Travel Log

August 13 2017

Riding the scooter through Langkawi

Tobias Stricker Travel Log Beaches, Hiking, Langkawi, Malaysia, Scooter

About exploring beautiful beaches and high mountains – Travel log no. 87

From Penang I took the ferry to the island of Langkawi on the borders to Thailand. After 3 hours of bad sea and enduring a lot of puking from the other passengers we finally made it to the island.

At the hostel I met up with Niko who I already knew from Penang. Together we rented a scooter and explored the island of Langkawi.

Eagle, Langkawi — The symbol of the island of Langkawi.

At first we made it to the famous cable car from where you get a beautiful view on the whole island.

Cable Car, Langkawi — View on the mountain and cable car from the base.

Walls Falls, Langkawi — Never the less the view from the cable car was amazing already.

Platform, Langkawi — Here: Niko enjoying the view on the island.

Skybridge, Malaysia — The skybridge carrying on over the jungly rim of the mountain.

Falls, Langkawi — Back down again we checked out the falls close up.

Later the rest of the day we used to explore the paradisiacal beaches of the island.

Beach, Langkawi — A random beach on the way out.

Black Sand Beach, Langkawi — The black sand beach. Unfortunately not comparable with the one on Hawaii but still neat.

Datai Bay, Langkawi — Langkawi is one of the last places on earth where you can have a beautiful beach just for yourself. Like here on Datai Bay.

Paraglide, Langkawi — Furthermore a beach barely crowded and a paraglide on the horizon.

Tanjung Rhu Beach, Langkawi — Probably the most beautiful beach on the island: Tanjung Rhu Beach

Rhu Beach, Malaysia — Niko and I enjoying a Coconut on Rhu Beach.

In the morning the next day we took the scooter out to explore the Kilim Geo Forest with its mangroves.

Kilim, Langkawi — With a boat we explored the mangroves, it’s caves and wildlife.

Crocodile Cave, Langkawi — Passing through the crocodile cave.

Bat Cave, Langkawi — Within the bat cave we found lot’s of small fruit bats.

Mangroves, Langkawi — Lastly the mangroves on Langkawi.

Sunset, Langkawi — Finally another good stay goes to an end. Last but not least Niko is heading to Northern Thailand and I will explore Krabi.

Can’t wait to explore the differences in culture and nature in Thailand.

August 5 2017

The island of Penang

Tobias Stricker Travel Log George Town, Hiking, Malaysia, Penang, street-art

Exploring the smallest state, it’s art, beaches and mountains – Travel log no. 86

After another relaxed bus ride I checked into my hostel in George Town. Sure enough Val a girl I met already in Cameron Highland would check in right after me.

Together we rented a scooter and explored the city.

Clan Jetty, George Town — At first we walked down the docks of a clan jetty to watch the sunset. Back in the day each family had their own neighborhood build on the docks.

Penang, Malaysia — The sun is setting behind the Penang hill.

Floating Temple, George Town — Here a view on the floating Chinese temple on the next jetty.

Armenian Street, George Town — Our hostel was based on one of the most beautiful streets in town – The Armenian Street.

On the morning the next day we got up early to explore the National Park on the other side of the island. After an hour of riding the scooter through dense traffic we got there to hike to the turtle beach.

Bridge, National Park, Penang — Hiking through the park is beautiful. We passed many small bridges on the way to the beach.

Bridge, Penang — In the middle of the forest we came over this bridge. Unfortunately it was in bad shape and closed, like many other public sites in the park.

Turtle Beach, Malaysia — Finally we made it to the beach and had a swim.

Lake, Taman Negarra — The view on the fresh water lake in the back of the beach.

On the way home we stopped by the light temple.

Light Temple, George Town — This Buddhist temple is lid at night in ever changing colors.

Boats, George Town — Another view on the city at night with some boats floating along the beach.

On our last day together we hiked up the Penang Hill. What sounded like an easy hike took us exhausting 3 hours of climbing up muddy trails.

Monkey, George Town — All along the way we encountered with wild life. Here is a monkey mum with her baby.

Jungle, Penang Hill — Here a view of the jungle on the way up.

Penang Hill, Malaysia — Finally the view from atop was definitely a good reward. Unfortunately the cable car was broken but we found a ride down.

Finally down again we checked out some temples on the way home.

Indian Temple, Penang — On this picture you see an Indian temple at the foot of Penang Hill.

