Alex goes east

Once upon a time, there was a little blond girl, stuck under the rain of a small country called Belgium. She was bored and decided to go on a big adventure. She searched for places to stay and people to help, booked a Round the world plane ticket, got the Visa's and vaccines she needed and left. ( Not without fear and excitement of course ). Here is her blog. ENJOY !

[travelingilove-deactivated20181]

Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, ‘I would stay and love you, but I have to go.’

Lisa St Aubin de Terán (via bl-ossomed)

[alexgoeseast]

Coming home ( sort of )

After this 7 months trip around the world, I actually only spent a week at home before leaving again on another adventure. But what a week. It was, rainy and cold and I spent the last three days in my bed, sick, anxious about the coming week, feeling like I was dying ( It was probably only the flu ... ). It was a quite strange few days. I ran everywhere to see a lot of people again and had to get adapted really quickly to all the changes in my friend’s lives. Not that I ever expected everything to be the same. Some people did change a lot but some actually stayed the same, which I believe is a pity... Because for them this year was also a big change, I didn’t feel any sort of “experience gap” as I will call it. We all had interesting things to tell each other about our new lives, new discoveries on ourselves and on new ways to consider our lives. I spent my first night home talking with two of my oldest friends until 3 in the morning when I almost kicked them out to be able to rest. 

 The hard part was to get used to them not being as close as they were when I left. University separates people in a way I have never seen anything else do it, even travelling. One of my best friend told me once that she had seen me (who was on the other side of the world for seven month ) more than another really really good friend of ours in Switzerland. It’s hard to getting used to the fact that they have new friends groups, and that I am just somewhere in the middle of all those groups by myself. I have met hundreds of people while traveling but none of them can be part of a “homies” friend group, and that sucks. It is quite obvious but I hadn’t really realized it before. Anyway, only meeting people from Brussels while traveling would have been a real nightmare and it’s surreal to think travelers actually have enough time and money to come and visit you every week-end ( and, let’s be fair, that you will still want them to visit you every week-end. ) 

I escaped Brussels and this “back to reality under the rain” experience quite quick, fleeing off to England for an internship. This is still where I am now, a month an a half after this intense week in Brussels.  (I took me so long to take the time to write this, I’m sorry. And actually writing it late might help to have a more thoughtful approach on it.) So in a way, I’m not really back home. But I’m not travelling. It’s a different approach. I work 7 hours a day in an office 5 days a week in a small uninteresting town, I try to save money for uni and don’t really have the opportunity to meet people as easily as when I was travelling. It feels quite surreal to be here, living a quite normal life but stil not really being home. I don’t have this feeling of exoticism and new culture discovery even if England truly has a different culture than Belgium or France and I do not feel the same freedom and independence. England is a country that has a lot to offer but I’m still not getting used to European prices and I feel like overtime I go out the house I spend all my money on one coffee and two croissant... 

The Internship is a really good experience, the people I work with and for are fun and friendly. It’s not hard tasks but it’s a good way to have a view on what the company life is. I learned a lot, loads of little tips and way of seeing things, organizing things. I try to see this internship as one of the many types of life I have been able to experience this year and I am sure it’s going to help me a lot in the future. It looks like I’m complaining a lot here but actually I’m having a good time in the office, it’s just that it will never compare to hanging around in Bali or living in Tokyo. Plus they are taking me to Paris next week ( perks of speaking french, my dear ). 

I tried to go sightseeing every weekend ( almost did) I went to Bath and Windsor with my father and brother a weekend, to London for my Birthday with my mother for four days and went up to Manchester to visit a friend too but it will never feel like travel. It’s me being a simple tourist. 

I can’t wait to go back to to travels and backpacking adventures. I’m planning a trip to Riga in August with a friend but it’s only a 4 days city trip. Sadly, we’ll have to wait until after uni to get back to travelling... See you then ! 

[alexgoeseast]

Flying home.

