WTF? - to be Continued?

Well, the journey is over now. But is this the end of the blog too?

The problem is, that, with the end of the round the world trip, the main topic of this blog has gone. So we would need a new issue that can be discussed or presented. Maybe some kind of trash-talk ... but there is enough of that in real life. Or a "real" blog - a diary - where I write some funny things which happen to or around me.
Some communication platform with all the nice people I met during the journey would also be very likeable. I'd love to keep in touch with Singapore, Nepal and Australia! Of course that's possible via email but I'm thinking about a forum where we could tell stories about scouting and other stuff.

Feel free to give me some ideas in the comments or by email.

Back Home Again

See the last few photos!

Thanks to all of you who visited and hopefully enjoyed my blog all the time! Thanks too to all the nice people we met during the trip: our trekking guide Bashu, the Singapore Scouts; Sarah, Jessica, Jennifer, Derrick, Grace, Jean, and all I forgot!, the very nice McBurneys from Sydney and last but not least the outback Scouts in Alice Springs.

Special thanks to my lector, the Anglist Leo!

Also thanks to my brother for uploading some home sent photos and to my parents for "some" financial support ;)

And finally, of course, thank you Johannes for your companionship!

Gemma Ham!

Exactly 3 hours to go - then the airport shuttle bus will pick me up here!

There is a small photo update in the Hawaii Album with some new pictures from my fishing tour and the Diamond Head. Unfortunately, Paris Hilton is having her vacation on another island of Hawaii, so I could not tell her how much people in Austria love her ;)

See ya soon!

Hawai'i - Last Stop!

Here we go! Hawaii (accurate spelling "Hawai'i" - wiki) in the "Aloha State" is the final part of my journey.
Well, there is not much to tell about it. It's just Hawaii! :)

Because I am not 21 yet I am not allowed to buy beer or any other alcoholic drink here. But as I am not dumb I found another way to enjoy some delicious American "Gerstensaft"! Thanks to Jarrod from Melbourne!
By the way, if you thought, Americans are wimps because they drink light beer, that's not true! "Light beer" means that there are less calories in the beer. So it has nothing to do with the percentage of alcohol.

If you ever plan to go to Hawaii, hire a car or be rich enough to pay for taxis. You can take the bus as well, but you will have to anticipate (rechnen mit) that it takes a long time. Yesterday I took the bus from Waikiki to the Water Adventure Park which is about 20 miles beeline (Luftlinie) and it took me more than 2 hours. However, the bus is very cheap: 2 bucks - wherever you go.

I tried body board surfing today and it was really cool! You should just be aware of the sharp coral reef which is very short below the water surface, especially at low tide (Ebbe). So if you see someone walking along the beach bleeding from some small injuries of his body he is certainly a surfer :)

Keep in mind to see the newest album Hawaii - with "special" coconut-dressed ladies!

Photo Uptate

Mission Beach

Uluru Tour Photos

--> here <--

Yesterday night we arrived in Mission Beach. Again we heard people saying things like this: "Usually the weather is very nice at this time of the year." Well, usually :) They told us that we are lucky that it is - as an exception compared to the last two weeks - not raining today. However, the season should be dry right now.
As a result of the rough sea the ships and boats do not leave the harbor. So we do not know if we can do a Great Barrier Reef tour. To heck with it!* Meanwhile we will try to get some crocodile meat or kill an emu ourselves for dinner.


*[Afraid to say the h-e-double hockeystick word? - Lektor]

A F---ing Big Country

That's the way the typical Outback-Australian would say it. And it's true: Australia is even larger than whole Europe. To get from the middle of the country (Alice Springs) to the east coast (Mission Beach) it takes us more than 24 hours with the bus - breaks excluded!

