Meet the TIGERS <2009.3.29>

Thanks to my friend and colleague Philipp I could join a thrilling trip to the Kanchanaburi province - west of Bangkok.


Special thanks to our friends & guide Nee & Gregor who organized this trip for us. I can highly recommend them for any trips in & around Bangkok.

http://www.sgrtravel.com/

Special highlight is the bicyling trours with Nee - get ready for a real adanture:

http://www.spiceroads.com/about/leaders

This area is famous for waterfalls, national parks, the River Kwai Bridge and memorial sites and mainy more.

So we started to head for the Erawan Waterfalls which you can visit on 9 different levels - up to 1.500m. We just made it to level 2 ;-) ... to use the time for a nice picknik including refreshing bath afterwards!








Now we are ready for history, so we visited one of 3 graveyards remembering the loss during River Kwai Bridge was erected.
To know more about the entire story, please check that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_on_the_River_Kwai







And now the highlight of today - The TIGER TEMPLE!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Temple
Here are Tiger raised by monks which seems to be used to human and ignore them as long you follow exactly the instructions of the staff. You will be taken by your hand and the instruct you about every move. There is a clear tension in the air, which makes it a real thrilling event!
Of course there are no official incident reports available, however I did not feel real save there...

... BUT the pictures are nice - aren`t they:

As we were not eaten by the tigers, actually I am not sure if they have even recognized us, we move back to Bangkok which will be an onther 3 hours ride.

After all this action during the day pur driver got hungry so we stopped on the highway for a very special snack...

IF YOU THINK THE TIGER TEMPLE WAS WEARD - LOOK AT THIS:

He get out to buy a pair of RAT`s!!!

I had a glimpsy in the cooler box which will haunt me for ages x-p

But for those still interested:

BON APPETIT

Ayutthaya – The Old Capital <2009.3.26>

More than 10 years ago, I was working in the area of Ayutthaya – once capital of Thailand – but never had seen anything from the its ancient beauty.

Thus I decided to make day trip up 80 km north of Bangkok to visit the once so powerful city – which was called “Ayothaya”.
During the period of Ayutthaya being the Siamese capital for 417 years, 33 kings of different dynasties ruled the kingdom from 1350 until 1767.

During this time many large scale temple and palace buildings were erected, which has been included in UNESCO’s list of world heritage since 13 December, 1991. Today only few is left, but still if you stroll through the area – which is quiet large by the way – you can imagine the impressive look it must have had.

For transportation I decided the fast ones – heading out from Bangkok by train and getting around within Ayutthaya by bicycle. You can lend them at every corner and it really helps to scan the whole area. Further it is a nice natural air-condition which helped a lot during the 38+ I had today (`*v*´)

Here are some of the highlights you can explore:

During Tropical Showers

At the end I had back to railway station were my “express” Train was late by one hour. So I could spent more time with the local street vendors, how helped me out to gain back my calories I lost during this active day ;-)
Such nice people!!!

Rolling home

The Journey Begins – Welcome to Bangkok <2009.3.23>

Today is the 23rd of March 2009 – a normal Monday for most, but for me the day my travel starts and I will leave Japan after 6 years.

The first stop will bring me to Bangkok which I will use as my hub.

Not enough for me that this is quiet an emotional cut off good old Japan – it comes even worst for me. When I turned on the local TV in the morning, I saw a burning plane at Narita airport which just crushed minutes ago due to the strong winds!!!

After I arrived at the airport I found out, it was even on my runway so all flights there are dismissed until further notice. I felt glad as I didn`t want to go out there after what happened, but 45min. later ANA just proceeded with the flight on schedule!
Just 30min delayed and with a glimpse on the crashed plane I took off to Bangkok.
Now my feelings were really bad x-p)

But the rest went well and so I arrived safely in good old Bangkok, where Heaven & Hell are very close to getter :-)

(The next plane crushed ... ) And it also attracts other life forms – this picture is for my friend Hiroshi M.:


Definitely from outher space is the tastey kitchen – I could die for the street food here:

Of course Bangkok offers more – like green lush parks and in contrast the skyline

Or not to forget the endless time bandits – the mega shopping areas; My 2 favorites: MBK & Pratunam

And if you think Bangkok is just a whole traffic jam and no way to move – then I show you the fastest one during rush hour - Motor Bike Taxi

Kids: Please don`t try this at home! ;-)

After surviving all those things, I think I made it! I am ready to go

Hells Angel

Okinawa – The tropical South <2009.3.8>

Somehow I nearly forgot – I have never been to the tropical south of Japan, OKINAWA!

Famous for its hundreds of Island laid back on volcanic scenes with tropical surroundings.
Some of you may remember it from the movie Kill Bill Vol.2?!

Anyway it is one of the best dive spots here in Japan, so it was on my MUST-List to visit.
Here you can find the highlights of the 5 day exploration above & under water:

Traditional Greeting of Shissa (or Austrian: Scheisser :-)

Spectacular coastal lines

Famous sights & even more famous food

Very impressive Aquarium with even 3 whale sharks

& Underwater – one of world’s best dive spots: Kerama Islands

There are really many snakes:

And countless little fellows :-)

Okinawa is real gem of Japan and must to visit. It’s a pity I never had been there before, but I am glad at least to know now what I missed x-)

Yours BILL