Cameroon –just arrived

Not much yet to tell really. Except that the weather is great: cool nights, warm to hot days and a shower every couple of days to wash everything clean (including the inside of the car as we forgot to close the windows…)

Materialistic as we are, I’m gonna start with our house: It’s a great place, newly built (which means not a manicured garden as yet…), with a big garden and on the outskirts of Yaounde. But within 20-30 min drive of the city centre. Water and electricity are mostly present – we’ve had a couple of power and water cuts but mainly due to technical problems rather than availability. On the picture below, you see our house on the left and the office and guesthouse on the right. Both are connected with a great terrace.

Jara’s doing fine. Is enjoying running around naked or just a nappy and having a lot of space. A difficult sleeper as she always has been, the nights are not too bad! We’re getting a couple of nights through every so often – hopefully that will become regular before too long. We’re in the process to look for a crèche or something similar which would be good for Jara. She misses her Bangkok –buddies!! Luckily, with us arrived another couple with a son, only a few months older than Jara. We meet up with them at least once a week to let the children have a good play.

We have explored Yaounde a couple of times and no, it’s not Bangkok, nor Ghent or Stuttgart. But if you look, you can find everything. Before leaving Belgium for example, we were warned to bring a water filter as they don’t have them in Cameroon. As they are impossible to find in Belgium, we had one send to us the week before we left from Germany, at great expense. On our first outing in Yaounde, what do we see… dozens of water filters for sale at a fraction of the price we paid in Europe… future travellers, be warned!

Work wise, Thorsten is getting settled well and looking forward to the coming partner visits with trips into the country. I haven’t really started looking for fulltime paid positions as we have another baby coming in November. So far I’m feeling fine and have had no problems. Where I’ll be for the delivery is not decided yet. We’re trying to figure out the options and if possible I would like to deliver here. But we’ll see.

Pai - Mae Hong Son

Leaving Thailand for good, it must be done in style. So we decided to go for the last 10 days to the North of Thailand and do 'the Pai- Mae Hong Son Loop'. It was well worth it.

We set of to Chiang Mai and rent a car from there. Arriving in Pai, we decide it is such a nice chilled out place, we hang out there for 5 nights - oops! Half of our holiday gone and we haven't started properly... The fact we were staying in a beautiful place in the middle of the rice fields (http://www.thecountrysidepai.com/en/index.php) may have had something to do with it. Pai is a great place to do day treks from. With Jara we were obviously limited in what we could do, but we managed to visit a couple of so called 'coffin caves', drove to and through hill tribe villages and made a few walks in the villages and rice fields.

Arriving in Mae Hong Son, we immediately realized that if we would not have stayed 5 days in Pai, we would have done it in Mae Hong Son (http://www.sangtonghuts.com/index.html). MHS attracts lots of hill tribes who come to sell their local produce in town. There are lots of influences of Myanmar (Shan temples, Shan kitchen etc) which brought back memories of Griet's friends of Myanmar during her study. We also went to the Myanmar border and stuck our hand into Myanmar - didn't dare to cross the border as there was no-one there but a watch post a bit further and you never know if they are watching you with their binoculars.

Another great outing was visiting the Long-neck Karen or Padaung Karen village. They came into Thailand years ago, fleeing Burma and their refugee camps have become their home. Jara was as much an attraction to them, as they were to us. The same happened in every hill tribe village we passed. Jara was often almost pulled out of our arms, so keen were they to pick her up. And to be honest, it made it much easier to make contact and take pictures too!

In the Doi Inthanon National Park we stayed in a village-run place. The funny thing was that they cultivated their own coffee in the Karen village, which we could go and taste but the guest house only served instant Nescafé...

Al in all it was the perfect way to say goodbye to Thailand. We will go back but it won't be for the first couple of years.
Now, we are getting ready to move to Cameroon and start our new life there. Thorsten will leave for Yaoundé 2nd March but has to come back to Belgium for work in April already. So Griet and Jara will join him at the beginning of May, when the 3 of us will go back together and start the new adventure.