What we did the last few days:
Since we arrived in Alice Springs on June 13th, we stayed at the Scout Hall until yesterday. We got a lot more than we expected: a heater, a TV set (Australians call it "telly"), a kitchen with a stove. And the best was that it was free! Thanks again to the Outbackscouts and also thanks again to our host family in Sydney - the McBurneys - who lend us sleeping bags and a tent. This will save us a lot of money!
Alice Springs is a small city with about 28,000 inhabitants but also the largest city in central Australia (wiki). There is a hill from the top of which you have a nice view of the whole city. We were advised not to climb any of the other hills because most of the drunk people gather there, especially during the night.
Yesterday we finished the 3 day Uluru tour (link -> Photo Gallery -> 16th June 2007). It was expensive, but GREAT! Our tourguide Nat was - in my point of view - THE typically Outback-Australian. A three-day beard, very nice, very tall and, of course, very vulgar :)
He told us a lot about the Aboriginal culture, how they used to live before the white men came and which problems they have to face since they settled here. With this knowledge our group decided not to climb the Uluru, because Aboriginals do not like that.
We spent the nights in so called "swags" - some kind of sleeping bag cover - around the campfire with millions of stars above us. And some beer, of course! It was just the perfect combination of sight seeing, walking and having be.. uhm fun! ;)

However, my journey draws to a close. On the 27th of June I will leave Johannes in the most dangerous country and head for Honolulu, where I arrive on June 26th.
- Time to think -
The answer: date line (wiki). That was the reason why we decided to go east, and not west. You get an "additional" day, yeeehaw!
I will spend 5 days on the islands where ladies hide their breasts with coconuts. Then, finally, I depart on the 3rd of July and arrive on the 4th in Vienna! But until then I hope my image of the dancing coconut ladies isn't just a cliche.

Photo Update Completed

Completed:
Australia - Sydney

New Album: Australia - Alice Springs

Photo Update

in the following Albums:
Singapore
A Fine City

And new Album "Australia - Sydney" - temporary incomplete

Cold, Windy and Rainy

You know what I am talking about? - Exactly: Sydney, Australia - the driest continent in the world!
Since we arrived here 2 days ago, we have seen overthrown trees, loads of rain and clouds - but not even a small part of the sun. And we have not experienced that much rain in all the "rainy season" countries we have been before!
Unfortunately, the Scout Camp this weekend was canceled because of the weather.

We are now staying at the home of a very, very nice family where every member is also a Scout. Their house is in the northwestern suburbs of Sydney.

A financial story: When we were waiting at the "Customs Counter" at the airport, a women spoke to us. After a while she said that she thinks she has probably a little bit too much money with her, but she does not want to declare it. At first we could not believe it, then we said that we can not take it. Eventually we took the 100 AUD she gave both of us. Thank you, Ex-Austrian lady from Switzerland !

There is also news from Singapore: They put our "Boom Chicka Boom" performance (wacht it!) and also some snapshots of the whole camp (watch it too!) on YouTube.

Singapore - a fine city

Alright, there are a lot differences between Vietnam and Singapore :)
First, Singapore (Album) is very, very clean. That may be a result of all these signs ("Sign" Album) which tell you what you must not do and how much you have to pay if you do it anyway.
The MRT is Singapores subway . The payment system is cleverer than in Austria. You have a card ("ez-link") which you just hold in front of a sensor. A gate will open and then you can walk to the subway station. Topping up the ez-link card is possible with cash and at cash machines. And of course you have to pay a fine of 500 S$ (about 250 Euro) if you eat or drink in the MRT...

We spent 2 days and 1 night with the Singapore Scouts! We were very lucky because they had a camp last weekend which we joined.
On Saturday we did "Dragon Boating" with the local Rovers. Quite exhausting, but of course we - the Austrian Pioneers! - soon took over the first row which is the most important because all the others have to keep time with rowing with you. HARRR :) (Sorry, sometimes manliness makes me crazy ;) ) [Army people... - Lektor]
After the Dragon Boating we took a bus to Camp Christine - a Singapore Scout Campsite. Compared to Austrian Scout Campsites, there are a lot of "unneccessary" things like air conditioned bedrooms, concreted lanes and bathrooms. But compared to the rest of the city, it is a very natural place. And of course, the "Saints Scouts" (the Scout Group which we joined) did NOT sleep in A/C bedrooms :)
After a night bicycle tour and a few hours of sleep we took part at their final "amazing race" (we would call it Stadtgelaendespiel). Similar to our scouting games (Gelaendespiele) the patrols had to solve quests at different places. EDIT 1652 GMT+8: Sarah just informed us that our patrol, the Panthers, won!
In the evening they had their final camp fire. Of course, Johannes and I did a short performance: We sang the "A boom a chick a boom" song (I have absolutely no idea if you really spell it like that).

