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Asia 2023
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  • sirhc80

Asia 2023

My second long-term solo-trip through Asia.🤩 Læs mere
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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Singapore - Gardens and Skyscrapers 🌺🏙

    28. august 2023, Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Another traveller brought my own impressions from this crazy city to a perfect bottom line: This city feels like Asia's Dubai.

    Who could come up with the idea of building 3 skyscrapers in the harbour area and putting a huge ship on top of all three? Well, they just do it here. People like me are paying obscene prices for a drink on that "ship-look-alike" rooftop... 🙈😅
    And, building a huge garden, mostly beautiful (but plantings and flowers in some areas neglected), isn't enough, there are several observation decks, a skywalk, a flower dome, just several "amazing attractions" needed, to make it real fancy (and expensive🤑). Including some huge artificial trees, providing a really impressive light-music-show in the evenings.

    Most places (aside from Chinatown, little India and outer areas) are very clean and well kept. Bins are usually provided in most public places, easy to find free (!) and clean public toilets, very few broken items/places and many many construction sites for new buildings and streets. Sometimes, in the city center, it feels a little bit like being back in Tokyo.
    On the other hand, especially Chinatown and little India are nice districts with smaller houses, filled with life, especially in the evening. Not that proper and polished, much more relaxed, even if busy. Felt much more like south-east Asia, there. At some points you could nearly forget to be in a huge city with >5mil. people, if there weren't always some skyscrapers in your sight.😅

    And, of course, law-and-order-policies, are permanent visible anywhere. You can't do a step, without getting warned by a sign about fines from €140 to €1400 for drinking or eating inside bus/metro, spitting on the ground, smoking or just stepping on the streets, where it's not allowed. Not yet talking about that bubble gum fines... 😅

    The multiethnic society is visible everywhere, temples, shrines and churches of all religions, often side by side. You can hear the connection language called "Singlish" everywhere. It's a mixture of mostly english with the other languages, even some different grammar, as I've read. But at least I wasn't able to understand anything from their "Singlish" talking. 🙈
    Nice side effect for me, from that ethnic variety: You can get at least Malay, Chinese and Indian food nearly everywhere. 🤤😅

    All in all I'm happy I've made that stopover, but 3 days were enough. Permanently swapping between ordinary daily life at local markets and streets and public transport, on the one hand and huge fairground-like environment at every touristic attraction or sightseeing spot (except Mount Faber) on the other hand, is tiring, for me. Especially after being 5 days in Bangkok, just before. 😅
    And, honestly speaking, coming from Sri Lanka, and even from Bangkok, these ultra-rich and extremely money-focused societies like Singapore are exhausting. People aren't caring that much about each other, cordiality is (nearly) only given when you are a customer and in such an extremely touristic city it's rarely possible to get in touch with locals. I prefer travelling to more rural and less touristic areas, but Singapore definitely was a must-see.

    Another remark about my photos:
    All are original as taken by my smartphone, only few of them are fitted to focus on motive, but no else editing, filters, ...
    And I'm afraid I won't learn to take pictures in crowded places, or when I'm overwhelmed by impressions. And I'm hesitant to take pictures from people, when it feels like violating their privacy. So I definitely won't become an insta-pro or influencer 😅 But please don't hesitate to ask about personal impressions or anything else you want to know about a country/place, I've been! It could take a few days, but I promise I will come back to any comment or message!    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Singapore - Sentosa & Mount Faber

    27. august 2023, Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    To be honest, I didn't know what to expect from Singapore, as there are lots of rumors going around about it, when talking to travellers.
    So I decided just to jump in, as open minded as possible.
    After one day, I can't really say much more, but it definitely is not a backpacker city 😅
    There are really not many hostels, I've looked at 2, booked another one and left after 1 night, now sleeping at a 4-bed-dorm in an ibis-style hotel 🤯. Well, it's a very nice, great equipped room. 😎
    Talking about prices, coming just from Bangkok, it's hard to adjust to dorm-beds starting (!) from 25€ at creepy places. From 30€ above I've found now a great one, looking out for tomorrow.
    What else to say? Public transportation is amazing, food is great, multiethnic country is felt everywhere, lots of Asian tourists are here, few western.

