Hospital in Pai and Chiang Mai

My hostel in Pai

My next stop after the forest Monastery was Pai. I had heard a lot about this place with its magical vibe and I was looking forward to going there. Unfortunately nothing worked out like I wanted it to and I didn't really get to experience the magic in Pai but rather the toilet from my hostel and the hospital.
Originally the plan was to take the yellow bus from the Monastery to Pai but the bus was full so we decided to hitchhike the 70 km to Pai. We were 9 people but we split up. It didn't take long until we got a ride. A very nice local in a Pick-up stopped and we jumped on the back of the truck with all the backpacks. At first I really enjoyed the ride. We four girls were sitting outside on the truck bed and Zac was inside. It was still early in the morning so the air was nice and cool.
The road from Mae Hong Son to Pai is very very windy and it goes up and down all the time. It didn't help that our lovely driver was speeding around the corners and we had to try our best not to fall off and so it didn't take long until I started feeling really sick. Usually I don't get car-sick easily but this trip was a challenge for me. For all of us.
The more we came into the mountains, the more smoke was in the air from all the recent bush fires. However we got some very scenic views on the scenery.
It was a long drive. Somehow we survived and one and a half hour later we were in Pai. When I jumped off the truck I was so relieved but literally green in my face. I would do it again though, it was a lot of fun!

Pai is a very nice place. It is like a small village in the forest but full of tourists, markets and cute little cafes and bars. There is also a lot of music, everybody is friendly and happy and it seems like everyone knows everyone. There is a nightmarket every night with delicious and cheap food and all sorts of things you can buy where we went to in the evening. There is one guy who sells super delicious bruschetta with loads of guacamole and salsa! I love avocado!
My plan was to train Muay Thai again in Pai. So on the next morning I went to my first Muay Thai session at Charn Chai Muay Thai. It was great. Like the training in Phuket it was really tough and I was sweating a lot but the gym is smaller and a bit overcrowded. The trainers are funny and they focus a lot on technique something I really appreciated.
We didn't manage do go into the same hostel together but we ended up hanging out a lot at Pai Cat Hut, the hostel where I ended up staying. We enjoyed bonfires together and I learned playing the Ukulele (well, I tried).
I was really tired after my first training session. It was hard to train so much after 10 days of meditation. I still went to the second training class in the afternoon but I had a weird feeling in my stomach and I felt like I would have to throw up. It didn't help that we had to do kicks in the stomach during training.
After the training I felt a lot worse and I had to throw up. I spent almost the whole night in the bathroom and I was feeling sick the whole next day and the day after. First I assumed I would have food poisoning but I ate pretty much the same like the others and they were completely fine.
I seriously have never felt worse in my life. Luckily all of my lovely friends took very good care of me and brought me medicine and electrolytes. I spent two days in bed instead of training. On the third day I started feeling better and so we went to the pool in Pai, a very nice place for relaxing and to cool down from the hot weather. We had at least 36°C every day. I really enjoyed the pool and I was feeling completely fine. I decided I would go and train on the next day. But when I woke up my eye lids were swollen so that I could not properly open my eyes. After I had a shower I also discovered a very itchy rash all over my body. It looked like an allergic reaction.
I felt very uncomfortable and since the hospital was only 200m away from my hostel I decided to see a doctor.
I could not belive what was going on. Why did that all happen now? Why everything at once?

I was feeling pretty bad

The hospital was just 200m away from my hostel and when we reached it there were a lot of people. Mainly Thai but also a few foreigners. I saw three girls badly hurt by motorbike accidents and I was glad that I never had an accident on a motorbike.
After I filled in all the registration details and talked to a few nurses it was time to wait. Finally it was my turn to talk to the doctor. He was a very young man and he could speak a little bit english but I could hardly understand him, mainly because of the face mask he was wearing. He ordered an injection against the rash and he also prescribed me antibiotics against the infection which I had on my stomach (just a small spot). I had to lay down on one of the hospital beds right next to all the other hurt people, there where no partitions to separate us.
While I was waiting for my injection I had time to observe the hospital. It was a very old building and nothing compared to our western standards. All the nurses were super stressed and overworked. There were a lot of patients waiting. There was also a lot of chaos, I don't know how they could find the right things because everything was a mess. The sink was also dirty and the plates where they had their instruments on looked a hundred years old. But anyway, I guess I am just a spoiled western girl with too high expectations.