The whole weekend with the Singapore Souts was just GREAT FUN!
Thank you very much, Sarah - aka Wingkei ;) -, Stephanie, MJ (abbreveation for a chinese name I can not remeber), Grace, Derrick, Gabriel, Sherman and all the others whose names we unfortunately can not remember!

German: "Pfadfinder sein macht Spass!"
Chinese: "Tong Zi Jun Hen Hao Wan!"
Singapore: "Scouting is fun!"

Same Same - But Different!

That's what a Vietnamese merchant answers you when you ask him why his stuff is a lot more expensive than somewhere else. In fact, they mean "It is the same, but BETTER". Well, you should not believe him - tourist prices! I achieved a personal record and talked sunglasses from 100.000 Dong down to 20.000.

There is a lot to tell, but I can't write everything down.

We have been to Phan Thiet where we discovered, that in non-tourist areas people do not speak english. Then it is very funny to order food or drinks: You just point at what you want (not on the menu, because you can not read it, but on the market for example) and say "This!". Then they show you, with their own cash, the amount of money you have to pay, because they can't tell you even that in english!
We also did a short tour where we saw sanddunes - like in the desert! Check out the pictures.

After Phan Thiet we got to the tourist crowded Nha Trang. Very beautiful beach and a lot of tourists. When a man tried to convince us to do a motorbike tour through the highland of Vietnam to explore the "real Vietam", we could not resist. It is unbelievable how many coffee fields there are. I did not even know they grow coffee in Vietnam.
In a minority village we did an elephant ride. Well, I would not do that again because it is hard to see how the elephant guide hits the animal with a stick to make it do what he wants. I do not want to know what happens when the elephant figures out that he is a lot stronger than the man on his back.
We enjoyed having food in Vietnamese restaurants. There are no manners. What you do not want to eat, you just throw on the floor. If you burp loudly, no one cares. You want to use your fingers for eating? Why not?
"Why not?" A sentence our guides, Hai and Huy, loved to say. If you ever come to Vietnam I would recommend to do a tour with the "Easyriders" (they admit that they copied the name).

Tomorrow Johannes and I will take the SQ171 to Singapore, where some Scouts will pick us up at the airport! We are looking forward to meeting you! "Gut Pfad!"

Some Photos from Vietnam!

Well, damn slow computer! After choosing and uploading a few new photos I am now too lazy to write a detailed post. Just check out the new album "Vietnam" with the first part of the photos we took. As soon as I forgot the nasty last 2 hours, I will publish the remaining photos!

Ho Chi Minh City

After our unplanned 5 days stop in Thailand, we finally arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, yesterday.
The first thing we discovered was that the people here - in the majority of cases - drive on the RIGHT (yes, it is ambiguous) side of the street. I even used a seat belt the first time since Austria!
At the moment we have already shot some photos, but I will wait until there are some more different and interesting ones before I will upload them.
When Johannes took a photo of me in front of a "hammer and sickle" symbol, a smiling man showed up and stood beside me to be on the photo. After that, he took a fruit out of his bag, hit it with a big knife, put a straw (Strohhalm) into it and gave it to me. It was a coconut. I was paralyzed by his quickness so I could not refuse and had to buy it for 50.000 Dong (about 2,50 Euro). Anyway it tasted quite good.

About the money: 1 Euro is about 20.000 Dong. We withdrew about 50 Euro, so we are walking around with millions in our pockets ;)

Photo update!

Check out the gallery for a bunch of new, unreleased Photos :-)

Thailand - Why Not?

As soon as we started speaking the universal language of $$$, we got a flight to Bangkok. Yesterday (8th May) at about 1800 local time (MESZ +5) we arrived here. Yes: HERE :)
Of course we asked when the next flight to Ho Chi Minh City departs. The problem is, that we did not use our Round The World Ticket for the flight from KTM to BKK. So we first have to go to a Star Alliance town office in Bangkok, tell them we bought the ticket extra and then reconfirm the flight to Ho Chi Minh City. It departs at 0900. The town office opens at 0900.

On the spur of the moment we decided to stay a few days in Thailand. It is a REAL city! In comparison, Kathmandu is a village.

We already had a few hours sight seeing tour with the local Tuk Tuks. Right now I am sitting in the MBK - a large shopping center (a lot larger than the SCS in Austria). In about 10 minutes we will go to the cinema an watch the movie "Pathfinder" which costs for both of us 200 Bhat - about 4 Euro.