    As always, I want to see cities from above and from the water, first worked already out pretty good, as there's the Sentosa cable Car, connection Singapore's "entertainment-island" with the city.
    Nothing more to say about that crazy place, didn't make it to the historical sites, there, didn't look too tempting to me 🙈
    Wandering around on Mount Faber was quite cool, being "in the jungle", while still in the city, seeing and hearing a lot of birds, was nice.
    The view from up there and from the cable car was amazing, it's definitely a really unique city.
    Been around in little India and Kallang, more to come soon.😬    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Bye bye BKK

    25. august 2023, Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    After 4 days, felt like being home again.
    Some great new impressions, few water taxi rides, Streetfood madness, all the tiny and huge markets, everywhere, again some electronics shopping in MBK Center, a crazy place 🤪
    But it's time to move on, curious about what's coming next 🤩    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    good vibes big city life ❤️🇹🇭

    24. august 2023, Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    One of the most vibrant cities, I've been to, so far. Thai vibes are incomparable, especially when mixed with Bangkok's city life.🥰
    Only one and a half day left, let's see, what happens.🤷🤩

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    One night in Bangkok 😅😉

    22. august 2023, Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Well, probably will be 3-4 nights, before heading on to Singapore 😅

    I'm so glad to be back in one of my most beloved cities and so curious, how it is, if there's not just a king's funeral going on, as it was in 2016 .
    Have heard, that a lot of things have changed within the last few years, looking forward to exploring the city again. 🤩

    Update:
    Will leave in less than 3 days, booked a flight to Singapore on Saturday! 🤩
    So just 2 days left for sightseeing in Bangkok. 😱😅
    Hard to describe, but probably the great mixture of chaotic streets, markets, foodstalls, where everything seems floating anyway and all the different shapes of the city. 😍

    (Still not good in taking photos in the narrow and crowded streets, let's see later 😅)    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende
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    Salty lips 🌊🏝️🤿

    20. august 2023, Maldiverne ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    What could I say about the Maldives, that isn't obvious?
    Permanently having a salty taste in my mouth, as I'm jumping in and out of the water. Exploring endless and always exciting reefs with uncountable amounts and variety of fishes and corals, all day.
    I was visiting some friends from Sri Lanka on neighbour-island Rashdoo, for a day trip, having a great time together!
    Swimming with some Mantas, only a short boat trip from Ukulhas, where I'm staying.
    Enjoying great and sometimes spicy food. Tasting unseen and creative homemade snacks from locals.

    Could stay here, for a while, but that would burden my budget a lot. Even if there's off-season.

    Will try to add some more impressions about people and daily life, later, if I find time for it 😅    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Maldives - On my way to Ukulhas 😎🏝️🤿

    17. august 2023, Maldiverne ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Plans are made to be broken 😁
    After I've read, how cheap flights from Sri Lanka to Maledives are, I took a further look and found out, that during off-season, Maledives are quite affordable 😎

    So here I am, on my way to a few days of relaxing, snorkeling, amazing beaches and, hopefully, some great impressions and experiences.
    Soon more to come 🤩

    So excited 😊😬😎🤩    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Safari - Tuktuk adventure part 2 🐘🦎🦌

    15. august 2023, Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Udalawale national park is a great place to see a bunch of animals and, of course, the famous and majestic wild elephants of Sri Lanka.
    So, after our adventurous Tuktuk ride of about 150km, we arrived late at our Safari lodge. But had a great dinner, on the way, at a locals' restaurant. Rice and curry buffet, refill included, for about 1.6€, tasted amazing!🤤
    Obviously no nightlife in Udalawale, as most people here are visiting national park and safaris are starting between 4:30am and 6:00am.
    So after a short night we jumped in our jeep, at park entrance lot of jeeps already piling up. Luckily all the jeeps spread soon over the huge area, so mostly our jeep was quite alone on the trails.
    But if our guide had spotted any animal, it took only a few minutes, till other jeeps stopped by - and vice versa 😅
    Ran into one male elephant within the first 20 minutes, not shy at all, placidly eating some grass.
    Met two herds of elephants, later, but as both had babies with them, one just 3-4 weeks old, we kept distance, as they're very protective.
    So impressive and fascinating animals 🥰.
    Further on we met some deer, buffalos, of course, some chameleons and lizards, a wild Sri Lankan chicken and some fascinating birds.
    Crocodiles were online swimming around, probably it already was too hot for them, at that time. 😅
    So Safari was great, after lunch we left, Ami went to the south by bus, Kasia and I went back to the north. My Tuktuk and me had to do the last part, up to Ella mountains, on our own, as I dropped off Kasia on the bus to Arugam Bay.
    Mountain roads are very nice with a Tuktuk, too. 😬    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    A Tuktuk adventure - first part 🛺⛰️

