Sabbatical

May 2018 - January 2019 Les mer

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4. mai 2018
Sabbatical
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onsdag 2. mai 2018
☁️ 11 °C
Høyde: 455 m
Sveits Neuchâtel 46.992813, 6.92798146°59’34” N 6°55’41” E
Caves Chambleau + Fado dinner
2. mai 2018, Sveits ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
Last days in Switzerland: a sunny afterwork visit to caves de Chambleau followed by a Portuguese evening in Chauffage with Fado included. Spending time with good friends before departure!
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onsdag 2. mai 2018
⛅ 10 °C
Høyde: 542 m
Sveits Bern 46.947491, 7.44764246°56’51” N 7°26’52” E
Chinese VISA: check
2. mai 2018, Sveits ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
Another big preparatory step regarding our first sabbatical destination: China. VISA done on the first attempt thanks to Sara’s great preparation work :)
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onsdag 2. mai 2018
☁️ 9 °C
Høyde: 658 m
Sveits Peseux 46.993351, 6.88505946°59’36” N 6°53’6” E
Surprise farewell party
2. mai 2018, Sveits ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
A surprise farewell party organized by our super "Swiss" friends, a farewell party by Sara's work friends, and Chinese visas coming through at first attempt thanks to a lot of preparation work! Switzerland will be missed during the next months, especially the great friendships created during the past years. Thank you all so much!Les mer
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onsdag 2. mai 2018
☁️ 11 °C
Høyde: 445 m
Sveits Saint-Blaise 47.01384, 6.98334847°0’50” N 6°59’0” E
Farewell from Sara's team
2. mai 2018, Sveits ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
Farewell party #2 :) we had a lot of fun in the laser game, which also prepared our apetites for the huge meal that followed. They surprised me with a video where everyone gives me some useful tips for travel survival, such as how to remove leeches, how to tame a dromedary, how to avoid being kidnapped by an alien... you know, the usual stuff. I am sad to leave them but mostly I am happy to realize that I will miss all of these people that I met only a short time ago. It's an amazing team!Les mer
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ReisendeExcellent memories !! Have a nice road trip !
05.05.2018Svar
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torsdag 3. mai 2018 15:00
⛅ 12 °C
Høyde: 437 m
Sveits Serrières 46.979603, 6.89753546°58’47” N 6°53’51” E
Ready, set, go
3. mai 2018, Sveits ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Packs are packed, goodbyes are said, let’s do it.

Step 1: drive to Bordeaux to stay with Sara’s mum for a couple of nights and do our first sightseeing :)
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ReisendeCool good vacation
03.05.2018Svar
ReisendeMerci pour les insectes 😜
03.05.2018Svar
ReisendeEnjoy your sabbatical leave !!
04.05.2018Svar
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Dag 1
fredag 4. mai 2018
☀️ 16 °C
Høyde: 24 m
Frankrike Musée des beaux-arts 44.837711, -0.58139544°50’16” N 0°34’53” W
Bordeaux
4. mai 2018, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Wake up late -> take a nap -> go out for a beer and walk around

Trying to get in the new mindset of having no schedule and no obligations, but it’s not that easy! We are formatted to be busy and productive. We’ll need a few more beers to get there :)Les mer
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ReisendeSo it starts! Enjoy every minute. Καλό ταξίδι. The trip IS the destination.
10.05.2018Svar
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Dag 12
tirsdag 15. mai 2018 09:30
🌙 17 °C
Høyde: 63 m
Portugal Barroselas 41.648804, -8.70475341°38’56” N 8°42’17” W
1
1st week: Portugal
15. mai 2018, Portugal ⋅ 🌙 17 °C
A hectic week spent in Portugal to visit our dearest ones and take care of about a million things before leaving to Asia. Being in a sabbatical is exhausting 😂 and now China: here we go!
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Reisende Magnifique ! Pics from drone ??
15.05.2018Svar
ReisendeHow are you little penguins??
18.05.2018Svar
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Dag 16
lørdag 19. mai 2018 10:00
☀️ 25 °C
Høyde: 48 m
Kina Beihai Park 39.928889, 116.38833339°55’44” N 116°23’18” E
Beijing & the Great Wall of China
19. mai 2018, Kina ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Beijing surprised us. Our expectations were low and we were prepared for a cultural shock. But Beijing was a well organized, architecturally rich, relatively clean city with friendly people and abundant green spaces. The language barrier was huge as almost no one speaks English, but we were able to get what we wanted without too many surprises :) we got lost in the city and its hutongs, visited the Forbidden City and the beautiful Jingshan gardens, the National Museum of China, the Centre for the Performing Arts and hiked for 3 hours a section of the breathtaking Great Wall. We fell in love with Chinese paintings, ceramics and handicrafts, maybe one day we’ll come back for shopping! On the other hand, we felt a lot under surveillance, thanks to the thousands of cameras everywhere on the streets and strong police presence in every corner.

