Fatal trip: Throughout Asia in 3 months

Fatal summary: Video

2009-03-22T17:48:00.024+01:00

Six months have passed after our arrival from Fatal trip. Since it did not feel like we have spent 3 months in Asia already after couple of days back in the Czech Republic, it certainly does not feel much different now. At the same time, we came to the conclusion that we have both developed some kind of eternal bond towards the magical region and its culture (and Fatal trip itself, of course) and would probably not hesitate too long when given the chance to go back and enjoy the unique moments and adventures again.

We have been seriously struggling to come up with summary promised in the last post. We have put together the content, however did not manage to come up with structured post so far.

Let us at least share a teaser for movie that Martin created from pictures and videos we took throughout the trip. Some of you might have seen it as a part of the official Fatal trip presentation which took place on 7.1.2009.

On behalf of the fatal crew :)

Zdenek

Click on the thumbnail above or click here to view the teaser

Back home! :)

2008-09-11T11:18:00.002+02:00

The time has come... to say bye to south-east Asia, and return home. Our plane from Delhi successfully landed in Vienna on Wednesday September 10th at 6:20 CET. We managed to catch earlier connecting bus to Prague, where we eventually arrived at 13:30.

After taking a few (actually quite a lot) pictures with our parents in various arrangements, we both set off to our homes to get some final holiday rest and prepare ourselves for upcoming events. The next year is about to bring many new challenges, related to all school, job, personal stuff, and also travelling… we are both looking forward!

However, the Fatal trip is actually not completely over, yet. We have gained significant inputs related to many areas of personal, professional and social (in global terms) life to think over in upcoming period. Besides, we need to (& want to) go through thousands of pictures and process countless short videos so as to put together a kind of “structured output” to concisely commemorate the whole trip.

Therefore, providing that you stay tuned at this website, you might be looking forward to following summary posts to be uploaded in upcoming weeks:
- major highlights from particular countries
- update on the final route
- interesting facts & numbers
- video summary of the trip

Last but not least, we would like to thank you, the readers of our blog, and especially our parents and other family members, for your continuous support during the entire trip, which made our summer adventures more easygoing, enjoyable, and secure.

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

At the Florenc coach terminal, Prague (June 20th)

At the Florenc coach terminal, Prague (September 10th)

India III (Sep. 6 - Sep. 10)

2008-09-10T09:22:00.003+02:00

The last stop of the Fatal trip has been in India, in Delhi to be more specific, where we stayed for the last three days. We arrived from Bangkok on Saturday September 6th, almost before midnight. It was exactly the same arrival hall, the same food stalls, the same outside climate (wet & warm & with typical Indian smell), the same rickshaws... but still so much different (now I’m not speaking about the exchange rate, which changed favorably, too). It simply was not our “first time” (as the locals tend to ask foreigners “Your first time in India?”). Well... the rickshaw drivers didn’t have it easy when bargaining:) We eventually found a cheap hotel near New Delhi railway station, right at the Main Bazaar street.

On the next day, we slept in a little bit, which was very easy to manage, thanks to a complete darkness in our room (no windows) and considerably increased humidity level. OK, so at 11 am we set off to have our breakfast - it was nice to recall those big Indian portions we were used to during the first two weeks of our travels. The rest of the day was about exploring the New Delhi district and shopping (actually the first phase of shopping - looking around & mapping the market & targeting the favored souvenirs). In the afternoon, we decided to see Qutab Minar, No.2 sight in Delhi - the tallest brick minaret in the world.

The second day in Delhi was dedicated mostly to sightseeing. Having already seen two most famous sights in Delhi (Red fort in June and Qutab Minar yesterday), we walked around Connaught place, Jantar Mantar, Parliament buildings, National museum, India Gate, and Hayman’s tomb, to take metro to Jama Masjid and continue further to the remote parts of Delhi’s suburbs (30 km from the centre). The afternoon was a shopping part of the day, again.

The last day in Delhi was also the last whole day of the Fatal trip. We spent the morning on our own - online & last shopping (yes, Delhi was intended to be more like a shopping stop:)) and went to enjoy the Bollywood blockbuster “Hijack” in the local cinema. As we already expected after the Jaipur Bollywood cinema experience, the movie was very well shot (compared to Thai, Vietnamese or Lao movies), with good choreography of randomly appearing dance scenes, with extremely poor plotline, wild effects, predictable dialogs unexpectedly switching from Hindi to English, and ripped music from Lord of the rings. Just amusing! :)

We finished the day with a dinner in the same restaurant we ate in on the first day of the Fatal trip - right before taking a train to Jodphur on June 21st. Moreover, we managed to sit at the same table and order (almost) the same dishes:) We arrived to the airport at 9 pm, successfully checked in (after dealing with tough Indian bureaucracy - 25 staff at 5 check-in counters? whatever...). The plane took off at 2 am, the dinner was served at 2:30 am, the breakfast then at 5am:) Welcome in Europe!

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

The main bazaar street, New Delhi

Jama Masjid, Old Delhi

Qutab Minar, Delhi suburbs

Ansal Plaza shopping center, Delhi suburbs

Cyclo-rickshaws, Delhi

Thailand II (Aug. 25 - Sep. 5)

2008-09-07T17:56:00.011+02:00

Although Thailand definitely is the most developed country in south-east Asia (as far as the quality of services and general living standards are concerned), our crossing from Cambodia was not as smooth as one would expect. Having been told in Siem Reap that our bus tipped over (wtf?) and therefore needing to take a shared taxi*) to the Aranya Prathet/Poipet border, we successfully entered Thailand. Our bus (actually the fourth from THE ONE that we were told to be definitely reserved for us) came about 5 hours after we have crossed the border. Since the driver has packed several large bags of something into the area reserved for the luggage of the passengers, he (suprisingly) realised that there is no space left and we soon set off to Bangkok with all the bags in the aisle within the passengers' area - resulting into all the people jumping like monkeys from one bag to another while trying to get outside the bus at one of the many stops along the way. With a couple of funny ape-like videos and pictures, we arrived to Bangkok in the afternoon.

First day spent in Bangkok was mostly organizational. We had to fix our flight tickets to India with which we have been having some long-term issues with, get a bus ticket to southern Thailand (where we wanted to spend our relaxing part of the trip), buy a trip to Kanchanaburi (famous safari, but also location of the well-known bridge over the river Kwai) and the floating market of Damnoen Saduak and last but not least - visit a tailor's shop in order to select the fabrics for our custom-made shirts that we have decided to buy. It took us almost the whole day, but it was definitely successful.