    14. august 2023, Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    You remember, at Ella I've met Kasia from Poland, while hiking through the mountains we made a great plan: As both of us wanted to make a Safari on Sri Lanka, but didn't want to spend a whole day in a jeep to get there, we decided to rent a Tuktuk and go on ourselves to Udalawale national park, for a safari 😎.
    Hiring a Tuktuk in Ella wasn't that easy and while walking around asking people for it, we ran into Ami, the Indonesian traveller I had met in Trincomalee before 😅.
    Having a brief chat, we invited her to our trip, so "Tuktuk-crew" was complete 🛺😎
    Finally we managed to get a Tuktuk for rent, even a very fancy one 🤩
    So the next morning we started, as I was the designated driver, I had to fight for a while with gear shifting, it's quite tricky 🙈
    While going down from the mountains, we rapidly understood, why the owner of the Tuktuk made a detailed explanation, how to change tires: we had a flat tire after going like 10km from 250km total trip length 😯🤪
    But as I'm feeling like being a lucky man, during this whole trip, it happened literally 30m away from a Tuktuk mechanic's, even a tire shop was only 100m further down the road 😅.
    While we had some discussions by phone with the Tuktuk owner about buying a new reserve-tire, deducting the rental fee, the great guys from the Tuktuk mechanic's changed our wheel (~ 1.8$, tip included 😅). So after about an unplanned break, taking like 1.5h, we were able to move on 😎.
    First planned stop was at Diyaluma falls, Sri Lanka's 2nd biggest waterfall.
    An amazing experience, it's a huge, impressive waterfall, looking at it from the downside. From the last Tuktuk parking upwards it was like a 20min hike on small paths, awarded with an unbelievable view and the creek going through a great series of small ponds, before falling down the steep cliffs.
    Only a few tourists around, mostly local ones, so free roaming around and going quite close to the cliffs was amazing.
    Walking a few minutes upstream took us to the second part of Diyaluma falls, way smaller, but wider and a big pond to have a swim. Some nice little steps in the waterfalls made kind of showering or sitting in the falls possible 🥰
    A great and very refreshing experience! 🤩
    Loved this place so much, that we had to hurry a bit, to arrive at Udalawale not too late, but we didn't care 😅🥰    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Ella - some hiking in the jungle

    13. august 2023, Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Ella or Elle is one of the most popular destinations in Sri Lanka - for good reason.
    It's built into the jungle, as seen often here, but located in some beautiful mountains of Sri Lanka's center, it offers great views from nearly any place.
    The main road is extremely touristy and a huge nightlife area, after sunset, but as the city is spread widely into the surrounding mountains, it's easy to feel like being in the jungle, anyways.
    There's a historical railway bridge to see, surrounded by tea plantations and a nice experience, when a train goes over it, through all the people 😎
    Walking under it, over it and high above the bridge (making a fresh-juice-break in between 😎) was so beautiful and relaxing, loved every moment.
    Furthermore I've met another traveller from Poland, had some great times together and very spontaneous we made a great plan for a little adventure trip, more about that soon 😬.
    Didn't do the hikings onto Ella Rock or Adam's Peak, two of the highest mountains in Sri Lanka, as I ran out of time 🙈. Nevertheless, little Adam's Peak at sunrise was a nice hike, too, and gave some great views on the mountains around.
    All in all a great place to enjoy nature and mountains.
    And, finally, I was able to see a cricket match, one of Sri Lanka's most popular sports. Accidentally (again 😅) took a wrong turn and passed by Ella's cricket field, watching some school teams playing, surrounded by their classmates. 🙂    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Surflessons in Arugam Bay

    9. august 2023, Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Conscious about going to a 'surfers place', I still was surprised to learn, that Arugam Bay is one of the Top 50 worldwide surfspots and how much it's packed with Surfers. From all over the world, any surflevels possible, lots of beginners. As there is the so called 'Babypoint' directly at the beach, there are nice small waves and whitewater, 'round the clock.