We leave Beijing in a night train to Xi’an, which should be a small adventure in itself... let’s see what the next episode will bring!Les mer
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ReisendeComo conseguiram apanhar a muralha da China sem pessoas?
22.05.2018Svar
ReisendeFomos a uma parte no meio da floresta onde tens que subir a pé até à muralha e depois fazer uma caminhada tb a subir e descer, acho que isso desencoraja muita gente 😁
23.05.2018Svar
ReisendeFaz todo o sentido! Mas é essa q vou fazer um dia tb :) beijinhos
23.05.2018Svar
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Dag 16
lørdag 19. mai 2018 10:00
☀️ 25 °C
Høyde: 48 m
Kina Beihai Park 39.92889, 116.38833639°55’44” N 116°23’18” E
2 1
Selfies em Pequim
19. mai 2018, Kina ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Depois de a Sara ter vomitado no avião e ter logo arrumado com a preocupação de ficar doente da barriga, andamos a explorar Pequim meio adormecidos pelo jet lag. Felizmente era uma cidade super interessante e fácil de navegar, e fomos tendo pequenas surpresas ao longo dos dias que nos despertavam :) o hostel com as paredes pintadas com One Piece, o senhor que nos emprestou a fita colorida, os praticantes de tai-chi nos jardins, boa comida... fomos felizes em Pequim!Les mer
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Reisende Welcome to the club !
21.05.2018Svar
Reisende Feeling like a local 😂🙈
21.05.2018Svar
😍😍😍
29.05.2018Svar
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Dag 16
lørdag 19. mai 2018 10:00
⛅ 25 °C
Høyde: 52 m
Kina Beijing 39.904987, 116.40528939°54’18” N 116°24’19” E
1
People of Beijing
19. mai 2018, Kina ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
We love people-watching, and Beijing is an amazing place to do it. We see busy people, sporty people, relaxed people, and they seem to find us interesting too since they ask to take pictures with us :)Les mer
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Reisende Swiss watch ? ;-)
21.05.2018Svar
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Dag 18
mandag 21. mai 2018
☁️ 19 °C
Høyde: 400 m
Kina Xincheng 34.274998, 108.95000534°16’30” N 108°57’0” E
Xi'an & Terracotta warriors
21. mai 2018, Kina ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
We took the night train from Beijing to Xi’an mainly to take a peek at the Terracotta warriors museum. Once again, the chinese trains surprised us with clean and comfortable 4 bed cabins that we shared with two quiet and kind locals.
Xi’an is an important landmark of the Chinese culture as it was the capital of the Qin dynasty, the first to unify most of China. The Terracotta army was secretly ordered by the Qin emperor around 200 years BC and only found in 1975. Our curiosity on the lengthy Chinese history and culture is growing as we move around. We read more and more about it everyday.
In Xi’an we wandered and got lost inside the busy area within the old Ming city walls despite the rainy weather. What we loved the most was the crowded Muslim quarter, where we took some risk to try some local specialities of street food. The Big Wild Goose square Pagoda from the Tang era failed to impress us, and tickets were a rip-off just to access the garden.
Around one hour away from the city was the place that delighted our eyes and left us speechless and totally amazed: the Terracotta Warriors Museum. This 8th wonder of the world is worth by itself the visit to China. Around 7000 terracotta warriors, human size, all slightly different, made using advanced techniques and science more that 2000 thousand years ago. Most of it is still unearthed as well as the emperor’s mausoleum. The history and facts behind were totally worth a read that made us appreciate this wonder from a different perspective.
Next: Tibet!Les mer
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Dag 20
onsdag 23. mai 2018 14:30
⛅ 20 °C
Høyde: 2 282 m
Kina Xining 36.615686, 101.77555336°36’56” N 101°46’32” E
2
Train ride to Tibet
23. mai 2018, Kina ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
We took a train from Xi'an to Xining and then to Lhasa. Only 28h in total 🚂 🚂 🚂 🚂

We went past endless sand dunes, then past endless plains, spotted by so many yaks, goats, sheep, a few horses and camels (or dromedaries? 🤔), and lakes, such as the huge and beautiful Qinghai lake. We saw some seriously remote homes decorated with praying flags. We also saw a handful of cities, some rather big, all rather ugly. Still, that's max 4 or 5 isolated cities in almost 2000 km!