On Wednesday (August 27th) we went for the Kanchanaburi/Damnoen Saduak trip for the whole day and visited an interesting tiger temple along the way. Later we came to the conclusion that as we would otherwise not be able to see the bridge over the river Kwai and the floating market, the trip was definitely worth it, but since it was one of those many mass-touristical tours, it was not particularly appealing.

Next day we enjoyed Bangkok once again, focusing on sightseeing - we did not really have time to do it so far. We visited all the major sights in the town and had a really pleasant day. In the afternoon, we got onto a night bus to Krabi in southern Thailand.

We arrived to Krabi in the morning, found a guesthouse, bought a boat-ticket to Ko Phi-Phi, hired a motorbike and set off to the Ao Nang beach to spend the rest of the day on the beach. Our first impression of the Thai beaches was simply amazing - turquoise waters, white silk-like sand, bays formed by awesome carst formations. And one of the best things - almost no people. Simply wonderful. Well, one drawback we did find and it was the fact that the water level tends to go really down during tide, resulting into the sea kind of saying bye-bye to the beach - so where there once was sea, is a rocky landscape in the afternoon that you need to somehow climb over in order to reach water again. Since the whole procedure can take easily 10 minutes, it is sometimes better not to go swimming in the afternoon at all. We have spend one more day in Krabi (Klong Muang beach) and got on a boat to Ko Phi-Phi the other day in the morning.

Having arrived to Ko Phi-Phi on Saturday (31th August) after a quite scenic boat ride, we began our "lets-do-nothing" part of the trip. Having chosen Phi-Phi island, as one of allegedly the most beautiful places on the Earth, we could have hardly picked a better spot. The Phi-Phi beach actually motivates to do nothing, we even found it hard to walk around the island a bit :). Although we both had enough work for the beach bumming (mostly some personal and school stuff), our 3.5-day-long stay there was great.

We came back to Krabi on Thursday (4th September) and changed directly to a night bus to Bangkok. Being in Bangkok for the third time, the last day there we spent both alone, just walking around the town, visiting the shopping malls, food courts etc. - simply enjoying all the secural pleasures town has on offer. The day after we picked up our shirts, went to a Thai massage and left to the airport to catch our flight to Delhi - our last stop before coming back home after 3 months of travelling.

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Zdenek

---
*) For which we ended up paying some extra money at the end, although it was not us who tipped the bus over, I believe.

Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok

Floating market, Damnoen Saduak

Klong Muang Beach, near Krabi

One of the amazing sunsets in paradise, Ko Phi-Phi

Original Thai massage

Fatal loss: 26.5 kg

2008-09-05T03:02:00.003+02:00

So far, we have really enjoyed being on the Asian diet. Some of us (the fatter ones) appreciate its consequences, some of us (the skinnier ones) do not that much.

Nevertheless, in order to keep you updated even on the most detailed information, we are happy to announce that we have lost 26.5 kg (shared ca. 60:40) since we began our three-months-long fatal trip.

On behalf of the body-builders crew :)
Zdenek

Pictures update 3

2008-08-26T16:51:00.033+02:00

Being again in Bangkok, it would be shameful not to utilize the local well-equipped internet cafes! So we are bringing you some more fatal pictures! Checkout especially the last one and then click on the link below the last photo.

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Zdenek

In a cyclo-rickshaw, Hanoi, Vietnam

First time on the beach, Hue, Vietnam

Meeting with the party cadres, My Son, Vietnam

Sand dunes, Mui Ne, Vietnam

Watching the magnificent sunset, Kep, Cambodia

Driving around on a motorbike, around Kampot, Cambodia

Trekking in the jungle, Bokor National Park, Cambodia

Relaxing on a pickup after trekking, Bokor National Park, Cambodia

At a Khmer cooking course, Battambang, Cambodia

Sunrise at Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Enjoying the last evening in Indochina, Angkor Area, Cambodia

Same same, but different - click here

Cambodia (Aug. 15 - Aug. 25)

2008-08-25T13:19:00.011+02:00

Moving forward smoothly, we crossed the Vietnam-Cambodia border on August 15th. The direct bus connection from Ho-Chi-Minh City to Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, was a fairly reasonable choice. But so as not to have it too easy (having already passed a great deal tougher borders), we were the only ones aboard who insisted on arranging the visa on our own - which put our guide in quite an unenviable situation as soon as some other passengers found out he actually ripped them off... he made 5 USD profit on each passport - a good deal, isn't it.

We arrived to Phnom Penh, satisfied that we didn't fall into a cheap tourist-greenhorn trap. Unexpectedly, Phnom Penh turned out to be quite an organized city with most of western facilities available (maybe with exception of all those huge Lexus cars parked right on the sidewalk that forced us to walk on the road). They even had a drainage system (not too common all over the Indochina), which unfortunately proved incapable of handling the monsoon downpour that stroke the city in the late afternoon. It was much more powerful than the one we experienced in Hanoi or Nha Trang in Vietnam as it literally flooded the whole city - there was up to 50 cm of water in the streets!

According to our expectations, the water was gone in couple of hours, and we spent the next day walking around the city without any problems. A place to be mentioned surely is the Tuol Sleng prison (high school converted into a prison and interrogation centre during the unstable period of civil war in 1970's), providing quite an impressive insight into the unsettled Cambodian history.

Originally we intended to visit the north-eastern part of the country (namely Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri province), however because of uncertain transportation options and limited time, we have set off to the south instead. Our journey to Kampot had taken twice as long as it should have, but luckily we had enough time to rent a motorbike and enjoy a wonderful sunset at the remote beaches near Kep, small seaside town 25 km far from Kampot.

The next two days were spent on a great trekking tour in the Bokor national park. Highlights of the tour would definitely be: approximately 10 km of relatively steep ascending through a rain forest, large abandoned building of the Bokor hill station, misty atmosphere of the ghost town, 3 hours in a real jungle (just enough time not to encounter any tiger), observing a live chameleon, river crab and few other extraordinary animals and plants. Last but not least, we met a couple of cool people from Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, with whom we also decided to share a taxi (6 people and a driver in one small car - quite an unforgettable ride) to Sihanoukville, our next destination.