    While neighboring Pottuvil looks like a fishermen city, Arugam Bay is heavy touristic, seems to be an artificial town: Main road (otherwise there are only some dirt side roads to beach and/or facilities/housings) packed with restaurants, tourist ships, surfschools, accommodations, tiny groceries.
    Many restaurants and food stalls serving most common international food, from sushi to pizza, burger and even Schnitzel. 😅 If you're looking around a bit, can find amazing seafood, lots of Sri Lankan food, for reasonable prices. All you can eat rice & curry buffet, or some decent devilled prawns in a luxury beachfront restaurant, or or an in front of you grilled Red Snapper or a variety of Rotis, you can choose on a broad range. Not as cheap as in Trincomalee, more surfer orientated but meals for different budget are available.

    Even if there are lots of fishing boats around the beach, on the main beach several surfschools, restaurants and dozens of surfers in the water from 6am to sunset, clearly dominated the town.
    There just some bigger Hotels of all standards in the periphery, no local business or industry to be seen.
    Beach is nice, obviously a lot of waves, if you can handle the touristic and surfer vibes, main beach is nice to chill and watching surfers.
    There are some small beaches and several surfspots of different levels nearby, so it's worth renting a scooter (6-8.5€) and going around.
    Even at some remote but nice beach surfspots you could rent a surfboard or get a fresh fruit juice from a guy in a shed.
    If you can handle all the crazy surfers, it's a nice place to hang around and have some fun.
    So while looking at surfers for a while and talking to some at my hostel, I finally decided it's worth a try, even if it will be a long term project and cost some amount of time 😅
    So starting with surfing at the beginning of my trip, very likely beeing able to practice a lot in Indonesia and Philippines, there's a chance that I'll be able to ride some nice waves within 2 or 3 months. It is a physically challenging and exhausting sports you need to practicea steadily to improve.
    First surflessons have been great, hopefully I will be able soon to practice on my own, as for now I'm more falling off the board, having a short ride still is rare. 😅
    But some surf lessons should bring some improvement, soon 😎.
    Furthermore I need to find some prescription surfing glasses, as for now I'm using my prescription goggles, I've gotten for snorkeling, originally. Looking funny with that on a surfboard 😅🤣
    Do not expect photos from me surfing, for a while, because it would just be me falling off a surfboard in the whitewater. 🙈
    So let's see, how's going 🙂
    Life's a wave! 🏄
    😉🫣
    Update:
    Added two pics about surfing, seeing that surfers are really crazy, showing more than a dozen of them in the water before sunrise! 😯
    Furthermore, surfing can be a rough sports, especially if your lacking of fitness 😅 So some bruises and cuts are the price to pay, but on my last day here, I finally were able to ride some waves unassisted, one even up to its end! 🥰
    Surfing is amazing, can't wait to go on in Indonesia! 🤩😎    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Day trip to another beach - 🛵🚍🚌 🏄

    7. august 2023, Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Went from Sigirya to Pasikuda, to bring back my scooter, went on to Arugam Bay by public buses.
    A nice trip, a great experience, made new friends, love enjoying Sri Lankan life, taking a fresh coconut drink asides the street. 🤩
    No more words needed. 😅    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Treehouse hostel in Sigirya 🌳🌴🌿

    7. august 2023, Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Staying in Hostels, most of the time, is one of the best parts of travelling, as you will meet people from all over the world, share experiences and impressions and you'll get lots of recommendations and information.

    Hostel life always follows a scheme, but never is the same, wherever you are. And even if I've seen some really shitty places, calling themselves "Hostels", imo most of them are a good choice. But sometimes, there are outstanding places, built and managed by great people who have a great understanding, what are travellers needs and what backpackers are expecting from a good hostel.
    In Sigirya Treehouse Hostel, they even went a step further and built a great unique and extremely spacious hostel, integrated into the surrounding jungle.
    So there are several "treehouses", technically just Bungalows built on ~3m poles, so you are staying right into the treetops 🥰
    Sitting on your private balcony, surrounded by palms and trees, looking at the monkeys going around in the area, is an amazing start into a new day! ❤️

