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World trip - Anna & Bertram

October 2017 - April 2018
  • placeswetravelled
A 202-day adventure by placeswetravelled Read more
  • placeswetravelled
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  • Iran Iran
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  • placeswetravelledTravelerWorld trip - Anna & Bertram
    2

    Local food market and cooking class

    March 12, 2018 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We got up early today to enjoy a 5 hour cooking class (including visit to the food market) with the staff of Tamarind restaurant. We had a such a great experience doing this in Cambodia that we were very keen to do it again in Laos. :-)

    The food market was great. Everything is very much hands on - you can see and smell all the various herbs and vegetables. Fish are in various states of either being still alive in their water basins or being skinned and chopped into pieces by the sellers. The meat section is also more involved than what most western tourists would be used to from home: all different parts of the animals are on display (stomach or intestines, anyone?). When they are not busy selling their goods, the vendors are chopping apart animal pieces, shaving off fur from pigs faces or making jelly out of animal blood. 🐖 -> 🍖

    The cooking lesson was fun and in a great setting (outdoors in a country villa). We cooked 5 different dishes and then enjoyed lunch together with the ~10 other attendees. We also met a very friendly German couple, Felix and Jessica, and passed on our enthusiasm for doing a world travel. ✈️

    We very pretty tired after the cooking class so we went back to the hotel for a little rest. In the evening we checked out “Utopia”, a hip restaurant/cafe (where we also got shelter during heavy rain that passed over Luang Prabang for about an hour) and then walked back home :-)    Read more

  • placeswetravelledTravelerWorld trip - Anna & Bertram
    On the "road" again at the slow boat terminal
    Most "action" on this day: boat race on the Mekong :-)The seats are old car seats - one can move them around!2

    Slowboat travel on the Mekong river

    March 13, 2018 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    We spent today travelling with a “slowboat” from Luang Prabang to Pak Beng. Tomorrow, we will continue on the Mekong river to Huay Xai, where we will do a three day hike with the Gibbon experience (you sleep over in tree houses and use zip line to get across the valleys - should be great :-)).

    The slowboat is a quintessentially Laotian way you f travelling on the Mekong. We enjoyed the opportunity to relax on the boat (it has seats for maybe 40 people But was only half full), look at the stunning scenery rolling past and listening to our audiobooks.

    We also met two fellow travellers - a married couple who originally come from India but have lived in Germany for the past 40 years. We were impressed how - despite their advanced age (70 and 60) they both set off on a 40 day journey through Cambodia, Lao, Vietnam and Thailand. We want to remain that adventurous when we’re that age!

    Apart from Anna, who got up early to do some yoga before our 7am departure from the hotel, we didn’t move very much today. Still, getting up so early made us both tired and so we’re in bed before 10pm :-)    Read more

  • placeswetravelledTravelerWorld trip - Anna & Bertram

    Day two on the slowboat

    March 14, 2018 in Laos ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Day two of our travel upstream towards Huay Xai was as peaceful and serene as yesterday. The boat was a bit different -> no moving seats meant that it was a bit more complicated to lie down or find any comfortable position to sleep in. We also noticed that it started to get cooler as we moved further north in Laos.
    After we got off the boat we both did some yoga. After two days stuck sitting around really yearned for a bit more movement. Newly certified Anna created a session for Bertram and it was a great experience doing yoga on the terrace of our guesthouse overlooking the Mekong.

