Nepal : same same but different than India..

-From May 30th to June 2nd, 2012- 

I had no clue what Kathmandu would be like but I wouldn’t guess that it would be that much alike with India. The airport, the crazy traffic with scooters, tuktuks, cars, the dusty roads, all reminded me of a mid-size city of India.

On the way to Nepal in Delhi & Our First Evening in Kathmandu 

It was an intense and a bit shocking experience in the beginning for the guys, but they could get used to it in the second day already. Onur managed to book a very good hostel right in the centre of Kathmandu, the touristical area called Thamel and thanks to my high school friend, Ozge who is working there in an GSM operator company for a year now, we could enjoy Kathmandu and the other ancient cities around.

 Bhaktapur Durbar (main) Square & Bhaktapur Pottery Square 

With the car & the driver she provided, we went to Bhakdapur (one of the 3 capitals of old Nepal along with Kathmandu and Patan) we visited Nagarkot to watch the scenery however the rain and the fog avoided that unfortunately. We were in the Monkey temple, Boudhanath Stupa temple, Pashupathinath temple where the Hindus were being cremated and the ashes were spread over the Bagmati river. This was truly a very impressive moment to watch the ceremony and the cremation.

Enjoying the Nepal sceneries from Nagarkot & Monkey Temple (Swayambhunath) in Kathmandu

Apart from that, we were happy to hang out at the roof top cafes or bars of Thamel. Drinking local beer Gorkha, enjoying fruit shakes, smoking nargile, the roof tops were a cool spot to conclude the guys’ holidays.

I really didn’t want this adventure to finish, didn’t want them to leave, especially after what I heard about my grandmom in our last day. But very unwillingly, I had to say bye to my 2 favorite road trip allies in Kathmandu on June 2^nd, Saturday night. 

Perasa Perasa, how can I thank you?

Himmm.. Let me think. She hosted me on & off from April 9th to May 30th,

I truly think Bangkok is my third home thanks to this girl. I had been to North Thailand, Islands of Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Laos and I could always come back to Bangkok knowing that I have a home there. She provided me a room even with a private bathroom and hosted me in the best way possible. I will never forget her hospitality and I will hope to see her again in Brussels, in Istanbul or at another corner of the world...

Hope to see you soon P.! 

Bangkok - Phuket - Phi Phi Triangle

-From May 21st to May 30th, 2012- 


Due to the expensive accommodation in Hong Kong, we shortened that part of the trip and decided to stay in Thailand longer. 

Hey Bangkoook, Nice to see you again! 

So on May 21^st, one day before my holiday we flew to Bangkok and stayed again in the centre, “the backpackers area” Khao San Road. The night before my birthday, we were wasted in the Khao San street concluding our day at Burger King and foot massage afterwards.

Dinner at my usual place : Villa Cha Cha & Concluding the night with foot massage! 

30^th Birthday Celebration on the Roof of Bangkok : Sky Bar, Sirocco!

Hello 30! ;) 

Those who watched Hangover 2, can remember this place :

That is where I celebrated my Birthday thanks to Onur and Hendrik.  I wasn’t expecting any kind of celebration or ceremony but I received a small cake with my name on it with people singing Happy Birthday along. I was kind of shy but I was really happy to be on top of Bangkok on my special day.

Perasa, my Thai friend, also visited us on my birthday 

The next day we moved to Phuket but it was a big big disappointment. 

After my birthday, along with the heavy rain we got on the way to Phuket by bus. The 12 hour road trip was tiring mainly for the guys and we reached Phuket very early in the morning greeted by rain. Not sure where we would be going, I heard positive things about Kata beach so we stayed there in the first night.  The sea was crazy with huge waves, we could only swim for ½ hour and it started raining again.

The best part of Phuket was the food and the drinks by street Auto Bars 

The second day we wanted to move to a more lively area the famous Patong beach, it was even a bigger disappointment for me at least. I assume the guys could enjoy a bit as they went out at night, however I was too tired and I didn’t feel like going out at all. So I can only describe Phuket as a big disappointment.

Finally in good old Phi Phi but the guys didn't have much to do but sleep as it was raining constantly 

I was happy to bring the guys to my favorite island, Phi Phi again. This would be my third time but I didn’t hesitate even a bit because I only had good time in this island. The guys agreed with me also, first day we could enjoy the beach and the large waves again in the Long Beach. I wanted to take them to the Sunset viewpoint or to the Snorkelling tour but the weather was not on our side. Right before both activities, it started raining like hell. We had nothing to do but to drink Singhas and eat spring rolls in these times.

Paddy's Resto & Drinks before Slinky

With these 2 guys, I could actually discover the “Nightlife” of Phi Phi. For the first, we walked to the other coast of the island, which was only 10 mins away from the main coast and there we found ourselves in the most lively beach nightclub you could ever imagine.

Slinky, full of young backpackers, was one of the most crowded places I had seen on that island. In fact I was wondering where these guys were staying during the day. With the nice beaches, small town centre and the night life, Phi Phi experience was again very good however it would be much much better if my 2 guys could enjoy it more without the rain.

Bye Bye Phi Phi, i will certainly miss you!! 

Our last one day in Thailand was in Bangkok as usual full of shopping and bargaining in Khao San Road. I bought so much stuff –mainly for myself- that I had to buy another luggage and asked Hendrik to bring it back to Belgium. With the tshirts, the shawls and other small gifts that we bought, we were ready to say bye to Thailand and head to Kathmandu..

