Tommi + Sirpa + Aasia

Cherating, Malaysia.

Finally the day at least Tommi has been waiting for for years, the day of surfing. And this place is just perfect: good, safe waves and nice beach not over crowded.

Sirpa was the best, too. That is, not bad, for the first timer surfer.

Let’s see how long we’ll stay. At the moment we’re really happy to be right here.

2 weeks till the flight..

 

Aideille: Malesian itarannikolla, kivassa rantakylassa oleskellaan. Mukava bungalowi ja surffia. Tanaan kokeiltiin ekaa kertaa. Seuraavat paivat menee vedessa sita treenatessa. 2 viikon paasta jo lento, siihen asti nautitaan lampimista keleista.

Today we crossed a border to Malaysia. At the first sight looks really interesting and surprisigly different from Thailand. Tommi saw a lizard size of a big dog by the road.

On arrival over land from Cambodia we were only able to get two week visa. That two weeks went by very quickly. The Christmas time we spent in Bangkok, in a really interesting and pleasent guesthouse called suk11. During the last few months travelling like all the other travellers (by busses with A/C, from hotel to hotel, from a Lonely Planet -recommended place to another) we began to feel bored. So, we started to hitchhike again, which was good decision. Rides in the back of pick-ups were really refreshing and super fun. For the New Year we arrived to Koh Lanta, a beautiful paradise island in southern Thailand where we met a friend from Sirpa’s summer job in Mustasaari, Mervi, her dad and her Thai finace. Bungalow, white beaches, turqoise clean water, swimming, morning run at the beach, dozens of Swedes tourists, tasty food.. Perfect. Except for the rat which woke Sirpa up at night and bit Tommi’s shoelace.

Still about a month in SEA, before the flight. Trying to find nice beaches, islands, maybe a spot for surfing. It’s gonna pass quickly, for sure.

Aideille: Uusi Vuosi Koh Lantalla meni mukavasti. Paratiisisaari kaikilla herkuilla. Salmiakitkin saapuivat ja niista nautittiin kovasti, pitkasta aikaa saatiin sita herkkua. Tanaan (5.1.) saavuttiin Malesian puolelle, taalla sita sitten kierrellaan seuraavat, ja taman matkan viimeiset lampimat 4 viikkoa. Yli 30 asteen lampoonkin alkaa jo tottua.

Cambodia, Phnom Penh.

Hot. Hot. Swetty. Hot. Arrived today from Vietnam, Mui Ne. It’s a bit dirtier, poorer, kinder, hotter. Nice. Nothing special to say. Travel continues. Days go smoothly without doing anything special: well, what would be so special after more than 4 months travel. We sleep long, find something for breakfast, walk a bit at the city we’re staying, eating lunch, going to beach/swim/museums/, travel/find how to get to the next place, read, draw, dream, eat dinner, hang in the internet/cafe’s/bars, eat fruits, sleep again..

We made the decision to take a flight back to Europe after all. It’s now confirmed and the flight booked on 31st Jan from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to London. What happens after that is not ab sure but we’re hoping to spend another 2 months in Berlin before landing back home (perhaps in April).

 

Aideille: Kuumassa Kambodzassa ollaan. Saavuttiin tanaan. Hikoiluttaa kovin eika tarpeeks kevyita vaatteita tunnu rinkasta loytyvan, hiki vaan valuu. Kaikki kunnossa. Joulu menee varmaan taalla Kambodzassa, Uudeks Vuodeks Thaimaahan. Varattiin lennot Malesia-Lontoo 31.1. mut ei varmaan viela silloin tulla Helsinkiin, tai katsotaan nyt tuleeko Tommi kaymaan. Viela ois tarkoitus viettaa 2kk Berliinissa ja palata Hkiin huhtikuulla. Siihen on nyt viela aikaa ja suunnitelmat voi muuttua moneen kertaan;) Hikiset terveiset!

http://picasaweb.google.com/maajapallo/HalongBayCatBa?authkey=Gv1sRgCIyD8ryPp_-G5wE&feat=embedwebsite#

 

Thanks Rafael and Emppu…

Today rode a tandem again, and it’s finally warm enough for wearing shorts. Four months we were racing with the cold, and now we finally got ahead of it. Welcome to Vietnam. Facebook still not working (Luckily we now know a secret way to open the page but still no writing.) Vegetarian life is getting easier, it wasn’t too hard in China after all. It’s so nice to be able to eat out every day and specially the cheap streetfood has been perfect a few times. Here it’s also possible to eat some real "French bread". It was impossible to find some decent bread (which wouldn’t be pulla-alike sweet stuff) in China. In China we visited for some days a few nice European influenced cities and towns. In Quindao we celebrated Sirpa’s birthday by visiting Tsingtao beer brewery-museum. Gulang Yu was a perfect little island with idyllic atmosphere and beautiful architecture.