X-mas in Uganda

When you live in Thailand, Tourist destination no 1, why would you go to spend X-mas in Uganda?

We came from Thailand, Thorsten's parents, sister and niece from Germany and Griet's sister from Belgium and we all met at the Kenis- residence in Wakiso (house of Griet's parents, who live there), near Kampala.


After a few days of adjusting to the weather and jetlag, we took off in a minivan to meet Santa Claus in Fort Portal, walk around the Crater lakes in Nkuruba, search for lions (failed), hippo's (succeeded) and elephants (succeeded) in Queen Elizabeth National Park and get lost in the markets in Kampala.
We were very lucky with the weather and the electricity - I think the Ugandan government provided a X-mas special. Only once or twice did we have dinner by candle light.

At the end of the holiday, Thorsten and I took a 2-day honeymoon in Jinja at the sources of the Nile and left Jara in the good hands of my parents... She didn't blink once. Think she didn't even notice we were gone... Due to the problems in Kenya and the fuel shortage in Uganda we managed to get a ride both ways although it wasn't always sure we'd get back.

We all suffered a bit of the usual holiday disturbances which make you run to the loo several times at night but it never interrupted our itinerary. Having 2 babies with us ensured that we took it easy and therefore were able to enjoy more as you can see in the pictures.
Luckily Jara and Sophia did not complain about 'too long hikes'. They joined willingly.

A girlie holiday in Krabi

Through lucky unforeseen circumstances my mum (Griets mum that is) ended up coming to Thailand for a week to join me for a nice holiday in Krabi - women only!

As you can see on the pictures below, Krabi's scenery is wonderful and the beach is never far away... We just relaxed, snorkeled, swam in the ocean and swimming pool, played games, read books and just enjoyed being with each other. Jara just loved the water and would have stayed in it all day long if it wasn't for the hunger now and then - and breastfeeding in the water, not sure about that!


One had to take a long tail boat to get to the peninsula in the first place but Jara didn't mind at all. All she could do was smile and chat away. She obviously enjoyed the 24h attention she got from grandma... and grandma enjoyed Jara...


We were so lucky with the weather as this time of year Krabi has the highest rainfall... But we had rain only once and it was in the evening.



And now the added bonus: as we were ready to board the plane to go back to Bangkok, Thorsten called to say that he has a job in Yaoundé, Cameroun for early next year... So we're getting ready here for our new adventure!!

Holidays, wedding and much more

Jara's been growing soooo fast, you would not believe it. When she was 6 weeks old (it seems like yesterday) Thorsten's parents came for a visit to Thailand. 2 weeks of helpful hands, traveling and lots of advice. It was wonderful.

We decided to do some traveling in proximity of Bangkok, just to get the hang of it (traveling with a baby that is). A visit to Khao Yai National Park was on the top of our list. We've been in Thailand for more than 2 years and we never made it... shame on us!
We stayed in a lovely place amidst the green hills of Khao Yai en enjoyed the surrounding nature and wildlife. Jara (who has always been a difficult sleeper at night) slept wonderfully in this fresh air.

As we were up that end of Thailand we decided to come back to Bangkok via Buriram, a restored Khmer site à la Angkor Wat. Also Thailand has quite a number of ruins from that era and some Thais even claim that Angkor Wat in Cambodia belongs to them... Nevertheless, whoever it belongs to, these sites are beautiful and absolutely worth a visit.

After spending a few days in the jungle, it was time to wash off all the insects at the beach in Hua Hin. We went back to Jara's birth place and paid a visit at the hospital wing where she was born. The nurses we delighted to see how much she had grown in these few weeks.

Again we stayed in a lovely place and there the idea grew of spending the next Christmas together in Uganda, where Griet's parents live. As of now, the tickets and accommodations are booked and we are looking forward to land on African soil.

Once Thorsten's parents left it was time for Griet to organise her wedding dress... Which was an adventure on its own, not the least finding a tailor who can sew a proper dress ('Thai style' wedding dresses are very, very glittery and extremely tightly stitched together so you can barely move, let alone dance!).

