s_weiss
 

Before and during my study I was very lucky to enjoy two stays abroad. One was for six weeks with the youth hostel association in the southern part of Africa (map), during the study I was with IAESTE for nine weeks in Bangkok, Thailand.

Unfortunately I can not present you all photos and impressions, you had to see and feel it. But I will try the best.


  • southern Africa

    The first part of the journey report is a kind of diary and so the events are chronically. At some sightseeing points I found some links at some search engine. If you had some suggestion you can mail me.

    Lions
    Lions

    The trip began in Johannesburg with a international group with Australians, Malaysians, English, Austrian, Swiss and Germans. We traveled by a small bus through South Africa and Swaziland. The most time we stayed in youth hostels or something like this. In the morning we ate cornflakes, toast, marmalade, butter. For lunch me ate toast with salad, cucumber, tomato, cheese, meat. In the evening we cook (meat, potatoes, salad, ...).

    On a old ghost city with the name Pilgrimīs Rest we had lunch together. In the meanwhile the city was rebuild again. On the way to the Krueger National Park in the northern part of south Africa we visited some very impressive water falls in the near of the city Sabie (Lonecreek-Falls und MacMac-Falls). They are caused by the water, which is falling down from the high- to the lowland. Unfortunately we could not stay in the National Park, so we had to get up very early to enjoy the whole day in the Park. You are driving by your own car on the main roads (less animals) or side-roads (more animals) through the Park.

    Elephant
    Elephant
    Buffaloes
    Buffaloes

    The Park is limited by strong fences and observed gates. You can go out of your car inside the park at special places and stay there also over night (very expensive). With a lot of good luck, you can see there the "Big Five" of south Africa (Lions, Elephants, Buffaloes, Rhinoceros and Leopards). Unfortunately the weather was not very good, because it was rainy. It was an advantage, that we sat on a higher level in the bus and the raining time was just over. So we had a excellent view and see the animals better.

    We saw: Zebras, Gnus, some Antelopes, Giraffes, some Birds, Monkeys, Elephants, Pigs, Kudus, Turtles. From the National Park are the first pictures of this site. Next to Bananas and sugarplantages we reached the kingdom of Swaziland. It was no problem to cross the border and we drove to the main city Mbabane. There we relaxed and shopped. On the next day we drove back to southern Africa, to visit the Drakensberge.

    Drakensberge
    Drakensberge
    Elephant herd
    Elephant herd

    We make a walk to one of the greatest water falls of the world in the area of Tugela Gorge. From the mountain we drove to Durban on the Indian Ocean. In this city live a lot of Indians. So we ate Indian in a good restaurant. Of course some of us went swimming in the ocean. Our trip was following the coast. We made a short stop at the Addo Elephant Park. There you saw a lot of elephants, also with baby elephants. You drive by your own car on roads through the park.

    It was a big advantage, that we sat in a big bus. So you feel much more safer, than in a small car. In the Tsitsikama Forest-National Park you saw about 1500-2000 years old trees. In Africa the bird ostrich is breeded in farms. We visited such a breed in Outsdhoorn. As in the Addo Elephant Park there was also a museum, where you can learn something about there way of living, or that a ostrich egg is about 24 chicken eggs. If you want you can also ride on an ostrich. In a cheetah farm you can see crocodiles, hippos, lions, leopards. Unfortunately this was more a zoo, than a national park. On one evening we went to a wine-tasting. On the way to Cape Town we saw next to the coast some whales. It was very impressive, how they fly through the air with their big bodies. Next to Simon's Town we saw in a bay some penguins with the size about 30-40 cm.

    Ostrich
    Ostrich
    Table mountain
    Table mountain

    We drove to the cape of good hope, exactly to the (Cape Point). This is the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian ocean. Cape town is famous for its table mountain. Unfortunately the cable railway was out of order, then I was there. So we had to take the bus, to get up on our own feet. At this time there was on the mountain no shop or something like this, so you had to take your eat and drinks on your own. It is a good idea to buy a map for the mountain, because on the top there are also small hills, lakes, ...

