1) Starting our Yucatan Peninsular trip at Playa del Carmen

We celebrated christmas eve with Franzi's parents in Heusenstamm (Frankfurt), my birthday (25.12.) at my parent's place in Steinpleis (Zwickau) including a night out in the villages bar/discotheque and enjoying a get-together with old schoolmates of mine (26.12.). With all the presents packed we drove back to Leipzig (27.12.) and the next early morning (28.12.) we drove to Hamburg, parked our car at a free park&ride and entered our flight to Cancun International airport in Mexico. From the airport, a bus brought us to Playa del Carmen. A touristy but cozy beach town. We booked a room in the Tres Mundos Hostel which is not to be recommended. But as it was super high season, it was one of the sole places left under 100 EUR a night. A first walk through the city brought us past a big christmas tree in front of the city hall. I always find it rather unreal to see christmas trees at 25+ °C with palm trees being close by. It was already past sunset, but we couldn't resist to walk to the beach, get out of our sandals, walk through the sand and let the Caribbean Sea wash around our feet. Hunger and our curiosity lead us to a very local taco store. Right there I knew that I would finally like the local food in a Latin American country :) Then the jet lag lead us back to our room. The next morning (29.12.) we woke up early due to the jet lag. We started straight to the beach, went swimming and let the sun dry us while we were lying under palm trees in the fine sand. Thats what we were looking for! :D A shower and a tiny breakfast later, we checked the bus scheduled for the next day to Cancun before we asked at the pier for a trip to Isla Cozumel. We booked the bus, but we found a trip to Cozumel too expensive and not really worth it... so we decided to further stroll around Playa del Carmen's beach^^ Before that, we picked up the best local Burritos and some fresh fruits from the mobile stores around Playa del Carmen's park (Av Benito Juarez/ 15 Av Norte). We then walked along all the city's beach. By Mexican law the last meters in front of the sea are always open to public. So it is funny to see people sitting on the 4* hotel chairs at the beach while there are many fat Mexicans eating their chips and drinking huge cola bottles on the last meters between the hotel chairs and the sea :P Later, we ate dinner at the very local taqueria Los Portales, that served great and cheap food, if slowly though :) After a Mojito and Cuba Libre at La Tarraya and Wicky's bars we were tired by the jet lag and went to bed. The next morning we went straight to the beach again. A Starbucks coffee and some great banana muffin were much better than the Hostel's lousy breakfast. After swimming and sunbathing we packed, had lunch at Los Portales and then made our way to Cancun.

Franzi jumping in front of Playa del Carmen's landmark

Sunbathing und palm trees!

what a view when opening the eyes - love it!

plenty of Pelikans near all the boats

Franzi in front of the sunset over Playa del Carmen

8) Stunning Hongkong

Back in Hongkong, we checked in at the Ibis Northpoint Hotel. Not cheap, tiny room, but a great view across the harbor. After a quick dinner around the corner we took the metro to Hongkong Central and walked to the monorail to get up to the Victoria Peak. Especially at night all those huge skyscrapers are incredibly impressive! The ride up hill was great using a very old British monorail. From Victoria Peak we had a first great view over the skyscraper filled city of Hongkong. Back down, we visited Hongkongs major bar district around Lan Kwai Fong road. The best and only true bar quarter we have seen on this trip. Simply a lively feeling including drinking and chatting on the streets, talking to drug dealers and whatever else makes up your bar night :)

A glimpse of Hongkong's skyscrapers from the bottom of Victoria Peak

On Victoria Peak

Gorgeous views from Victoria Peak

The next morning (06.11.) we decided to visit Lantau island with its famous Buddha. But first we started with dim sum for lunch at the famous Tim Ho Wan restaurant which is considered as the cheapest Michelin Star restaurant in the world. Instead of the original one, we visited its new branch in Hongkong central. The queue was not too long here. The food didn't disappoint us... it was super delicious. Though, the dim sum dumpling of Din Tai Fung in Taipei were even better :P
The metro then brought us to the cable car station on Lantau. First we thought the cable car is quite expensive... luckily we used it anyways... it is absolutely impressive! On our way to the Buddha, we had a crystal cabin... meaning that our floor was made of glass. It was simply great. On our way the cable car stopped once and Danny feared that the end has come... when it started again the island started to be covered in mist and fog. It was a mystic feeling to see the cable cars appear out of the fog. Near the Buddha it was slightly raining... as every afternoon during our days in Hongkong. We hardly could see the massive Buddha due to the fog, although we were standing right in front of it. The scenery had a really mystic feel. Back from the Buddha we visited a small temple, the jade market and a small night market around Yau Ma Tai. Danny was starving... so we had Sushi for dinner...it was rather expensive, but really delicious. It was great to see the chefs making the fresh Sushi in front of us. We then went to the promenade, watched the second part of the light show that is played every evening. After taking some pictures we met a Taiwanese girl who asked us to practice her English. So we talk for some hours about the differences between living in China, Hongkong and Europe. We missed the last metro and so took a taxi to our hotel... to our surprise the taxis are quite cheap in Hongkong.