The hotel price is the opposite. Quite expensive (1900 Bhat), but luxurious: air conditioner, TV set, minibar, breakfast included, very clean room!

Tomorrow we go the beach at Pataya, about 2 hours bus drive. We will stay there for 3 nights and enjoy the sea!

Still in Kathmandu ...

... for maybe 11 more days! All Thai Airways flights from Kathmandu to Bangkok are full until 17th of May. To get seats on this day, we would have to upgrade to business class - 150 USD each person. Do I have to say more?

Yesterday and today we were at the airport for about 3 hours (standby) and hoped for enough cancellations to get seats. Without success. Tomorrow we will go to the Thai town office and book the business class flight. It does not make sense to sit at the airport for 3 hours a day every day to get seats MAYBE.

To write about something more nice:
We met a guy from Bavaria (Bayern) called Charly - or Karl. A funny man who wants to raise (zuechten) snakes in India to sell their poison. Somehow he found out that there is a large market for snake poison to produce antidote (Gegengift). He said that more than 50000 people die every year in India because of snake attacks (which is a very small number compared to Indias population...).
Anyway, it was nice so speak to someone in German, especially a man from Bavaria, which is almost like Austria ;)

Nepal Scouts

Well, I have to admonish (ruegen) the Austrian Scout organization (PPOE) a little bit. In their homepages list was no entry of the Nepal Scouts, and "officially" there are no Scouts in Vietnam.
Yesterday we have been to the Nepal Scouts National Headquarter. It was great! They showed us around their Scout museum, we got some Nepal Scout patches and they even told us that we could get accommodation there! Unfortunately they have their meetings at the weekend, so we could only meet some Scout leaders who accidental were at the office when we got there.
We exchanged e-mail adresses. So if any other Scouts want to visit Nepal: tell me, I can give you contact details!

We are not going to make the same mistake twice. So a few minutes ago I wrote an e-mail to the Vietnam Scouts, and we will try to meet them as soon as possible.

Now something about the Thai Airways :)
The whole story began about 2 weeks ago, on April 17th (one day before our Langtang trek started), when we went to the town office for the first time. We were told to come back after the Trek, because we are on the waiting list for the flight on 04.05. to Bangkok. Well, we even tried to call them during the trek but this was not possible. First both phone numbers I got were wrong (and I do not think I made TWO mistakes while copying them). Somehow we managed to get a correct number but even that did not work because their telephone was always busy and they did not hold you on. So we gave that up after 3 days.
Then we came back from the trek. On the next day (29.04.) we went again to the town office. I already posted what happened. Closed. Nobody knows exactly why, nobody can tell you when they open again.
We found out, that our Trekking Agency can also help us with booking flight tickets. So we gave the tickets to them during our 2 days absence for rafting.
After that we were told: "You will get the flight on the 4th of May with 90% chance", but we should go to the town office again on 03.05. in the morning. We did that, and the result was that all flights until 15th of May are full! And we are still on the waiting list for 4th of May. Imagine that we went to their office about ONE WHOLE MONTH before 15.05.! How is that possible?
Well, somehow our Trekking Agency managed that we can talk to a more important man at the town office who could possibly help us in the afternoon. Result: Come back on 04.05. at 9 o'clock.

Now its 0821 ...

Photo Update 2nd May

(Just) one new photo in Kathmandu, and new album Nepal Scouts!

EDIT 03.05.07:

Against what the PPOE told us, there ARE scouts in Nepal and Vietnam!

Langtang Finished

Well, back at sealevel 1300m I am HIGH on oxygen! WEEEHAA ;)

Even if I wanted to, it is impossible to write down everything of interest that happened. I will now consult my diary (Tagebuch) to give a short and compact review.

18th April

We survived the 10 hours bus tour to Syaphru Besi. The road - ok, let`s say "road" ... hmm, no, field path (Feldweg) is much better - so the "road" which consisted of about 1/3 asphalt with road holes (Schlagloecher) and 2/3 stones and dust. On one side of the "road" there was the mountain like a wall, on the other it went downhill that steep as if there was nothing. So I felt very safe the whole time :)
We needed the 10 hours to cover a distance of about 200 km. Think about the average speed...

Well, we arrived at approximately 1800 in Syaphru Besi. It is a small village in the mountains with electricity and even internet, i think.

