Monday, April 25, 2011

Ending my adventures

I'm back in Europe and have ended my adventures in Asia for this time. These 4 months have been some of the best; I've had the time of my life! Starting in Malaysia with beach life and lectures was exciting. Going to Sri Lanka was a wet but very interesting experience before enjoying the beaches in Malaysia again. Then we went to Cambodia, the country with the gruesome history. My boyfriend visited and we had a blast. Thailand was next, where we got a closer look at Buddhism. Our studies came to an end with our exam in beautiful Indonesia. But I had still not had enough. So Stine, Margrethe and I went to The Philippines and the island Boracay, where the second nicest beach in the World awaited us.
The 4 km long White Beach.In the tricycle, a great way to get around in the Philippines. The beautiful sunset in Boracay, on White Beach

Of all 6 Asian countries I've been to, The Philippines is the country that gets my award for the nicest, most friendly and polite people. They end each sentence with “ma'am” or “sir”, and always offer a smile. It was nice being in a Christian country again; around 95 % of the population being Christian!

In The Philippines I also had my best diving experience so far; diving together with Stine, Margrethe and two other friends from our class (Maria and Margrethe V.)

This was a very colourful dive; perhaps the best we have had!
Trumpet fish!nice fishEveryone on the boat very happy with our last dive
One day we took a trip around the island, where we got to snorkel and swim in caves. This experience was so fantastic it nearly took my breath away (literally; when I got water in my snorkel).


We got to see all the beautiful beaches on Boracay


Seeing Margrethe V and Maria again was great, after a very tearful goodbye with the whole class on Gili.Our nice room in the hotel "Alice in Wonderland"
Action and relaxation in the sea.
Relaxing with a tropical fruit shake. Yummy!

Three men gathered around Margrethe to watch her build a sand castle.The evenings were spent out in a restaurant, a bar or on the beach. The street by the beach was so crowdy at night time that we often walked on the beach to get from A to B. I'll miss that!

Going out to dinner

Boracay was the perfect place to spend our last week in Asia. But if you ask me which of the 6 countries I enjoyed the most, I'll find it difficult to answer. I'll end my last post with some of the best things and things that are special (not necessarily good) about every country:

Malaysia: the nicest language (Malay) and the most interesting society which basically consists of Malays (only Muslims), Chinese and Tamils. Key words: Islam, Hinduism (with the festival Thaipusam), Chinese Buddhism, Beautiful beaches, wonderful weather, GREAT food!
Sri Lanka: the country with the nicest stupas, the largest sitting and standing Buddha in the world. A great country if you want to learn about Buddhism, and a country with a very unique and exciting history of kings and warriors. The country that introduced the world to the Protestant Buddhism. Key words: Duttu Gammunu, Olcott, Anagarika Dharmapala. Beautiful beaches, beautiful scenery, tea plantations, poverty.
Cambodia: The country with the nicest and biggest temples – Angkor Wat being the World's largest religious building. Key words: Beautiful people. Cheap merchandise (one dollar!), crazy traffic because of no traffic rules, The Khmer Rouge, temples, Buddhism. Ole Einar was there with me for over a week.
Thailand: A famous tourist country but yet a very interesting country to study Buddhism in. Key words: Good food, elephants, tigers, temples, nunneries and shopping.
Indonesia: lovely islands with fantastic beaches, good diving, interesting Hinduism, death penalty for drugs (also in Malaysia)
The Philippines: nicest people, nicest beach, beautiful sunsets, good friends. :)

After experiencing so much and making so many friends, how can I not feel satisfied and blessed!? :)

The End.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Så utrolig kjekt å lesa inki! Godt å hørra at du e komt hjem lika heile ;)
Fine bilder du har tatt! De e goe minner å ha på! Klem fra helene

lirrandi said...

Herlig innlegg. Skl prøve å få til en sånn snorkletur vi og. Nå har vi ni netter igjen på Borocay, er ikke feil det altså! Mange av påsketuristene har reist da, så er ikke like mange folk her nå som for en uke siden. Håper du koser deg hjemme i Norge :-) Klem fra Liv Randi