Happy Hour

First of all: Nadine still wins every time at puzzles and I haven't married yet - sad story. But aside from my defeats, I had a really great time in Vietnam. The Phong Nha National Park - incidentally the largest in Vietnam - once again impressed me with a breathtaking landscape. When we spent a day exploring the area alone on the scooter, we felt like we were in an Avatar film. An adventure tour through one of the largest caves in Vietnam, the Ruc Mon Cave, provided a lot of adrenaline again. On tours like this we are always confused about what exactly is happening or what we can expect. But hey, you can also walk in sandals through a river full of leeches, climb a mountain without safety, or let the current flow in the river and hope you don't get caught on the big rocks. We all definitely survived and had a lot of fun that day.

After so much nature and adventure, we took the night bus back into the city to Hoi An. And now guess who's lost in total bush chaos again? Exactly, us! Well, at least a bus picked us up and we spent the night on the floor in the narrow hallway. The good thing is that I was so trapped there that I couldn't roll left or right.

I really liked Hoi An itself, but unfortunately the heavy rains on the previous days had caused major flooding. So our hands were a little tied there and our days were a little quieter. But during a cooking class we were finally able to recreate our favorite dishes and take the recipes home with us. So the next cooking evening in Berlin is secured. And honestly? As if flooding like that would stop us. Simply put on flip flops and walk through the knee-high water to the next bar - easy.

To round off the trip from North to South Vietnam, we flew south again to Ho Chi Minh. Everything seems to be a bit more western there and we were able to end the last few days pleasantly. From there we were also able to take a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta. We were told a lot about the country and we had completely different insights. Vietnam looks back on a sometimes really dark history.

Our time here should end with the detour to the south. I look back on 3 great weeks and I am more than positively surprised by the country. The nature, the people, the food and the different activities really picked me up and I would come back at any time.

In fact, I also notice that all the traveling and the restless life in the last few months is making me a little tired. That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy it anymore - on the contrary, I actually feel like I've really arrived now. I think I could travel the world forever. But I no longer have to hear the life story of every backpacker or always be in the middle of hostel life. I can also just be alone with Nadine, watch a series or read a book. I would say that overall we travel a little more calmly and make fewer superficial acquaintances, but rather have deeper and longer conversations with people. We don't really care anymore if we don't see everything, we just sleep in and live into the day. Our alarm clock still goes off often enough early in the morning or sometimes in the middle of the night because we have some adventure in mind.

Anyway, we're currently on the bus to Cambodia. And as is always the case, the communication and transparency left a little to be desired and we had no idea what was going on at the border crossing. The bus driver simply took our passports and 40 dollars from us, sent us to lunch and at some point we got our passports back - with a stamp and visa. A few months ago I would have flipped the bus driver if he had just taken my passport, but now I just trust that everything is going as it should. So far everything has always worked out, even if there is a lot of uncertainty, chaos and confusion at times.

But the sweet mice here apparently got us across the border safely and in a few hours we should reach our first destination in Cambodia. Cambodia is actually more of a transit country for us to get to Thailand, but I'm still very excited to see what awaits me here in the week. More about that in the next entry.