Waiting in the hospital bed

Finally the nurse came to give me the injection. She did it well and it did not hurt. After the injection I was supposed to stay in the bed and they put a sign on my bed which said "Wait for symptoms after treatment". So I waited. Two men came and pushed my bed with me on top through the whole hospital into another waiting area next to the beds of two Thai ladies. I was really tired and so I fell asleep multiple times but I always woke up when someone ran against my bed (which happened quite a few times). After half an hour of half waiting half sleeping I had enough and so I got up and told the nurse I want to leave. She asked me to wait for the doctor. I also had to talk to a pharmacist to find out if I would be allergic against the medication I took when I was throwing up. He said I am not and they have no clue where the rash came from. I guess it was from the pool but I dont know because everybody else was fine. Maybe it was because my body was just super weak since I had not been eating in three days and only throwing up everything. I felt pretty weak to be honest.
Finally I could leave the hospital. The rash was completely gone and I was totally fine the whole day! I have no idea what they injected me but it worked - credit to the hospital!
I could even eat something.

So instead of training and enjoying my life in Pai I was laying in bed the whole time. I guess that was just a sign from my body that it is enough. From living 10 days in the Monastery, meditating every day and hardly training to four hours of super tough muay thai on one day was too much.
There are some borders even I can not cross.

Typical shop in Pai

New friend in Pai

By the end of the week at had recovered from the sickness, the diarrhea was gone and I was able to eat again but the spot on my stomach had grown bigger. I don't like taking medicaments so I didnt take the antibiotics but now the spot was swollen and red and it really hurt.

I took the mini van from Pai to Chiang Mai and in Chiang Mai I decided to go to the hospital again because every step hurt. 

This time the hospital was way more modern and a lot bigger. The nurses were really friendly to me and the hospital itself seemed to be a lot cleaner. 

I had an elderly female doctor and she spoke good English. She told me we have to open the wound to take all the pus out. We went to the emergency room and I had to lay down on one of the beds. I was wearing a dress and so I just lifted it up because there were only women in the room and I had already done it that way to the doctor. But one of the nurses was really shocked and pulled my dress back down.  Then she brought a blanket to cover my legs and after that I was allowed to lift my dress up... oops! 

In Pai I thought it was the worst time of my trip but Pai was nothing compared to the pain I was in at this hospital in Chiang Mai. The doctor took a scissor and jabed it right into the swollen spot. It was very red and infected and it hurt a lot. Tears were running down my face and I pressed my fingernails into my hands, trying to focus on something else but the pain. Now she started pressing. There were at least five nurses standing around me and watching her pressing the pus out of my stomach. One of the nurses held my hand and another one stroke my leg but that didn't help much. Every time the pus came out they cheered and laughed (the doctor as well). It was a very funny scene. 

It took about 15 minutes. The most painful 15 minutes of my life. I was glad I went to the hospital though because I knew it would only get worse. I spent the rest of the day in my hostel bed, unable to move.

Same procedure on the next day. Luckily most of the pus was gone and so it took only five minutes and I could leave again.

John and Saffron 

I spent the day walking around Chiang Mai with John and Saffron and we had the best vegan Khao Soy and delicious Mango-Sticky-Rice at Morning Glory, a vegan restaurant in Chiang Mai.

In the night I took a flight to Bangkok where I would spend the next few days in a hotel. I took a red car to the airport where I met Irene from Spain. She is lovely. When we reached the airport and I was just about to take the bags out of the red car, the driver suddenly started driving. He almost drove off with everything from me - I had even my passport and my wallet in my small backpack in the car. Luckily I realized it early enough and jumped back into the car, forcing him to stop. 

I reached Bangkok safely at midnight.

Wat Pa Tam Wua Forest Monastery

This was probably the hardest time of my life. Sometimes it was all about not giving up and keep going. Especially the first three days were extreme. But I made it! And retrospectively I can say it was worth the pain and I would definitely do it again.
I am talking about the 10 days I spent in the Wat Pa Tam Wua Forest Monastery, situated in the far north of Thailand right on the border to Burma, in the Mae Hong Son Province.
The minivan we took from Chiang Mai dropped us off on the road close to the Monastery. From there we had to walk one kilometer to reach this magical place.