    Rooms are basic, but meeting local standards very well, mosquito nets provided and a nice shower. As "houseguests" are inevitable in jungle areas, we shared our bathroom with a little frog with some of it's baby's, but we easily accepted our mutual personal boundaries. 😬
    There are some rooms on the ground, too, haven't checked them, as the treehouses are awesome 😅
    Furthermore there's all you need, like a huge common area providing Billard, chess & checkers, a nice chill-area with a hammock and a big table so you will enjoy your meals together with other backpackers.
    Bar and restaurant provides everything you could need from morning to late evening, which is quite nice, as the next village is about 2.5km ahead.
    But they'll give you a lift, anytime you need, so getting around is very easy.
    They're providing a lot of activities, as most good hostels do, unfortunately the actual yoga teacher was delayed, so I wasn't able to do that. But all activities provided, were nice and I've nobody heard complaining, I think everyone there had a great time.

    Going there with my own rented scooter, gave me the freedom to do rock climbings, explorations or meeting up with other travellers at one of the villages, on my own.

    All the staff there is amazingly friendly and caring, the atmosphere is unique, and I had some great chess matches and met some travellers, I very likely will meet again, on my trip. 😎    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Sigirya ancient city - Lion's rock

    6. august 2023, Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Hard to explain what Sigirya is about, as there is so much more, than "only" some ancient ruins ❤️🌳🌱⛰️🏛️

    So it's basically some huge rocks deep in the jungle, on and around some ancient ruins.
    Looking from above, it looks like "few houses in the jungle", are around the ruins, hardly can spot out the villages.
    That jungle-vibe dominated my stay here, permanently feeling living in the jungle, making 2 km to the next shop (not by foot during the dark, there are animals out there! About half day dozen dead humans per year, people say). Any ride to anywhere started with a ride through the jungle, permanently monkeys around (dogs keeping the housings free of them), obviously cows, lizards, squirrels...

    Further around some villages for touristic purposes have established and in between and around every 50-250 meters, you'll find a dirt road to a homestay in the jungle or so. Few luxury accommodations there, lot of local and/or indian tourists, as it seems.

    All the usual european countries already met here, some rare travellers, like from Slovakia, Turkey, Israel and Japan. In total I only have met 3 travellers from Asia here, so far, but its obvious that Asian mass-tourists are just going in their own groups by bus to the Sigirya site and directly leave to somewhere else. 🤷

    Villages are packed with family- and agency-tourists, so social life only in the Hostels. Stayed in two different ones, have to make a separate footprint for that 😬

    As I arrived at my room late, my first day was for catching some sleep, relaxing, chilling and socializing 😎
    Restarted to play chess, as some challenging and motivated players were around.♟️⛰️s

    Evening time we climbed up the "little P-rock" originally named "little" asides to the original Pindurangala rock. Went on a short, well walked path upon a plateau, giving an impressive view onto Lion's Rock and a nice and chilled sunset 🥰
    Had nice talks and some Chess and Billard matches into the night. 🍻

    Next morning getting up at 4:40 wasn't easy, but climbing alone on my own pace and being nicely on time on the Lion's Rock, for seeing the sunrise, was great.
    Even found time to recover from climbing, before I was enjoying the view for a nice while, up there.
    Sitting inside the ruins, watching the sun polishing, climbing up behind jungle mountains - and imagine how it must have been, standing on the balcony of a huge and crowded palace in ancient times - was impressive.

    So Sirigiya ancient city - UNESCO World Heritage site, I highly recommend.
    Especially for sunrise, but sunset probably is very nice, too, having 360° view.
    After entering through the lions door, it's a long run and probably millions of steps on sometimes overhanging stairs several dozens of meters above the site,
    but the payoff is worth it twice.

    While walking here and there on the quite big site, more and more explanation boards showed up. Still needed some online information, but great basic information is provided. A security guided walk inside the images cave, update about that will follow later (STAY TUNED).
    Ruins of the gardens, pagodas, fortresses and the huge palace on top of them, were awesome, if you're more deep into archeological stuff, you probably could stay for a while there, but after 5 hours I left for breakfast at the hostel 😁
    Not very fair, but a comparison with Angkor Wat for my personal subsumption was like: Obviously it's much smaller, there are no buildings but "only" ground-ruins to see (despite the unique view from the top), but for me it had kind of similar vibes, but in a very different, Sri Lankan, style. It was absolutely worth the trip, 3 days at my amazing accommodations, gave me some nice safari opportunities, relaxation in the jungle and several sunsets/-rises on the top of enthroned rocks over the jungle. Few great places to meet travellers already established, lots of nice private A/C-rooms are available, too, what I've heard.

