Around The World Gaby and Gu 2006-2007

This is a special edition of our adventures dedicated to our friends in Hong Kong, Marco and Wini. Thank you guys so much for helping us find a hotel, for showing us the best of HK but above all for having made our stay with you in HK an unforgettable experience !! We hope to see you soon in Switzerland !!!

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When we first walked out of the hotel in the morning after our night arrival in the city we had the feeling to have stepped back in time...everything in Yangon looks like 50 years ago except the second hand japanese cars who almost make you feel back in the 80s :O). That's what we liked the most about this city together with the extraordinary Schwedagon Pagoda !!! That's it for Myanmar...a country that will remain in our mind and in our hearts for a long long time...

The Golden Rock represents two things for us : the weirdest thing we've seen so far and a fascinating one at the same time! In one word : Excellent !!! Imagine a golden stupa hung on a rock that, according to the legend, was placed there by some divinities after a hermit was given 8 hairs of the Buddha (by the Buddha himself...of course :O)...or something like that as far as we remember what our guide told us :O). Definitely The Golden Rock...rocks !!! (sorry for that one ;O)

Inle Lake, aaaah Inle Lake... !! A very nice spot with its famous leg rowers and a scenery that's very unique. However, even if we liked the place a lot, it wasn't much of a surprising place since we had previously visited lakes and rivers within Cambodia and Vietnam so everything looked a bit familiar to us.

After one freezing night spent at the monastery, we headed to the top of Mt Yasakyi to contemplate its golden stupa (and a magnificient view of the surroundings !) at an altitude of 2300 meters before starting our descent back to Pindaya for a well deserved rest and a warm and welcoming bed !!! Wow, we had so much fun !!

This is it !! The absolute highlight of our trip. An unforgettable trek across Myanmar's Shan State most beautiful landscapes with an excellent guide and the sweetest local people we have met so far during our trip. Part 2 to follow...stay tuned ;O) !!

Imagine a cave full of thousands of Buddhas placed there over the centuries...it's quite a spectacle. Oh and by the way, the legend of the cave says that 7 princesses were imprisoned there by a giant spider. They were eventually saved by a prince who married the youngest of the princesses afterwards...so look at the "princess" above, she looks quite scared and she's missing her prince...I think he ran away because he's quite afraid of spiders too ! ;O)

We didn't quite know what to expect when arriving to Heho Airport. .but soon we found ourselves being in what was going to be the highlight of our trip...Pindaya and it's surroundings !! Just the most beautiful place we have seen so far...and one thing's for sure it will be difficult to outrank it ;O). But check our blog later because the best is still to come...

Speaking of Monasteries, we had the chance to visit one of the two biggest ones of Myanmar. This one in Amarapura counts around 1000 monks !! Also we saw a beautiful 2000 year old Buddha and if you care for a reading, we visited the biggest book of the world with 729 pages...each of them written on a marble stone...good luck ! ;O)

A short break from the temples to visit a monastery and the home of the Nats...go google this word and you'll find out what they are and their importance in Myanmar's traditional beliefs ;O)

If Angkor Wat was already impressive, its contemporary counterpart in Myanmar doesn't have much to envy. We feel privileged to be able to visit such a magic place 900 years after its creation. Considering Bagan's 3000 temples, we just got started so we have plenty of Pagodas to come back for !!!

If we were asked what we liked the most in Vietnam, we would undoubtefully answer SA PA !! Halong Bay was impressive but Sa Pa's just got that little something that made it our favourite place in Vietnam. Walking around the terraces of rice, stopping at Baguette and Chocolat to drink (and eat) a homemade hot chocolate to prevent us from freezing and the nice (and much less aggressive...) people and tribes of the Sa Pa area made of it a charming experience !!

Paddle to the left, paddle to the right...we are on a bad stream here...whoooooooooo... . Don't worry, we made it. Kayaking through the tough currents of Halong Bay ;O) was just a piece of cake !! (aouch, my arms hurt !!!!). Aren't the sights just amazing ?! (We think we really like this word, don't we? ;O) Next stop Sa Pa !!

We came back many times (3 to be exact) to Hanoi and everytime we had the great chance to meet new interesting people from all over the world. And actually we think we took them all to the Au Lac Cafe :O) (sorry guys, but we liked their Capuccino sooooooooooo much :O). Take care and see you soon !

We took a great motorbike tour with a vietnamese veteran of the war and I must say we got quite a lesson of history. To be honest, we didn't know much about the reasons of the war, so it was quite interesting for us to learn all those things from a guy that experienced them from inside. Thank you Mr Dien for the great tour !

In Hue, we discovered the true meaning of the word "RAIN" :o) It really poured cats and dogs...something we hadn't experience since a long long time. Other than that...the sightseeing of the Imperial Citadel and the Royal Tumbs was just impressive !! By the way, we found the fishes very hungry out there... ;O)

We liked Hoi-An very much. A cute little city with lots of french architecture...sometimes we felt like we were in southern France spending a summer holiday (even if the weather wasn't that great). Our South African friends made Hoi-An even more special to us. Keep pedaling safely guys !! ;O) Oh and by the way : HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE !!! May 2007 be a great year to all of you !