Right after enjoying a nice sunrise at the Sihanoukville's beach, we moved on to Battambang, where we wanted to relax a little bit after the trekking - and so we did. We attended a half-day cooking class, so now we can prepare some of the Khmer specialities, e.g. a delicious fish amok cooked in coconut milk.

Last 3 days in Cambodia were dedicated to Siem Reap and mostly its surroundings, i.e. the Temples of Angkor. Honestly, our expectations had grown so big that we were a little bit afraid of disappointment. Luckily it did not happen, since the area was simply amazing. To be more precise, the temples of Angkor don't stand just for the Angkor Wat (which by the way isn't as interesting as the fact as it is the largest religious construction in the world), but for a vast complex of approximately 20 squared kms, comprising of tens of temples of all kinds and dimensions. We have spent all 3 days on bicycles, returning to Siem Reap always after sunset - demanding, but undoubtedly worth it.

On August 25th, we took a shared taxi to Poipet at the Cambodia-Thailand border and successfully entered Thailand again - just 10 hours before our visa would expire. Having done that, we actually ended our travels across the Indochina (meaning Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia) and are about to enjoy last 2 "fatal" weeks, mostly on the beaches of southern Thailand.

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

Tuol Sleng prison, Phnom Penh

Sunset on the beach near Kep

Bokor national park

Food market in Battambang

Angkor Wat

Vietnam (August 5 - Aug. 15)

2008-08-15T14:50:00.010+02:00

After a tough (although still amusing) 3-hour sawngthaew drive from Vieng Xai, we arrived to Namsoy. We got our bags checked and went through a compulsory "health check", which actually did not happen, however still had to be paid for. With a legendary sentence "when in Vietnam, you do not have to worry about safety", the border officer waved us goodbye and we crossed the border to Vietnam, namely to a small town Nameo.

Judging by the excitement and honest interest of the locals, our arrival to Nameo was probably the most interesting thing that happened in Nameo for last couple of months (and probably will happen couple of the following ones as well). Having chosen the Namsoy/Nameo border crossing, we were aware of the fact that getting to Hanoi may be quite difficult, since our resources claimed the public transport at this crossing fairly "undeveloped" (meaning totally unreliable and random). One of the locals that actually spoke English quickly offered to take us by motorbike to a nearby town, where we were supposed to catch a bus to Hanoi or at least move closer to the coast, since there was no connection from Nameo to anywhere that day. The price was not that bad, so we have set off. After a few minutes of driving on a scenic road through the mountains, the drivers suddenly changed their minds and without bothering to explain us what is going on, drove back to the town which we have just left. Later we found out that the bus-driver found enough people for the bus to Hanoi (or just woke up), so we soon found ourselves sitting in a bus to Hanoi - together with 15 Vietnamese, one motorbike, ca. 20 large bags of potatoes and ca. 100 50kg-bags of soybeans and/or grass. Being already quite tired, we no longer cared when it began to rain inside the back of the bus (and into Martin's backpack) and the Vietnamese decided to move all their farming products and equipment to the front of the bus (while the bus was still going of course and all passengers still present and seated).

To our own surprise, we arrived to Hanoi soon before midnight the same day and went to bed. Our plans to go to a 2-day boat trip to Halong Bay was terminated by the typhoon, so we spent 3 pleasant days in Hanoi, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying all the sights and activities, including a water-puppet theatre and western-style cinema complex.

On Friday (August 8th) we took the sleeper bus to Hue, the former capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen dynasty and its historical centre. Although being interesting to see, the ruins were not extremely appealing, so after visiting them, we hired a bike and cycled to a nearby Thuan An beach - our first real encounter with the sea during our trip. Sitting on the sandy beach and watching the sea was really a pleasant change.

We left to Hoi An in the morning the other day. We spent the afternoon walking around the town, enjoying the atmosphere of a town that was one of few not damaged during the Vietnam War. Second day in Hoi An, we hired a motorbike and visited the close famous Cham monuments My Son.

Following stop was Nha Trang, the beach capital of Vietnam. While morning was effectively spent on deciding on our next stops in Vietnam and arranging a few things in this sense, the majority of the rest of the day we spent just lying on the beach, not really doing much (actually for the first time during our trip!). The only thing that disturbed us from our "doing nothing" was a great thunderstorm that came and paralysed the city for a while, with roads looking like little rivers, waterfalls instead of stairways etc. ... We swam back through the traffic to our guesthouse, changed clothes, picked up raincoats and with the storm getting weaker, we enjoyed the evening outside, discovering the town.

Mui Ne, another point of our interest, was a little charming town at the seaside. Having arrived around midday, we did not hesitate and booked a jeep trip to the famous white and red sand dunes. The sights we saw were really astonishing and we kind of regretted that we could not stay much longer. Our bus to Ho-Chi-Minh City (Saigon) was supposed to arrive at 2 AM at night, so we spent some time on the internet and then got some rest on the floor of a (already closed) local restaurant.

Having spent 3 days in Hanoi, we did not really want to invest much more of our time to Saigon, which was "just another regular city". Therefore we booked a trip to nearby Cu-Chi Tunnels - another important place of the Vietnam war - an amazingly sophisticated system of underground tunnels the Viet Cong used to fight the Americans. In the evening the words of the border officer of Nameo came true, when a passing motorbike-driver snapped my favourite fatal dog-tag and drove away with it. Hopefully, it was the one and only thing that we will have stolen.

On Friday, August 15th in the morning we got on the bus to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, excited about our next adventures to come.

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Zdenek

Temple of Literature, Hanoi

One of the gates of the imperial city, Hue

Cham monuments, My Son

Nha Trang beach

Red sand dunes, Mui Ne

Pictures update 2

2008-08-08T11:01:00.012+02:00

So far we have been mostly benefiting from the monsoon season (that is supposed to strike all over south-east Asia right now), as it was usually raining when we didn't care that much (e.g. at night) and at the same time the rain helps to keep the outside temperatures within a favourable range.
We have been aware it must happen once. But didn't expect it to be in the northern Vietnam, which is the only destination with hot & dry climate (instead of monsoon) at this time of the year. The typhoon coming from the Pacific ocean didn't allow us to sail to Halong bay yesterday and even though it was heavily raining in Hanoi as well (making us think the typhoon will be gone), it wasn't possible to sail on the next day (today) either.
Well, the trip must go on:), so we are leaving to Hue in central Vietnam in couple of hours, but before that we make use of the spare time the weather gave us to upload some more pictures - from our cameras:)