After three wonderful week in Florida with friends, I’m finally flying back home. Tomorrow I’ll be home with my friends and family and all of this will be over. How did that happen ? I already wrote about my final view on the experience a week ago and so I won’t do it again. I’ll tell you about Florida. 

Florida wasn’t planned. I was supposed to go to Atlanta for the last there weeks but I’m really happy my plans changed. I got to see incredibly beautiful places and meet old family friends. I spent the two first weeks in Destin, northern Florida, on the gulf of Mexico. Crystal blue water and white sand. It wasn’t the most cultural place I visited but my host treated me like a real princess and I had a lot of time to integrate the whole trip and rest. I got to help them in their new beach house a little bit too. Destin is a crowded place but they had access to a private beach and their own pool so really I was in Paradise. Plus, even if they are way older, they are really fun people and they were there if I needed them for absolutely anything. 

Destin

I spent the last week of my seventh month travel in Cocoa, between Orlando and Cape Canaveral where the NASA Kennedy space center is located. I stayed with a wonderful friends family in their little cute house. They did everything they could to make me feel at home and I’m so grateful to them for taking such good care of me. We made trips to Cocoa beach, Port Canaveral, The NASA, Port Augustine and Daytona Beach when they were working and their 7 year old sons was in school. So really they have been adorable ! They had a lot of stories to tell and they were letting me talk about my experience all day without telling me to shut up when seriously they could, I talk way too much.  Going to Port Augustine and the Nasa also gave me a better image of the US. Before that I thought it was a bit too superficial for me and that there wasn’t enough old stones and museums for me. But the NASA almost made me cry and I felt like a pirate walking down the streets of Port Augustine. There’s hope ! 

Port Augustine

Flagler College - Port Augustine

Castillo San Marco - Port Augustine

NASA Kennedy space center

My friend asked me what was the biggest thing I “learned” about the US, well they like it BIG. Big cars, big roads, big burgers, ( big people ), big distances, big buildings, ... They like the show and themselves ( I’m not judging ) and America is already great. It’s so different from Europe yet it looks similar and there’s no exoticism. 

This is not my last post. I’ll write a big text when I get home to close this page of my life. 

[alexgoeseast]

One week left.

J-6.

Soon I’ll be back in Belgium. Back to my bed, my couch and my TV. A lot has happen. Not only in my personal travels but also in Brussels or my friend’s life. I don’t really know what to expect when I come home. I was gone for a long time but not for years so it will feel different but not so much at the same time. I only have one week at home anyway then I’m off to a new adventure in England. 

I am so grateful I have been able to do this trip, so grateful I have had the opportunity to see as much as I saw and to learn all those little things that definitely changed my life. I now know how to build houses in Mud, how to treat sunburn in a natural way, how to make sushis and Pad Thai, how to ride a motorbike and an automatic car, how to pack efficiently, how to bargain,.. 

I learn so much from my host but also from other travelers I met along the way. Some of them have had a huge impact on my life and travels. I changed my plans and got on spontaneous adventures because of them. Alone I wouldn’t have done a quarter of what I have done. Travelers also have great stories about where they have been that always makes you want to go there too. The great thing about that is that you probably knows someone or someone who knows someone out there. When you start traveling continuing it gets easier and easier and I probably will be back on the road as soon as I can. 

Last thing is I am actually really happy, and relieved, I had to do this trip on my own. Being alone just makes everything easier and you get to meet way more people.                                                                                                                   You get to choose where you want to go, when you want to leave and what you want to do without having to give reasons to it to anyone, you can follow your instinct and be free. If you make a bad decision you’re the only one to suffer from it, you don’t have to stress about how your travel mate feels and if it’s good enough, if you’re good enough.                                                                   Plus I learned how to be confortable with myself and being alone. Before I would never go out and do things alone, I would always try to convince a few friends to do it with me and dump the idea if nobody was interested. I finally learned how to start a conversation with a stranger, how to make friends ( I never really had to before since I’ve always lived in the same place and had the same friend for a long time ( the group just changed naturally), and I was so bad at being sociable when going on vacation. ( That actually allowed me to read a lot of books. )). I’m not scared of being alone anymore, I realized people didn’t care if you were doing something on your own and that it didn’t show that you didn’t have any friends. I have never really been afraid of what was out there in the world but I was afraid of what people would think of me all the time and travelling made me overcome that fear. 