Although Thailand is the country of custom made clothes, Thorsten also needed some encouragement to get his suit tailor made. However, it all worked out well in the end.

At the beginning of July, Griet flew to Belgium with Jara where her mum met her at the airport, arriving from Uganda the same time. We needed the extra weeks to finalise the wedding preparations... ever tried organising a wedding from a distance (Griet and Thorsten in Thailand, Thorsten's parents in Germany, Griet's parents in Uganda and the wedding to be held in Belgium)?

It was also a time for Griet's family to meet Jara and Jara to meet her relatives.

The wedding itself was wonderful. The Weather Gods were extremely kind and provided us with Bangkok-like temperatures. Most of our friends from all regions of the world came to Belgium for this day.



The service was beautiful, plenty of good food and drinks and non-stop dancing.

It was so nice to meet again with all the friends we met during our stay and work in The Gambia, UK, Germany and Belgium. The fact that people made an effort to come from so far away (some came from as far Mexico, Afghanistan, Ecuador and Cameroon) made it an unforgettable day.

The next day we had an "after party" for those that came from furthest away and that was as much fun as the wedding day itself. It gave us an opportunity to have some more time for our friends, finish the leftovers from the party and have a BBQ.

Before we knew it, the holiday was over. Now we're back in Bangkok and for Griet, the job search has begun. It's great, looking after Jara full time, but one needs to find a job at some point...

Since we are back we have been able to go away for a weekend to Vientiane, Laos and again, a very nice place to be... wouldn't mind finding a job there...
It is, just as Luang Prabang in the North of Laos, a very laid back place where you can stroll along the Mekong River, have pint and good French food.

Last weekend we went off with the Bangkok House Hash Bikers (http://www.bangkokbikehash.com) to Nakhon Nayok (towards the Khao Yai National Park). Thorsten did the biking, I did the swimming in the pool with Jara instead.
It was a very nice weekend away, among lots of trees and fresh air. The right environment to reload our batteries for another couple of weeks Bangkok. Because in 3 weeks time we head off to Krabi - another one of these places we've never been...- for 5 days beach, sea and sun (although it's rainy season, we have ordered good weather).

Jara

Jara (pronounced 'Yara') was born on 15th April 2007 (or 2550, BE).
It was Songkran public holidays (Thai New Year) and we decided to go on a little holiday in Hua Hin (200km south of Bangkok). I had been to the doc the day before departure and been given all-clear to go on holiday. Oh boy, how things turned out differently!
To be honest, we did make the decision to go to Hua Hin as it has hospitals where staff is likely to speak some English (Hua Hin is a major tourist destination in Thailand, especially popular among the expat community of Bangkok) and we had rented a car, 'just-in-case'. Of course never bothered to actually check out any hospitals or take any baby stuff with us.

So on the 15th, we were (like one does on holiday) hanging out by the pool, having a nice cup of coffee and a cheese cake, played some games, read some books... a very relaxing holiday! In the late afternoon on Sunday eve , we were walking down the streets of Hua Hin when around 5.30 pm I suddenly realise I am wetting my pants ... Only, I can't really stop it and slowly it dawns to me that it is more than just wetting my pants.
I tell Thorsten we better get this checked in the hospital... hmm, what hospital should we go to?


Decided to go to the Marriott Hotel and ask where they would send tourists for emergencies (hoping to get one of the better hospitals in town recommended). They send us to the (only) private hospital in Hua Hin.

After arriving at the hospital, the doctor initially wanted to examine me in a full and bussy ER room... I kindly refused. After examination (in a seperate examination room) the doctor decided that, yes, it had started, but it could still take anything from 6 to 20 hours before the baby is born. So can we still make it to Bangkok then? Yes, if you leave now now.
At that time, I wasn't really having real contractions yet, just some back ache. So we drive to the hotel (which was actually another 20 km south of Hua Hin) to pack and go. But... on the way, I suddenly got very, very strong contractions, very close to each other. I remember watching the clock in the car and realizing the contractions weren't spaced out as they had told me they would be (more like every minute rather than every 20 minutes!). I told Thorsten to go straight back to that hospital, I was sure I wouldn't make it to Bangkok.