    UPDATE HERE & FOLLOW-UP planned.    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Goodbye Trincomalee/🛵-ride to Sigirya

    4. august 2023, Sri Lanka

    Leaving shoreside, leaving the beach always is a little sorrowful, but other great times are ahead, so with mixed feelings I said goodbye to Trincomalee's beautiful beaches and the relaxed vibes.

    Enjoying the sunrise and afterwards having a spicy Sri Lankan breakfast with a great Ceylon coffee was a nice start of the day.

    As Ami, a very kind girl from Indonesia, checked in at my hostel the evening before, we talked a lot about our earlier travels and about my plans for Indonesia 🤩
    So I not only got a huge bunch of recommendations, where to go and what to see/do in Indonesia, but even found a new friend I hopefully can visit, when I'll be at Sumatra, in September 😎

    So we spent the morning together, met up with some travel-buddies from Pasikuda, took a last dip into the ocean and left to Sigirya 🤩

    That time I did not start my trip at noon 🥸, but unfortunately a little late, so I had to rush, to avoid driving in the dark 🙈
    Driving at night at Sri Lanka may be fine in and around cities, but outsides or even in the jungle, this can become dangerous, even for locals. As there are lots of animals walking around freely and crossing the streets, you would need to drive slowly, nevertheless. But if a wild elephant would decide to cross the street, just ahead your scooter, well, ... Let's avoid such a situation. 😅🙈

    Still found some time, on my way, to spot out a few interesting things, like statue of King Ago II 😎
    Still fascinated by the green but varied landscapes here 🤩
    And, as usual, dozens of cows crossing my way 😅

    Finally I ended up right after sunset in a small, nice Hostel, meeting again a spanish girl I've seen in Colombo, playing Carrom with some local guys 😎

    (Service: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrom)
    😉    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Trincomalee - a relaxed touristic city

    2. august 2023, Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C

    Time rushes, when having a great time, already spent 2 days here 🤩.
    Arriving late I directly stumbled across a typical Party-Hostel, as you could find in Thailand in every city.
    Was a rough start here, party went until 4am, but was very nice. Met travel-buddies from Colombo, again, and an Austrian couple who arrived with the same plane 😅 Backpacker's world sometimes seems to be surprisingly small.

    Some partying time by time is fine, but looking for a more quite place I found Akki's Hostel. Akki is a very young guy who set up a beautiful tiny Hostel with only three basic equipped rooms and an amazingly planted and decorated garden, some hammocks around, great for hanging around and relaxing.
    A very nice and not so busy part of the beach is a 60m walk, listening to the ocean all the times is one of the best parts of travelling shoreside.

    So first day here, after changing hostel, I spent relaxing, swimming and recovering from the great but exhausting scooter trip to here. In the evening Julian and I decided to take a look at famous marble beach, which was very nice, but seperated into two parts. One (smaller) public part, being quite crowded as there was a public holiday, and one completely empty part, reserved for army members. 🤷

    Second day I decided to explore Trincomalee's surroundings, as I got some recommendations.
    First of all I went to Velgam Vehera Archeological Site, where you can see ancient ruins of a 2200 years old Buddhist temple complex asides a new built temple was just beeing extended. As I arrived around noon, nobody was around, archeological site's office looked abandoned.
    It's very well kept and a very fascinating place, but do not expect any deeper information for visitors, except one sign, giving basic information.
    Once again I was very lucky, as after 5mins a Tuktuk with two Latvia girls and a tourist guide appeared 😬 So I was able to jump in and finally we had a very nice tour on the site. Karem, our guide, had a great knowledge about historical art- and construction-work, but also was perfectly able to explain the Buddhist rituals in a perfect English.
    Again and again, ancient people's abilities in building huge structures is so fascinating!

    Next stop was Nilaveli beach, going there on a tiny, but well kept dirt road, passing a small lake, seeing fishermen working, going through great landscapes and, of course, uncountable cows crossed my paths.
    Nilaveli beach was nice, but where I entered, fishing dominated the beach and only 2 or 3 shadow places around. After a brief jump into the water and having a relaxing break under the trees with some resting fishermen, I went on to the Tirukoneswaram Hindu temple.