Our guide, his name is Bashu, is a very nice Hindu of the same cast as the Nepal Maoist leader (hihi). He is 22 years old, married since 1 year and will become father in a few days.

19th April

Bashu, carrying a rucksack of about 2,5 kg, started the trek quite fast. We, both armed with 15 kg rucksacks, got exhausted quite fast. But there would have been no challenge without the extra weight! Manliness rules!
Roughly 7 hours, 1 chicken and some liters of water later we arrived in Lama Hotel (a village, not a hotel) at 2340m. Lama is also a cast like Sherpa and Dahal (Bashus and Maoist Leaders cast). There are about 15 different casts.
I was astonished to have a very warm shower in Lama Hotel, a village without electricity and mobile phone reception. The Hotel we stayed at was more like a mountain shelter (Berghuette). Of course it was like this, we WERE in the mountains.
During the trek we saw a lot of porters - people (men and women) carrying 50 kg rice bags all the way up with only sandals on their feet. We heared that they get about 300 Rupees per day.

Night temperature outside: ~10 degree Celsius.

20th April

The trek was again quite exhausting, probably because of the thin air. We arrived in Langtang village, which is at approximately 3300m above sea level. Because of the nearby Langtang river there is some kind of hydroelectric power plant, so we got a light bulb in our hotel room.

21st April

Kyanjing or maybe Kiyangjing, I am not sure, something like K... Gumba (3700m). Since Lama Hotel a very nice and very small Nepalese is waiting for us at every village we want to stay and leads us to a hotel. We are not sure if he owns all those hotels or "just" gets provision.
Anyway, it is getting colder. Room temperature about 5 degree Celsius. Outside it was raining, a few hundred meters higher snowing.
We were getting problems with the little oxygen. Headache, loss of appetite and fatigue, although we did only 400 altitude difference during 2,5 hours trekking.

We were almost sleeping when Bashu knocked at the door. I thought there must have something very important happend. NO! Bashu flounced into the room, holding a small piece of meat in one hand, and asked excited: "LANGTANG PORK! LANGTANG PORK! You wanna try?" A little bit confused I took one half and ate it. It was really good! Johannes was still sleeping at that moment. So Bashu woke him up and held the rest of the Langtang pork just under his nose.
After Bashu left our room and the confusion was gone, we started roaring with laugher. This crazy man woke us up to let us try a small piece of meat.

22nd April

We walked up the Cherko Ri and reached the peak at 5001 meters (in fact the peak is at 4984 m, but if there were 16 meters more, we would have done them!). It was very, very exhausting. we both got headache and could not eat anything for lunch. Anyway, we did it! HOOOORAAAAAAY!
In the morning the outside temperature in K... Gomba was below 0 degree Celsius, and there was snow! The sunshine melted most of it away during the day, but at some places there has been snow before in greater amount which resisted the sun. So I could live my snow-fanaticism and I was happy.

23rd April

What we walked up in 2 days we were then walking down in one. We stayed in a hotel near Lama Hotel at about 2019 m. We tried to phone the Thai Airways (we did before in Langtang), but it did not work.
Although trekking downhill is not exhausting, I hated it. Its only advantage is the increasing oxygen level. Headache had gone, appetite came back.
When we had lunch in Langtang, we were a bit grumpy (schlecht drauf). Johannes felt sick, I hated walking downhill. We had no success with the phonecall to the Thai Airways. Sitting there and waiting for lunch, a bird placed its shit that accurate that it hit both Johannes AND me, but NOT the ground!

24th April

Thulo Syaphru, 2210 m. Splendid oxygen! We are feeling even better. Only our stomaches did not care, but we were starting to get used to that.

25th April

Chyolangpati, again very high at 3584 m. That time we had no more problems with the height. Again we had a chicken for dinner, but this time we killed it ourselves, with a Khukuri knife! That is not as easy as you see in fantasy films.
In the late afternoon it started snowing heavily...

26th April

... so the whole path to Gosainkund (4380 m) and its lakes was covered with SNOW! I made up (nachholen) the winter I missed in Austria.

27th April - some hours walk to Dhunche (2180 m)
28th April - again a crazy bus ride. Maoists called a one day strike so we had to walk to the hotel. Not a big problem after 11 days trekking.