Jess and the mini van we took from Chiang Mai

When we walked in there were many people dressed in white sweeping leaves and taking care of  the Monastery. It was a really strange sight because we weren't expecting to see such a thing. I actually have no idea what I was expecting.
My first thought was I have arrived in the nuthouse but soon after I should become one of those people, sweeping leaves very mindfully and everything would be normal for me.
Jess and I checked into our Kuti and we had just enough time for a quick shower and to change from our normal clothes into the white ones before the evening chanting started. A little bit overwhelmed and confused we reached the Dhamma Hall where everybody was sitting on a pillow on the floor and chanting some worshippings. We took our chanting books and joined the group.

The Kutis

Evening chanting

Wat Pa Tam Wua is a very open minded Forest Monastery where everybody from beginners to advanced meditation practitioners can come and join the Vipassana meditation. There are four monks living in this beautiful place and more monks are visiting so that sometimes there are eleven monks. Two of them are teaching the secrets of Samatha and Vipassana meditation.
Unlike in a city Monastery you don't have to be silent the whole time and it is okay to stay only for a few days but it is recommended to stay at least 10 days to see some results. It is also allowed to read books about meditation and buddhism and to write.
Nevertheless everybody staying at the monastery had to undertake the five precepts which are:
1. Refrain from killing or deliberately harm others
2. Refrain from taking what was not given
3. Refrain from Sexualität misconduct
4. Refrain from false speech
5. Refrain from taking intoxicants

I decided to stay 10 days and I also wanted to take it very seriously so I decided to be silent. Being silent means wearing the 'silent and happy' badge which indicates that no one can talk to you and you don't talk to anyone.

At 5am on the next morning my alarm went off. Time for morning meditation. At 6:30am one of the monks rang the bell and everybody was supposed to be in the Dhamma Hall for the rice offering. After that it was time for breakfast. The food in the Monastery was vegan. We always had rice, vegetables and tofu for breakfast.
The first group meditation session started from 8am to 10am. We started with one hour of walking meditation through the beautiful garden. Some people would wonder now, what is walking meditation? It is basically very mindful walking. We concentrate only on our steps and on the breathing, keeping the mind calm and trying not to get distracted by any thoughts. If we catch our mind thinking, we have to bring it back to the object we are focusing on until the mind is completely calm and stops thinking so that we can be in the present moment.

Rice offering to the monks in the morning

Walking meditation through the garden

After walking meditation we always switched to half an hour sitting meditation and after that laying down meditation. Every single day at least one person fell asleep during laying down meditation and started snoring.
At 11am it was lunch time after we offered food to the monks again. Lunch consisted again of rice, vegetables and tofu. Lunch was the last meal for the day.

Food offering to the monks before lunch

Laying down meditation

At 1pm the second meditation session started, again walking, sitting and laying down meditation, two hours in total. This time we would walk through the forest.
There was also a dog living at the monastery named Pui Dog, who always followed the time schedule. He would lay next to us when we were meditating and come for a walk every morning and midday. He would also howl every time when the monks rang the bell to call us to the beginning of the meditation class. He was very adorable. I bet he had reached Nirvana already considering all the meditation and mindfulness he has been practicing...

The honorable Pui Dog

After the midday meditation we had time to ask the teacher questions and at 4pm it was time to sweep the leaves in the garden. We were supposed to stay mindful and don't let 'monkey-mind' come. The Abbot called it lovingly 'monkey-mind' when the mind can't stop thinking and it jumps from one thought to the next.

Walking meditation through the forest

Pui Dog also practices walking meditation

Question time

At 6pm it was time for evening chanting and after that meditation in the dark. After that we were supposed to meditate one more hour in our room and at 9pm it was bed time.

Walking meditation in the morning - everybody is following the monks (dressed in brown/orange)

