Impressive Georgia is an extremely mountainous country located almost entirely in the South Caucasus in Western Asia. Its northern border with Russia stretches along the main ridge of the Greater Caucasus, which includes some of the highest mountains in Europe, as the watershed forms the boundary between Asia and Europe. Its western limit is the Black Sea.

Mighty Shkhara, which at 5193 meters above sea level is the tallest mountain in Georgia and the third highest in Europe

A small part of Georgia is geographically part of Europe. Most of the approximately four million inhabitants consider themselves European and call their country the Balcony of Europe. For us, however, it was a stressful country, as we sensed a lot of aggression, possibly caused by the conflicts between East and West. The roads are often terrible, and many drivers are very reckless. Nevertheless, it is a great country with magnificent landscapes, a breathtaking culture, and mostly friendly people.

We immediately felt in love with Armenia – with its amiable people, its magnificent landscapes, and its breathtaking history with its many impressive monuments.

Surb Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) Church in the Noravank Monastery in central Armenia

Many people invited us, gave us small gifts, and conversed with us in German. We were amazed at how close the connection between Armenia and Germany is. Our first morning was quite typical: We were able to spend the night in the parking lot of the first-class Caucasian fish restaurant Cherkezi Dzor in Armenia's second-largest city, Gyumri (population 110,000). The owner came to our camper in the morning and welcomed us to Armenia. He then took us to his garden, where his wife was gardening. She gave us tons of delicious vegetables and fruit, including the best apricots we'd ever eaten.

Of course, we had to try the food at this incredible restaurant where we ate sturgeon. The home-brewed beer was also exceptionally good, and all at a reasonable price.

On July 24, 2025, one of our dreams came true – we climbed the archaic Mount Ararat, where, according to the Bible, Noah's Ark landed.

Klaus from Saxonia, our guide Faruk, Alfred, Rüdiger from Saxonia and Marion on top of Ararat which is with 5137 meters sea-level the highest mountain of Türkiye

It's a perfect shaped volcano adorned with a ice cap, overwhelming it sourrounding more the 1200 meters. Ararat is located near the border triangle between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey, so its political situation is quite complicated, but thanks to local Turkish organizations and guides, climbing its summit is now easily possible.

Since the Early Bronze Age (2000 BC), Anatolia has been a melting pot of various tribes and kingdoms, including Persians, Seljuks, Phrygians, Assyrians, Greeks and Romans. There are countless places where you can find their impressive legacy and testimonies.

Collapsed lion's head in the Phrygian Valley (about 250 km south of Istanbul) from the Yılantaş rock tomb probably for Phrygian nobles, dated 800 to 700 BC

On June 21, 2025, we crossed the border from Bulgaria into beautiful Türkiye and explored the bustling mid-sized city of Edirne (population 170,000), Türkiye's westernmost city.

We came back to Bangkok on February 19th and we returned to Germany two days later. Like on our first trip in November 2017 we stayed in Bangkok's Chinatown and explored the city on foot.

Before we headed to Bangkok we spent four days in the tropical paradise of Koh Kood island which is located close to the border to Cambodia and Koh Chang which we had visited also in November 2017 - see article: Koh Chang - A beautiful island in the Gulf of Thailand.

Our trip in Cambodia started excitingly: We had to change the bus on the border to Laos and drove few kilometers to a rest stop in the middle of nowhere. It turned out that we had two flat tires. Fortunately there was a little workshop on the street and the technicians did an amazing job and we could continue our itinerary to Siem Reap with just two hours delay. This was our first contact with the incredible gentle and admirable Cambodian people.

Family on Sangker River

Siem Reap is the hub for the Angkor Wat temple complex which are the most important touristic destination in Cambodia and one of the most impressive ruins on earth built by the Khmer between the 9th and 13th centuries. Angkor Wat is the identification symbol of Cambodia, consequently on its national flag and it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The old royal capital of Laos Luang Prabang is an UNESCO World Heritage site thanks to its numerous and well preserved Buddhist temples and monasteries. The little towns with approximately 50,000 inhabitants lies in central northern Laos on shore of mighty Mekong. Consequently Luang Prabang is one of the major tourist attractions in Laos.

Sunset on Mekong which is one of the largest river on earth

We came to Laos via plane on January 15th 2020 and explored on the following day its picturesque and interesting inner city including the short ascent to 353 meters high Phou Si Mountain.

Vietnam has beautiful mountains in the North including 3143 meters high Fansipan which is the tallest peak of Vietnam and also of Indochina which includes Laos and Cambodia, too.

Guan Yin Statue close to the summit of Fansipan

We arrived in busy Hanoi on December 18th 2019 which is the capital of Vietnam and the the northern metropolis of Vietnam with more than eight million inhabitants and probably more little bikes. Crossing the street of its old town is a real challenge due to the incredible extensive bike traffic. Many of its streets, churches and markets were nicely decorated.

Northern Thailand is much cooler than the rest thanks to its higher sea-levels. For us it was nearly unbearable hot and humid in Bangkok after our arrival on November 8th 2017 and we decided to head northwards. Two days later we took the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The engine broke half the way and we had to wait for another one. So we arrived at Chiang Mai at 6:00h early morning instead of midnight after spending 17 hours in the train. But the trip was worth because we felt immediately in love with the green, lush and mountainous landscape adorned with nice cities and beautiful temples.

Little colorful temple with monk

Thanks to an excellent offer of Etihad Airlines we decided to fly to Thailand in November 2017. We spent two weeks in northern Thailand and traveled between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai (see next article: Between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai). The third week we were on the beautiful island Koh Chang on the northeastern corner of the Gulf of Thailand close to the Cambodian border.

Venomous Big-eyed Pit-viper in the jungle of Koh Chang

When we came to Bangkok in the late evening we were so tired on the next day that we slept until lunch time (six hours time difference to Germany!). We stayed in the low budget hostel Marin Inn in Bangkok's Chinatown. When we explored this quarter a tuk-tuk driver (three wheeler taxis based on mopeds) offered us to show us for little money some interesting places. First we saw some nice temples. We refused a shopping mall and asked him to head to the port of mighty river Mae Nam Chao Phraya. He drove to an touristic port where the agency wanted more than 100U$ for a 2 hours cruise on the river.