Riding this mega cable car over

Entrance gate to Lantau Buddha shrouded by mist

Small Buddha statues around the big Lantau Buddha

The massive Buddha shrouded in mist

awesome Sushi for dinner

Laser show at Hongkong bay

Danny punches Hongkong's lucky pig in front of Hongkonb bay

View of Hongkong Central skyline

The last day (07.11.) we started with lunch at Tim Ho Wan again. Then we found that Hongkong central station offers in-town check-in for your flight. So we went back to our hotel, got our luggage and checked it in at the central station. This was when Danny was told that he should take a flight earlier, otherwise he would be stuck at Peking airport for several hours due to delays in China Air's flight schedule. Thus, he left right away. As I had several hours left before I had to catch my flight, I visited the markets between Yau Ma Tai and Mongkong again. Walking along Nathan Road, which is considered the longest shopping street in the world, I saw the remaining camps from the Umbrella Revolution that became famous as Occupy Central... although they were forced to leave Hongkong central already before we arrived. The protesters were quiet and rather lazy checking their phones or reading books. There was a lot of police force around, but everyone was friendly. The blockades were sometimes quite impressive. I then found the ladies market and bought a "Jimmy Joo" bag for Franzi. At the metro I then met a middle aged German couple who were trying to get to the promenade to watch the light show. I joined and guided them... and it was a good decisions. The evening before we had only seen the second part of the light show (starting 9pm), while the first part is called a symphony of lights and was much more impressive (starting 8pm). It holds the Guinness World Record being the largest permanent light show. This was a great finish for this trip. By metro I went to Hongkong central station where I took some more pictures and then caught the train to the airport. Thanks to the earlier check-in I had no luggage to carry^^ A nice Airbus A380 from Emirates then flew me to Dubai from where I continued to Hamburg. Back in Germany I was lucky catching trains back to Leipzig. I was extremely lucky... although the train drivers were striking, I got faster from Hamburg to Leipzig than ever :P

Funny blockade by the Umbrella Revolution / Occupy Central

Streets filled with neon-ads in Mongkong near Nathan Road

Lights of shopping malls around Hongkong Central

I like these cute double decked trams in Hongkong Central

A colorful city... I like Hongkong :)

7) Macau - 2 small worlds on a small island

When we arrived at Hongkong airport, we realized that we should have booked the airport-Macau ferry in advance. Unfortunately, it is not possible to take this ferry without pre-booking once you landed. Thus, we had to go to central piers by bus, which took us almost an hour. There we had lunch and went on a ferry to Macau. Prices were much higher than in Taiwan and people were considerably less friendly. In Macau we stayed at 5footway Inn. At the ferry terminal they explained us to take the free Sofitel shuttle bus... we were surprised but learned that it is common in Macau to use free hotel or casino shuttles even if you have no interest in these places. Our hotel was great for a hostel, disappointing for a hotel and even more disappointing for almost 100 EUR a night - still it was one of the cheaper places. Macau's old Portuguese central square was in walking distance (as is almost everything on Macau's main island). We felt very comfortable walking the old Portuguese streets... it was more like home and more inviting than the modern city structure in Taiwan. After McD dinner we visited the most famous Grand Lisboa casino. An impressive building but not very exciting inside. We would have been interested in playing a game or two if it wasn't for a minimum bet of 50 EUR. We jumped on a bus to Taipa and walked a bit around. Back on Macau main island we went up to the rooftop bar Sky21. The drinks were expensive, but we the impressive view was worth it.
The next morning (05.11.) we visited the old Portuguese center again. Walked up to the Guia Fort that offered great views too. Afterwards we payed a visit to the biggest tourist crowd in Macau in front of the ruins of St. Paul's church. All in all Macau has some impressive buildings and a cute Portuguese old center... thereby Macau displays different world and cultures in one place... I liked that while I disliked the prices and the money wasting glossy hotel and casino culture. We then took a ferry back to Hongkong.