I have been extremely lucky to be able to do this trip so young and without any real problems, but I am not more courageous, fearless, smart, crazier than anyone else. If you want to do it, do not let money or fear stop you, they are bad reasons and you know it. The hardest thing is to leave, to make this huge step out of your comfort zone but the rest is as simple as breathing.                   It has actually been way easier than I thought it would be... The world really is a village and in the end if you’re a little bit careful and not suicidal you’re never really in trouble.

The world is not as bad as it seems on TV, there’s always someone to help you when you get lost, or hurt, or broke, or fired if you open yourself to others.    Don’t lock yourself in your house, it’s the best way to get paranoid. Be critic, relativise, follow your heart, do not overthink it and you’ll be alright.                                    There are crazy people everywhere and believe it or not probably more in the western countries. I have never been more scared of people than in the US and I’ve never feel safer than in Asia. 

Fear only create more fear. Respect and trust are, I believe, the only way to create a better world. Why build walls when you can build bridges? 

The enemy is fear. We think it’s hate but, it is fear.                                    Gandhi

That’s it.

[alexgoeseast]

Cali Cali Cali

Leaving Asia wasn’t that hard. I was happy to leave the moskitos, the sweat, the cold showers, the dirt behind me. I loved Asia, I enjoyed every minute of it here but I couldn’t bear the mess anymore. I couldn’t handle people whistling at me in the street, or the “HELLO”, or the people trying to sell me stuff, or the constant fear of being ripped off. I learned more in Asia than anywhere else but god, coming back to luxury felt good ! I was so happy to see big shiny skyscraper in San Francisco and traffic lights and you can’t imagine the joy I felt when I took my first hot shower, in a real shower ! I felt like a princess !                    So much luxury I used to not even be aware of back home. 

I spent three days in San Francisco wandering around under the rain from one touristic spot to another ( Golden gate park, Haight Street, Union square, Japantown, Chinatown, ... ). I had the chance to stay with a wonderful couch surfer who introduced me to other couchsurfer. We shared a homemade pizza in her apartment and they took me to a real house party. The people were so nice and friendly ! Every one of them. They didn’t care that we didn’t know what was the celebration about ( a birthday ) or who the owner were. I had a great time and I will definitely go back to couchsurfing  on my next travels ( cause there is going to be a hundred more yes ). 

Alcatraz from pier 39.

Tram Museum

Pagoda in Japantown

Golden gate

Chinatown

Haight-Ashbury

After those few days in the city, I stayed with my aunt in Gilroy, a residential town in the bay area. Gilroy is not an exciting place, I have to admit it but I’m happy I saw something not touristic in the US ;) My aunt, Bev, has been the sweetest person ever. She is fantastic ! We drove all around the bay area, to Monterrey, Stanford, Berkeley, Capitola, Santa Cruz, San Jose and she made sure I would have the best experience possible there. She made me try every kind of cali food and shared every little habit of her life there.  I’m so grateful I got to spend so much time with her. Bev also helped me get a driving permit and taught me to drive ( even if I failed the test ... )  ! I will never say thank you enough. ( Bev, I know you will read this so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ). I hope I’ll get to see her soon ! I haven’t got much unbelievable adventure to tell you about but I did get lost in Gilroy for two hours ( I felt like I was in a  parallel universe where all the streets were the same street again and again and again ). I finally ended up in the community office and we called the police and they told us Bev had called them and I went back home. It was quite stressful even if it sounds ridiculous like that.        

Capitola

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

17 miles scenic drive - capital grove

( I love those hills )

Anderson Reservoir - Morgan Hill 

Berkeley

Stanford

( Door to nowhere )

Winchester Mystery house - Craziest house ever. Stairs to the ceiling and windows in the floor. 