Chinese Temple, George Town — In addition to that a Chinese temple.

At last, after 2 days exploring the city we had to depart. In the end Val was flying off to Indonesia and I took the ferry to Langkawi.

Biker, George Town. — Last some of the street art of George Town.

August 5 2017

The tea plantations of Cameron Highlands

Tobias Stricker Travel Log Cameron Highlands, Ipoh, Malaysia, street-art, tea plantations

Exploring the street-art of Ipoh and hiking through mossy forest – Travel log no. 85

After a relaxed 5 hours of bus ride I arrived in Ipoh. It is the third largest city of Malaysia. Never the less life seems pretty relaxed here.

Night Market, Ipoh — While walking over the night market I felt like being the only tourist.

Chicken Noodles, Ipoh — The local delicacies, chicken noodles with sprouts, like recommended by Alfred.

Early in the morning I took the bus to Cameron Highland with the intention to return the same day. This ended up being a bad idea since the bus took way longer than expected. Around 5 pm I arrived in town and hadn’t seen anything yet. So I stayed for a night with nothing but my camera.

With Weronika who I met on the bus I hiked through the valley before sunset.

Falls, Cameron Highlands — A fall on the way to the temple. Unfortunately we didn’t see any tigers.

Chinese Temple, Cameron Highlands — Finally we made it to the Chinese Temple after an hour hike.

Temple, Cameron Highlands — The temple with heavy rain clouds in the back.

Luckily we found a ride home just before the rain started. In the next morning we got on a tour exploring the rest of the highlands.

BOH, Cameron Highlands — At first we checked out the BOH tea plantation. What I am looking at is apparently a second grade tea. Never the less the view was amazing.

Mossy Forest, Cameron Highlands — The second part of the tour brought us up high into the Mossy forest. A forest around 2000 meter high.

Mossy forest — In addition to that the view is amazing.

Back in the hostel in Ipoh I met Maryne. Together we explored the street art of Ipoh before heading up to George Town.

Industrialization, Ipoh — A picture about the industrialization of Ipoh.

Oldtown, Ipoh — In the cozy streets of old town Ipoh you can’t only find street-art but also delicacies like the local white coffee.

Bicycle, Ipoh — Malay cleaning the street with his bicycle.

Fisher boats, Ipoh — Fisher boats next to the green ocean.

Merchant, Ipoh — Here a merchant selling fruits.

Girl, Ipoh — In addition a girl checking on the birds.

Excited to discover more culture and street-art I left North to Penang.

July 31 2017

Couchsurfing in Kuala Lumpur

Tobias Stricker Travel Log Asia, City, Kulua Lumpur, Malaysia

Exploring my first country in Asia– Travel log no. 84

After 4 month I finally left Australia to explore Asia. I decided to start in Malaysia and make my way up from there. Luckily I got an opportunity to couch surf again. With Alfred I found one of the best host you can imagine.

The first day he showed me all the local places of Kuala Lumpur.

China-Town, Kuala Lumpur — At first we explored China-Town together. A little but crowded neighborhood with many shops for clothing and delicacies.

Architecture, Kuala Lumpur — One of Kuala Lumpur’s streets with the old architecture.

Besides Chinese the population of Malaysia mainly consists out of Muslims and a second minority of Indians. Due to that Malaysia offers diverse culture which you cannot only find within the food available.

Train Station, Kuala Lumpur — The Kuala Lumpur train station. The architecture to the left is related to the muslim culture and the older building to the right to the Indian, British Colony times.

Lunch, Kuala Lumpur — In the afternoon we had local traditional Noodles. For the lunch for two including drinks we just paid about $3.

The food here in Malaysia is really delicious even though some things require a special taste. On the way home I was fortunate to get to taste the Durian fruit. While admiring the Durian tree in one of the neighborhoods the owner invited us in.

Durian, Kuala Lumpur — The smell is salty in the beginning but turns into a sweet and creamy taste. Not many people like it.

For everybody who wants to try it at home, don’t eat it together with a Guiness. Apparently this can lead to a painful death through explosion.

Coincidently my old co-worker Stephi from Lübeck was also in town. We met up for a beer and explored KL at night.

Petronas, Kuala Lumpur — The famous Petronas Twin Towers at night.

The next day I explored the Batu Cave, Hindu Temple, own my own.

Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur — It is only possible to reach the temple through a long staircase which is protected by a goddess.