Old St. Dominic's Church next to relics of the shopping-addicted world, at the central square

Run-down housings in front of the shining Grand Lisboa casino

Someone couldn't resist taking advantage of this statue's posture

Huge bridge connects Macau main island with Taipa

View on Grand Lisboa casino from

Aiming at Grand Lisboa from Guia Fort

Macau's landmark - the ruins of St. Paul's church

6) Tainan and some more Taipei

Wendy, the Taiwanese teacher we met in Kenting, even offered us a hotel voucher for Tainan. Unfortunately, we had difficulties to contact her and booked a room in the Tie Dao hotel. Later Wendy told us that she wanted to give us vouchers for exactly this hotel :/. At the evening she picked us up together with her husband. They took us on a sightseeing trip. We started at the beautiful Chihkan Tower. Probably the oldest building I have seen in Taiwan. Then Wendy took us to have dinner at a nearby local seafood restaurant which was absolutely delicious. The tricky part was that Wendy insisted on paying for us... rather unusual in our culture, the Taiwanese/Chinese tradition values guests extraordinarily. After dinner, Wendy and her husband drove us around the city until the beach. On the way back from the beach we saw a lot of people in Halloween costumes near a park. We jumped out of the car and joined the crowd :) Some of these costumes were amazing! Wendy, Danny and I got quite some photos with these guys^^ We then picked up Wendy's son and went to see Hai'an road. A beautiful street filled with bars, old houses and drunken Taiwanese young. Wendy and her family brought us back to our hotel and went back home... we planned to meet again the next day...

Chihkan Tower

Wendy and Danny in the park around Chihkan Tower

Halloween in Tainan

Hai'an road

The next morning (01.11.) Danny and I went sightseeing in Tainan. We started at Confucius Temple where local politicians gave us some badges, we watched funny squirrels in the park and then continued to the Temple of the five Concubines. After two small temples we visited the picturesque Koxinga Ancestral Shrine. After our sightseeing tour we had lunch and took a break before we wanted to meet up with Wendy again. Unfortunately, Danny became sick including fever. So we rested in the hotel until late. At late evening we just went for dinner, had a beer and went for sleep.

Squirrel near Confucius Temple

Garden at Temple of the five Concubines

I and Danny

Dragon fountain in front of Koxinga Ancestral Shrine

inside Koxinga Ancestral Shrine

The next day (02.11.) we took the high famous Taiwan high speed train from Tainan to Taipei. Rather expensive, but truly fast and comfortable. Though, not very different from German ICE which is slightly more comfortable but much more expensive. In Taipei we first had lunch at the central station food court and then checked in at Via Loft hotel, which we can recommend. As Danny had not seen it before, I visited the Taipei101 with him including the observatory and the Din Tai Fung restaurant :) Danny finally understood what can be so special about simple dumplings...
The next morning (03.11.) we changed hotels after breakfast. We had booked the Stay Inn early and it was full when we were to book the earlier day. However, the Via Loft was better... We then visited the National Palace Museum, which we cannot recommend as it was mostly boring. For late afternoon we went to Beitou hot springs. More natural than I expected, but less than I hoped. And as so much in Taiwan - a lot cheaper than I thought. Still, filled with old Asian people, mainly man... but the pools were of different heat and very enjoyable. We were not lucky finding a good restaurant for dinner that evening and ended at some unfriendly and hardly tasty one. After breakfast the next morning (04.11.) we left for central station where we took a bus to the airport and caught our flight to Hongkong.

Taipei101 mirrored in a pond

Impressive Taipei101, not so impressive guys :P

5) Kenting and Little Liouciou Island

The next day (28.10.) we took the train from Hualien to Taitung. We were eager to visit Green Island. Unfortunately, in Taitung we got to know that only one ferry in the morning travels to the island. Thus, we continued by train to Fangliao from where we hopped on a bus to Kenting. An old lady was already waiting at Kenting bus station to bring show us the rooms she had available. Although not too friendly, the room was nice and cheap. We decided to stay for 2 nights. At the evening we enjoyed the huge street market in Kenting. For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant "Amy's", who offered delicious but rather expensive food as well as good, inexpensive drinks. Afterwards we wanted to have some more beers, but most places closed their door. Danny persuaded me to visit a shady gogo-like place. The beer was priced reasonable, while 2 out of 3 dancing girls were nothing but ugly. I disliked the place a lot. Still, Danny persuaded me to have a second beer... when he asked for a third beer I became annoyed and we left.
The next morning (29.10.) I was looking forward to enjoy the famous beach. Unfortunately, swimming was prohibited due to strong currents. Probably due to Taiwan being a volcanic formed island. Notably, the sign seemed to be in place for months or years rather than days. Strong wind blue sand into our faces and made sunbathing unpleasant. We then wanted to rent a motorbike to visit the Kenting National Park. However, almost no one was to rent us a bike as we only had an EU but no international driving license. Luckily, a guy from a shop next to the bus station gave us a bike. We rode to the national park and payed it a visit. Unlike the beach, the park was really nice and we enjoyed it a lot. Good views, I enjoyed the Banyan trees, spider-like looking crabs scared us (mostly me) in the caves and we tried some Tarzan-like swinging at the trees^^ After the park we continued to the light house where we enjoyed some ice cream. The sun was setting and it was already quite dark when we arrived at the famous Sail Rock. There we met Wendy, a super friendly Taiwanese teacher who was doing holiday there too. Back in Kenting we went for dinner where we met Wendy again. She invited us for dinner and also to her home in Tainan. After dinner she had to leave to look after her mother who was traveling with her. And before Tainan, we wanted to visit Little Liouciou Island. Therefore, we took a bus to Dongang in the morning (30.10.).