But the real reward for the hours spent in the hard sleeper compartment came at dawn. We saw the sun rise over the golden plains and the many small lakes and streams of the central Tibetan plateau, and started to see some snowcapped mountains in the distance. No photos could ever do it justice (especially taken through the dirty train window) so I'm not giving you any 😁 gotta come here yourself!

It was also the time of our lives where we felt more like aliens 👽 since we were in the middle class of train tickets, we were surrounded by local families. Eventually the ones in our corridor got used to us and stopped staring 😂 we tried to communicate with them and vice-versa, but we were very limited with zero language in common.

We finally arrived in Lhasa, which is bigger than we expected. The historical center is surrounded by ugly recent buildings. Today we just lay low and try to adapt to the 3600 m elevation, and tomorrow we'll start exploring.Les mer
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Reisende Not true locals. The disinfectant gave you away :)
28.05.2018Svar
Reisende Ahah you have a good eye! :)
28.05.2018Svar
ReisendeWow, finalmente entram em terras selvagens! Que inveja!
29.05.2018Svar
Wonderful photos! What a great trip! Sharon King
05.08.2018Svar
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Dag 22
fredag 25. mai 2018
⛅ 12 °C
Høyde: 3 665 m
Kina Jibenggang 29.661653, 91.12991729°39’42” N 91°7’48” E
Exploring Lhasa
25. mai 2018, Kina ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
We finally recovered from jet lag and now are only suffering with altitude 😂 as a result we were forced to spend a significant amount of time sitting in rooftop terraces with some Lhasa beers, delicious Tibetan food and nice views over the old town at sunset...

We spent the first few days exploring the old town, including of course Potala palace and Jokhang temple. We also visited the two largest buddhist monasteries in Tibet - they used to host 5000 to 7000 monks each, but now have no more than 400, in part because 80 000 tibetans left for exile in India along with the Dalai Lama, but mainly because the Chinese government decided to control and limit the number of monks who are allowed to live there. It was weird to realize that our guide was not allowed to talk about the current Dalai Lama, and this prohibition was enforced by cameras and mics in our van...

We saw LOTS of Buddhas, inhaled a lot of yak butter and incense smell (often too much really), learned about the history of Tibet and understood how Buddhism is in practice. We were surprised to see every day lots of people doing pilgrimage and prostration around the palace and the temples, and especially to see how much money it involves. People who do not seem to have a lot give significant amounts of money to each Buddha statue and to each photo of one of the past Dalai Lamas. All this money seems to be used in part for the subsistence of the monks, but a big part seems to go to the scandalously rich tombs of each past Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, some containing more than 3700 kg of gold...

Overall, we were surprised by the amount of gold, jewels and other expensive metals in the monasteries as well as all the money many poor Tibetans were giving to their gods. We pictured Buddhism way differently, more focused on the soul and not as much on the luxurious, extravagant objects. We don’t have pictures of these because you have to pay high fees to be allowed! I guess these gods are shy and their keepers greedy...

Now let’s go see some landscapes. Fingers crossed for the weather to allow good views on our next destination 🤞🏼🏔Les mer
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Dag 26
tirsdag 29. mai 2018
⛅ -14 °C
Høyde: 6 232 m
Kina Chentang 28.032809, 86.95063128°1’58” N 86°57’2” E
1
Mt Everest
29. mai 2018, Kina ⋅ ⛅ -14 °C
Our journey to Mount Everest, also know here as Mt. Qomolangma, took us 2 days with a sleepover in Xigaze mid-way. The long bumpy bus ride was compensated by the rural and peaceful Tibetan landscapes, frequent stops for sightseeing, visiting the Tibetan Mastiff breeding region as well as the city of Gyangze and its temple (yes, another one 😱). Along the way were the endless barley fields for the production of the Chinese barley wine.