It was a lot of meditation. Especially for someone like me who has never done it before but I really enjoyed it. Particularly the morning walking meditation was my favourite. It was also no problem not to eat after 11am and I loved being in the forest far away from any temptations. I struggled with the sitting though. Even after the ten days my legs still really hurt after 20 minutes sitting crossedleg on the floor.
The teaching monk always told us 'to know'. Know that we are sitting here in Wat Tam Wua and know that our body is breathing in and breathing out. Then he wanted us to focus on our breath, breathing in we would say "Bud" to ourselves and breathing out we would say "Dho". "Buddho" means being aware and mindful. We would repeat "buddho" until the mind was calm and not distracted by any thoughts. Or any pain. We were usually sitting for 35 minutes. It was very hard for me to concentrate on the breathing, on the first day I was always falling asleep and then it was also just too easy to get caught up in thoughts. But it became easier the more I practiced.
Laying down meditation was my least favourite form of meditation. It is not only very hard to stay awake but my mind would always go crazy when I was laying down and I just could not stop thinking. On the other side there was no pain in the legs anymore..
But the toughest part for me was the isolation. Because I was wearing my "silent and happy" badge every day I completely isolated myself from the rest of the people. For me it was okay not to talk, you get used to it very quickly but only concentrating on myself and not having any contact to other people was a challenge - considering that I am a very social person.
The Dalai Lama once said "When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you might learn something new." This is so true.
I also discovered that when I don't talk to anybody, I only get the input I want to get. I choose the books I read and I listen to what the teacher has to say. No one spoils me with all the crap people usually talk during the day. All the additional information that I don't need to know. I also had the opportunity to 'sort my mind out'. I had crazy dreams at night always remembering old times.
Once before I came to the Monastery I met a woman and she told me that meditation is like sorting your files in your head and throwing everything out you don't need anymore and by that restoring space for new things. Like when your computer gets old and you go through your old files and get rid of all the files you don't need anymore. I think it is a good way to describe it.
Being silent also helped me a lot to calm my mind down. Already on the second day I realised the difference and it was more easy for me to concentrate on my breath and stay calm.
Nevertheless I struggled the whole time and especially in the beginning I was counting the days. When I read my diary now, every entry starts with "day 2 is done! Only 8 more days to go. I can do it!" I really had to motivate myself not to give up.
Every day the yellow bus came to the Monastery and wistfully I was looking at it, wishing I would be one of the people who were leaving. But I stayed. I stayed 10 days and after one week it started to get easier (maybe also because I wrote 3 instead of 7 days to go in my diary).
I also experimented a little bit, I wanted to try fasting. So I endet up having only one meal on the third and fourth day and no meal on my fifth day. This resulted in me being an absolutely over emotional and very irritable person, even the Abbot annoyed me with his otherwise very amusing talks and jokes. I felt really bad and from the next day I decided to follow the two-meals-per-day-schedule again.

The Abbot 

Breakfast time - it was always very cold in the morning

March and April is always burning season in Northern Thailand. The air was always full of smoke, sometimes more and sometimes less. On my seventh day the smoke was really strong and suddenly we could see the fire up on the hill right behind our Kutis. It was not more than a 100m away from my Kuti and I could hear, smell and see the flames. When I came back from evening chanting I could see the line flames. The flames were not big but it was a long line and it was burning down the hill towards the Monastery. The locals stayed very calm, this is normal for them. I got told that they even set the fire themselves, there are many different stories why. I couldn't do anything else but trusting the firefighter outside and going to sleep. When I woke up the next morning I was still alive (onviously) but my room was full of smoke and everything was very smelly. I know, that was not very healthy for myself.
Two days after the smoke cleared and we could even see blue sky again.

Most of my free time I used to read about meditation. I read a lot and I also learned a lot. Before I came to the Monastery I had only a vague idea of what Buddhism is and I had no clue how to practice meditation. Now I have learned and experienced so much that I know if I would have to choose a religion for myself I would choose Buddhism.
Even though I  was having the hardest time of my life and my mood would change every hour from really happy to really mad I am so glad I did these 10 days and I feel like I have discovered a whole new me. I remember how happy I was on my last day. I felt so alive but in a different way, a way I can't describe and I was so unbelievably happy. In total I was eight full days silent and I lost 6 kilogram.