I am now in Destin, Florida for two weeks after a loooong stressful night journey from San Francisco to Dallas to Atlanta to Destin. ( I only slept three hours ).     

I’ll write soon !                                                                                                         

[alexgoeseast]

Hong kong

I am now sitting in the train from San Jose to San Francisco to take an English test in the city tomorrow morning. This gives me some time to write, not about California yet, but about Hong Kong. 
Hong Kong was my last stop in Asia. I couldn’t have finished in a more interesting way. The city was so different from all I had already seen in Asia. Different from the super modern, effective and clean Japan and the chaotique yet beautiful Bali and Thailand. The 24 hours were definitely not enough and I will go back to explore more someday. Hong Kong is a vibrant city. It makes you want to move and I walked so much, so long that at the end of the day, at the airport, I couldn’t stand up anymore. There is so much movement, activity, action, however you want to call it ! But just like in Tokyo there was some incredibly quiet and lost areas ( maybe that’s because it was a misty day. I guess the mist also gived a whole different atmosphere to the city ). I found the architecture beautiful, the mix between the glass skyscraper and the concrete pastel appartement buildings on the hills was incredible. In the middle of all those straight lines you would find a lost Chinese temple or a church. Hong Kong is not a clean and polished city. It’s raw, it’s full of life 
and stories. It’s marked by its people, expats and native. I spent an hour watching the passer by in a Park and trying to guess who they could be and what they were thinking about. 
I loved Hong Kong because for once I saw real life in it, not a plastic touristic disneyland. I don’t believe anyone can stay indifferent to it. Ps : writing this on the Ipad so I will post photos later !

[alexgoeseast]

Gili Air

Gili air was the perfect tropical paradise, not more not less. White sand beaches, crystal blue water,all the fishes from Nemo, no car or bike but horses and bicycles, nice cafés, bars and bamboo bungalows. There’s no surf on the island but a lot of diving. The island is not as crowded as Gili T, the party island. I have to be honest 4 days on the island is enough. There’s not much to do... You can make a 1h30 walk round the island, snorkel, drink coconuts, read and sleep. Unless you’re taking diving classes.... That’s another world. 

[alexgoeseast]

Canggu

THE CANGGU GUIDE

Tuesday : Pretty poison / Taco & Tattoo Tuesday @ Deus.                               Wednesday : Beer pong @ Old Man’s.                                                                 Thursday : Pretty Poison.                                                                                     Friday : Live music @ Old Man’s.                                                                         Saturday : Pretty Poison ( agaaaaain ).                                                               Sunday : Live music @ Deus.

You finish the night at the beach bar. And Monday you sleep.

FOOD ?  Breakfast @ Crates, Bio and healthy @ Bali Budha or Beetlenut café. Burgers @ Matador. Ice cream @ The creamery But actually the Warungs are the best.

Sunset @ The Lawn and Old man is your base. The surf is better there but Echo beach is nice too.

You need a scooter or you won’t move or die trying to walk.

Yeah, so this is what everyone who has been hanging around in Canggu for a while can tell you. It’s the base. But Canggu is much more than that, than just spots where everybody goes. At least for me ! Canggu was not only about being a social bee and surfing. Not only this cliché of the “ surfer “ walking around with the board, acting cool, but never getting into the water. Or these gorgeous tall edgy looking girl perfecting their make up in the bathrooms. There is a real base of art and creativity behind it ! The people actually living there and not just passing by, expats and Indonesians ( no one was really born in Canggu anyway, they kind of all ended up there ). I feel really lucky to have been able to meet some of them and to hang out a little with them. Some of them I can call friends now, they will be there if I have a problems and I will be there too. We had a little family.  I had the illusion for a while that I was a part of this artsy ( fucked up) world but let’s face it I’m just passing by. I will come back though. I will settle down out there someday somehow.                                                       Things happen in Canggu, good and bad, and this is what made me feel alive. Even if i didn’t see all the temples and waterfall from the island. I felt the “ vibe” and I will never forget who I was there. I had a few accident, hurt my head, my legs, my shoulder. Lost my bank card. And still have a flight problems but oh i was alive and I think Happy.