And indeed, upon arrival at the hospital again (about 1.5h later) it became quite clear I would never have made it to Bangkok as by the time it was 10.07 pm, Jara was born (4.5 h after my waters broke).

It surely was a bit of an adventure as with the language barrier you're never really sure how much the person has understood of what you say.
In Bangkok, we had to sign up for a 'birth package' where you choose how you want to deliver (natural birth, natural birth with pain relief, Ceasarian section, etc) and it is well known that the number of C-sections are exeptionally high (especially in private hospitals). Often the woman chooses for an elective C-section but equally often, the doctor decides to do a C-section and you're never sure whether it's medically appropriate or whether it's for the doctor's convenience (faster, more money).
So when we got to the hospital in Hua Hin, we made it very clear from the beginning that we did not want a C-section unless things were going wrong. I had a bit of a scare when the doctor was examining my belly and said 'hm, the baby is very big' (which is a classic in Bangkok to do C-section).

But there was no need for our worries, the doctor was very nice and gentle and did respect our wishes (and spoke English!).

Although the hospital staff was kind, there were still things that disturbed us a bit and made us feel uncomfortable. Thorsten, for example, was initally constantly being guided away from me, out of the room. Until he made it quite clear that he was going to be IN the room the whole time. In Thailand, though, childbirth is a 'women thing'. Thai men do not assist their women; it's the woman's mother or/and sister that accompany them during this time. For me of course, I was having none of it!

Unfortunately some of the staff didn't speak any English at all (and our Thai isn't very good either), which led to some misunderstandings. For example, when I asked if I could come and learn when they were going to wash and dress Jara, the nurse said very politely 'wait a moment please' and the next thing I know, she comes back with Jara all nicely washed and dressed...

In the hospital, Jara got a 'goody bag' with some nappies and... 2(!) tins of formula milk. That really shocked us. Especially since I learned that most hospitals in Thailand are "baby friendly hospitals (BHF)" where 90% of the women exclusively breastfeeds their baby in the hospital. To qualify for a BFH the hospital has to comply with 10 steps, which include informing the mothers about the breastfeeding benefits and management, show mothers how to breastfeed, give newborns NO other food or drink other than breastmilk unless medically indicated, encourage breastfeeding on demand, help mother breastfeeding within a half-hour of birth etc.
In Hua Hin however, that was not the case. I had to insist right after birth to put Jara at my breast, and still then they took her away for washing, measuring etc. , nobody showed me how to breastfeed Jara and the nurses wanted to give Jara formula milk (since it as a free goody) from day 1. Luckely Jara stayed in my room so we could watch over her.

All in all, it was a good experience, the staff was nice and it showed us that however good you are prepared and set up to have your baby, it may not go as planned...

Now, almost 2 weeks later, we slowly slowly start to figure things out on our own (missed the prenatal classes, didn't have a clue on how to wash a newborn by the time we got home, etc...).
And as a friend of us said: you come home with the baby and there's no manual that comes with it... you have to figure it out on your own.

So that's what we do and it's a great experience!

Griet's trip to Uganda

My MPH (Masters in Public Health) is slowly slowly coming to an end. But before ending it, I have to do a research study in a related field. I am (as the majority of PH professionals) interested in the still growing HIV/AIDS problem, I have an undying love for Africa and have my parents currently living in Uganda... So it became quite fast pretty clear where I would do my research. The one thing that could have caused problems was my pregnancy... would it be to late for me to fly?

Well, I got back about a week ago and I have had an amazing time. Both on professional and personal accounts.