    We’re now in Huay Xai, right on the Mekong river. Across the river is Thailand and about 50km further north is Myanmar. Those two countries are not on our list for this journey, but we’ve already decided to return so hopefully we’ll see them then :-)
    Tomorrow we’ll start a three day hike/zip line adventure through one of Laos’ national parks. We’ll sleep in treehouses and hike as well as zip line through the Laotian forests. The guides that accompany us are supposedly former animal hunters who have found better (and more animal friendly) employment as “safari guides”. The organization is called “The Gibbon experience” and while we’re not sure we’ll actually get to see gibbons in the wild, we so hope to see and hear some interesting wildlife as we sleep high in the treehouses :-)    Read more

  • placeswetravelledTravelerWorld trip - Anna & Bertram
    "Monkey" exercise to reach the end of the zip lineReaching the tree houseOur supply chain :-)

    Hanging out with the gibbons - day 1

    March 15, 2018 in Laos ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We started the adventure that we have been looking forward to for quite some time: the Gibbon Experience. It’s a nature reserve which hosts gibbons - the cool twist to it is that tourists stay overnight in tree houses and use zip lines to cross valleys :-)

    At the beginning the long zip line was a bit frightening - but being used to wearing harnesses and using carabiners we trusted the equipment soon and had so much fun! It took Bertram a bit more effort as his roller functioned less smoothly and he had to pull himself to the end quite often :-)

    Our tree house was nested in a big tree, 30m above the ground :-) it even had two platforms! We are still wondering how the night in the jungle will be...    Read more

  • placeswetravelledTravelerWorld trip - Anna & Bertram
    1

    More zip lining, hiking, and monkeys!

    March 16, 2018 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Our second day in the jungle was great, too! We started rather late with a breakfast at 08:00. The jungle wakes up much earlier and as Bertram and me left the mosquito met halfway up, the light came into our eyes around 06:00. It was a good opportunity to enjoy listening to and observing nature.

    We then had a short entertaining hike and zip line to our new tree house: it’s nested on a giant freestanding tree overlooking a valley, fantastic! We took lunch here and observed a monkey in a nearby tree before going for more hiking and zip lining. We also learned how to make hats from banana leaves - they were not the best option to take on the zip line ;-)

    It was really nice to visit 2 more tree houses (of course by zip lining in :-)) and enjoy stunning views before heading back to “our” tree house for dinner and sleep. Again we enjoyed a cold shower in our bathroom where you can see the water falling down on the ground between your feet like rain 🌧 :-)

    Now, it’s 21:00 - we have played our infamously famous dice game, so it’s time for bed!    Read more

  • placeswetravelledTravelerWorld trip - Anna & Bertram
    The hat's still on :-)11The first tree house we could see from the bottom :-)1

    Last jungle day and back to Huay Xai

    March 17, 2018 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We got up a little earlier today - the guides said 07:30 but came to our tree house already at 06:45. So to make up for it, Bertram went to lie down again after breakfast :-)

    Afterwards followed a mix of hiking and taking 7 zip lines (+4 repetition rides) to get us back to the village where we started two days ago. We had lots of fun and could also borrow the GoPro of someone in our group resulting in excellent footage in this post :-)

    All in all, the Gibbon Experience was absolutely worth the large sum of money - and the rest of Laos is very cheap to compensate a bit... ;-)

    We are now back in Huay Xai for dinner and the night but have already planned what to do next: 4 days in the town of Luang Namtha and the province of the same name for kayaking, hiking, and more jungle :-) flight is booked for Vientiane as well: Lao Airlines will hopefully take us there safely on 21.03.    Read more

  • placeswetravelledTravelerWorld trip - Anna & Bertram
    They asked us to take a picture first! :-)Jungle picnicThui and Wath examining the frog skewers

    Next stop: Kayaking in Luang Namtha

    March 19, 2018 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After yesterday’s transfer from Huay Xai, we stayed on the main street and looked for a travel agency that would offer a 2-day kayak excursion into the Nam Ha National Park. We found one after 5 minutes and were convinced by their eco tourism concept - they support local guides with higher salaries and also share proceeds with the minority villages in the area by bringing tourists in for the night and dinner.

    The trip started off well with our two guides Thui (48) and Wath (21). Both were really funny and the young Wath spoke exceptionally well English. Before even starting the official tour, we went to Lao’s first-ever festival of minority people where some ~25 of the 49 minorities exhibited their traditional clothes, food, etc. It was so much fun to go there - and be the only tourists as this was from Lao people for Lao people :-)

    We then took the tuk tuk for about an hour to the south into the Nam Ha National Park.