I will be forever thankful to the yard crew for my time there. Thank’s guys ( if one of you read this one day. I hope not hahaha ).          

ps : internet is not good enough for photo’s again ...

[alexgoeseast]

Climbing up Mt. Batur.

Mt Batur.  (1 717m high.)

When Lilie, a girl working with at the hostel in Canggu, asked me if I wanted to go climb up the Volcano during this Valentine’s day night to see the sunrise up there in the morning, I didn’t expected the whole adventure you will read about now. 

She had decided that there was no point in paying a hostel closer to the volcano for only a few hours and that we could chill at her friends place in Ubud until 1 O’clock in the morning and then drive up the volcano to be there around 2 - 2:30. So that’s what we did. I survived drinking energy drink and eating chocolate. She had also decided, with the support of most of the people going to climb this active huge volcano ( we were 6 ), to not pay of one those super expensive guide that also give you food and drop you off at the base ( we didn’t really needed the fancy stuff ). We had heard about a guide mafia at the base that could stop us and ask for money pretending that it was not possible to climb without a guide but we decided that we had not enough money and that we would pretend being Russians not able to speak English and just keep walking if they annoyed us. We never had to do it. But maybe we should have taken this hike a bit more seriously. It was a beautiful non-cloudy starry perfect temperature night and we were really excited about this trip. 

After losing two of our friends on the super long straight road from Ubud to Kintamani ( the volcano city ) and finding them back we drove down really steep road down the hills around the volcano ( it’s in a sort of huge pit ) and parked them at what we thought was the beginning of the hiking path. It wasn’t or It might have been. Anyway we started walking in the middle of really dark volcanic rocks and at some point got really lost on those rocks because light was more important than the map. ( I mean we forgot our torches so we used our phones ... Stupid people that we were ). We finally found a path to the volcano after two hours of wandering around in the dark ( the stars were palatial  though ) . We followed the path through rice fields and farms and finally reached the base at 5:30 in the morning , 2,5 hours after the start of our trek. We climbed up the mount with the help of the little balinese guys selling drinks to tourist in 30 minutes just to get there before the sun. It was hard, really hard and I had the worse shoes ever to climb up rocks. When I arrived at the viewpoint, leaving some of the others behind, I almost cried of happiness and relief. The sunrise was amazing. No cloud and you could see the sea and Lombok ( another island ). I sat down and looked at the view on the lake down of the volcano for two hours. Three of us left to walk around the crater and took so long to come back we really thought they died or fell asleep. When they came back we were the only one still up there eating all the sandwiches that the “ restaurant “ could offer. We were so tired. Our legs and feet were sore and we still had to go all the way down and find our scooter without the map because my phone was dead. 

We came out of our laziness and started walking down. It was hot and slippery but we managed it without breaking any legs. But when we were down in this farm and richfield area we got lost again. Except this time the adrenaline was gone and we didn’t wanted to go back in to the black lava area. We end up in front of a local snack “shop” and stayed there for hours trying to tell them we were lost and needed someone to drive us to our scooter. What they finally did and two of us took the scooter back. At that point we were so tired we were laughing at everything and when the Ice cream men stopped in this really lost “village” only accessible through shitty bumpy rocky lava roads it all felt like a dream. We hopped on the scooter, said goodbye to our new friends and drove back to Ubud under the heavy rain. I stopped there, had a nice meal in a really trendy café with Ailie, a girl from our hiking group. It felt like heaven on earth. We took a uber back and fell asleep in the car. We were back in Canggu around eight and I went to bed direct. 36 hours of no sleep was hard. 

I’m still happy I went on this road trip and I will never forget this part of my journey. 

[alexgoeseast]

Bali is my paradise

[alexgoeseast]

Bangkok or Goodbye Thailand.