The topic of my research is male condom use among female in-school adolescents. Upon our arrival in Fort Portal, where we conducted the study, everything was organised. The local NGO I was working with had contacted all the schools, we could stay with colleagues of my dad and could use their car. The first day we did all the official visits to District Offices and Municipalities and the second day we could start collecting the data.

Already during the data collection and when going through the questionnaires later on, it became very clear there is a great lack of information and even more misconceptions on condom use, HIV transmission, reproductive health and so on. 18-19 years olds who ask about how their menstrual cycle works, 15-16 years olds who are worried about abstaining from sex because they've been told that if they abstain till 20 or older, they would have problems producing children. Cultural beliefs and misconceptions make the girls believe that using condoms will cause cancer, having sex while standing will prevent them from becoming pregnant or that they can get their virginity back by taking some herbs. Others were told that if they have sex as a virgin, they cannot get HIV nor pregnant.
About 40% doesn't know that mosquito's do not transmit HIV and only less than half knows you cannot get HIV through kissing. About 23% (nearly 1/4th!) believes that semen does not transmit HIV.
A girl asked me "I went for HIV testing 3 times. The first 2 times they told me I was negative, the last time they said I was positive. What does that mean?"

Another major problem in the society are schoolfees. Although president Museveni implemented the Universal Secondary Education (USE) while we were there, still a lot of the students we worked with had paid their schoolfees as the school year had started before the launch of the USE (provision of free secondary education). Because of the risk of rape on the way to and from school, a lot of famlies want to send their girls to boarding schools, which in return are more expensive. Often girls are promised 'gifts' or their schoolfees paid in exchange of sexual intercourse. These men are often a lot older and their HIV status is not known. The girls have no power to deny sex without condoms as they would not get their 'gifts' or schoolfees paid.
One girl asked me "there is a man who wants to have sex with me but he is infected, how can I be protected?"
And I can go on like this forever!

Apart from the research, I also had the opportunity to spend some time with my parents, which was very valuable. We did a lot of talking and catching up on each other lives as well as visiting some nice places like Queen Elisabeth National Park and the Crater Lakes near the Rwenzori mountains.












As the time drew closer for me to leave for Bangkok, I must say, I did get a bit anxious about the flight. Although I did have a medical certificate that it was safe for me to fly, Ethiopian Airlines does have the habit of refusing pregnant women beyond 6 months on the plane. But luckely this did not happen.

Back in Bangkok, I needed to adjust to the overwhelming heat and concrete jungle of roads and bridges. But it felt good to be back.

We wish you a Happy New Year 2007!

This year will be extremely exciting for us with lot's of changes. Griet will finish her Masters in Public Health in April, our baby will be born in May, we will marry in August and then go off on Honeymoon probably September or October.

We wish you all a very exciting year too and hope you stay healthy, have something interesting to do and enjoy your life. Our thoughts are with you all and we hope seeing you all this year!

Griet and Thorsten

Our Year 2006

I remember telling to Griet that 2006 will be 'our' year. I don't know why I knew it but I had this gut-feeling and should be proven right. It was an excellent and exciting year and I thought I share some of our moments of 2006 with you.

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January

We had a a fabulous start into 2006 as we stayed with friends (Sophie, Sven, Rikke, Jenny and Derek) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We just had returned from Con Dao Island and enjoyed a couple of nice days in the city at their home. Next stop was Hanoi in the North where we met up with Nicole, my (Thorsten) sister. It was a nice coincidence Nicole had decided to fly over from Manila to visit Vietnam at the same time. So we had a little family reunion.

Mid January we went to Europe for a short visit to visit our families. On a short stopover in UK we visited some of our friends there and I surprised Griet with a ticket to a 'Cirque du Soleil' performance in the Royal Albert Hall in London. There we also decided that we know each other well enough to get married! However we decided also to take it easy with the wedding and postponed the ceremony to 2007.

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February

We had a couple of lovely visitors from UK at our place in Bangkok and so much enjoyed their company. Elaine, Jenny and Derek made our time so shortwhile with their presence and we loved having them around. Amazing how much we laughed and what fun we had.
For Thorsten it was also the month he got a new manager at work. After much time without any direct manager Mark's arrival was a welcome one. In the meantime he has proven himself a fantastic manager and working under him is a pleasure.