We met two young Finnish around-the-world-travelers in bus from Yangshuo to Nanning in China and had the pleasure to share the travel for about a week until here Cat Ba. It’s nice to share the experiences and feelings with some new people.

Time is passing somewhat quickly. We are still planning to stay here in SE-Asia about 2 months. The way back is still unsure. An option has arised to take a fly back to Europe, something we’d rather not do but Highlands of China and Kazakhstan are freezing in Jan/Feb and we realised we don’t have the money to stay here till the spring.. It’s pity. It’s against our principles to fly and it’s not an easy solution.

The journey continues towards Southern Vietnam, then to Cambodia and Thailand, perhaps Malaysia.

 

Aideille: Vietnamissa ollaan. Alkaa jo tareta. Teltta sai uudet omistajat ja lahti kahden suomalaisen matkaan kohti Uutta-Seelantia. Hyva, etta sille on varmasti siella kayttoa, meidan telttailut kun taalla Aasiassa on telttailtu. Kevenipa rinkat (Tommin rinkka) huomattavasti. Ollaan tandempyorailty, kiipeilty, ajettu motskarilla ja syoty ulkona tosi hyvaa kasvisruokaa paivittain, se kun on taalla niin halpaa (annokset yleensa vahan alle euron). Paluureittia tassa vahan mietitaan, etta josko lento Eurooppaan olisi kuitenkin vaihtoehto. Tammi-helmikuun vaihteessa paluu varmaan olisi.

Just by accident we found this fantastic lovely tiny cafe in Hiroshima and ended up in the blog: http://blog.osanpomasara.com/

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Cultural chock.

Night at a spa: saunas (different from 42-79 degrees) with clothes on, mineral baths and sleeping area.

Pipimbab: national dish of rice and vegetables of the season and hot chili sauce.

Kimchi: side dish on every meal, made of different vegetables and chili sauce. (Boy, they love their chili!)

Plates, cups and chop sticks made of metal.

Extraordinary beautifully decorated buddhist temples.

Weekend on a temple stay: wake up at 3am, 3:15am morning chanting, 108 bowings, vegan food, 1,5h walk guided by temple dog.

Olaffur Eliasson’s great installation exhibition in Seoul.

Halloween party with young fashion people of Pusan.

Gamsa-hamni-da (=thank you).

 

Today arrived by ferry to China, Yantai. It"s f**n freezing cold, gray and windy, Facebook doesn’t work here (apparently in the whole country: what am I supposed to do in the internet now??!), it’s snowing hard in Beijin where we are heading tomorrow, we are already wearing all our clothes. But it’s cheap and nice after sunset when almost all buildings and streets are covered with colourful lights and you can’t see the dirt.

 

 

Aideille: Saavuttiin tanaan Kiinaan, Yantaihin. Huomenna lahdetaan pohjoiseen, kohti Pekingia, jossa on kuulumma ollut lahipaivina lumimyrakoita. Kylma taalla on, ja Koreakin mentiin puolessatoista viikossa lapi kun viileys yllatti. Pekingista lahdetaan akkia kohti etelaa ja lampimampia seutuja. Pekingista pitaa kayda hakemassa Vietnamin viisumit, joka on sitten seuraava maa Kiinan jalkeen. Ollaan viela sailytty terveina, vaikka Koreassakin oli sikainfluenssa levinnyt. Koreassa oli kauniita temppeleita ja vuoria ja hieno ruska. Se oli kylla yllattavasti lahempana Kiinalaista kuin japanilaista kulttuuria. Syovatkin paljon mausteisempaa ruokaa. Terveisia vaan!

Huh, it’s so hard to find the right place and the right mood to write this blog sometimes.

Six weeks and half of the country has passed by. We’re writing this now from Toyama, westcoast by the Japanese Alps. Mostly we’ve been camping almost every day, but now the nights are getting pretty cold specially in the mountaineous areas. We’re spending our time hitchhiking from town to town, finding something to eat and a place to put our tent to. Sometimes it’s easier sometimes harder. We’ve had some really grazy lifts recently. A young Jehowan witness guy forced to take money from him to eat something.. And a family went on a trip with us to take us to our destibnation city at least two hours away from their home. On the way they took us to the top of the Nagano olympic skijumping slopes and took us to a good sushi restaurant to eat a dinner with them, not letting us pay of course. The people here are so amazing. Sandwichbar owners, super cool Harley-Davidson Bikers, rich people, poor people, teachers, housewives, businessmen and scientists to name afew.