Throwing it back to the roads in Australia

Sometimes you have to get lost to be found

Grampians National Park

Once when I was hitchhiking in Australia, a very inspiring woman picked me up.
I was on my way to a hiking trip in the Grampians National Park in Victoria and she was my second ride on that day. We started talking and she told me her story.
She grew up with her family in Sydney and was a real party girl. When she finished highschool she would go out with her friends almost every night, drinking and partying and had no plan what to do with her life. She also had no interest in exploring the world – she hadn’t seen anything from Australia besides Sydney. Until her father decided it was enough and booked her a one way ticket to Alice Springs – the outback of Australia.
With six dollars in her pocket and no plan where to go, she arrived in Alice Springs. It was a very hot day in the desert, the sun was burning relentlessly from the sky and there was no shade at all. Thirsty and tired she went to the service station in the small township to buy some water – but one bottle of water was $5. Lost and with no money anymore, she was sitting in front of this service station, questioning the meaning of her life. I can only imagine how she must have felt that day.
The friendly lady from the service station realized heer situation and she felt sorry for her so she asked her if she was looking for work.
And this is how everything started. She ended up working at this service station for the next five years, met the love of her life and the father of her children there and together they decided to move further out into the desert. On a farm, 1000km away from the next town, and with no neighbours closer than in 100km distance, they started an absolutely incredible and isolated life in the desert.
Only 3% of the Australian population live in the desert and there is a reason why.
“If you live in the desert,” she told me, “you are on your own and have to know how to survive. There is no doctor or hospital that you can reach in less than eight hours in case of an emergency. There is no supermarket you can just quickly go in if you need something. There is literally nothing out there.”
It is not only the isolation but also harsh weather conditions that make living in the desert an extreme way of life. During the day the temperature can reach up to 50°C and it can get really cold at night. Also snakes and spiders don’t really make the desert a safer place of living.
Every six weeks the family would take the car and a trailer, travel 1000km to the next town to get the grocerie shopping done. Everything they got had to last until the next shopping trip. “The kids were super excited about getting a new pair of socks! ”
Of course, anything can happen in the outback – accidents, snake bites or people can get seriously ill. Everybody who is living there has basic nursing skills, and knows how to keep the person in need alive until the doctor arrives. It can take up to eight hours until medical help will reach them.
And what is about education for the children? Her children went to a very special school, where they are using radios to participate in class. Every child would have his own radio to talk to the teacher and to other class mates.
What an interesting life. Her children learned everything very early, she told me. For example they were able to drive a car from a very young age. One of her daughters would drive over 50km in a car by herself to meet the neighbours half way, when she was eight (!). They had radios to keep in contact with the parents.
The family owns a for me unbelievable huge amount of land: 2 million hectare in the outback. They had casual workers as well as backpackers and helpers staying and working with them.
Of course, life in the desert is not easy - they had to go through a lot of tough times. A worker, for example, had an accident with the car. It was hard to keep him alive until the helicopter with the doctor arrived. And then the neighbour’s son got bitten by a snake. They had to wait eight hours until the doctor arrived.  Probably the longest eight hours of their live – unfortunately the son never recovered completely.
But as hard as it sounds, living in the desert gives you a lot of freedom and possibilities.
The final call to move back into the civilization was made when the children got teenagers, to give them more social opportunities and show them that there is more out there.
“Even though we are just living in a small town, pretty much rural and not in the city itself, we miss the desert every day and we want to go back. Either you love it or you hate it, there is nothing in between. And we love it.”

On the road to the Grampians

This woman was incredible and so strong. What if her dad wouldn’t have bought her a ticket or what if she wouldn’t have accepted the job at the service station? We will never know. But she knows that taking the opportunity to start a new life and to get out of her comfort zone back in those days was the best decision she had ev made.

ยินดีต้อนรับสู่ประเทศไทย

I am here. I finally made it! I have been looking forward to this moment for so long and now it is reality, I am so excited!
The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket was nice and short. I had just fallen asleep when we were ready to land again.
I was so excited to go to Thailand. It was not just about going to Thailand but about what I will do there. A few months ago I decided I want to learn Muay Thai kickboxing and so I booked a training camp in Phuket for one month.
At least four hours training a day, six days a week and living in Thailand... what else do I want!
When I arrived in Phuket I realized that I had messed up my booking with the camp a little bit, I was ond day early and so I had to stay in a Hostel for one night before I could actually check in. When I finally arrived at the gym on the next day, everything was closed because it was Sunday and nobody works there on sunday - congratulations Maria, perfect timing as always.
Lost in Thailand and with a huge backpack on my back I met Ajamal, a professional MMA fighter from Afghanistan, who trained in the same camp as I was supposed to check in. He helped me getting in contact with the people from the camp and so I could finally check into my room and get myself sorted. He has been living and fighting in Moscow for a long time and since he couldn't really speak English I had to to speak Russian... Well, it worked, I can still speak a little bit and understand almost everything.