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

Eating a coconut, Sukhotai, Thailand

Elephant ride, near Chiang Mai, Thailand

Golden triangle, Sop Ruak, Thailand

At the Thai-Lao border (the river Mekong), Chiang Khong, Thailand

Going to a traditional Lao village, central Laos

Sailing the river Mekong on a speed boat, central Laos

Going to Luang Prabang with the local people, Laos

Around the Plain of jars, near Phonsavan, Laos

Watching out for US planes in the Artillery cave, Viang Xai, Laos

Preparing for a motorbike ride at the borders, Na Meo, Vietnam

Greeting the uncle Ho (in front of the Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum), Hanoi, Vietnam

Enjoying the dinner, Hanoi, Vietnam

Laos (July 26 - August 5)

2008-08-06T15:23:00.014+02:00

Laos is first of all the country of a wonderful countryside (that is as enjoyable during sunny days as when it is cloudy), friendly people (who don't chase you for money at every corner), incredibly slow transportation (average speed around 30 km/h - yes, that means 200 km in 7 hrs:)), interesting history (do you know it is the most bombed country in the world?), fairly inflated currency (we became millionares:)) and many other unexpected features... e.g. Lao dogs (suspected from transmitting the rabies) are the most playful pets we've come across so far:)

It took us one extra day to reach the Thai-Lao border (due to a scarce traffic) and we entered Laos by crossing the river Mekong on July 26th. Application for visa on-arrival went without any difficulties, as soon as the officer figured out that 30USD + 1USD (weekend overtime fee) is not equal to 36USD. Being already used to the Thai transportaion system, it wasn't good news to hear there were no buses to anywhere on that day... because all buses in Laos usually depart before 11am. That's why we spent the other half of the day in Huay Xay, during which we got interesting insights on Laos from American businessman, and tried delicious "street food", not missing out Beer Lao, brewed by the only internationally famous Lao company, BTW very tasty).

The next day, we set off to Luang Nam Tha, where we did a short treking through nearby villages and countryside. It was quite a hot day and we enjoyed brilliant sights. In the afternoon, we got on the bus to Luang Prabang (exceptionally not departing before 11am), the historical capital of the country. The city is believed to be (and for sure is) famous for a French architecture, however, we particularly enjoyed French influence in cuisine - baguettes & cheese rule:) Compromising on some temples (they really don't differ too much from the Thai ones:)), we spontaneously joined a group of local hotel staff to spend the afternoon at the amazing Kuang Si waterfalls. Unforgettable highlight of the day was yet to come... we were invited to join our new friends for lunch: 45-minute trek across the muddy road, observing preparation of a traditional chicken soup (even the chicken had a chance to observe it at the beginning:)), Thai karaoke, plenty of Beer Lao served with home-made ice, speedboat ride on Mekong at 8pm, and of course the virgin nature all around.

The bus to Vientiane took around 9 hours. Although it is the capital, you would never guess so - it is a calm and relaxed city with only 200.000 inhabitants. All the sights were within a walking distance from our guesthouse, which provided us with enough time not only to enjoy the city, but also to apply for (and successfully get) a Vietnamese visa extension.

Vang Vieng, possibly the most touristy place in Laos, was another kind of experience - more physical this time. We did some bycicle riding, caving and tubing (floating down the river in a huge tube). The "city" (20.000 people) itself basically comprises of 3 streets full of travel agencies, internet cafes and traditional "Friends' restaurants", where you can lie down on the bed and watch Friends series on DVD - enjoyable stuff... especially with delicious fruit shakes and excellent sandwiches:)

Remaining 5 days in Laos belong to the "off-the beaten track" chapter in Lonely Planet, meaning that the further from Vang Vieng (and closer to the Vietnamese border) we went, the more adventurous it all got (less buses, no English etc.) In Phonsavan, known for a mysterious Plain of Jars, there were still some other tourists, but we could easily filter them out by skipping all group tours, and renting our own motorbike instead. It was a perfect day!:)

We spent half day in Sam Neua, going on to Vieng Xai - "Birthplace of Lao PDR" (People's Democratic Republic). Despite spending 4 long hours by searching for any means of money exchange and any (at least rough) information on how to get to Vietnam, we managed to enjoy 4 hours of guided tour around 7 major caves that served as a military headquarters during the American-Vietnamese war. The whole complex counts hundreds of caves, most of which are not accessible due to unexploded ordnance threats.

Well, getting to Na Meo on the Vietnamese side had to be a piece of cake that time and so it was. Actually, it was for me and Zdenek. Unfortunately not for the locals... some of the Lao and Vietnamese people aboard our truck didn't handle the route with nobleness and were puking around during the frequent stops. Not kidding on this one:) Frankly speaking, the route is so bumpy and uncomfortable that even Lonely Planet guidebook straightforwardly discourages travellers from using this border crossing (labeled as "the most remote of remote ones, for hardy travellers only") However, the real tough part comes with getting from Na Meo to Hanoi... wait for the next post:)

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

That Luang (golden stupa), Vientiane

Kuang Si waterfalls, near Luang Prabang

Mekong river

Plain of jars, site #1, near Phonsavan

Caves complex, Vieng Xai

Thailand I (July 17 - July 26)

2008-07-24T14:45:00.010+02:00

We arrived to Bangkok from Kathmandu by plane on July 17th in the afternoon. The flight was with Thai airlines and was unexpectedly comfortable. The weird thing was that the the huge plane was almost empty :)

Bangkok was a completely different place compared to what we have seen so far in India and Nepal. It is completely modern, with all facilities, shops and conveniences available in the western world. We have spent there just one day, since we should be flying to Delhi (and home) from Bangkok, so because of visas and time it makes more sense to do sightseeing there before our departure to India. Actually, I am very much looking forward to the next visit, because the temples really did look amazing and the city has a very chilled-out atmosphere. Our guest house was probably a popular place of the sex tourists in Bangkok, since we heard some funny noises from the nearby rooms both nights we have slept there. Not wanting to miss out on some fun, we have decided to buy one*) as well.

We left Bangkok on Saturday and headed to Ayuthaya, one of the most important historical places in Thailand, and its former capital. The city itself was not particularly exciting (and neither was our loud guest house loaded with some party-type Brits), but some of the ruins were fairly impressive.

On our way to Sukhothai, probably the most important historical site in Thailand (yes, Ayuthaya was one of the most important :)...) we stopped at Phitsanulok, quite a ghost town, at least at night. Having experienced some minor problems finding a guest house and a place to get food, we went to bed and had a good night sleep.

