Hello,

shortest entry ever:

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I went to Hoi an, spent more than a week there. It was rainy. I got sick. I took one picture.
Hoi an is beautiful.

After Hoi an, i flew straight to Ho Chin Minh. A city with 9 million people, way more modern than the rest of Vietnam. But the only thing really worth mentioning is the nightlife. In the Backpackerstreet u can find non stop party. Reminded me of Thailand:

Anyway. Like the Center of Vietnam it was just rainy here as well.
So most of the time i spent with Sylwia and Dominyka, who i met in Cat Ba Island.
But the rest of the time i was sick in bed.
Most annoying part: i could not do any sports for one and a half week! I feel like a 130kg heavy and 76 year old grandpa who hasnt moved in decades.
If you notice any moodiness in my entry, then you are right. I am not entirely happy right now.

So to escape the rainy weather, i flew directly to Thailand. To Koh Samui. But neither here can i find sunny weather. Rainy. But its getting better.
I am healthy, already did some sports… even though it was in slow motion. I am getting better.

So. Hopefully my next entry does not infect you with depression. I mean, i am travelling, how can i be in a bad mood at all? Thats a paradox. But, yeah. Its not always rainbow vibes here.

See ya!

Hoi,
after enjoying the busy city Hanoi we decided to go on an Island near Ha Long Bay. Cat Ba Island is the name of this small, cute Island at the coast of northern Vietnam.

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After Hanoi it seemed right to take things a little bit easy on a quiet island. Cat Ba Island is easily reachable by boat and can be explored by a motorbike. It took me 30 minutes to cross the whole island.
Our hostel was not perfect so we had to struggle with a lot of tiredness the first days. The room was sort of humid and the beds really uncomfortable.

So after Flo decided to spend some more hours in the bed, i rented a motorbike and explored the island. Unlike him, I did not bond with my bed that much.

There are a few caves and a few "somethings" to discover. I really liked the bay in the north. The caves were not really interesting. They would have been. But if you present a historical military cave without any information, it is like enjoying the view on a mountain with your eyes closed.

The other nice activity was the 1 hour hike to the peak of the island. The view up there is great:

For the next day me and Flo decided to go on one of those popular boat trips, including kayaking, swimming, monkey island.
This trip was great and we met a lot of super nice people there.
The hike to the top of the monkey island was genuinely dangerous, but totally worth it. With instructions from our guides it is definitely doable. For humans. My sunglasses did not make it. They were so young, only 3 days old. We just started to look good together.
Anyway, on the top you have an amazing view of the surrounding islands and the beaches:

After the trip we enjoyed the nightlife on Cat Ba Island, which surprisingly exists :). There are a few clubs that provide nice dancing vibes.

Flo and I separated after Cat Ba Island. He travelled north, while i was taking a 21 hours (it was supposed to take 14 hours) to Hoi An, where i am currently at.
The sleeping bus is its own experience. Squeezed together with strangers in way to small beds is not really fun. But i slept somehow against all odds:

So from now on its solo travelling time again.

--------------------------Philosophizing with Marco -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many conversations during my journey triggered a lot of thoughts and thought experiments in my mind. One happened on Cat Ba Island, where i talked about what impressions people have when they meet me and what perception i have of myself.
That is a really interesting topic and you can only find out, when you actually talk about it with someone or especially with strangers. To be fair, it might not be very comfortable, at the beginning, but only then can you experience and learn who you really are. I know that i have been told to come across very serious and arrogant. People think of me as kind of a player and as a guy who wants to come across very tough. Which is totally not me :). And thats the fun part, when people realize what kind of person you really are and how their perception was deceived.
It is getting exhausting, when you understand that people do not approach you first, it has always been my turn to make the initial approach. Sometimes i really do not care and stand there by myself and let my serious appearance talk. I do not even know how to control that, it is just my face :D.
Anyway, some people do have this likeable super friendly charisma that makes it easier to approach.
I feel like it is very crucial for us to find out what people think about us and how that matches with our perception. Of course, nobody should care about others opinion, but as long as you see it as a little get-to-know-me game it can be really fun. And some opinions are really helpful. As long as it is not cynical, condescending or even insulting, everyone should give outsiders impression a try :).

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See ya.

Hello everyone,
i know Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam is not close to the sea, but the country is. So the title makes sense. And we were already able to smell the sea… food.

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It is October, the 27th, or something. I arrived in Hanoi by plane. Instead of taking a 24 hours bus ride, i spoiled myself with an hour flight from Vientiane in Laos to Hanoi in 1 hour. I was supposed to meet my friend Flo, who i havent seen for 6 months. He is actually the only one, that i have seen during my trip. Back in Colombia we travelled together for 10 days.
So Flo arrived on the 29th, which had given me 2 days for myself, just relaxing.
Hanoi is a lovely city and super busy. The moment you arrive there and walk to your accommodation you get an idea, how mad the whole traffic on the streets is. The sidewalks are blocked by motorcycles or whatever needs some space on the outside. So you basically walk through the city, trying not to die.

Flo and me spent the days in Hanoi... actually just celebrating our reunion. The vibe in Hanoi is great, you walk around the touristy center and there is one bar or restaurant after another. I really liked it. So we had a few drinks, spent some nights in the clubs and joined a pub crawl on Halloween.

On the hangover days we explored the city. There are some spots to go like the Mausoleum and the museums park around it.

One nice spot to go is the note coffee. Its a coffeeshop, where the inside is covered in or decorated with post-its, written by guests. We needed to leave some personal marks on the ceiling as well. Took us a while and some acrobatic performances to get up there:

It says "Swing Life Away", one of our favourite songs / life messages of our favourite band Rise Against :).

We spend around 5, 6 days in Hanoi and they were awesome. Next stop: Cat Ba Island.

-----------------Philosophizing with Marco--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since i was travelling with a companion again, i put a lot of thoughts in travelling with someone and travelling by ourselves.
I have been asked plenty of times, how it is to travel by myself.
I love both, but need to say i prefer travelling by myself. I can only travel with someone temporarily. As an introverted person i sometimes truly enjoy just being by myself. It is pure freedom that you experience and i like thinking more than talking.
It is always something different when you travel with a friend or even with your partner instead of a stranger. I have met two couples so far that have been travelling for more than a year. Non stop sticking together 24 hours, 7 days a week. It is so inspiring to see that and for me that is a sign that those relationships can endure everything.
Spending time together on the road reveals the deepest personality traits. In my opinion, only then will you find the genuine compatibility between two people. The small little habits, the way of facing issues, the personal preferences and antipathies, the way of communal socializing among people. All those little things answer the question, how two pieces fit together :).

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See ya.