My street

I am staying in a room 10 minutes walk from the Phuket Top Team gym, with my own bathroom, air-condition and a shared kitchen. It is very beautiful here and nice and warm and we have a very annoying cat who always wants to have attention.
Sunday is always rest day,  so I had to wait till Monday until I could start with the training.
"8!..9!...10!...1!....2!...3!..." the trainer next to me shouted.
Sweat was dripping from my face and my whole body and my clothes were drenched as if I would have jumped into a pool of water. I don't know how many push-ups I did but I know it was a lot.

The gym

The training is very tough, I love it! Every morning we start at 7:30AM, two hours of skipping rope, boxing, kicking, push-ups, clinching, sit-ups, sparring, more push-ups, more sit-ups, boxing again and so on. After the two hours I am usually so exhausted that I have to rest for the next three hours before I am able to move again.
The same training again in the afternoon.
The classes are usually quite full, sometimes there are up to 40 people training together. A little bit too crowded I think because the trainers can't really concentrate on one person. Otherwise it is great! The training is really hard and so I can feel pretty much every single muscle in my body but it is a very satisfying feeling, it is the good kind of pain!
It is my third day here today and when I woke up this morning I could hardly move. My legs, my arms, my shoulders, my back, my neck... everything is in pain but my wrists and angles also hurt so I decided to take it a little slow today, only one training in the afternoon. I have already done four trainings and it is so much fun, I am loving it!

I can always see Big Buddha on my way home

Apart from the training there is not much else to do here. The gym is on one main street, which is full of fitness food places that offer "fighter menus", Protein Shakes and "fitness cakes". There are also a lot of gear stores, many Thai-massage salons and at least five or six more gyms, including the famous Tiger Muay Thai.
Well, this is what my next month is gonna be like. Train, eat, sleep - repeat!

I rented a scooter to be able to drive around and explore the island

Hitchhiking in Malaysia

"Terima kasih means thank you" Salma taught me while she and her husband where giving me a ride from Tapah to Taiping. We couldn't really have a conversation due to the language barrier, but sometimes there are no words needed to understand each other.

Salma and I

It was my second time hitchhiking in Malaysia, this time I was by myself and on the way from the Cameron Highlands to Penang.

Even though on hitchwiki I read that it would be very easy and in common to hitchhike in Malaysia, it was not always simple to catch a ride. And on the reaction of the people driving past me I could clearly see that they don't see many hitchhikers on the roads in Malaysia.. Most of the time the people stared at me, laughing and waving or giving me thumbs up but hardly anyone stopped. 

My first time hitchhiking in Malaysia was with Laura from Austria. I met her in Kuala Lumpur on a couchsurfing meeting, one of the best things I have done while being in KL. Even though she had never hitchhiked before, she was keen to try it with me and so we hitched from KL to the Cameron Highlands. We cheated a little bit because we took an uber from our hostel to the toll station to get out of the city. We could have taken a train or a bus, it would have been cheaper, but it would have taken over an hour to get to the spot and we had heavy backpacks. 

From the toll station it didn't take long to get a ride. We were busy taking pictures when we got our first ride with AunShin, who took us all the way to Tapah.

"Nobody is hitchhiking in Malaysia" he told us. "It is dangerous, some people are not friendly. Do you want to take a bus? I can drop you somewhere where you can catch the next bus." He was very kind and concerned  but we wanted to try hitchhiking. We had a really great time together. Since his English was very good we were able to have good and interesting conversations, even though my voice was almost gone (because of all the rain in KL I got a cold but I didn't feel bad, my voice was just almost gone - that always happens to me). 

After AunShin had dropped us at the last Petrol Station before Tapah, we had some trouble catching our next ride. The sun came out and so it got really hot and humid but unfortunately no car would stop for us. Everybody was just laughing and waving at us, some people took pictures and others just pretended they wouldn't see us. Then finally two cars stopped, but the first one was a car full of young Malaysian men who didn't even have space for us and our backpacks and in the other car was an Indian family and again, the car was already packed and there was no chance for us to get in. 

Half an hour later we were still melting in the sun when a local stopped for us to give us a ride. He took us only five minutes but to the road towards Cameron Highlands, from where we hitched again, this time in the shade of some trees. The next ride was with two other men who took us all the way up to Tanah Rata. It took us more than 5 hours to manage the 205km from KL to Tanah Rata but the experience was great.