Statue Batu, Kuala Lumpur — The Statue is even more massive close up.

Batu Temple — The temple is inside a cave and not only protected by the statue…

Monkey, Batu Caves — Many monkeys are waiting in the cave upon the arrival of visitors.

Ceiling, Batu — The ceiling of the cave.

The last night Cynthia, Alfred’s wife cooked for us and it was delicious!

Dinner, Kuala Lumpur — The happy after picture, Stephi, I, Cynthia and Alfred

Too soon the time of departure had come. Alfred left to the east coast to harvest bird nests and I traveled North to explore more of this beautiful country.

July 27 2017

Day trip into the Blue Mountains

Tobias Stricker Travel Log Australia, Blue Mountains, Hikinh, Sydney, Valley

About huge valleys and beautiful nature close to Sydney– Travel log no. 83

Saturday morning I got together with Kate, Chloe and Sonia to explore the beautiful Blue Mountains. After two hours of driving from Sydney we arrived in front of the mountain range.

I was impressed by the dimensions of these valleys and mountains. Compared to King’s Canyon in the centre it’s way more impressive.

Blue Mountains, Sydney — The pictures can barely describe the view, but the feeling was similar to the Grand Canyon in the US.

Lookout, Blue Mountains — After a short drive we came to another look out.

Lookout 2, Blue Mountains — The view is not less impressive.

We grabbed some coffee in a nice little village called Victoria Mountain. Right after we drove into a little forest near by. Here we hiked to a scenic waterfall.

Waterfalls, Blue Mountains — Nameless waterfalls in the Blue Mountains.

Group, Blue Mountains — The group from the right: Sonia, Kate, Chloe and I

Even though all the lookouts were impressive, the last one was definitely breath taking. After an hour hiking we got to the Walls lookout. Together with the sunset the view was just amazing.

Walls lookout, Blue Mountains — Chloe leading the way to the Walls lookout.

Walls, Australia — Finally we reached the lookout.

Blue Mountains, Australia — Chloe and Sonia enjoying the unique atmosphere. Having the lookout completely for us just sharing the view with the singing birds.

Sunset, Blue Mountains — Kate enjoying the sun, slowly setting behind the mountains.

After a long day we arrived back in Sydney save and sound. I am happy I didn’t miss out on the beautiful park. It’s is definitely one of the places which make Sydney a special place in the world.

Sydney, Blue Mountains — View into the direction of Sydney from the Blue Mountains.

July 23 2017

Sydney in 4 days

Tobias Stricker Travel Log Blue Mountains, Manly, Opera House, Sydney, Watsons Bay

About my last days in Sydney and Australia– Travel log no. 82

Suddenly the last 4 days of my time in Australia had begun. I arrived with the night bus from Byron around 7 am. Checked into my hostel in Chinatown and went off with Maeva and Lucia to explore the city.

We went straight to the botanical gardens from where we had a beautiful view on the city.

Botanical Gardens, Sydney — View on the skyline of Sydney from the botanical gardens.

Harbor Bridge, Sydney — From there we checked out the harbor bridge next to the famous Opera House.

Opera House, Sydney — Maeva, Lucia and I in front of the Opera House.

Afterwards we had a coffee downtown. Sydney is an interesting city. You can find older buildings next to high rises. So its easy to escape the busy main streets and enjoy some good food in chilled atmosphere in one of the side streets.

Angel Place Birdcages, Sydney — The Angel Cage installation in one of the side streets of the Central Business District.

Chinese Garden of Friendship, Sydney — The Chinese Gardens are also a good place to recharge and enjoy some quiet.

The Sunday I used to explore the suburbs of Sydney. Since the public transport is limited to a max fare of $2.6, it’s a good time to do that.

Skyline, Sydney — The skyline of Sydney from the ferry to Manly.

Boats, Sydney — Some boats close to Watson Bay.

North Head, Manly — Sydney from the North Head Park in Manly.

From Manly I took a ferry close to sunset to get to the famous Bondi Beach.

Lighthouse, Sydney — A lighthouse in Sydney Harbor.

By the time I got to Bondi it was already pretty dark. Still many people were out to enjoy good food and atmosphere.

Bondi Beach, Sydney — Sunset over Bondi Beach in Sydney.