    We need a long time to look for a good point for a great view over the city, but it is worth. In the city there is the entertainment area called Waterfront and a Two Ocean Aquarium. There you can see a lot of fishes, like the ray

    Ray
    Ray
    San-paintings
    San-paintings

    This were the first three weeks. I drove in another group for the next three weeks through Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and had a short look to Sambia. In this three weeks we slept mainly in tents and camping sites. These were very clean. Personally I find the second part more interesting, but the group was in the first part better. We left cape town in direction of the Sevilla Trek. There were a lot of interesting bush paintings of the San (the natives of Africa). On the frontier river (Oranje River) between south Africa and Namibia we made a kayak drive. In Ais-Ais we made a stop for a short bath in very hot water. We drive to the Fish River Canyon, the second greatest Canyon on the world. We went down to the bottom to the river and get up again. This was very hard, because we had temperature at about 35°C. If you are crazy enough, you can also make a more days trips through the canyon. We drove to Kellmannshoop.

    We made there a pit stop and after 5 Minutes we get the first engine problems. Fortunately the tour guide could fix it. When we had lunch the engine made problems again. This time we were on a very empty road (about 5 cars per hour) in Namibia. Fortunately we were shopping, so we had enough to eat, drink. After 1h someone stopped and promised to call a recovery vehicle. But nobody came to pick up us. So after 2h a farmer stopped to tow us to his house. The distance was about 50 km and it was the next building on the road.

    Fish River Canyon
    Fish River Canyon
    Street in Namibia
    Street in Namibia

    On the farm the sons of the farmer (who were motor mechanic) the engine and fixed it in 2h. So the engine problems took us about 5h. We talked with the farmer and he show us some pictures about snow in the desert. The engine was fixed so well, that it not broken again the rest of the trip. The streets in Namibia were sometimes full of sand, so that you need the wood post to orientate.

    We drove to Kolmanskop, a diamante ghost city, which was founded by Germans. The inhabitant were very rich. So they had a bowling lane, a good equipped hospital (with the first X-Ray in Africa), a huge gym. This was also use for theater. So the actors were paid a journey from Hamburg to Kolmanskop and back by ship, just to present their drama in the desert. The houses were in a good state, so you can go inside in the most of them.

    Kolmanskop
    Kolmanskop
    Sousslvei
    Sousslvei

    In Namibia there is the Namib-Naukluft-Park. In the middle of this National park is the oasis Sousslvei. Unfortunately we could not take the car, so we had to walk the last 5 km through the desert to the lake. This is filled by a small river through the Sesriem Canyon in the rain season. We need for the walk about 1h. After visiting the lake we climb a dune and had a beautiful view over the desert.

    In this desert there is the famous Dune 45. The climbing was very hard, because you sink in the sand with your feet. Not only the heat is very hard, also the aggressive flies, which fly you almost in the mouth or nose. At Walvis Bay we saw about 200 rose Flamingos. On the way to Swakopmund, which is a city next to the ocean, we had a temperature different from more than 35°C to 20°C.

    Dune 45
    Dune 45
    Welwitschia
    Welwitschia

    In the desert of Namibia you find the plant Welwitschia. This plant can be more than 2000 years old and get the weather just from the dew in the morning. In Swakopmund we slept for an exception in a house.

    In the near of Twelfontein we slept on a camping area, where the small wood tents about 50 cm about the floor. This prevent you from any snakes, scorpions, ... On the way to Etosha-Pan we had an accident, but this time we had no air any more in the tire. Fortunately a inhabitant helped us. The national park is very big and in the middle is a salt desert.

    Giraffes
    Giraffes
    Antelope
    Antelope

    In the Estosha-Pan we stayed in the camp Okaukeujo. There is a big water hole, which is protected with strong fences against humans inside the park. You can sit down on wood banks and look the whole time to the water. In the night there are electrical lights. At about 0.00 o'clock we can also see a lion. After this show I wanted to go to bed.

    When I brushed my teeth I saw a house, which burned. It was a kiosk (about 3x3m). At first we tried to wake up the tourist, which sleep next to the fire. We tried to extinguish the fire with a small garden-hose, but it did not work really. But we could save some tables, chairs of a restaurant next to the kiosk. But the most part of the buildings burned down. The next fire station was about 200km away. Fortunately there were no injured persons.

    Sunset at the Okavango-Delta
    Sunset at the Okavango-Delta
    Mokoro
    Mokoro

    We were very lucky, that the wind came from the camping area and blow into the desert. Otherwise maybe some other buildings would start to burn. But on an area from about 30x30m everything burned down. On the next day the water came very slowly out of the water tap. We drove over the two other camping areas (Halali und Namutoni) in the Etosha-Pan to Botswana. We go over the frontier without any problems to Maun. At 16.00 o'clock we started at the Maun International Airport to a flight over the Okavango Delta. The size of this river delta is about 16.000 km2 and there are a lot of wild animals. The best way to go inside in this delta is a boat (Mokoro).