    We then transferred onto the river and were given a good farewell by a group of curious children who were enthusiastic goodbye wavers :-)

    The river was mostly calm and very beautiful. Anna sat in the front while Bertram steered in the back. We came to stop after 2.5 hours and made a jungle picnic. We even cooked soup in a bamboo and ate rattan (the stuff that furniture is made of), which is delicious if well cooked :-)

    After 2 more hours we arrived at a small village of the Khamu minorities where we would spend the night. After rest and yoga we visited the village and went around. The town is quite simple, but it features rice storage facilities, a school and the house of the village chief. Everybody smiled and treated us with joy. :-) We didn’t really have the ability to converse with the locals, but our guide Wath told us lots about village life. The villagers chose to become an eco tourism village, meaning they actively decided to be visited by tourists. Our guide Wath reported that he had previously asked villagers about whether they thought they made a good choice and whether they are still happy to be visited. Apparently they are, saying that the money they receive from sleepover tourists (like us) is shared amongst all villagers and has raised living standards. For example, they have set up a fund from the earnings and now provide “mini loans” to villagers and are also able to pay for better health care and school supplies.

    Dinner was again great - but for “dessert” we got a specialty: we sat with Thui and Wath by the fire when Wath got up to catch some frogs to barbecue :-) we both tried and they were quite tasty - no veganism in Laos 🇱🇦    Read more

  • placeswetravelledTravelerWorld trip - Anna & Bertram

    Great 2. day kayaking on Nam Ha river

    March 20, 2018 in Laos ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    Day two on the river started leisurely. Anna did yoga again while Bertram froze a bit longer on the mattress in our eco lodge :-) (It was quite chilly during the night.)

    Breakfast was quick and tasty: rice with eggs and tomato - Anna was joined by a group of apparently hungry village dogs...

    We got going at ~09:30 and kayaked through some difficult sections. The water in dry season is quite low and we had to navigate with care in order not to sit on a rock :-) Today, we switched roles and Anna was the steering person in the back while Bertram maneuvered in the front. The new setup resulted in Bertram being attacked twice with Anna’s blade but we soon arranged ourselves :-)

    On the way through the jungle we stopped at a second village where we went to also visit the school - consisting of 5 children only :-) It almost felt like a private lesson :-)

    We had a great trip along the river and chose another nice picnic spot that also allowed bathing in a pool of deeper and more quiet water. The remaining section until the third village was easy and we even beat the guides in the final kayak race (maybe they let us win...)

    Upon arrival we learned that our tuk tuk broke down. So we sat and waited (some sleeping in the kayak) for the new tuk tuk. When we finally drove back to Luang Namtha it became clear that this road had cost a lot of tuk tuks their lives: very steep, curvy, and with immense numbers of pot holes.

    Back in Luang Namtha we first drank coffee, then got to the hotel and finally ate dinner at the open air night market.    Read more

  • placeswetravelledTravelerWorld trip - Anna & Bertram
    Our little airplane managed the flight well ;-)
    The mushroom trio!

    Transfer to Vientiane and surprise :-)

    March 21, 2018 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We intended to go out this morning for breakfast at our habitual café in Luang Namtha - the Manikong Bakery :-) before we did so, however, Bertram read a curious email: „Your flight to Tehran will take off in almost 24h and is open for check-in“. Wait a sec - 24 hours?!?! We had both firmly believed that we were going to Iran in Friday, not on Thursday...

    After re-reading and checking some email flight confirmations the result was still the same: we are flying to Tehran tomorrow :-) Luckily, we received a quick response from a Tehran hotel to host us from 22.03.-23.03. as our original hostel booking from 23.03. onwards could not be moved earlier... such a stressful morning in our calm traveller lives :-) As our friend Natascha said: “It’s time for you to come home, you are already starting to get lost...” She is right - but: 3 weeks + the newly won 1 day in Iran come first!