I’m spending my last hours here in Thailand in Bangkok, a city that repulse me. I know it’s a very interesting city, one of the most important city in Asia but there’s something about it that I find vulgar or rotten. The only neighborhood I actually enjoy walking in is Chinatown. I feel like it’s the only place that hasn’t been made ( or rather transformed ) for the western and Chinese tourists. ( Quite ironic for the Chinese though ). Maybe it’s just because I haven’t spend enough time in the city to understand it or to get lost in random authentic neighborhoods... There’s also the fact that I always feel like a “ walking big bag of money “. Being blonde and white doesn’t really help to blend into the landscape. I will always be the first one people will try to rip off and I have to bargain for hours to get normal prices. ( Plus, I’m so bad at it. I juste feel so uncomfortable and unsure. )

I did try to walk around a lot today but after five hours of walking around my head and feet were hurting so much and I felt so tired so here am I writing this a my hostel. The only thing I seem to have seen is tourist shops, Chinese tourists and western couples. I miss the authenticity of the country side a little bit. Here are some random pictures, the tourist I am took during the day. ( Bad quality - my camera was dead so I had to use my phone ... ) 

What Po

Chinatown

On the other side I am staying In Khao San Road, the backpacker hub of Bangkok - bars, hostel and street food - and I’m enjoying it. I like the movement, the activity, the insanity sometime. Everything is easy and close. My mind changes all the time about what I actually like ... Nonsense. 

Khao San Road

Hopefully, tomorrow I’m off to Bali. I’ll spend a month there and I do hope to see more of it than just tourist shops, bars and Australian drunk backpacker. ( Crossed fingers ! ). I’ll try to rent a scooter and get lost ( again ) alone in the fields and do long long walks on beaches. I’ll try to surf if the weather is not too bad. ( And learn how to ride a motorbike ). 

See you there ! 

[alexgoeseast]

Living in the forest

I spent most of January in the hills near a little town called Kaeng Khro in the northeast part of Thailand (Chayaiphum region). I helped the owner of a mud house project organise everything to host more volunteers and did sole gardening and mud house buildings. When I first arrived there, I was in schock. There was plates with food ( moslty rotten ) everywhere, mud, dirty clothes, bugs, ... Everything ( even lizzard )). So I decided to see it as a challenge and to clean everything. It took me a week but I did it ( with a little bit of help of a woman from the village one day ). I could have run away but I didn't and I'm actually happy I didn't ! Isara, the owner, saw my effort and gave me a lot back ! He basically let me rearrange everything my way and gave me a lot of freedom. He also took me to some waterfalls, rocks, to the Mekong and to Loei and Chang Kan ( a really cute old wood village on the river  near the Lao border ) with his son. His son was a divine cook and approximately my age. We got along pretty well even if he was a bit shy and in his world. 

Loei

Night Market in Chang Kan

Sunrise on the Mekong. 

Chang Kan

The Waterfall

Cold and rainy last days

Appart from that I also had the chance to see the life in a remote thai village. Kids on bycicle, rice and sugar cane farms, pigs and cows, local markets,basic "restaurants" in front of houses with only two dishes and "shops" with only food in plastic bags hanging from wood trunk. I spent a lot of my mornings playing with the kids at the local kindergarden and trying to teach them some English. I'm not a big fan of kids but they were quite cute. I felt like they were happy while we ( other volunteers arrived when I cam back from Lao ) were spending time with them and I hope the other volunteers after us will try to speak as much in English as we did. I am kind of afraid that the change of volunteers every week is going to damage their trust in people they love so I tried not to give them kisses and hugges. To play with them without being too close. So in conclusion my time in the mountain was a challenge ( I'm so tired of mosquitoes and red ants bites ) but it was really nice to have time to read and be bored.                                                                                                                   

Plus I really understand the Thai style of life now ( even if it's too calm for my "hyperactive" personality hahaha ). It's the heat that makes them lazy. It's not their fault.... The region, even if it's really dry out here, is beautiful. Hills and fields and trees in the horizon. I never saw more magical and colorful sunset. Even in the islands. 