That was the Trek. Today we went to the Thai Airways, and it was CLOSED! There was just a plate with something written on it that we cannot read. The nearby Lufthansa (also Star Alliance) told us, there is no other possibility than to go to the Thai Airways, which MAY open tomorrow. So nobody could help us, and we still do not know if we get the flight on the 4th of May. THANK YOU, SUCKERS!

On 30th of April and 1st of May we will do a Rafting, challenge 4+ (whatever that means). So we will report again on 2nd May and kick the Thai Airways in their a****.

Langtang Trek

2 days ago we fixed our trekking tour:
We will start tomorrow in the morning and will come back on 28th of April. I suppose that we will have no internet access in the mountains, so I will not be able to write new posts until we come back. I will take my mobile phone with me for SMS contact or emergency calls, but I do not know if there is mobile phone reception.

Yesterday we went to a hair cutter. I just wanted to shave, Johannes also wanted his hair cut. In the end, we both got the best haircut ever, the most precise shave we have ever had and an incredible massage. Together for 1000 Rupies. Is somebody jealous of us? ;)
I will now try to upload some photos of this event to the Kathmandu album...

Ok, that is enough for the next eleven days. I think that I then will have much more to tell.

Kathmandu - nothing more to add

Ok - first time, gmail did not let me log in. Second try it worked, but then a man came, plugged an USB stick and windows smashed me with a blue screen. Now I use another PC, and it seems to work.
There is so much to say that I do not know where to start.
The second time I had to use money in Nepal - approximately 1 hour after we arrived at the air port - somebody tried to trick me. But because I pay very much attention on everything, I recognized that 25 Euro must be more than 1500 Rupies. In the end I got 2100.
Today is New Year in Nepal, 2064. We discovered that yesterday at about 0900 in the evening. A young drunken Nepalese started talking to us. He recommended a location called Rox Bar for having a party. We preferred to go to Thamel, an area in Kathmandu where the most tourists are. It was not very spectacular because we missed to talk to the two european looking ladies. So we drove home at about midnight - after three beer (one bottle of beer contains 650ml - about 80 Rupies).
We are planning to do a Trekking Tour in the Langtang valley for about 10 days. The highest place we could reach is about 5000 meters above sea level - higher than you can get in Austria - YEEEHAW ;) It will cost about 30 USD per day (including guide, accommodation, food, equipment, bus, ... nearly everything except alcohol and chocolate).

We are now staying in the Hotel Eden near Freak Street for 400 Rupies per day (together). The shower is cold, but that is not a problem. We are a bit afraid of the TV set cable, which looks very unprofessional.

The traffic in the city is very crazy. We soon discovered that they drive on the left side of the street. And they do not use traffic rules. The only rule is: use your horn! But until now we did not see any car accident... strange.

Sometimes it is very exhausting to get away from all the street-sellers. They can be very brash. One guy painted us a red point to the forehead and lay some flowers on our head. I gave him 100 Rupies. 2 minutes later we noticed that he was following us. Johannes told him that the 100 NPR were for both of us, but he continued following us until we entered the Taxi.

In Nepal, it is now 0615 pm. In the evening we are planning, which company we want to do the trekking with (we have got 2 offers). Maybe we will go to Thamel again and try to have fun at some party. And try to talk to tourist ladies ;)

So, that should be enough information for the first time!
Photos will follow as soon as we find a serious looking Internet Cafe equipped with fast internet.

Der Lektor spricht/The Editor speaks:
Grüße vom Lektor-Leo. Okay, diesem Post gebe ich 8 von 10 Punkten. Satzbau ein bisschen gestelzt hier und da, Vokabular super, Rechtsschreibfehler annehmbar, nur weiter so.
Greetings from Editor Leo. Okay, I give this post 8 out of 10 Points. Sentence structure a little unwieldy, Vocabulary great, Spelling acceptable, keep it up.

PS.: Bring mir einen Kukri mit. ;)

Ready for Takeoff?

Of course! At least I have no choice:
Tomorrow, at 10:15 a.m. the weekly flight to Kathmandu (Nepal) will take off!

The newest Picasa Web Album "last packing" shows which amazing amount of things fit in my rucksack. It has now about 15 kilogram (about 30 pound).

An useful information: The Raiffeisenkasse told me, that the expenses for drawing money everywhere in the world (except in Euro countries) amount 1,82€ plus 0,75% of the drawn money. So you pay 2,57€ for withdrawing 100€ once at a cashpoint.