The weather forecast announced cloudy and rainy weather in the Himalayas, so our hopes to have a clean view (or any view) of the mountains were low. However, when crossing the last pass at 5200m... there they were, the highest mountains on Earth, clearly visible to delight our eyes.

One hour later, we reached the basecamp just 5 minutes before the end of sunset (what a luck, and hectic dangerous bus drive to get there in time). We finished the day staring at the colossal Mount Everest (even when you’re already 5200 m high it looks colossal) until the sun was replaced by the full moon and stars, what a perfect day ending!

Sleeping was hard at 5200m and with 6 persons in the same room and half of them snoring. Luckily, we woke up in great shape and full of adrenaline to marvel at the sights of the Everest during sunrise on a blue sky, freezing cold morning. We couldn’t have asked for better, this was probably the best moment of our trip so far!Les mer
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Reisende ❤
31.05.2018Svar
ReisendeImpressionante, numa altura de 5200m, uma estrada perfeita e nem um pouco de neve!
03.06.2018Svar
ReisendeE também havia 4G 😂
07.06.2018Svar
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Dag 28
torsdag 31. mai 2018
⛅ 0 °C
Høyde: 4 711 m
Kina Namtso 30.66444, 90.63937430°39’52” N 90°38’22” E
Nam Tso lake
31. mai 2018, Kina ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C
We were lucky to see the Namtso lake in all its colors: sunny and warm, windy and stormy, freezing and snowy. It is amazing to see a huge salt lake at 4600 m elevation, with snowcapped mountains on its background. It was a tough cold night in the guesthouse, but we woke up to a beautiful surprise - everything covered with snow!

Our time in Tibet ends back in Lhasa with night views of Potala palace. I don’t know if we will ever come back, but even if we do, I have a feeling we won’t see the same Tibet... development seems to be going on so fast and the remoteness of places like Namtso and Everest could be at risk. I can only hope it turns out for the best!Les mer
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ReisendeJá estavam com saudades de ver um lago?? 🤣 Aproveitem ao máximo! 😉
01.06.2018Svar
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Dag 32
mandag 4. juni 2018
🌧 13 °C
Høyde: 2 403 m
Kina Lijiang Old Town 26.874619, 100.23484826°52’29” N 100°14’5” E
1
Lijiang & Tiger Leaping Gorge
4. juni 2018, Kina ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
Lijiang is an incredibly cute old town, although extremely touristy. Every single street is perfectly preserved, and most of the shops are of artisanal handicrafts where you can see the artisans at work. The hundreds of Chinese tourists make us realize that this town is not so authentic, but still we had fun walking around and trying weird food. The Black Dragon Pool Park had a totally different vibe, with locals practicing their morning exercise like dancing together or whatever it is they were doing! In the park we saw an innocent-looking hill and decided to see where it led - well, it led to a freaking exhausting 1h of stair climbing 😰 the views at the en made up for it though.