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March

Griet had a hard time during the last half year or so as she could not find a job in Bangkok. Unfortunately Thailand has a relatively strict labour market for foreigners and it is rather difficult finding jobs in the health sector. Luckily Griet came across an advertisement for a Masters in Public Health (MPH) offered by Mahidol University in Bangkok. She enrolled and started the pre-course in March. This course has catapulted her from a relative calme to an extremely busy live schedule. Since then her free weekends and evenings are of past memories and the words 'nothing to do' are history. In April 2007 she is expected to complete the course, something Griet is very much looking forward to.

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April

In April Thorsten took on a permanent position as Country Program Coordinator at RECOFTC, the organisation he had worked for as secondee of DFID. He has a two year contract and is glad he can work longer for the organisation as he really enjoy working with them. The decision to stay was however not easy. Bangkok is an exciting city but not if you are unemployed. Therefore we are both glad Griet enrolled for the Masters and is occupied with something that is of interest to her.

With a friend of ours - Tanu - we made a stunning jungle trek in the South of Thailand. That was so amazing that it is difficult to describe in words. We actually stayed in the middle of the forest in our own tents and mosquito nets and enjoyed the company of millions of bugs and other insects. We were accompanied by a couple of village boys who went out for hunting. They returned with our breakfast a couple of hours later: loads of Mountain Frogs. We have to say they tasted delicious. We also bumped into a group of Sak Gai - a nomadic tribe living in the dense forests of Southern Thailand and Malaysia. That was very surreal as their features resemble the ones of Africans far more than Thais. They were such lovely people living in and from the forest without any modern amenities. The only luxury was some local tobacco for the cigarettes. Very little is known about the Sak Gai and many Thais themsleve have never heard of them. Thailand has a range of different ethinc groups and tribes with the Aka, Karen and Mongs being the more known ones. Unfortunately the remaining native forests in Southern Thailand are declining and with that the livelihoods of the Sak Gai. More and more are forced to work in the rubber tree plantations as cheap labourer.



April is also the month of Songkran - Thai New Year! That is the time when everybody celebrates and trows water at each other. Especially in the North of Thailand this can get extremely crazy. We went to Chiang Rai and enjoyed the Songkran festivities there.

Songkran is the only time of the year when everybody in Thailand can really behave like crazy. Old and young gets their water guns and splashes the water around. It is great fun and is accompanied by loads of parties and celebrations in the evening. An extra 'treat' is to add some colour and ice to the water - even at 35°C that's a special feeling. The downside of the event is the excess of alcohol that is consumed and accidents caused by drunken drivers. The target of the Thai government was to keep the number of through accidents killed people under 450 (!) down from 600 (!!) a year before. We are speaking of 5 days only and trends in traffic death's are horrific in Thailand! We ourselves rented motorbikes but had to realize it is too dangerous! After Griet crashed on the road when she had a bucket of cold water mixed with soap thrown in her face, we decided to give it up and returned the bikes.

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May

We went for vacation to Koh Chang, an Island near the Cambodian border. Unfortunately we managed to pick the only week with solid rain in the whole season which left us no choice but to explore all coffee shops on the island and play many, many times Rummicub. Nevertheless it was beautiful and good for both of us to get out of the 'City of the Angels' - The official name of Bangkok. May was also the month we finally bought our own Vespa! Now we are exploring Bangkok on our own two wheels and enjoy the freedom. Even though Bangkok is somewhat lunatic if it comes to traffic, one has to adapt and adjust to the Thai driving style.

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June

What else can we add than the King's celebrations. King Bhumibol (or King Rama 9) has been on the throne for 60 years, the longest reigning king in the world. And when Thai people say they are going to celebrate it, they mean it! We had 2 extra public holidays, which were packed with celebrations and activities all over Bangkok.
The King gave a speech which was attended by milions of people. One of the most remarkeble things during this times was the colour yellow... In Thailand every day of the week has a colour. Now, the King is born on a Monday, which happens to be a yellow day hence yellow is an auspicious colour. Since June Thailand is yellow, where ever you look.