Sukhothai, located in a large and well-groomed park full of lakes, trees and historical monuments, was an inspiring place. We have hired a bike and spent the whole day driving around and enjoying ourselves. We even won the fight with our first coconut, that fell from a tree and managed to peel it, crack it and eat it :)

Our next stop was Chiang Mai, the trekking town. We did some sightseeing in the afternoon and decided to go for a trek for next 2 days. It was in the nearby Doi Inthanol National Park and although it was rather a touristic trek (so incomparable with our Nepal experience), it was a lot of fun. We did some elephant riding, bamboo rafting, slept in straw cottages in a local tribe village, learned a new funny Thai card game in the evening etc.

Tomorrow (Friday July 25th) we are heading through Chiang Rai and Chiang Saen to a place called Sop Ruak, which is the (in)famous Golden Triangle, the place where borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet - famous for drug, weapons and white flesh smuggling not only in the past. We should be crossing the Lao border at Chiang Khong/Huay Xai tomorrow in the afternoon and continuing our trip further.

As already mentioned, we are coming back to Thailand in about a month, spending some time around Bangkok and then crushing on some of the southern Thai islands (Phuket, Ko Phi-Phi, Ko Samet...) for last week of our trip to chill out there.

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Zdenek

*) set of earplugs

Bangkok at night

Three pagodas, Ayuthaya

Wat Mahathat, Sukhothai

Elephant riding and bamboo rafting, near Chiang Mai

Nepal II (July 13 - July 17)

2008-07-19T05:28:00.012+02:00

On our way from Pokhara to Kathmandu we stopped in a near town Fishling to begin our "white-water rafting" experience in Nepal :) Nepalese rivers are divided into 5 classes according to how dangerous they are, class 1 being the easiest one and class 5 being almost non-raftable. Since our river Trishuli was supposed to be class 4+, we were quite scared but very much looking forward as well. Rafting lasted ca. 5 hours with a break for lunch at a river beach. Rafting was great, but much easier than actually expected - my guess is that the part of the river that we did was somewhere around class 3. However we still had a lot of fun, with around 12 people on the raft.

We arrived to Kathmandu after another 5 hours of bus ride, on July 14. We found our guest house and went to bed. Last two days in Nepal were spent visiting the sights of Kathmandu (Durbar Square, Swayambunath Stupa, Pashupatinath etc.) and also the sights of close town of Patan. Our primary plan was to hire a motorbike and visit also the town of Bhaktapur and Nagarkot, but there was a heavy admission fee to enter Bhaktapur and hiring a motorbike showed to be much more expensive (especially because of the current situation on the fuel market in Nepal, where you can buy gas just on the black market). Therefore we have decided to skip those two towns and not to hire a motorbike and visited a nearby small tourist-free village of Bungamati instead of that.

Our last night in Kathmandu was quite funny, since we came to the room to find out that our carpets have been washed (or we did not find any other explanation why there was 1 cm of water on the carpet floor, with walls and bathroom being completely dry) while we were not there. We went to bed and headed to the airport the next day in the morning.

After being punished at the airport for visiting Nepal and spending our money there (we had to pay some "government tax" (around $26) for leaving Nepal), we have set of to Thailand, namely to its capital Bangkok.

On behalf of the fatal crew :)

Zdenek

Rafting on the Trishuli river

Durbar Square, Kathmandu

Durbar Square, Patan

Swayambunath Stupa, Kathmandu

Holy man at Pashupatinath, Kathmandu

Pictures update 1

2008-07-17T16:17:00.004+02:00

Well, we need to set few things right:)
Because of very limited access to Internet in India and Nepal, along with even more limited possibilities to download photos from our cameras to any computer (memory card readers not available), in combination with extremely slow Internet connection anyway, we haven't uploaded any of our own photos yet.

Those attached in previous posts were "googled" in order to provide an idea of what each post writes about:) We're glad to receive a positive feedback on these pictures, especially when being aware that our own ones are even better;-) Here are some of them, mostly featuring ourselves. Enjoy:)

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

In the plane to Delhi - Fatal trip begins! :)

In the bus, close to Jodhpur, India

In the desert, Jaisalmer, India

In the rickshaw, Jaipur, India

In front of the Taj Mahal, Agra, India

Washing hands in the river Ganga, Varanasi, India

In the Vietnamese monastery, Bodhgaya, India

On the bus roof, close to Pokhara, Nepal

On the Poon hill, Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

In the guest house, Kathmandu, Nepal

Nepal I (July 4 - July 13)

2008-07-13T13:25:00.011+02:00

On July 4th, just having spent 2 weeks in India, we crossed the Indian-Nepalese border in a small village called Sonauli. As usually, there was a bus strike, so we were not able to take a regular bus to Lumbini, birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who later achieved enlightenment in Bodhgaya, India (a place we visited as well) and became Buddha. So we had to take a cycle-rickshaw and spent next 3 hours "traveling" around 30 km to Lumbini. We had a small diner at some local "restaurant" and went to bed, ready to explore the village and surrounding monasteries in the early morning and then take a bus to Pokhara in the afternoon. However, I did not feel too good the next morning, so we decided to spend whole day in Lumbini and continue the other day. We had some rest and spent the afternoon outside, enjoying the variety of wonderful monasteries and temples. In the evening Martin got sick, so we have decided to spend one more day in Lumbini - which was actually getting quite boring, but was necessary - we really did not have much rest in India, so I guess those problems were a result of our exhaustion.

Almost completely recovered, on July 6th, we left to nearby Bhairawa to catch our bus to Pokhara, the small town in Himalayas (Annapurna region) where our trekking adventure was supposed to begin. Our first plan was to trek from Jomsom to Pokhara (around 6 days trek), but since getting a flight to Jomsom seemed quite unsure and we did not want to waste much time in Pokhara, we have changed the plan and decided to trek the Nayapul-Ghorepani-Tatopani-Beni loop (4 days).

We hired a Sherpa and set off for the journey. It has been an amazing experience - seeing the green hills with small and large waterfalls, observing the 8.000 m high mountains from the Poon Hill (3.200 m) in the morning, walking over the hanging bridges, discovering local villages. We have experienced all kinds of weather and came back on July 12th in the evening after a suicidal bus ride from Beni to Pokhara (which was probably the most dangerous and annoying part of our trekking experience). Extremely tired, but very happy, we went to bed, with one day of relax in front of us and one more week in Nepal to be spent.