Sydney is probably my favorite city in Australia. Not only because it offers anything you could desire from big city life, but also because you can escape into the nature fairly quickly. One day I spend to explore the Blue Mountains. I will write about this experience in my next blog. Suddenly my last day in Australia had come. I fly off on Tuesday morning to Kuala Lumpur, sad but also excited to explore my first Asian country.

July 21 2017

The life in Byron Bay

Tobias Stricker Travel Log Byron Bay, Life, Surfing, Work

About working and surfing in one of Australia’s cult places– Travel log no. 81

During the time of my job search in Brisbane I got into contact with a guy in Byron. He was searching for a customer service person with a commitment for more than 6 month. Since I already fixed my departure I declined his job offer. Never the less he offered me to come for a trial for one week. Help him out moving his warehouse and staying at his house for free and using his surfboard. So on the way down to Sydney I stopped back in Byron again. On arrival the city was like replaced compared to my first stay.

Market, Byron Bay — Crowds of people dancing to indigenous music on a local market.

Bay, Byron Bay — View on the bay from atop the mountains.

Lighthouse, Byron Bay — The hike up the lighthouse is gorgeous, even more when the sun is out.

Lookout, Byron Bay — Lookout on the way to the lighthouse.

I worked long hours moving the warehouse. Also I beat my personal record by working 17 hours on one single day. Fortunately I had a good way balancing my days by going surfing. I really fell in love with the sport. Besides that there were plenty of activities, like watching humpback whales from the lighthouse.

Cape, Byron Bay — A humpback with dolphins passing by close to the cape.

I really loved the cliche Australian flair in Byron. The atmosphere in Byron made me feel really comfortable. In-between the friendly and cool surfer hippies you really can be yourself.

One day I checked out Nim Bin another Hippie Community in the mountains close by.

Byron Bay — View on Byron on the way to Nim Bin.

Nim Bin, Australia — A view of the main street in Nim Bin.

Last but not least one of my favorite places was definitely the main beach of Byron.

Moon, Byron Bay — The moon over the lighthouse during sun set.

Sunset, Byron Bay — Sunset over the main Beach of Byron Bay.

After two weeks it was hard when I had to finally depart. Byron is definitely one of the only places in Australia where I could see myself staying longer. With some money in my pocket I was excited to explore Sydney before taking off to Asia.

July 21 2017

Settling down in Brisbane

Tobias Stricker Travel Log Brisbane, Cleaner, Hostel-life, Salesmen

About cleaning doorknobs and toilets– Travel log no. 80

After Hendrik left I had one long week of rain to figure out my upcoming itinerary. I already felt weary after traveling since February. I felt like finally settling down and getting back routine. It’s funny that one always seeks for what he doesn’t have. Especially since routine was one of the reasons why set off in the first place.

Since work is also a big part of the backpacker experience I didn’t want to miss out. Already after the first night in Brisbane I found a job at Summer House Backpackers. The job was to clean the toilets 15 hours per week in exchange for accommodation.

In addition to that I found a job as a door-to-door salesmen at Hello Fresh. Right on Monday the week after I started to work. The job at HelloFresh was time consuming. We drove out to the suburbs to work 11 hours a day to selling boxes with food ingredients. Furthermore the job was only paid by commission. Never the less the people were great. I made some really good friends.

The downside of my work arrangements were though that I had to spend my weekend cleaning. After two weeks of working everyday cleaning shitters and doorknobs I realized I studied for a reason. I started to feel a little bit homesick and decided to find a fix day to get back to Germany to finally start my career. So I booked a return flight to Europe begging of September. My plan was to spend the rest of my time traveling Asia. After celebrating my 25th birthday with BBQ on the rooftop of the hostel I left Brisbane.

After 3 weeks of hostel life in Brisbane, meeting many cool people I was excited for new adventures. Before leaving Australia for good I should meet up with an old friend to get insights into the surfer life.

Brisbane Skyline, Australia — View from the rooftop of the hostel on the skyline of Brisbane.

June 17 2017

Relocating to Brisbane

Tobias Stricker Travel Log Australia, Backpacker, Brisbane, Byron Bay, East Coast, Noosa

Checking out Noosa, Byron Bay and Brisbane– Travel log no. 79

As soon as we got back from Fraser we drove to Noosa. There we camped right on the beach next to the national park. The next day we explored the National Park.

Noosa, Australia — The ocean along the park looks light blue.

Hell's Gate, Noosa — The view from the Hell’s Gate, the far East part of the park. It was super windy up here.