    This is not only a great place to watch sunset, but a very impressive Hindu temple, as usual filled with loads of colorful and storytelling artworks a huge Vishnu statue in front of it, and several statues of gods around.

    Perhaps living in Vienna for such a long time opened up some morbid interest in cemeteries, but I had to stop at a christian church, having one attached. Even if christian cemeteries wherever I've seen have a lot in common, this Sri Lankan one was quite interesting. But so many people seem to die at a very young age here... 😢

    Having a nice view on the sunset, enjoying a freshmade coconut water drink was a nice end of a day packed with great impressions.

    Nevertheless, the night started with a great dinner, served on ceramic plates, sitting on a bench beside the road, next to the kitchen, one of the best Kotthus I've gotten so far 🥰

    Going back to the laughing leopard (party-) hostel for meeting some travel buddies ended up in a birthday party from a local guest there. 🙈

    So today another lazy beach day and will check out some snorkeling for tomorrow. With tears on my heart, I cancelled my whale watching trip for tomorrow, as I've now heard several people telling it's very crowded with boats and not really animal friendly. 😢
    But I've already gotten a great recommendation for swimming with whales in Indonesia, so hopefully it's just postponed. 🤷    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Scooter Trip to Trincomalee 🛵☀️🥵🥰

    31. juli 2023, Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C

    After saying goodbye to Arunan, my amazing host in Pasikuda, and Stefan and Melanie, a great Austrian couple I've met there, I started my Roadtrip to Trincomalee 😎
    Starting at noon obviously wasn't such a smart idea, having my first shadow-break after 15km. 🙈
    Looks like I've to spot out a nice beach, nearby, to cool down a little.😅😎

    Edit: found a nice beach for a break 😍 Spent nearly two hours there, my private secret beach 😎

    Luckily some high clouds arose, so further trip was fine. Religious diversity here is amazing, permanently passing a Buddhist temple, a hinduist temple, a mosque or a Christian church. Some very new, some a little bit shabby, but all of them interesting. For me it's fascinating, that most of Buddhist temples having a small Hindu-shrine included or attached. Still trying to understand Sri Lankan Buddhism. 😅

    I'll come back to traffic in Sri lanka, when I've more experience, but there are two fundamental rules in Sri Lanka:
    -Permanently be aware of animals crossing the streets out of nowhere.
    -Right of way for the bigger one
    Following these rules, is half the battle. 😅

    In Mutur I took a wrong turn, so I accidentally found myself at a football ground, watching a match of two teenager-teams competing, surrounded by hundreds of spectators while loudspeaker-commenting pointed out the game moves. Nice event and a great atmosphere! 😊

    So, finally, arrived in Trincomalee after a six hour (sweaty) ride. Got not sunburned, had a very relaxed ride with several stops and enjoyed exploring Sri Lankan daily life and the landscapes. 🥰    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Pasikuda - nice ride, great beach

    28. juli 2023, Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Public buses are the best, to learn about people and country.
    In Sri Lanka, it's a great experience, please turn on sound, for the video! 🥰

    Found a nice place to stay, can fully recommend Inn on the bay home, cheap and we'll equipped, quite clean room, great owner, having a small supermarket on the street side and in the middle between Pasikuda beach and Kalkudah beach ⛱️

    Pasikuda beach is really nice and at the moment quite crowded by local tourists. But it's big enough to find some free space 😎

    Took a walk around peninsula, it's a great place to relax, looking forward to a lazy beach day, tomorrow. Have to take a closer look on Kalkudah beach, too.

    Missed today's sunset, but tomorrow I'll see sunrise and sunset, if I don't lose track of time 😅    Læs mere

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  • sirhc80Asia 2023Rejsende

    Where to go - probably 😉

    24. juli 2023, Østrig ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C

    Discovering Asia, exploring myself, connecting with people, visiting cultures, seeking the unknown, loving our planet.

    From July 2023 till nostalgia takes me home. Plans are made, to be broken 😉

    Total backpack weight < 12kg

    Trying to travel like locals do, as often as possible.    Læs mere

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    Start på rejsen
    25. juli 2023
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