There is not much left to say, except the last meeting in the Wochinger today at 07:00 p.m. Everyone who would like to come is welcome!

Air Ticket Booked!

Now the journey is absolutely fixed: We bought the air tickets! The 2500 Euro hit me hard but not unexpected. Except the first flight (to Kathmandu) I left all dates open. I will reserve them via e-mail. I hope that this will work...
Keyword hope: The visa to Australia is a very interesting thing. It is called ETA (electronic travel authority). It works approximately like this: You type in your credit card number, name, passport number, etc. When you have finished, the site tells you "Your payment has been authorised and your application for an ETA has been approved." and a lot of blah and you get a "reference number" - and that's it! The site also tells you that "You do not need a visa label in your passport." On the page you can also "Check Your ETA". When I do this it says that I am allowed to enter Australia. I hope that's true...

Rucksack status:
The first time I tried to pack my rucksack - and it worked! I took all the things I am going to take with me (packing list) and put them into my 50 + 10 liter rucksack. When I finished, it was not overflowing!

If you are wondering why I am writing in english: In a very intellectual moment I had the idea that I may get to know people in Singapore or Australia who do not speak German. So it would be very boring for them to read a blog that they do not understand. From then on I decidet to write the blog in english, even if my english is not eloquent and grammatical correct. But Leo, an Anglistics Studen, will hopefully help me :)

Ready for Departure?

Ja! Seit einigen Stunden ist es fix:

Abflugtermin: 12. April, 10:15 (MESZ)
Flugdauer: 7h 50min
Ankunft: 12. April, 21:50 (Ortszeit Kathmandu)

Flugroute:

• Wien
• Kathmandu (Nepal)
• Ho Chi Minh City (alt: Saigon, Vietnam)
• Singapur
• Sydney (Australien)
• >Extraflug nach Alice Springs< (Anschließend verlasse ich meinen Reisepartner und gönne mir noch ca. eine Woche:)
• Honolulu
• Wien

Interessant sind hier die Zeitdifferenzen. Zwischen Wien und Kathmandu entspricht sie mit +3h 45min keiner vollen Stundenanzahl, was laut Wikipedia (link) sonst nur in wenigen anderen Ländern, interessanter Weise zB Australien, der Fall ist.

Grund für den Verspäteten Abflug (er hätte schließlich bereits diesen Donnerstag, also am 5., stattfinden sollen) sind Komplikationen mit der Kreditkarte und ehrlicherweise nicht zuletzt mangelnde Organisation (laut Lufthansa sollte man das Ticket mindestens 2 Wochen im voraus buchen).

Was es sonst noch Neues gibt:

Vergangenen Donnerstag ließ ich mich zum Kauf von High-Tech Ausrüstung hinreißen. Ich bin nun stolzer Besitzer eines 100% Polyester Hemdes sowie einer Fleece Weste und einer Trekking Hose (bestehend aus Polyamid und Nylon). Die Herstellung der Kleidungsstücke aus Kunststoff soll den Vorteil haben, dass sie extrem schnell trocknen - sowohl nach dem Waschen als auch beim bzw. nach dem Schwitzen.
Ein Schlafsack Inlett aus Ägyptischer Baumwolle (leichter und weicher als normale) sorgt für eine wohlige Schlaf-Umgebung, auch in ungewaschenen, geliehenen Schlafsäcken. Die Mitnahme eines eigenen Schlafsacks würde bei weitem zu viel Volumen und Gewicht verbrauchen. Dieses Inlett ist daher vermutlich die beste Alternative.
Weiche Wanderschuhe aus Leder werden mich durch Städte aber auch auf kleinere Wandertouren begleiten können. Behandelt mit einer Bienenwachs Imprägnierung sollten sie auch der vietnamesischen Regenzeit trotzen können.
Damit "mein hart verdientes Geld" (danke Papa :)) nicht als freiwillige Revolutionsspende in den Händen von Maoisten (wiki) landet, habe ich mir einen Geldgürtel zugelegt. Zumindest gewöhnliche Taschendiebe sollten ein Problem damit haben, den an der Innenseite eingenähten Reißverschluss zu öffnen, ohne dass ich es bemerke.
Über Trockenheit erfreuen wird sich mein Körper dank eines Mikrofaser Travel Towels. Angeblich kann man sich damit abtrocknen, das Handtuch auswinden, wenn es voll ist, und mit dem Abtrocknen anschließend fortfahren. Mal sehen.