Sunset in the hills

Good and bad but always interesting.

[alexgoeseast]

Vientiane

Last week I went to Lao, for another visa run, just for two days ! I only saw Vientiane the capital wich is a really strange city. Quite empty, small and calm for a capital ! I still had a nice walk along the Mekong and around the big communist buildings. Because yes, Lao is one the last communist countries in the world... Appart from the big shiny governement buildings you don't see it much. Same western brands and cars as in the west, same tuk tuk and habits as in Thailand ! I wish I could have had a talk with someone about communism but the english of the people was not good enoigh for political talks and they don't seem to be as open and interested in westerners as the Thai ( I actually needed some rest from constant attention so I really enjoyed being left alone for once ). There's not much to see in the city and in five hours I had been to most of the temples and to the big unfinished ark of triumph ( they actually apologise for it on a board near the ark like " sorry we didn't have enough money to finish it. It's ugly. Sorry ". Anyway i thought it was the only really unique and beautiful building out there ). I went to the National Museum and had a good laugh. The level is not really high. A 10 year old could do better for an "exposé" in school. Still interesting to see it to realise how poor the education must be... I stayed in a real backpacker hostel, a real typical one. Noise, beer, tag's and drawings and strange dorm stories. I liked it though, I was happy to see the "civilisation" again ( I will write about my time in the northeast part of Thailans soon and you will understand ). I had nice talks with beers or pizza ( I should be ashamed for buying those pizzas and not eating Laos food but I needed a break frol rice and noodles dishes ). So Lao was a nice break even if going back was hell. I will definitely come back some day to see more of it and laugh at the drunk backpackers in Vang Vieng and enjoy the calmness of the 4000 islands for a few days ! Ps : My wifi is not strong enough to post my photos but check on my facebooks ( some of them are nice 👍🏻). I'm going back to Bkk in a few days so I guess I'll write about the Chaiyaphum region when I arrive there ( maybe with some photo's this time ! ) See you !

[caitlinwilliams1-blog]

[alexgoeseast]

The island of lost people.

Or Penang. 

Penang is one of those places you end up in without a real reason and that you never really want to leave. Visa run, Malaysian tour or just because you heard of it. It’s a beautiful place, not really for the views or the nature ( even if there is a beautiful national park ) but for the culture mix, the food and the inspiring people you meet here. Travelers mostly. 

If I had to explain Penang from a touristic point a view it would be in only a few words : food capital of Asia ( weird food in trendy cafés and amazing street markets, weird museums ( upside down museum, 3D art museum, teddy bear museum, ... ),street art EVERYWHERE and finally Kek Lok Si. Kek Lok Si is one of the most impressive temples I’ve seen in my life and I was in Kyoto, man. Colors, buddhas and glitter. It’s huge and loud but you can really feel the Chinese way of seing the religion. 

But what really moved me in Penang is not the sightseeing, not the old colonial houses and the Penang hill. It’s the stories of all the travelers I met. All the reasons they are here, all their journeys, their adventures. Why they are running away from home ( we all are, I’m not going to lie ) and why they end up here. Their change of plans ( mostly yours Lurdz ;) ). We’re all teachers and students at the same time and sharing is the main word. We found ourselves so open to new ideas, strange plans and Adventure. Maybe it’s just in my Hostel ( Ropewalk guesthouse btw ), maybe it’s just because I was here at this precise time, the end of the year when everyone thinks back on their life and what they want to do next. I loved sharing crazy coffees and nice food with these guys. Kris, Lurdz, Katie, Lena, Curry, Naomi and Tasha. They all gave me a wider sight  and things to think about. Lanta was like a family, Penang is a school. School of life. 

I’m really happy I choose to come here, basically just because I heard about the Chinese temple and the street art from a German girl I met in my “home” in Japan ( cheers Valerie ( and Miia ) ). This is what I’m travelling for. I don’t want to collect photos of places, I want to collect experiences of people. Learn as much as possible about what it is to be a traveller and not just a backpacker.