With our legs prepared, we headed for the Tiger Leaping Gorge. We hiked here for two consecutive days, sleeping in a charming guesthouse along the way. The gorge is almost 4 km deep and it was impressive to walk through it. With our legs trembling, we reached Tina’s guesthouse wishing for a few days of rest 😂Les mer
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Reisende Tu as maigri 😘
07.06.2018Svar
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Dag 35
torsdag 7. juni 2018
⛅ 17 °C
Høyde: 1 985 m
Kina Yuexi 25.69599, 100.16754225°41’46” N 100°10’3” E
Dali
7. juni 2018, Kina ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Dali was a place to relax. It was in the same style as Lijiang, but Dali felt more real. Where Lijiang was picture-perfect to the point of feeling fake, Dali has beautiful imperfections, and normal people actually live here and have their businesses and go to the market to buy a freshly killed chicken. We strolled around the town, chilled out at the Confucian temple, rode a bike along the lake, had a mid afternoon beer (or was it mid morning?) with strangers - this is beginning to feel like a vacation!Les mer
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Dag 38
søndag 10. juni 2018
⛅ 24 °C
Høyde: 159 m
Kina Diecai Shan 25.281944, 110.28639225°16’55” N 110°17’11” E
1
Guilin
10. juni 2018, Kina ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
No words needed to describe the breathtaking Guilin landscapes, especially the Li river and surrounding limestone karts - surreal. The pictures speak for themselves.
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Reisende Que vous êtes beau
15.06.2018Svar
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Dag 41
onsdag 13. juni 2018
⛅ 16 °C
Høyde: 1 234 m
Kina Yantou 25.812309, 110.11696625°48’44” N 110°7’1” E
Longji Rice Terraces
13. juni 2018, Kina ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Longji was our most authentic experience so far in China. It was a throwback to our childhood memories of the Portuguese rural - the green landscapes molded by traditional farming, wood oven smell, the rosters crowing, home-made food (best noodles ever), the warm and simple people...
We’re glad we spent 3 nights here. It allowed us to relax from a demanding China and freely hike around the rice terraces and Chinese jungle in different weather conditions. The views were spectacular and constantly evolving as the weather changes and the sun moves.Les mer
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ReisendeHappy Birthday to my favorite colleague!! 😙
20.06.2018Svar
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Dag 48
onsdag 20. juni 2018
⛅ 31 °C
Høyde: 7 m
Hong Kong KCR Clock Tower 22.293547, 114.16924222°17’37” N 114°10’9” E
Hong Kong
20. juni 2018, Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
After a week in Hong Kong we had lots of memories and tons of photos. We ate dim sum, explored the city, ate dim sum, explored the beaches, ate dim sum, watched the Dragon Boat races, ate dim sum... what else... did I mention eating dim sum?Les mer
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Dag 49
torsdag 21. juni 2018
🌧 30 °C
Høyde: 16 m
Macao Jardim Comendador Ho Yin 22.191435, 113.55005622°11’29” N 113°33’0” E
Macau
21. juni 2018, Macao ⋅ 🌧 30 °C
We went to Macau in search of the Portuguese heritage. We found a really interesting (and sometimes weird) mix of old Portuguese and mass Chinese architectures, with lots of casinos in between. Portuguese is still an official language, but we found no one who could speak it. The best part was finding the biscuit shops where we could fill our bellies with free samples. After all, we are Portuguese, and we don't say no to free food :)Les mer
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Dag 53
mandag 25. juni 2018
☁️ 31 °C
Høyde: 23 m
Vietnam Hoan Kiem Lake 21.028381, 105.85373721°1’42” N 105°51’13” E
Crazy crazy Hanoi
25. juni 2018, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
Motorbikes and Phở. War history and street hairdressers. Oh, and pizza.
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Dag 54
tirsdag 26. juni 2018
⛅ 30 °C
Høyde: Sjønivå
Vietnam Île des Arènes 20.821513, 107.1885520°49’17” N 107°11’19” E
Ha Long Bay & Tam Cốc
26. juni 2018, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Spending some time on the water seeing beautiful places. Ha Long Bay is gorgeous, but we have to agree to everything we heard about it - it is getting polluted and local people and tour operators don't seem to understand (yet) that if they don't take care of their environment, tourists will stop coming and so will their money.Les mer
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Dag 61
tirsdag 3. juli 2018
☀️ 39 °C
Høyde: 18 m
Vietnam North Central Coast 16.46338, 107.59023816°27’48” N 107°35’25” E
Huế & Hội An
3. juli 2018, Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 39 °C
We wanted to visit Hue in order to learn more about the history of Vietnam and to visit some sites that still tell a lot about the last war. We saw old airbases, parts of the Ho Chi Minh trail, and an impressive complex of tunnels dig 30 meters into the ground, where the population of Vinh Moc would take refuge during aerial bombings. All of this under some seriously humid 37 degrees...

After all that, time to relax! We headed for the beaches of Hue, and initially only found places filled with plastic garbage. What a shame that local people don’t seem to care or do anything about it. Hopefully tourism can play a role - by avoiding to spend our time and money in polluted places, we can put a financial pressure on keeping the coasts clean.Les mer
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Dag 68
tirsdag 10. juli 2018
⛅ 31 °C
Høyde: 4 m
Thailand Ao Mae Hat 10.084597, 99.82368310°5’5” N 99°49’25” E
Koh Tao
10. juli 2018, Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
Here we spent most of our time on, in or under water 🐠. Had an amazing time getting our Open Water Diver certificate! It was not always easy - doing all those exercises to prepare for the worst possible scenarios, and getting seasick, and most importantly facing some of our fears - but it was so worth it! Having good friends around only made it more special :)Les mer
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