Hitchhiking in Malaysia

I actually love hitchhiking. The feeling when I am standing on the road, with my thumb out and not sure if and when I will arrive at my destination and usually also not sure where I will spend the night or when I will have the next meal... Some people like adrenalin sports like skydiving or bungee jumping - I like hitchhiking. And so I decided to hitchhike again in Malaysia, this time by myself.

Laura and I spent one day and two nights in the Cameron Highlands.

Being famous for their tea plantations, the three little towns in the hills offer quite a lot to see and many locals and tourists travel there to cool down from the hot weather. We rented a scooter and drove from one tea plantation to the next, cruising around all the cars which were stuck in the traffic jam. It always gets really busy in the Cameron Highlands around Chinese New Year. 

The nature was stunning. Green hills as far as we could see, surrounded by native forests and occasionally some flower fields. I really loved it there.

The beautiful BOH Tea plantation

Laura had to leave on the next day to fly back do Austria and I decided to hitchhike to Penang. I was a little bit nervous because I was all alone in a country where I couldn't speak the language and trying to hitchhike. But my tension turned into elation when five travellers came to me, cheering at me and taking pictures and videos. They where from the Ukraine and Russia and it was really good talking to them. They wanted to hitch a ride too but only to the next tea plantation.

My first ride was with Jeff and his girlfriend, who took me to Tapah. The windy road made me feel really sick and my voice was still gone so I spent most of the ride just looking out of the window, trying not to vomit. Finally we made it and I jumped out of the car and walked to the toll station from where the cars would go on the motorway towards KL or Penang. A truck with two Malaysian men stopped, trying to make me jump in with them. I didn't like the thought of being in the truck with those guys so I told them I would catch a ride with a car because a car is faster than a truck. What a lame excuse but it worked and they drove off.

In the next car were Salam and Deen, who took me to Taiping, just 60km away from my destination. They were really lovely and even though we could not really talk I enjoyed being in the car with them. They asked me in broken english if I was married and where my parents are... and of course Salma couldn't believe that I am not afraid to be on the road by myself. All questions which I am already used to.

When they dropped me at the Petrol Station we took a selfie together and Salma gave me some Malaysian apples. What a lovely couple.

Selfie time with Deen and Salma

I think Petrol stations are in general not very good for hitchhiking in Malaysia. Again, I had to wait quite a while until a bus stopped. I was not sure if I could come for free, but the driver, Farid, a young Malaysian man, told me to jump in and so I grabbed my backpack and jumped in. There were two other guys in the front and the bus was packed with people. I got to sit on the front seat next to Farid, while the other two guys climbed into the sleeping area behind the front seats. They found it really funny to pick up a hitchhiker and so they where taking pictures all the time and Farid started a video call to another bus driver while he was driving. Even though I couldn't understand a word, I could guess that they where talking about how funny it was to pick me up on the side of the road. Hitching a bus is more fun than paying for it because you get to sit in the front with the best view and it is for free. 

The bus stopped at the ferry terminal to Georgetown, from where I took the ferry for 1,20 Ringit (25 cent) to Georgetown. I made it!

Hitchhiking a bus

I have realized that hitchhiking in Malaysia is actually not that different from New Zealand or Australia. It might be not the most popular way to get around, since buses are cheap as well, but there are friendly people in any country and even the language barrier is not a big problem.

Beautiful Georgetown, Penang

Couchsurfing in Singapore

It was hot and humid when Sean and I stepped out of the airplane. The weatherforecast said thunderstorms and rain but instead it was just very tropical and the rain had stopped just before our scoot aircraft finally touched the ground of Singapore. I was fairly tired after the seven hour long flight from Sydney but I was in great company.

I met Sean on the plane, he was sitting next to me. He is an ozzie guy who comes to Thailand and Nepal as often as he can to do volunteer work. At the moment they are building a school in a very small village near Pai in Thailand.
He invited me to come and help, of course I will join the group in March after I finished the muay thai kickboxing camp in Phuket.
His grilfriend also works in Nepal in earthquake regions to help the people rebuilding there life. After exchanging contact details with Sean to make sure I will be able to join the group in Thailand, I went to the bus station to catch a ride from the airport to my couchsurfing host in Singapore. I have done couchsurfing before but it is always very exciting since you never know who the person is and how it will be.
I got very lucky! Charmeh was a great host. She picked me up from the bus station and we had delicious singaporean food with her family. Everybody was really nice to me and I felt very welcomed. After dinner Char took me out into the city to explore a little bit. We were friends from the very beginning and I really enjoy spending time with her! Couchsurfing is such a great thing.