Beaches are nice but cities are deeply moving. 

I have to go back to Thailand tomorrow. New years eve is my last night here and I know it’s going to be incredible. 

In conclusion I just want to ask you why you are still at home ? What do you actually get there ? What are you so afraid off ? Freedom exist and it’s fantastic. ( No you are not too poor, this is a ridiculous excuse and you know it ). 

Lurdz, one of the most inspiring person I met. Open and free. She is a beautiful bird and she has so much to give. Lost is good. 

Kek Lok Si from Penang Hill. 

Street art in Georgetown. 

[alexgoeseast]

That 14 hours minivan journey.

I am now in Penang, a fabulous malaysian island just south of Thailand. I’ve been wandering around here for 4 days now and it’s been really refreshing and interesting. But for now I just want to come back on how I got here : My first minivan journey in south east asia !

I left Lanta on the 26th at 8h30 in the morning. I got into a small van with 8 other people. I wasn’t really awake and I felt weird leaving a place that almost became home ( I had to though, I was becoming a ( tanned ) vegetable ). When I booked the journey they told me I Ould arrive in Penang around 8 in the evening but then I had this talk with Kris, a polish guy next to whom I was sitting in the van and he had been told that we would be arriving around 5. So who was right ?

After 4 hours ( and already 2 van change )completely stuck between tall dutch/swedish/german ( I actually don’t know ) we arrived in Hat Yai, a city south close to the border, where a lot of busses pass through. We had to wait there for an hour abd a half. It was hot, messy and crowded. I felt a bit lost but I followed Kris in the streets searching for money exchange shop. Then we had coffee and we hopped back in a new van. Hat yai is the perfect example of a southeast asian city but there’s actually nothing to see. We arrive at the border around 5 ( maybe Kris misunderstood ... ). It was my first real borderline crossing in a bus/van/car. You only realise the difference with Schengen when you have to wait in this looooong line to get your passport stamped under the heat... Loads of people and not that much organization ... We managed it and got back to the bus. Got stuck in traffic and made some weird detours but we finally arrived in Georgetown ( Penang's main city ) around 10... When you read it like this it sounds long and horrible but actually I had some waye more horrible 4 hours ride ! It really wasn't that bad. I didn't do much more than chatting with Kris or resting but time went fast and I'm no more afraid of having to do long bus rides ! Even the fact that the van was late on schedule and that we had to change minivan and that I hadn't eaten anything in hours didn't pissed me off ! We had A/C, we were lucky !

[alexgoeseast]

Life in Lanta

I’ve never seen a place as chilled down ( calm ) as Lanta. At least in Long beach. Beautiful sunset, milkshake, roti ( sort of pancake ), Pom’s Pad Thai and Funky Fish Hamburgers. There’s a lot of sand, but who cares ? It becomes a second skin. You come here to meet new people and enjoy sleeping on the beach. There’s a lot of weed and less beer but it gives a really unique atmosphere. ( Let’s reassure everyone, I do not smoke ) 

A basic day would be waking up at 9, going to eat breakfast on the beach, chilling on the beach or renting a motorbike to make a tour on the island to see the waterfalls, caves and elephants. Then you come back or stop sleeping a bit before 6, take a shower and go down to the beach for sunset. Then chill out at your hostel a little bit and go grab some of Pad Thai in front of the minimart when you’re starting to be hungry and have a chat with some random people. Maybe afterwards you’ll hop in a Tuk Tuk together and you’ll go out dancing/tripping in a bar on the beach. Plenty of choice : Fusion, Freedom, Rasta Baby, O-zone, Mushroom, ... 

Each day is the same and different at the same time. Same same but different. And Why not ? Enjoy the place while it’s still possible. There’s a lot of families arriving and the atmosphere is slowly changing. More people, less contact. 

My work at the “ hostel “ is easy : Painting, cleaning, doing the recepetion. Only 4 hours a day in a nice place. What can I ask for more ? :)

XO