    In the night we slept on a small island, where we made a small fire to protect us against animals. Everything what we needed we took with us in the boats. Unfortunately we had to go back to the civilization after one day. We drove to the frontier to Zimbabwe to the Victoria falls. This river is the frontier river between Zimbabwe and Sambia. So we go over a bridge and saw the beautiful landscape from the other site of the river. In the middle of this bridge you can make a bungee jump. Fortunately I could jump on this day. It was a real great feeling.

    Victoria falls
    Victoria falls
    Rainbow at the Victoria falls
    Rainbow at the Victoria falls

    The feeling of the freefall is fantastic. The view of the victoria falls from Zimbabwe is more fantastic. You can also see a double rainbow. On the next day we flow back over Johannesburg back to Germany.

    For a guidebook I used "Afrikas Süden" from Achim Rende, published in Dumont with the ISBN-Number 3-7701-2758-7. This book offers for the countries Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and south Africa a lot of information like addresses of hotels, ...



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  • Thailand

    The second part of the journey report is based on a diary, but I mixed sometimes the impressions. So it is not chronological. At some sightseeing points I found some links at some search engine. If you had some suggestion you can mail me.

    kmitnb
    KMITNB

    On the airport of Bangkok I was picked up at 6 o'clock in the morning (at the beginning of October) from two students of the IAESTE-Organization. Both of them took me to their accommodation, because at this time nobody was in the office. We had breakfast together and took a Taxi to the University (King Mongkut's Institute of Technology North Bangkok). There is the IAESTE office. I met there the second chief of the company (Siam Senater Co.). We drove together to the company, where I was introduced to some employees. After this he showed my accommodation (an apartment with balcony, shower), which was about 10 minutes per feet away from the company. This was kindly arranged by the company. On Saturday morning fortunately I can relax a little bit and get used to the hot, humid climate. On the afternoon we (some employees and I) go swimming to Cha-am for the rest of the weekend. They rent a small house at the beach. It was fantastic, because the water was warmer than the air.

    On the way back to Bangkok we ate in a restaurant, which was build over a river. The Thais use very hot spices. So be careful, if you taste something, which you did not know. Because I was at the end of the raining season, sometimes it rains cats and dogs. At this time no umbrella or something like this was useful. The street had about 10cm water and the shoes need two days to get dry again.

    Accommodation grounds
    Accommodation grounds
    SiamSenater Co.
    SiamSenater Co.

    For lunch we ate in one of the restaurants next to the company. Mostly it was a very small kitchen with two benches. One of the cooks was very friendly and mad a list of the offered food. So I can ordered the lunch more easy. In the company I had a five day week (the Thais worked normally 6 days per week). For three days I worked in "Punch & Die". My duty was to drill, ...

    The other two days I worked in an office. There I drew with Autocad technical drawings or designed a homepage. The workshops had no air condition. There was just a roof and no walls. So it was very hot to work at about 35°C and 80% humidity. In the office there was a air condition. On the evening we (some employees and I) go bowling or billiard. As the second chief of the company had his birthday we were invited to a boat trip on the Menam-River. We had a very good dinner during the trip.

    Machines at SiamSenater
    Machines at SiamSenater
    Temple gaurd im Grand Palace
    Temple guard in Grand Palace

    In Bangkok you had to be ready for a police control. I had a police check, when I was with some friends of the company in a car. Fortunately I had my passport with me, so it was no problem. The police looked at the backpackers and that was it. I was introduced to a thai family. The father spokes english very well. He worked some moths in Europe and USA. They took me to the Grand Palace. For this area and the most religious you had to be clothed proper (no shirts). If you are not dressed correct you get a cloth. The area of the palace is more than 200.000m2 and over 100 buildings. You find very nice Chedis (e.g. Phra Sri Ratana Chedi, Phra Mondhop), wells, Pavillons. You also saw a stone-model of Ankor-Wat, this is in Cambodia.

    There are also some statues of elephants, which are official not allowed to touch. If you touch them on the head, so you should visit Thailand again. The buildings are rich of gold and decoration. Most of them are build in the 18.th century. The biggest sight-seeing point is the Wat Phra Kaeo. Inside there is a about 75 cm jade Buddha. You are not allowed to take pictures or show with your feet in the direction of Buddha. The shoes are left outside.