view over Kenting National Park

Great light in the national park

Trying to be Tarzan :o

nice setting...

Danny surfing a tree^^

Nicely lighted Banyan tree

In Dongang we walked from the bus station to the ferry terminal and somehow were unable to find the terminal. We asked in some office for the way, but no one was capable of speaking English, so we continued. A minute later a guy from the office ran towards us and led us to the terminal. That is super friendly Taiwan! At the terminal we booked a ferry ticket together with a room that turned out to be small and purple but clean^^ On the island we rent bicycles... however, only e-bikes for small Chinese people were available. Still, riding these bikes was a lot of fun once we got used to it. We had a great lunch in town before we went around the island. I was sad that again we saw no nice beach. At least we could watch the sunset :) At the evening we enjoyed several beers at the 7-Eleven, made friends with a cockroaches, dogs and lots of local people^^
The next day (31.10.) I tried to go for a swim again and found the same sign "swimming prohibited". Sad I went back to the hotel, but the owner told me that I may ignore this sign... so I did and enjoyed finally enjoyed my swim. Not a great beach, rather a harbor feeling, but better than nothing. Even did some sunbathing :) Afterwards we took the ferry back to Donggang, catched the Bus to Kaohsiung and from there the train to Tainan...

great lunch at Liouciou

sunset from Liouciou island

setting sun behind a temple at Liouciou

4) Danny arrives in Taiwan: Taipei, Hualien and Taroko Gorge

On Saturday (25.10.) our conference ended. After the closing ceremony, Danny was already waiting in front of the conference building. He took a flight from Frankfurt via Peking to join me for some traveling in Taiwan after my attendance to the conference. First we took Danny to have dinner at the food court of central station. Then we went to the most famous night market in Taipei: Shilin. It was the first time for Danny in Asia. He was quickly overwhelmed with the huge masses of people. At Shilin night market it was even worse than at central station. Lots of people, neon-ads everywhere, new sounds and smells... especially the disgusting stinky tofu... there was a lot to experience for Danny at the first day. A number of beers plus being accompanied by Simon and me helped to keep him sane^^
The next day (26.10.) we went sightseeing with Danny and visited the Chiang Kai-Sheik memorial hall again. Afterwards Simon took his flight for Slovenia while Danny and I took a train to Hualien. Not easy to travel by train on Sundays in Taiwan... they are packed! We had a seat for half the ride and were required to stay during the second half. In Hualien we stayed at the nice Easttown26 hotel. I was stunned that even this small city was filled with these Chinese neon-ads. Danny and I were looking for dinner and after an hour of searching we went for McDonalds, one of the only places still open after 9pm.
The next morning (27.10.) a shuttle bus from the hotel brought us to the bus station where we caught a bus to Taroko Gorge national park. I was eager to walk and Danny had no choice but to follow me. At the entrance they explained us that instead of walking long distance, we could always hop on the bus, ride to the next short way and walk plus photograph there. I was quite disappointed about that, while Danny was relieved. Still, the canyon of the national park was really nice. Not too special, but worth visiting if you are in Taiwan. Besides the massive canyon, we climbed a pagoda, a hill, Danny explored some jungle-like nature, we saw bats and some small waterfalls. All in all, a pleasant day :)

Entrance to Shilin night market... filled with neon-ads

masses at Shilin night marker

Chian Kai-Sheik memorial

Danny poses with a statue at the park entrance

We went up to this pagoda above the bridge...

...and enjoyed a great view from it
(and Danny suffered from vertigo)

Danny in jungle feeling

Two nice waterfalls
(one more is behind the wooden building)