The draw back though is that people 'have to' wear a yellow T-shirt on Monday, especially if they are working for the government. If you're not wearing one, you do not love our king... And that's the worst one can do in Thailand. Hence every Monday for the whole year, it's like a walking field of daffodils. In the streets, on the skytrain, in offices, even in Griet's university, the professors wear yellow T-shirts every day of the week...
To join the celebrations, royalties from around the world were invited to join the King's celebrations and to watch the famous royal barges on the Chao Phraya River. We did not make it to the river, but had a much better view on big screen in town centre. It was beautiful!

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July
In July, not much happened worth mentioning. Thorsten went to work and Griet went to Uni. We did go away for a long weekend with Tanu (our friend from the jungle) to Trat, in the South East of Thailand. It wasn't as spectacular as our trip to the jungle, but still a very nice break from Bangkok.

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August
We were honored by a visit from Belgium, Griet's cousin Lore came over for a couple of weeks with her boyfriend Roeland. As ususal, we act as local travel agents and give advice and recommendations where to go.
The university also organised a trip for the MPH students to Ayuthaya. We had been there before in 2005, but it was quite an experience going on an 'asian' tourist trip. It was very well organised (we're not used to that, when we travel, it usually isn't organised at all...) but it was also 'in the bus -out of the bus - visit temple, take pictures - in the bus - up to the next temple - out of the bus etc. It was nice to see our friends and students in a different setting and go out with them in the evening for a drink - although the majority preferred to stay in the hotel singing Karaoke, we did manage to go out with a few. And it gave Thorsten the chance to meet some of Griet's classmates and get them to know better. It's a very nice and mixed group of people from countries like Myanmar, Bhutan, Tibet, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal etc. It gives us the opportunity to learn more about these countries and only have made our passion for travelling bigger... now we have so many more countries we have to go and visit!!

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September

The big headline of the month was the Coup d'etat that took place on 19 September. Political problems were mounting in Thailand as the Government of Prime Minister Thaksin was accused of corruption, nepetism and fraud. Speculation of an overthrow of the Government was widespread however reality took us all by surprise. The coup was bloodless and resembled a festival more than anything else. Nevertheless it was scary to see tanks and armoured vehicles at major junctions and at our Universities. I could not help myself but tried to see it with my own eyes to take some shots. See for yourself.

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October

End of September and beginning of October Griet had a 2 week semester break so we spent some time in Europe to visit parents, grand parents and friends. Unfortunately the time was again too short to catch up will all of our friends but we both had a very good time. During our trip to Belgium and Germany we also announced our pregnancy! Yep, we are expecting a baby and are looking forward to receive a little family member in early May 2007!

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November



November was unspectacular but we enjoyed the beginning Xmas decorations in town. We spent a nice weekend out of town with some friends - Michael and Claire - and very much enjoyed their company. Again, we tried to see some places we haven't been before so went down the coast, south of Hua Hin, visited a small but beautiful national park with mangrove forests and 300 peaks with beautiful views over the coast line.

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December

The year flew by and we found ourselves celebrating New Year in Nan province in Northern Thailand. New Year's eve was a bit tempered when we heard about the bombings in Bangkok, but luckely nobody we knew was affected. Finally temperatures came down to the twenties and every body caught a cold and shivered at night. We are not used to temperatures below 30 degrees any more!
Nan province is absolutely lovely and we would love living there. So much nature and fantastic people (we got lost in the mountains and drove about 100 km in circles, but it didn't matter, it was just too beautiful). That is really a hidden treasure in Thailand. We spent a night in a hill tribe village but needed a bombfire and 5 blankets to keep us warm at night... Watching the sunrise in the early morning, with the dew on trees and grass is quite an experience when you're used to 30 degrees and more.