    Our time in Vientiane was, thus, very limited. We strolled around the quarter and saw a couple of temples (as everywhere in Laos ;-)) and then only had time for a coffee (including Iran travel planning) and subsequent dinner at a very nice French-Lao fusion bistro with many nice dishes:
    - duo of tofu salad (one crispy, one marinated)
    - ravioli stuffed with camenbert and morning glory
    - trio of Lao mushroom dishes
    - duck breast with Lao fried vegetables 🌶🦆
    - lemon tart 🍋

    Now it’s time for bed as we need to go to the airport at 05:30 am :-O

    ******************************************************************

    Note to everybody at home: we area bit unsure whether our mobile phone numbers will work in Iran. Best to send us an email or WhatsApp message which we can read once we have WiFi.    Read more

  • placeswetravelledTravelerWorld trip - Anna & Bertram
    Flight from Vientiane, Laos, to Bangkok
    Hair cover-ups...I tried to tell them "Robert without the Ro", but they didn't understand :-)This is how empty it was when boarding finished.

    Arrival in Tehran

    March 22, 2018 in Iran ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    A day full of travel today, but with an exciting destination: Tehran!

    We got up at 5:15am to make our way to the tiny international airport in Vientiane, Laos. After a short flight we arrived in Bangkok from where we flew on to Tehran. We had a 6 hour layover in Bangkok, which we used to call home, enjoy one last Starbucks coffee (since nobody ever understands “Bertram” when we order coffee, we now went for a new name) and relax in the lounge (we were happy to realise that our airline (Thai Airways) is a Star Alliance member and we could use their lounge for free). Anna also used the time to test out new hair-covering outfits for Iran.

    Finally, after the six hour wait we boarded our plane to Tehran, an 8 hour flight from Bangkok. The plane was almost empty - there were maybe 30-40 people on board. No idea why: could have to do with the holiday season in Iran that had already started 3 days ago, or the route from Bangkok to Tehran is just not popular. Anyway, it was all the better for us :-)

    We were a bit apprehensive about the immigration procedure in Iran, having read a lot about it. In the past, one had to get a visa in advance, which we didn’t. For our passports, Iran recently introduced visa on arrival, which means - as the name suggests - that we should be able to get the visa at the airport. But there’s no guarantee, of course. In the end, everything was very easy. Nobody asked us about our planned itinerary, nobody wanted to know why we visit (I guess tourist was obvious ;-)), and nobody wanted to know how long we would stay. We did have to wait 45 minutes, but other than that no problem. (We did bring print outs of the required proof of medical insurance, and that was also readily accepted.)

    While waiting, we already noticed the famed friendliness of the Iranian people. As other locals would walk past us (as we waited) they greeted us and welcomed us to Iran. A bank serviceman chatted with us about football (he even knew Toni Polster from Austria!) and our travel itinerary. The only awkward moment (for us) was when he pointed out that the Germans and the Iranians both share the Arian culture. We smiled politely and chose not to discuss that much further...

    Finally, before heading to the hotel, we changed some money. Iran is cut off from the international banking system, so our credit and debit cards will not work in this country. For foreigners, everything is pretty much cash only and you cannot withdraw more at ATMs. A rare money exchange-related surprise for us was that the exchange rate to the Euro and USD was about 30% better(!) than what we read in the lonely planet guide and even what we checked live online. (We got about 59k rial for a Euro whereas if you check online now, www.xe.com will give the exchange rate at around 46k rial for one Euro.) It seems that the Iranian rial massively lost value, maybe due to fear over a reintroduction of further sanctions? But why doesn’t it show on the online exchange rate?

    Anyway, we arrived in the hotel tired, but also excited for the coming days and weeks. Tomorrow we’ll explore Tehran’s bazaar and find some more outfits for us. :-)    Read more

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