    Grand Palace
    Grand Palace
    What Phra Kaeo
    What Phra Kaeo

    Although this is a very touristy place, I saw a lot of Thai People, which prayed. The next stop on the trip was the Thai Imaginary Museum. There you can see realistically figures of famous persons (like Madame Taussad in London). But in Thailand the figures are made of fiber glass, because wax melted in the warm climate. The figures like very live. You can see the complete royal family and some scenes of the Thai history. On the way back me made a stop at Buddhamonton. There is one of the greatest Buddha statues in Thailand. Around this area is a park, where you can made picnic, relax in the sun. I am very lucky to live next to a BTS (Bangkok Transport System) Station. So I can escape from the traffic jam in Bangkok. One evening I was on the way to the city by bus and the bus stopped every 5m for 10 minutes. So I decided to walk. But the disadvantage was, it was still very hot.

    This System was on my visit just one year old, but very necessary for this huge city. If you want to go there was no BTS-Station you had to take the bus, which stocked in the traffic jam or was 45 Minutes too late. But there was no official time table for buses or BTS. You should keep your ticket for the bus (a small peace of paper) until you get of. Once I had a ticket check in the bus. The name of the BTS station are passed on in english and thai. You are not allowed to drink or eat in the BTS. In Bangkok there is a huge shopping area, like the american Malls (e.g. Siam Center, MBK-Center, Emporium, ...). You can shop there what every you want (clothes, mobiles, computer, restaurants, bowling, ...). If you get lost, you should not spend in Taxi drivers. I wanted to go to the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand), but the driver drove a circle and I had to get off on a unknown corner. Fortunately I had a map and so I found the way back.

    Buddhamonton
    Buddhamonton
    Chedi
    Chedi

    The fastest, but not safeties way are motorcycles. They are very cheap, but you had no helmet. If you are during the weekend in Bangkok, you had to go to the Chatuchak-Market in the north. There are a lot of peoples, but you get mostly everything (live animals, shoes, flowers, ...). In Bangkok are a lot of flea markets. From the Golden Mounten you had a nice view over Bangkok. But it is very hard to go to the top of this small mountain in the heat. The top is about 78m high. I visited a temple. A monk offered me something to drink (which was very refreshing). He could speak very good english. So we spoke a little bit with each other. Once I waked up in the morning, because I hear something beating. When I looked, what it was, a small lizard runed away.

    If you stay in warmer climate, you had to be used to animals like this. To the royal park I took the most time the bus, although it take over 1h, but it was worth. I went next to the City Pillar Shrine, to the What Pho. On the way, some people spoke to me, that it is closed and he or she had something very interesting for me. But when I was at the What, it was of course open. They just want to cheat you. In the What Pho there is the famous "Reclining-Buddha". He is about 45m long and 15 m high.

    Reclining Buddha
    Reclining Buddha
    Perlmut pictures
    Perlmut pictures

    The Buddha is made of bricks and plaster. He has on his foods 108 paintings made of pearl, which show scenes of the "Wheel of well-being". On the area of the what are also some schools and a traditional Thai-Massage. Four Chedis (all together are there 91) are very good looking. These are build by four kings. There are also a lot of other smaller Buddha in other buildings. This temple was the first university in Thailand. In November the Thais celebrate the Loy-Krathong. This is a celebration for the queen of water (Mae Kongka). At full moon small ships made of flavours of Banana or Lotus with a burning candle sent into a river or a pond. You can also see a lot of dancing areas. In Bangkok there is the Dusit Zoo. You can see almost every kind of animals, except of polar regions (the cost of energy is too high). The Wat Benchama-bo-bitr is made of Carrara-Marmor, but it has Thai-art. The colours of this area are red and gold (buildings) and green (nature). So it is a very nice contrast.

    Next to the temple is a living area for monks. With a Tuk-Tuk (a three wheel with an engine) I drove to the Wat Intharawihan. This Wat has a 32m high Buddha. In this area is also the Khao San Rd. Maybe you know it from the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo di Caprio. In this street you can find dozen, maybe hundreds of different accommodations for backpackers, travel agencies, Internet-Cafes, ... But I found it very expensive (especially the Internet). Where I stay, I could go to the net for the 1/3 of the price.

    Wat Benchama-bo-bitr
    Wat Benchama-bo-bitr
    Khao San Road
    Khao San Road

    To go the fare (Metalex), we printed visit cards in the company. If you show your card, you had free admission to the fare. On the fare you see a lot of different of making machines (CNC-, Drilling-, Milling machines). Next to Chinatown in Bangkok is the Wat Suthat with the place of the great swing. Until 1932 there was in December a big religious celebration, but after this it was forbidden, because some young man died.