The couchsurfing place

Charmaine and I

Before I came to Singapore I assumed it is just another big city, not worth it spending more than three days there. But I was wrong. Singapore is not just another big city, the vibe and the life in this city is completely different. Coming from New Zealand and Australia, countries full of natural beauty and wildlife, this man made city gave me the feeling I would be travelling into the future. Skyscrapers everywhere, fancy buildings and huge shopping malls with stores of Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Prada. Everything is decorated for the upcoming Chinese New Year colourful and kitschy, just like Asian people love it!
Singapore is not very big. Actually, it is very tiny but still, more than 5 million people are living there and the final aim is 7 million. Since there is not much space, most of the people live in apartment blocks, some of them public some of them private.
Education is a very imprtant thing in the singaporean culture. If you want to be successful, you need to study. This is why parents are happy to send their children overseas to study if they can afford it.

Singapore is also a very multicultural city. In little India you can find Hindu temples, Indian shops and restaurants everywhere and it feels like how I imagine India to be. Not far from little India there is the Arab Street, the ara/muslim centre of Singapore. There are some beautiful Mosques and some pretty unique shops selling Arab fabrics and souverniers. And then there is China Town. Crowded, cheap and full of people, this amazing place has lots to offer. From food to clothes to electronics- everything you need.

Getting ready for Chinese New Year

I spent three nights at Chars place before I headed further to Malaysia. I really loved Singapore and I had some very special experiences.
Somehow it happened that I had to visit a dentist in Singapore. After getting lost multiple times we finally found the right dentist that I had called an hour before. At first I was a little nervous but when I entered the patient room there was a ~60year old woman smiling at me and telling me to take a seat. She was so happy and friendly to me and very concerned if my insurance would cover. After getting my tooth fixed on Singaporean way and $140 less in my pocket I went into the city centre to explore little India.
Little India is full of colour, people and shops. It is possible to get everyhinges there – from indian cuisine to clothes to jewelry and mobile phones. When I was taking a picture of some street art a woman told me about the artwalk festival and invited me to come later and watch the dance show and get a free henna tattoo. Unfortunately Char and I missed the dance show because we went into one of the Hindu temples but we got to make some sand arts and got a free henna tattoo each.

Later in the evening we went to watch the lightshow at the super trees in the Gardens by the Bay. The Gardens are righ next to ther Marina Bay Sands – the most famous building and most expensive hotel in Singapore. I definitely recommend the lightshow, it is really beautiful and it is free. There are always two shows per night, I recommend the second one because it is completely dark by that time and the trees look more magical. The super trees are powered by solar panels which sit on top of the super trees and make it possible to enjoy the lights every night without wasting too much power.
After the lightshow we had dinner and went to the rooftop bar of the Marina Bay Sands. This is what I love about Singapore. Even though everything is very fancy and luxury, it is open for everybody and most of the attractions are for free. Obviously I didn’t have any nice clothes since I am a backpacker and so we went on top of the most luxurious building in Singapore in flip flops – for free. On top we had a very beautiful panoramic view over the whole city.

On my second day in Singapore I went to explore Chinatown. Funny enough, the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore is right in the middle of Chinatown. It is a very crowded and interesting place. It smells like food everywhere and all the shops sell Chinese things. After I visited the second temple, it started pouring down with rain all of a sudden and a thunderstorm was about to turn up – completely normal at this time of the year. Do you know those Chinese tourists in Europe who always wear those funny plastic raincovers? Well, now I was one the weird European tourist with the funny raincoat!

When I was walking through the streets and trying some chinese food, a guy offered me to try a peach jelly sort of thing. I didn't like it and when I told him that he looked at me, shocked about my honesty. I started laughing and offered him some of the pineapple tart cookies which I had just bought. He started laughing and we had some cookies together before I left to go back to little India.
In little India I met a guy from Pakistan who wanted me to take a picture of him. And then he wanted to take a selfie with me. I don't get why so many people want to take selfie with me but why not!
I really loved my stay in Singapore. Especially meeting Char and spending time with her was really fun. She was my best couchsurfing host so far :)