Die nächsten organisatorischen Schritte sind die Buchung einer Unterkunft für die erste Nacht in Nepal, sowie Kontakte mit Pfadfindern in Honolulu und Sydney herzustellen. Und auch der Rucksack will einmal probegepackt werden. Noch viel zu tun.

Gut Pfad!

Nach mehreren Anfragen und ein bisschen Geduld gibt es nun die ersten, heftigen Erfolge:
Eine Pfadfindergruppe in Alice Springs, Australien (wiki) hat uns eine Unterkunft für 2 AUD (Australische Dollar, ca. 1€) pro Person und Nacht zugesagt. Inklusive: Bett, Duschen, WC. Wenn es hart auf hart kommt, kann die Nachttemperatur in Alice Springs auf -5°C sinken, tagsüber steigt sie dann meist wieder auf 20. Die Ängste der Australischen Pfadfinderleiter, es könnte uns in der Nacht dort kalt werden, habe ich mit einem beherzten "In Austria we sometimes have very cold winters (up to -10 or -15°C), so we are used to that." abgeschmettert :).
Ebenso gibt es aus Singapur (wiki) gute Nachrichten: 15 S$ (Singapur Dollar, rund 8€) pro Person und Nacht in den günstigsten Pfadfinderunterkünften. Außerdem wollen sie für uns ein Treffen mit "local Rovers" organisieren, die mit uns eine Tour durch die Stadt machen. Klingt absolut super!

In Nepal sind laut Bundesverband der Österreichischen Pfadfinder (link) die Pfadfinder eher mäßig gut organisiert und haben keine Homepage, in Vietnam gibt es offiziell keine. Von Insidern (te ha ix Jaki) weiß ich aber, dass die Hotels dort spottbillig sein sollen - also kein Problem

USA oder doch Monsun?

Eine schwierige Entscheidung:

Nepal für USA opfern? Zeitmäßig geht sich nicht alles aus, denn 3 Wochen sollte man schon pro Land einplanen, um es wirklich sinnvoll erforschen zu können. 4 Tage Stress-Sight-Seeing-Touren in abgekapselten Reisebussen mit weseuropäischem Standard kann ich mit 40 immer noch machen.
Ein Argument für das Anti-Kyoto-Protokoll-Land wäre der Monsun. Nepal geht sich noch in der Trockenzeit im April aus, aber ab Mai wird es in Vietnam schon sehr... nass (wiki). Andererseits überleben die Einheimischen die Regenzeit auch, also warum soll ich das nicht können?
Noch ein Pluspunkt für USA: Die eher ungemütliche Sicherheitslage in Nepal (bmaa). "Freiwillige Spenden", eingehoben durch die Maoisten, sind keine Seltenheit. Ebenso wie Generalstreiks, die den öffentlichen Verkehr lahm legen. Und von größeren Demonstrationen sollte man sich wegen Anschlaggefahr auch fern halten.

Die Option wäre also statt: Nepal (trocken), Vietnam (sehr nass), Singapur, Australien
doch lieber: Vietnam (recht trocken), Singapur, Australien, USA
zu machen.

Für Nepal spricht, dass die USA dem europäischen Leben wohl sehr nahe kommen. Klar. Und, dass man dort später mal sowieso hin kommt, ist gar nicht so unwahrscheinlich.

EDIT 30.3.: Entscheidung gefällt: es bleibt bei Nepal

WTF?

Wer es noch nicht erzählt bekommen hat, wird sich die berechtigte Frage stellen: "Was soll das bitte?"

Hier die Kurzfassung:
Es geht darum, einen langen, imaginären Bart zu erlangen. Ich bewerkstellige das, indem ich eine lange Reise mache.
Hier werden die Fotos davon gepostet. Und kleine Geschichten dazu zu erzählt.

Fakten:

• Reisebeginn: vorraussichtlich 5. April
• Reisedauer: ca. 3 Monate
• Reiseroute: Nepal, Vietnam, Singapur, Australien, vllt. noch ein wenig USA

Revolution

Ein neues Zeitalter bricht an. Irgendwann einmal.
Jetzt jedenfalls ist WTF? da. Und das ist gut so!