Christian's Travel Blog

Lost in history ... but let me start first with today's topic: Happy Birthday, Ryuko! I think it is wonderful how our brain is capable creating links that are not obvious, and probably, nor pop-up to make sense. At least you are present at my journey around-the-world, as you were in person during my previous two trips some 20 years ago. 25/55. Congratulations, today (25) you caught up with me (55). Eventually the figure jumped into my eyes while watching local news. With absolutely no understanding of the  beautiful  drawings of Thai language, it was the date that caused some irritation, or better said, that provoked my curiousity. And while taking some notes on historical dates surrounding my visits to the ancient ruins of Wat Phou (Laos) and Ayutthaya (Thailand) for this post, I stumbled also over the fact that Thais use both the Western Gregorian and a Buddhist calendar - the latter based on the year 543BC, the year Buddha entered Nirvana . What a nice coincidence Ryuko, o

I made my way down South to walk through the ancient ruins of Wat Phou: being in person at a location, without having certainty that my physical presence will inspire or influence my imagination of the evolutionary story of our civilization. Visiting a World Heritage Site allows me, beside the fact of acknowledgement by a global community about the significance of a particular place to mankind, to add the possibility of making myself a picture from different angles and perspectives. It's not about theory, nor a case study, but rather the power of the momentum that authentic experiences unleash. In fact, I decided for that reason to visit instead of the "must-see" site of Angkor Wat in Cambodia two locations that receive less package tour visitors, Ayutthaya in Thailand - next on my way back to Bangkok - and Wat Phou.  The day I was walking through the remains of the latter and sitting under the shady trees overgrowing the loose reassembled stone

Once you lived in Africa, you'll never forget it. To manifold and different are your experiences from your own socioeconomic conditions, not to mention the cultural-historical background. However, my last two days on the road, to be more precise on a so-called local bus, were like one of your favored movies passing through your mind: a lifetime experience of a roadtrip in rural subsaharan Africa. I guess the bus from Savannakhet down South to the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand meet not far from the plateau that sparkles 4000 islands over the Mekong river, must have been pre-loaded over night. Motorbikes, handcraft products and rice bags on the roof, fabric packages and corn bags all along the floor ... the passengers still missing to find a seat that still had parts of its cushions on the blanc metal frames. Oh, one small difference: Eventually we departed on time. However, one hour into the second leg we got stucked with a flat tire. Bu

90 years ago - at a time when Richard Katz embarked for his first journey around the world - people on the go must have seen themselves as travelers, rather than tourists. Katz also tells us in his introduction to his book originating from that journey, he traveled open minded without certain expectations (ohne Gesichtspunkt) to be receptive for the new and unknown, in exchange for better understanding. That makes me thinking it seems less to be an issue of surprise.  However, during my tourist-like lazy days in a hammok in front of my bamboo hut up north, I took time to pre-travel a bit through my used Southeast Asia Guidebook, edited in 2005, for my days after departing Luang Prabang down south. "Buses heading to Vientiane and Vang Vieng and points south along Route 13 use the Southern Bus Station" reads the text in the info box "Moving on from Luang Prabang". Adding the available information of "226 km/6 hours by mini bus"on all pinboards of the cou

The journey is the reward; it's not to go from A to B, bridging the distance that distinguishes most tourists from travelers. I guess Richard Katz' journey around the world in the late twenties of the last century made him somehow what we call in modern times a backpacker, though those days an adventurer might have been more appropriate. For sure, travelling decades before the rise of commercial passenger airlines was more than just spending more time to reach the next destination. It was an opportunity to  familiarise  with the life and world of those you met along your way, be it on crossroads with people going the one or other direction. 20 years ago I had my first experience to travel around-the-world, and though my trip was inspired by Katz' pioneering travel book " Ein Bummel um die Welt ", it probably was mostly influenced by the convenience of a new generation of travelguides like Lonely Planet. These days I can see already the emergence of a digital