities we have been to. There are significantly fewer people in the streets, especially compared to cities like Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, and Hanoi we have recently been to. The streets don’t feel narrow between the tall buildings and as a pedestrian you enjoy a lot of space and many walkways, which are often covered, that help you cross the streets. While Kuala Lumpur does not exactly feel like a big busy city, it still is. The city seems huge and features an impressive skyline with numerous buildings that are very tall. The tallest and to us most impressive one was the recently built Merdeka tower, which stands out due to its height but also its elegant design. At the time of our visit it was the second largest building in the world with 118 stories and a total height of 679m. As a comparison for the people from our home place, if you moved this building to Pfäffikon SZ, its tip would be at the height of Etzel Kulm. Let that sink in! Unfortunately, it was not yet open to the public but we would have loved to go up there, maybe on our next world trip ;)
During our first seven days in Kuala Lumpur, we did a lot of sightseeing. We visited minor attractions such as the street art that can be found around Jalan Alor, did some walking tours through the city on our own, or also visited several shopping malls of impressive size and design. As an alternative to going up on the Merdeka tower, we visited the KL Tower, which is one of the tallest landmark towers and offers a great view onto the city. Unfortunately, due to a legal dispute between the old and new operator over their concession, it was also closed to the public. But we had one last trick up our sleeves to go up a tall building, which we did by booking a tour to visit the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. During the tour we could go into the bridge between the two towers and the observation deck at 370m height from where we could finally see the city from above. After the tour, we also visited the KLCC park just at the tower’s feet which offers great views of the towers from below.
Besides the sights in the city, we also visited two which are located a bit further away. One of those were the Batu Caves, featuring iconically colorful stairs as well as a lot of pigeons and monkeys on the way leading up to caves. The second was the beautiful Putra Mosque which is primarily designed in pink. In the mosque, we met a volunteer who could explain a lot about the mosque and the Islam in general just before a heavy thunderstorm moved in and made us stay at the mosque even a bit longer than anticipated.
Besides sightseeing, we used our time to plan the continuation of our trip, doing sports at our apartment building’s gym, doing video calls with our families at home, and obviously eating at various restaurants in the city. One of our restaurant visits was at a Sri Lankan place where we had lunch. While eating, we got into a conversation with a guy at a neighboring table. It turned out that he was Sri Lankan and after hearing that we like Sri Lankan food a lot he offered to pay for our meal. This was a very nice gesture but we still declined thankfully since we did not feel comfortable with someone paying for our food that is anyway cheap compared to Swiss conditions. A second visit was one we arranged with the German couple we met in the Cameron Highlands (See our “Cameron Highlands” footprint). A few days after us they had also made their way down to Kuala Lumpur and introduced us to the German restaurant Zum Stammtisch just next to our apartment building.
After our first seven nights, we moved to a different apartment in the Luxe building for an additional three nights. This building offered a great view onto the Potronas Twin Towers and other prominent buildings, especially from the pool and gym at the top floor. We did make use of both to either do sports with a view every day or just relax by the pool with the same amazing view. We did a tiny bit more sightseeing from there, like walking by the Petronas Twin Towers and the Saloma Bridge by night when they are spectacularly illuminated or visit the Central Market and get a leather wallet Marina made back in Hoi An (See our “Hoi An” footprint) embossed with her goddaughter’s name. Besides that, we also made use of the remaining days to work on some private projects like cutting a video of the last school camp with her former class, which Marina still wanted to do as a gift to the children and their parents.
And then our last day in the city arrived already. We went up to the pool again to take some photos before checking out and heading to a restaurant close by, which we found serves amazing Kottu Roti. With full bellies, we ordered a Grab taxi to the bus terminal from where we then took a bus to our next destination.
Good Cafés and Restaurants:
- Solace
- 103 Coffee - Chok Kit
- Ra-ft Café / Bistro
- Pokok
- UP KL
- Yarl @ Heritage Road (Srilankan food - delicious Kotu Roti)
- Zum Stammtisch - German restaurant and bar
- ParaThai
- Empire Sushi
- Torro Fries
- Chum Chum
- The Lankan KL (Sri Lankan)
- TG’s BistroMeer informatie