We are going rafting tomorrow (July 14th) and then moving to Kathmandu. Our ticket from Kathmandu to Bangkok is already booked. South-east Asia, here we come!

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Zdenek

Mayadevi temple, Lumbini

Lake Phewa Tal, Pokhara

The Himalayas from the Poon Hill

Annapurna I (8.091 m) from the Poon Hill

Typical view on our trek

India II (June 27 - July 4)

2008-07-08T13:39:00.011+02:00

Although we didn't intend it, almost three weeks passed since the last post. Time goes so fast on the trip:)

As already mentioned in the previous post, we visited quite well known places in India during second week. We went by bus from Jaipur right to Agra, where we stayed for 3 days - including a whole day trip to Fatehpur Sikri - and of course not missing out the Taj Mahal, the Agra Fort and the Baby Taj. Going by rickshaw turned out to be really cheap as soon as we allowed the driver to take us to local shops and manufactures (where they received a commission). This way, we not only enjoyed many hours of ride for less then €0,5, but also learned a lot about carpets, marble, jewelery, local dresses (mostly sari and various scarfs) etc.

A mysterious site of Hindu temples in Khajuraho was the next place to visit. In spite of making our journey to Varanasi a little bit longer (going through Jhansi), it was definitely worth visiting. Based on what we have read in our guide book, even the scientists don't know why so many (around 17, grouped into 3 main groups) giant temples were built in a short period of time, quite off the main roads. There is only 20,000 people living in Khajuraho, however, the village was very vivid and "western-style". On our way to Mahoba (from where we set off to Varanasi) we joined Steve, an English guy, who is already traveling for 2 years... really wonderful stories were shared.

Varanasi surprised both of us. We expected a small village situated along the coast of sacred river Ganga, being invaded by Buddhists from all around the world. Varanasi, similarly to Agra or Delhi, is actually quite a busy place - it has more than 2 millions inhabitants and 1 million rickshaws (our sensible guess:))... and is polluted accordingly. The coast of Ganga is luckily different, you can feel the religious spirit! Stairs going down to the river (called ghats, and being half-flooded at these monsoon times) are commonly dedicated to specific religious events. We couldn't miss the Puja, a one hour long ceremony, that is performed on the main ghat twice a day. The purpose of the Burning ghat is obvious, and definitely requires to feel the atmosphere, rather than to write about it.

Varanasi might have been the last city we visited in India, but fortunately we decided to visit Bodhgaya as well. On the one hand we had to spend 12 hours in a train (plus 2-4 hours of waiting for the train, as usual), but on the other hand we had a chance to meditate under the Bodhi tree, on the same place where lord Buddha reached the highest spiritual level of nirvana. Besides, related to the religious importance of the place, there is around 15 wonderful monasteries dedicated to various Buddhist nations.

Then we took our last Indian train, bus and rickshaw on our way to Sonauli (Bodhgaya > Gaya > Varanasi > Gorakhpur > Sonauli), where we entered Nepal on Friday July 4th. Actually it wasn't the last time in India - we are coming back to Delhi at the beginning of September to catch our plane to Vienna:)

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

Taj Mahal, Agra

Western group of Hindu temples, Khajuraho

River Ganga, Varanasi

One of many ghats on Ganga, Varanasi

"Second class sleeper" - our favorite train:)

Mahabodhi temple, Bodhgaya

India I (June 20 - June 26)

2008-06-26T10:26:00.015+02:00

On Friday June 20th we left Prague on our way to Vienna. Our plane to India took off at around 1:30 pm and successfully touched down in Delhi shortly after midnight on the next day. Although expecting "tourist" prices and a necessity to bargain hard, our first rickshaw and the first hotel turned out to be extremely expensive later on:) We spent couple of hours in the city centre and focused on four main tasks: buying a Lonely Planet guidebook for India, having a breakfast+lunch+dinner (all in one time), exchanging a little of money, and buying a ticket to Jodphur. Nothing could be so easy as may sound, but we eventually managed:) After a sleep in train we arrived to Jodphur on Sunday morning.

In Jodphur, the Blue city, we enjoyed a typical Indian atmosphere and set off to Jaisalmer, where we stayed next 3 days - not missing the "camel safari" that is said to be the main tourist attraction, and for sure was an amazing experience!

Today (Thursday June 26th, day 6) we are in Jaipur, where we finally encountered the first food store (small "supermarket"), and are looking forward to visiting Agra, Varanasi and few other interesting places in India in upcoming week.

All in all, despite all preparations, it is a little bit more tough and much more different than expected:) Of course, there are many interesting (or just funny... or sometimes even shocking) stories and pictures connected with every hour spent here, but it is not possible to post everything on the blog. We are making notes and back-uping photos, so just stay tuned for September:)

And so as to make the first update complete - so far we are not suffering from any diseases.

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

Lal Qila (Red Fort), Delhi

Jaswent Thada, Jodhpur

Jaisalmer Fort, Jaisalmer

Camel safari, Thar Desert

Hawa Mahal, Jaipur

The fatally excellent "project manager"

2008-06-19T20:06:00.006+02:00

Although I have expected this year to be really busy and it was actually much busier than I have expected, I do not believe that Martin was less busy than I was. However he still found enough time for preparation and planning of our trip - mostly coordinating our activities, researching, "managing" the whole preparation. I believe Martin did around 60-75% of the whole work regarding the fatal preparation and I would like to express my great thanks to him for that.

So thanks a lot Martin, our readiness would not be so good without your effort :)!

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Zdenek

Fifth strategic meeting

2008-06-10T20:15:00.009+02:00

Yesterday we met in the university restaurant for the last strategic meeting, the fifth one. Originally (approximately in February:)) this meeting was intended to provide space for final check of everything related to the trip. As could have been easily foreseen, eventually there was a little bit more to talk about:)

We made final arrangements concerning few items on our packing list and were mostly discussing contents of so called Info kit (including all information we want to have available during the trip, e.g. basic descriptions of main tourist sights, contacts for embassies, important border crossings, specifics of tropical diseases and first aid and much other).

This week (starting Monday June 9th) is in fact the last one I can devote to preparations, due to logistical, technical, personal and other reasons. On the other hand, Zdenek needs to focus now on studying for his final bachelor exam that is to be taken next Monday, thus his final preparations will take place just few days before our departure (Friday June 20th).