Farewell Dinner & Drinks to Bangkok in Sukhumvit

Loving this city more & more each time : Hong Kong

- from May 17th to May 21st, 2012- 

I had seen many  cities so far and Hong Kong still remains as one of the best for me. Crowded, dense, noisy, a bit artificial though but i still like Hong Kong more and more every time I visit it. It was my third time now and thanks to the company as well, I enjoyed it even more this time.

 Famous IFC (International Finance Center) of HK & Us on the Looong Escalator 

We had some issues with the accommodation so we had to stay less than planned but still Bahariko saved our lives. In their 30 sth sq meters home, we could squeeze in their living room with one couch and a small mattress. But still all of us loved the city so much especially with the night life, Onur was seriously planning to move to Hong Kong.

Our raki night, walking tour in Lan Kwai Fong and junk boat trip helped him a lot to give this decision I guess :)

Raki Night in Singapore with supplies from Schaarbeek, Brussels 

Macau : Europe in Asia 

It was also a first for me, I visited Macau first time with HJ and Onurcan. Before I thought that, the city was famous for only gambling but I was wrong, completely wrong. Being a colony of Portugal until 1999, the small city was a resemblance of a Mediterrean town apart from the Asian people walking in the streets and Asian signs everywhere.

Are we really in Asia?  :-) 

After one hour ferry ride from Hong Kong, together with the rain, we walked in Macau streets, guys getting quite wet and we found the salvation in a Macau casino (actually I won around 16 Euros with an investment of 20 Euros) . Casino was really surprising for us, apart from us, we didn’t see any single Western person gambling. The casino was full of Asians, and afterwards as we learnt from Bahar & Nico that they were most probably Chinese and there was a special quota for them that they could only visit Macau once in 3 months or 4 months.

Entrance of the Casino & My earnings of the day 

It was by far the most memorable place I had been in Asia. We felt like we were in  a European city however we were wandering around China streets reminded by the Chinese labels and Asian people everywhere.


Let's get some tan! 


Hendrik and Onur came to relax and benefit from the sun in Asia however the monsoon season was about to start almost everywhere we had been. One good exception was the junk boat trip day in Hong Kong. Thanks to the organization of Bahar and Nico with mainly Turkish friends, Hendrikcim and Onurcan could enjoy the sea and the sunshine on our last day in Hong Kong.

Bye Hong Kong! & Hi again Hong Kong! 

The evenings were OK as well apart from the last evening when we were planning to do the star ferry but had to cancel in the last minute due to the heavy rain but I guess the Peak was attractive for the enough for the guys. 

Peak of Hong Kong, just like from a science fiction movie 

♫ Road Trippin' with my 2 favorite allies ♫

I was literally counting these days, to see my dearest flatmates Onur and my dearest Hendrikcim. They came all the way from Brussels to be there with me on my 30^th birthday.

Ok I have to admit , I was a bit upset at them in the beginning as I was planning to celebrate my 30^th birthday in Tibet but as they were late with visa applications etc., we decided to do the Hong Kong, Bangkok and Kathmandu triangle. And here we were, meeting up in Hong Kong May 17^th. Let the adventure begin! 

Here they are, my favorite 2 guys!

Exploring Phi Phi once again with Bahariko

-from May 11th to May 16th, 2012- 

Bahar is my high school friend. We occasionally meet here and there, Amsterdam, Paris, Prague and as she is now living in Hong Kong, we wanted to make a reunion also in Asia.

In the beginning we planned to visit Vietnam together however we had to change the timing as I had other friends visiting and she had a busy schedule at work. And as the Vietnam Consulate didn’t extend my visa, we had to give up on our Vietnam plan eventually so she decided to  join me for a relaxing holiday in the islands of Thailand.

Koh Phi Phi - stunning as usual ! 

Right after she arrived to Bangkok, we took the plane to Phuket. Luckily enough, I met with the second Turkish of this trip. (First one was at the Thailand – Cambodia border with Pinar). Cagri, working in a tourism agency in Phuket, gave his card and told us that he could help us with anything we could potentially need.

Bahariko with the longtail boats & exploring Phi Phi waters 

After one night stopover in Phuket, we immediately decided to go to Phi Phi as I had a really good experience there before. We both loved Phi Phi again. It was her first time, we stayed in Long Beach, despite the miserable nights with cockroaches in the very same hotel we loved it every bit. I did the snorkeling tour once more with her, this time a different route but it was as amazing as the first one. The colour of the sea, the long tail boats around us, the various types of fish, I hardly imagine that I could see such scenes again in my life.

Me taking control over our funniest captain & Around Koh Phi Phi Ley

One unforgettable moment was watching the sunset at the viewpoint of Phi Phi Hills. Our first intention was to do the 45 mins walk to reach the top, however after walking for 10 mins, we saw a taxi car and chose the easy way to hop on one for 250 baht (6 euros) return trip. It was totally worth it and it was good that we took the taxi rather than the walk, otherwise we could have been quite late for the sunset “show”. Along with out Singha’s, it was the best the sunset I had ever seen in my life.

Sunset at Phi Phi

We had our last 2 days in Bangkok, first night Bahar alone with her hubby, Nicolas celebrating their engagement anniversary, second night 3 of us with Perasa having dinner at a tapas place. On May 17^th, I was excited to go to Hong Kong to see my dearest Hendrikcim and Onurcan.

Us enjoying our last Singha's in Phi Phi 

Yuppieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! ;-)))))