    The temple next to it is one of the oldest Buddhist in Bangkok. You can find there a huge wall-painting, where you can see the way of life of 24 Buddha. Additional in the Bot there are 80 life-size statues in the skin colour of white, brown, yellow and red. They listen to the Buddha in the middle. In Chinatown there is a market, where you buy a lot of different things. In the middle of Chinatown is the Wat Traimitr. This Wat has a Buddha statue made by gold with the weight of 5.5t. At first it was covered by plaster. Somebody bought the property and want to remove the statue. But the wire was broken, because of the heavy weight and the gold was found.

    Place of the swing
    Place of the swing
    Wat Traimitr
    Wat Traimitr

    On a snake-farm, which is charged of the red cross, you can see 20-30 different snakes in cages. This farm is mainly used for the extraction of the snake-poison, to produce an anti snake-poison. You see how to get this poison without danger in a small live demonstration. On the 5th of December is the birthday of king Bhumipol. I went to the king park (Sanam Luang) next to the grand palace. There was a parade and you can buy the national and the royal flag. You was given a candle, which was lightened in the night and sing "Happy Birthday" to the king. There was also a huge firework. One day we drove to the Vinmarnmek-palace. This museum is made of teak-wood and has a collection of furniture, paintings ...

    Another day we visited a family, where the father works for 15 months in Germany. He spoke after 10 years very good German. For me it was the first time since almost 2 months to speak German. We drove to a crocodile farm. There you see very nice flowers, elephants and of course different types of crocodiles.

    Vinmarnmek
    Vinmarnmek
    Nakhon Pathom
    Nakhon Pathom

    Of course there was a lot of other things, which you can see in the circus. There was also a crocodile feeding. The meat was dropped by a string over the water of the crocodiles. The animals sprang out of the water to catch the meat. After this we drove to Nakhon Pathom, about 50km out of Bangkok. There is the highest Buddhist building of the world. The height of the Phra Pathom Chedi is 118m, the diameter of the dome is 98m. In the last week of my stay I made some day-trips. You should inform you, what is offered on the trip and what it cost. On one trip there was a member of the trip, which paid almost the twice price for absolutely the same performance. Once I was in Bang Pa In. This is a royal summer house, which is used for holiday or something like this. Around the building there was a very nice park area with small lakes, a light-house (you had a great view around the area), ... We also looked at some temples of Ayutthaya, where unfortunately some were destroyed.

    This city was earlier (1350-1767) the capital of the kingdom Siam. In the year 1767 it was completely destroyed by the Birmans. So you can see today just the ruins, which are partly under UNESCO culture heritage. On the way back we made a short trip to a diamonds factory. You can see there, how diamonds are cut and work. Of course you can also go shopping "favorable". On the next day I made a similar trip. This time I went with another group to a coconut farm. There you hear a lot of different things about this fruit, how to produce coconut-oil or -sugar. We drove to a "Floated Market". This market takes part mainly in the water, but there also some stands on the ground. You can also a see a Thai-Hand-Craft-Center (very touristy) how to produce rice-paper, wood carvings, ... The last stop was a recreation area called Rose Garden. There you see a thai presentation of dancing, boxing, ... You can also use a boat on the Menam-river in Bangkok to get from A to B. I had a very early date in the morning (a German guide tour in the National Museum) and I did not want to stay in the traffic jam, I used the boat.

    Bang Pa In
    Bang Pa In
    Ayutthaya
    Ayutthaya

    So I drive a longer distance, but I was faster than by bus. There was no BTS-Station, which I can use. I found the guide was very interesting and took a long time (after lunch). You get a lot of information about the Thai history and customs. You can see a lot of weapons, music instruments, ... On the last day some of the company took me kindly to the airport. It was 9 p.m., but there was a rush hour and we lost time in a traffic jam. When we arrived in time the airport (the plane departure at 0.30) I get the information to wait until 8.30 a.m. (official reason: waiting for incoming airplane). So the air company paid me a night in a hotel.

    For a guidebook I used from the Baedeker publishing house the Bangkok edition. One advantage is, you had also a city map with a register of the streets. Another book is the from the Lonely planet publishing house. This book has a lot of tips (specially for unusually things), but what is in the book was unusual.



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