Spider, Noosa — A big spider greeting us the next morning hanging next to our van.

River Noosa, Australia — The view from a lookout over Noosa and it’s beautiful river system.

Around lunch time we kept on driving passing by Brisbane to get to Byron Bay.

Glashouse Mountains, Australia — The Glashouse Mountains next to the Highway close to Brisbane.

Unfortunately the weather was getting worse. By the time we arrived in Byron Bay it was raining cat’s and dog’s.

Even though the weather was bad there were still many surfers out. The next morning we had breakfast with Tessa an Australian girl who camped next to us on the beach.

Beach, Byron Bay. — Surfers on the main beach of Byron Bay.

Unfortunately Hendrik’s last day had come. Together we drove back to Brisbane to escape the rain and explore the city.

Brisbane, Australia — The Brisbane letters on the south side of town.

Skyline, Brisbane — View of the skyline from the riverwalk.

Fortunately the weather was better in Brisbane and we watched a beautiful sunset while walking through Brisbane.

Captain Cook Bridge, Brisbane — Brisbane and the Captain Cook Bridge.

New Farm, Brisbane — Purple clouds over the neighborhood New Farm.

Story Bridge, Brisbane — The famous Story Bridge after nightfall.

Brisbane looks beautiful at night. All the major buildings are lit in different colors every night anew.

Unfortunately the time of departure had come. So I drove Hendrik to the airport.

After arrival at the drop-off we still had time for a few beers. So we parked at parking lot at Qantas Freight close by.

When Hendrik had finished his third beer the police stop by. Being parked on an unofficial parking spot they asked us what we were doing. Unfortunately we didn’t throw away the empty bottles. So it looked like we having a small merry carousel.

Being now already limited on time we had to wait for the alcohol test. Fortunately it was negative, so Hendrik could still fly home. It was a blast traveling with him. I can’t wait for the new adventures ahead though.

June 16 2017

Driving over Fraser Island

Tobias Stricker Travel Log 4WD, Australia, East Coast, Fraser island, Sand

Exploring the biggest sand island in the world – Travel log no. 78

After our sailing adventure through the Whitsunday’s we had a long drive in front of us. We had to cover about 865 km to get to Hervey Bay. We just did a little stop in Rockhampton and arrived late in Hervey Bay.

The next morning we got together with our group of 10 people. With two 4WD cars we got onto the ferry around 10am.

It wasn’t too easy at first to drive via the sandy off-roads through rainforest. But we got more and more used to it.

Rainforest, Fraser island — Driving through the rain forest on the way to our first stop – Central Station.

Wanggoolba Creek, Fraser — Bush walk along the Wanggoolba Creek.

Spider, Fraser Island — The first big spider I have seen in Australia – Wolf Spider.

Luckily the weather was great. The wildlife and nature on the island was really diverse. In the calm of the rain forest we saw many animals like this spider and birds.

After a really treacherous drive through deep sand we finally made it to the beach. We checked into our accommodation for the night. During the rest of the day we scouted the sites along the beach.

4WD, Fraser Island — Our vehicles for this tour.

Maheno, Fraser island — The ship wreck of the Maheno.

Maheno, Australia — The wreck served in first world war and lies here already for several years.

Sanddunes, Fraser Island — Colorful sanddunes on the shore of the East Coast of Fraser Island.

Dingo, Fraser Island — The biggest predator of the island (Dingo) passing by during sunset.

Sunset, Fraser Island — The sunset on the beach was magnificent. Even though we didn’t see the actual sun.

Moon, Fraser Island. — Some minutes later the full moon shines over the ocean.

Back at the hostel we played some card games with our friends. Unfortunately it was getting super cold and the alcohol was limited, so people went to bed early.

The next day we got up early to explore the highlights of the island – the fresh water lakes.

Lake Walley, Fraser Island — Hendrik walking down to lake Walley a little oasis in the middle of sand dunes.

Even though the water was super cold we had good fun swimming there. After another drive through the inland routes we got to my personal highlight of this tour:

Offroad, Fraser Island — Driving along the partially steep off-roads.

Mc Kennzie, Fraser Island — Lake Mc Kenzie has a high acid content, therefore it reflects like a mirror. Furthermore the sand is white as snow. A all in all a dreamlike lake.

We stayed at this beautiful lake for an hour before we got back onto the ferry.

Another good tour passed by way too fast. Unfortunately also Hendrik’s departure comes closer.