Tokyo was so cool, it’s hard to say anything about it. We had some super super time there and some mind blowing food too, huh. The city just has it all.

Now we are waiting for the wedding of Sirpas friend Takako and her canadian future-husband Joe, taking place in Osaka on 24th of this month. Sirpa is going to be the wedding photographer and we still need to find something to wear.

After the wedding we’ll head pretty straight towards Korea and some other adventures.

 

Aideille: Japanissa viela ollaan ja telttaillaan, vaikka alkaakin jo olla viileat yot. 24.10. Osakassa on Sirpan Israelin aikaisen ystavan Takakon haat, joissa Sirpa valokuvaajana. Sen jalkeen suunnataan kohti Koreaa. Syksy on kaunis ja valilla on tosi kivoja lampimia syyspaivia. Ruskaakin jo puissa.

8:00 breakfast (mysli, tea)

9:00- working (weeding, building a solar greenhouse, harvesting, planting..)

11:00 morning snack (banana / rice cookies, tea)

13:00-14:30 lunch (salad, bread, tea)

16:30 afternoon snack (cookies, tea)

18:00- free time (reading, jogging, shower)

20:00 dinner (miso soup, vegetables, tofu, brown rice, tea)

 

At the Osho farm eating is meditation, we eat slow, chew well, take our time, in silence, concentrating on how the food tastes, looks, smells, feels like.

The farm itself is not very big, but Joan is growing there more than 50 different vegetables, all organic.

We`re writing this message from an internet cafe in Sapporo. Free soft drinks, coffees, tees, soft ice, miso soup, rice, massage chairs, blankets, slippers, hundreds of book shelve meters of Manga and other comics, open 24/7, place even for sleeping.

The way here didn`t happen exactly how we imagined. Getting ferry tickets to Sakhalin at Vanino railwaystation was a show. People pushing not willing to queue and taking every chance to be the ones getting the tickets. Luckily we had read about it and knew what to do. The cruise normally takes about 20 hours. But there was a storm somewhere near and we had to wait in this bay for more than 30 hours. The whole time all the men were drinking beer and the boat was going up and down. Wonder what it would have been like in the storm.. So after two days we arrived to Kholmsk in Sakhalin. It was not certain that we are allowed to get to Sakhalin without a special visa or something but luckily everythink went just fine.

Sakhalin has a feeling of Canary Islands. But Without the turists and certainly Russian style. Islands history with both Russians and Japanese makes it unique combination of both cultures.

You should be careful what you wish. Tommi wished for some more time in Sakhalin and got it. Misinformation + Bad luck + people not doing their jobs well (so Russian) = us standing in the customs while the ferry leaves to Japan + two extra days in Sakhalin + tens of phone calls around the island, Moscow and Finland + tens of people making their best to make it a big trouble + about 300 euros of expences which insurance company won`t recover.

After all this drama we were so fed up with the country that it was a gigantic pleasure just to step on to the Japanese ferry where ferry crew were bowing to each passenger, with pollite greetings. The boat was very different from eouropean ones. Separate seats/cabins were replaced with shared tatamis. Wakkanai was the harmony we expected from Japan. Clean, slow, cute, compact, and in order. After a night in Wakkanai we started our hitchhike journey towards the south. Spent a night in an Auto-camp-Jo at the sea with Japanese families, bikers and motorists. By the way hitchhiking and camping make Japan very affordable even for low budget. HH is really easy in Japan. Japanese are extremely willing of helping and when you find a good spot you propably won`t have to wait for more than 10-20min for a ride! Feeling as being your host they will buy you soft drinks or ice-cream, take you longer than they`d have to, and if you try to pay they refuse with a Japanese cute modest laugh. One lady even jumped off her car after dropping us off and run stopping cars to get us the next ride..!

We got a host for WWOOFing (volunteering on organic farms) in Hakodate which is in the south Hokkaido. We`ll start there on 10th September and stay there for 2 weeks. Looking forward!

 

Aideille:

Pienten hankaluuksien jalkeen ollaan vihdoin ihanassa Japanissa. Ruoka on hyvaa, meri kaunis, ihmiset on aivan mielettoman kiltteja ja auttavaisia, kielitaidottomanakin taalla parjaa. 10.9. aloitetaan 2vkon luomufarmi seikkailu. Luvassa ainakin aurinkosahkokasvihuoneen rakennusta, peltotoissa auttelua, ja jotain sellaista. Sitten sen nakee.