I believe we both manage to get "ready enough" in time!
As for now, I'd say we are 86% ready;-)

See you soon, on the Fatal bye-bye party!

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

Fourth strategic meeting

2008-06-01T17:10:00.003+02:00

On May 28th 2008, with 22 fatal days to our departure, another - fourth - strategic meeting took place in a small town of Czech Republic - Horni Jircany!

Points that we discussed were:

detailed plan of our trip - particular places we are going to visit
particular items of our baggage that we were not sure whether to take or not
fatal corporates :)
details concerning fatal bye-bye party
setting of rules and sharing of expectations
various random stuff (doctors, medication, insurance, packing logistics, consultations of all kinds, travel guides, cash etc.)

This meeting was quite long and exhausting, especially when it came to the rules setting part. However the output we produced is of excellent quality and we believe it will make our trip more enjoyable and with less complications and misunderstandings within the fatal crew :)

As usually, we divided responsibilities and have set next steps, so everything should be ready for our fifth meeting which will take place on June 9th 2008.

As far as visas and vaccinations are concerned, we are almost all set - to our surprise, we have fought the bureaucracy at embassies well enough and received all visas with required validity and of required type. Martin still has a few vaccinations to go through (or to skip and die as a hero).

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Zdenek

Having rest after another successful meeting

PS: Well, we were not just discussing... and dedicated little time to practice, too. Zdenek had bad luck when tossing the coin for who shall try out our new toy, a pepper spray ;-) M.

Shopping meeting

2008-05-27T23:39:00.024+02:00

Well, we've been planning for couple of months and the day of our departure is approaching in a considerable pace... but we still don't have a backpack, nor a mosquito net!

It's a high time to fix it.That's why we went shopping last Friday! :)

Although a shopping meeting doesn't explicitly belong to the concept of "strategic meetings", it could be very well compared to all previous ones of that kind, at least when it comes to duration. We started at 10:30 and finished at 17:30 - just because I had to go home, otherwise it would have probably taken much longer... we actually started really shopping that time:)

Performing on-the-spot quality check.
It was my task to prepare the plan:

Lunch at the University (clarifying objectives and deliverables of the meeting - was skipped as the restaurant was closed)
Army shop (to feel the spirit, get educated on how to survive in the jungle, try out fancy army wear and eventually buy few security gadgets and some other handy equipment)
Rock Point, Hudy, etc. (to experience quality)
Drapa, Hervis, etc. (to take advantage of economies of scale)

In reality... well, how would I say... as soon as we started to improvise a little bit in the middle of the day, the time plan had to be slightly reconsidered (= went to pieces:))

All in all, I'm sure it was a productive meeting, as usual:) Despite spending less than 200€ / 5000CZK in total, we managed to compare many products and acquired a fair overview of what needs to be bought next, where, and for how much money.The rest is just a routine shopping.

Besides, we discussed many related issues planned for the 4th str. meeting that is going to take place tomorrow.

In the picture: "Fatal shopping list" - each item is evaluated (receives points according to respective moving scales) based on its indispensability, physical dimensions including weight, cost and color. Shopping is really easy then!:)

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

Dreaming of a fatal experience, with a brand new backpack!

Fatal bye-bye party! :)

2008-05-21T23:25:00.010+02:00

209 days since me and Zdenek shaked our hands and decided to make this voyage happen,
114 days since our first strategic meeting,
37 days since we bought our flight tickets to India,

...and just 29 days to go!

Therefore it is our pleasure to announce we are organizing the...

FATAL BYE-BYE PARTY

Tuesday June 17th 2008
19:00
(place is to be specified)

Also, Zdenek is taking his final bachelor exam on this day. Let me wish him good luck and loads of persistence in upcoming rush period!

We are both looking forward to meeting many of you on this special occasion!

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

No haircut, no shave...

2008-05-15T02:04:00.016+02:00

To make our trip easier going and to prevent some unpleasant events from happening, we have decided to:

look as shabby as possible to repel all potential thieves and criminals
look as little attractive as possible in order to discourage all potential Asian females from approaching us (such distractions should disturb our traveling experience)
look as poor as possible so all people would feel sorry for us and would accommodate us somewhere each night
and last but not least, to feel and look like real travelers (since we wouldn't be able to achieve this in any other way :) ...)

Therefore, we will not get a haircut nor shave during our 3-months trip!

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Zdenek

Third strategic meeting

2008-05-04T17:35:00.026+02:00

With 54 fatal days to our departure, we have met once again on 27.4.2008 at my house to discuss further details.

This involved mostly:

Time plan concerning our visas and final division of responsibilities
Brainstorming on complete equipment for our trip
Discussion on how we will be financing our expenses while abroad
Next steps concerning course of our trip

1. Time plan concerning our visas
We already have visas to India :) ! Hooray :) !

As a next step, we need to take care of visas to Thailand. Martin is in charge of that and while the granting procedure is really screwed up, he is fighting hard. Since we have no flight tickets to Thailand and are therefore not entitled to receive regular travel visa and transit visa does not help us much (we need to entry Thailand 3 times altogether), we will have to write a special letter to the Ambassador. And hope he will anticipate our request :) ...

Afterwards we need to obtain visas to Nepal and Vietnam and we are all set, at least on the bureaucratic issue! Visas to other countries we are going to visit will be taken care of on the spot.

2. Brainstorming on complete equipment for our trip
We finally have almost a complete equipment checklist! Some of our items are:

beach purse
shitty watch
PEPO
lubrication gel (and candles)
5 clothes pegs
weapon and tear gas
mouth organ
ear plugs
chewing gums
crayons
leadership books (wtf?)
small pillow

We already found some equipment at home, this can be seen on the photos. We will probably have to buy 2 new cameras as well, since ours are piece of ... Other important things to be bought are tent and backpacks. (I hope they make one with a porter, because we are not going to carry all the stuff ourselves, are we?!)

3. Discussion on how we will be financing our expenses
We need to analyze how much our home banks will charge us for an ATM withdrawal abroad. I am in charge of this "analysis". Then we will decide how much money we are going to exchange in next 2 weeks.

4. Next steps concerning course of our trip
Martin proposed that he will put together the most important information about each country and its beauties. This material should help us to gain the necessary background and the particular decisions on where to go will be made during our trip on a daily basis. I am in charge of preparing the trip through India, since this will be our starting (hopefully not fatal) country.

Random news and other announcements

Vaccinations are going excellent. We are (or will be) vaccinated against hepatitis A+B, typhus, meningitis A+C, cholera and rabies and are still alive. Martin will not manage the cholera cocktail, so it is strictly advised to take at least strawberry cocktail with him, just in case diarrhea occurs.
Insurance is almost fixed, it is not that expensive as we have expected
Martin is arranging our Prague-Vienna return bus tickets

Well, if we will manage to fight our school responsibilities (which does not seem that positive on my side) we should be departing soon :) ! Stay tuned.

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Zdenek

As usually, we had a lot of fun...

Plans are inflating fatally...

2008-04-28T01:32:00.003+02:00

Fatal news: cannot step back!

2008-04-16T14:46:00.014+02:00

We haven't updated our blog during past 3 weeks... however, quite substantial steps have been taken!

Flight tickets
After long preparations and considering especially Zdenek's tough agenda in June and in September, we just bought our flight tickets yesterday!! The Fatal trips gains the ultimate time span!

12 FATAL WEEKS
Friday June 20th 2008
Wednesday September 10th 2008

Due to unfavourable circumstances we had to pay a part of the total sum in cash. And what better place to choose than a branch of Komercni Banka next to the multifunctional complex U Hajku on Na Florenci street in Prague:)

So as to begin our backpacking experience in a mild way, we also decided to fly to Delhi from Vienna and our objective #1 would be to get there on time, not being ripped off and keep ourselves from digestive challenges:)

Vaccinations
It goes well, both of us have already our vaccination schedules settled. The only drawback of my stay in Canada impacting the Fatal trip is that there is not enough time for me to take an anti-cholera cocktail.

All the rest
As I've just returned from Canada 3 days ago, we are now ready for the next in-person strategic meeting to proceed with general preparations. Stay tuned!:)

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Martin

Vaccinations coming soon!

2008-03-23T16:21:00.022+01:00

Preparations are getting more and more fatal.

Last days we have spent researching for vaccinations needed for our trip and looking for the best and cheapest vaccination centre in Prague. To my surprise, I have sent ca. 7 emails to different doctors and have received 5 answers, from which 3 I would rate as "very satisfactory". Based on those answers and based on our current research, we are going to get (re)vaccinated against those diseases:

Tetanus
Hepatitis A+B
Typhus
Polio
Diphtheria
Meningitis A+C
Rabies
Cholera
Tuberculosis
and possibly some more...

Well, it seems that if we will survive the vaccination, we will have a great trip :-) !

We are also going to buy a return ticket Prague-Delhi in following two weeks.

Martin is coming back from Canada in a few weeks, then more serious planning will come!

Actually I was about to put some pictures of the diseases here, but I became so disturbed by the photos that I have decided to put up something rather positive - so check out some of the places we are going to visit :-)

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Zdenek

Kouangsi Waterfalls, Laos

Taj Mahal, India

Petronas Towers, Malaysia

Coastline, Thailand

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Second strategic meeting

2008-02-21T23:55:00.010+01:00

Three weeks have passed and we are meeting again!

Having met on time as usually (30 minutes later than agreed on) we drove to my house and had a romantic dinner with candles and soft background music. And a dog screwing around the table.

Because of the time pressure, we did not have that much time to do a decent research (Martin did actually most of the work), so we decided to focus on specifying the course of our trip and next steps concerning our fatal summer. Since borders of Myanmar are closed, driving or somehow getting through this country showed to be extremely difficult or even impossible. Therefore we had to replan the trip we are going to take.

You can see the map below.

On behalf of the fatal crew :)
Zdenek

(yellow = country borders, red = long way to take:),
green = facultative trips, blue = flights)

First complications

2008-02-13T01:04:00.002+01:00

Two weeks have just passed since our previous meeting and our preparations for the fatal trip continue. Each of us, me and Zdenek, are responsible for half of countries on our actual destination list. It means that we are gathering information about visa, vaccination, the most significant travel sights, country specifics (e.g. culture, accommodation, transportation, politics, climate, currency) etc. to be ready for sharing and discussion during the second strategic meeting (coming soon!).

"My" countries are Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia and Myanmar (Burma) and it is the last one that has caused the first complications. As you may have noticed in the map that was created after the last meeting, we intend to go from India to Laos through Myanmar. To be more precise, we would like to go by train. And here it comes... I found out on multiple channels that most probably it won't be possible due to current military government that block many frontier crossings. It is highly recommended that tourists enter the country only by plain.

If this gets confirmed, it brings many implications, e.g. to fly to Myanmar from Thailand instead of India (because of visa), therefore a need to obtain a double visa to Thailand (because of repeated entry)... and above all to reconsider the order of all countries on our "flight plan".
Let's hope it requires just few slight rearrangements! :)

On behalf of the fatal crew:)
Martin

First strategic meeting

2008-01-30T00:49:00.003+01:00

I can recall the situation quite clearly... having a lunch with Zdenek on Friday October 26th 2007, talking about various things as usually, but also coming up with a crazy idea to set off for a big journey. It shall be the biggest trip we have experienced so far and that will be pretty hard to challenge in future as well. Let's see... :)

Well, nice idea, but let's carry on with some appropriate planning!
Today, it is Tuesday January 29th 2008 and we are meeting again at Zdenek's place for the First strategic meeting.

What is on the agenda:

set a rough timeline
share our expectations (don't worry - we are not just bullshitting around, thanks to a decent preparation since Christmas)
choose destinations
create a flight plan
fog out (vymlzit) the budget (uff... it was hard to precisely evaluate the costs of accommodation in Vientiane (Laos), transportation fees in Bangladesh or cost of female entertainment in Thailand... you can imagine, can't you?)
check our bank accounts :)
launch the blog (yeah!)
and last but not least... set the next steps, of course!

We've been extremely productive and after 2,5hrs of ice breakers, we've decided the whole thing within another 5hrs.
See the map below to get a better idea about it. More detailed "output" of this meeting will be available soon.

Following pictures document the atmosphere of our First strategic meeting:

Martin & Zdenek

Are you ready for a fatal blog?

2008-01-29T23:56:00.001+01:00

Ladies and gentlemen!
The time has come!

Let us welcome you on this brand new blog that was created for one basic purpose... to keep you updated during our 3-month summer transasian trip.

Let's call it the fatal trip!

Would you like to know more about the whole voyage? Stay tuned for more information... coming soon!

Zdenek & Martin
fatal-trip.blogspot.com