12 October '03

Hello everybody,

This is our first newsletter....

We are now in Denmark... and you can read all of our adventures on the site www.whereonearth.tk... in Adventures-Europe (photos as well in Photos - Europe).

Tell your friends about the newsletter subscription.... if they want to receive it

Cheers, Kisses from wonderful Copenhagen,

Fabrice and Cornelia

28 October '03

Hello everybody,

We are in Moscow!!!

We spent a great time in St. Petersburg and we really recommend it. It has been snowing for 3 days now, so we are getting ready for Siberia.

We are planning to leave Moscow this week end for Yekaterinburg... always more to the east....

Check out the latest update of the site: www.whereonearth.tk (read the adventures in Europe and Russia + some photos.... Many thanks to our webmaster at home: Lalaina)

Fabrice + Cornelia

20 November '03

Dear all,

This is the third newsletter to announce the latest update of the website: www.whereonearth.tk.

We have just spent a month in Russia, crossing the country by train, with, from Finland, stops in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Irkutsk.

In Moscow, two Belgians knew a nice cafe real "close" to the Red Square and made Cornelia walk for kilometres uphill. We took our first trolley bus in Yekaterinburg; trolley busses are a very common public transport in Russian cities. On the train, we lived on tea and noodle soup made with water from the samovar. The most splendid sunsets were seen in Irkutsk, the Angara river and over the lake Baikal. Temperatures went so low that our digital camera refused to work.

Our adventures and photos can be found on the website.

Cornelia and Fabrice

20 December '03

Hello everybody

Here are some facts about our time spent in Mongolia.

- 25 days in Mongolia

- 10 days + 2500 km in the Gobi desert and Kharkhorin

- Lowest altitude measured: 1120 m; highest: 2250 m

- Lowest outdoor temperature measured: -32 degrees; highest: -8 degrees; average estimated temperature: -20 degrees

- Lowest indoor temperature measured: -5 degrees; highest: +35 degrees

- Maximum days without a shower: 6

- Energy sources used for Ger heating: wood, camel dung, coal, sheep and goat dung, paper and trash.

- Best experience for Fab: emptiness and beauty of the Gobi during the winter and the friendliness of the Mongolian herders.

- Best experience for Cornelia: marmots whistling in Yolyn Am.

- Worst experience for Fab and Cornelia: homeless adults and children begging for food and risking to freeze to death in Ulan Bator.

Read more about it and see the pictures on www.whereonearth.tk (go to adventures or photos, and click on Mongolia on the map).

Bye for now,

Cornelia & Fabrice

06 January '04

Hello everybody!!!

We are in China!

First of all, despite the fact that the Chinese New Year is on the 22^nd of January, we still would like to wish a Happy New Year to all of you!

Fabulous China! Really a world of contrast. One day you can find yourself in the middle of a beautiful landscape, and the next day, you are in an awfully polluted town of more than 9 million Chinese, spitting and coughing everywhere! This noisy spitting is really THE fact that has shocked westerners since centuries: we confirm, disgusting. (No wonder the SARS disease can spread very fast here!).

For the moment, we have travelled a lot: Beijing, Chengdu, Shijiazhuang and surroundings, Pingyao, and currently in Xi'An. The road to go is still very long: the chosen destinations can change twice a day... There is so much to discover here! The following destinations are: the Yellow River (before the Three Gorges dam destroys everything), Sichuan and its high peaks, Yunnan with its famous rice terraces, Guilin and its idyllic mountains, etc. We really want to stay longer in this country!

You can read the first part of our adventures in China on www.whereonearth.tk (Adventures - China) and discover the first pictures (Photos - China). Some world travellers' links have been added in the Witches Cauldron as well.

05 February '04

Hello everybody,

We've managed to cross China in almost two months, a little longer than expected, but it was really worth it.

After North China (Beijing to Xi'An) we headed South, hoping to leave behind our winter clothes. Alas! It could not be: the weather gods conspired against us! Rain and chilly temperatures often confined us to stoves and hot water bottles to keep us warm...

Nonetheless, the landscapes through which we wandered were breathtaking and we have experienced many facets of the Chinese way of life. For the better and for the worst!

From a rainy Hanoi, we updated the site and we invite you to read all about it on www.whereonearth.tk (Adventures and photos in China; the routes have been updated as well).

Kind regards from Vietnam, and a very Happy New Year of the Monkey,

Pig Fabrice and Rooster Cornelia.

14 March '04

Plukje: Hello everybody!!!

Rendy: We are in Bangkok now and Cornelia and Fab are hopelessly behind on the update of the site.

Plukje: That's why we help them out and do the newsletter!

Rendy: We crossed Vietnam from North to South in 3 weeks. But it wasn't very adventurous.

Plukje: No, tourism is well controlled and sneaking off on your own is very hard. But at least it was warmer.

Rendy: Yes, Fab and Cornelia got rid of their winter clothes, but I'm stuck with my fur...

Plukje: At least Cornelia didn't put you in bath!

Rendy: But Cambodia was much more fun; we all loved it.

Plukje: We got to play a lot with the local children. At first I was a bit scared because they pull my tail, but actually, it's nice to play with them.

Rendy: But it was also very dusty with those motors and pick-ups on the dirt roads. Now you need a bath again Plukje!

Plukje: No, don't tell them, it's not on the site yet! Most of Cambodia will be updated later.

Rendy: Anyway, check it out on www.whereonearth.tk, adventures and photos South-East Asia!

PS: Thank you to all the 1.000 visitors on the site! Visitor nr. 1.000 is Dr. Whisky, and he receives a restaurant!

28 March '04

Hello everybody,

So, here is another update of the site: Cambodia has been finalised, with pictures and stories of this fabulous country: it is currently on the top of our favourites, together with Mongolia.

We just spent two weeks "holiday" in Thailand with Fab's family, and friend Jean-Michel: first North Thailand one week, then relaxing completely on an island in the South (farniente!).

And now, we are back in Bangkok for one day. Just enough to do the update and pick up our friend Alain from the airport; he'll join us for the Laos part of the world trip.

Check it on www.whereonearth.tk on adventures and photos South-East Asia (we hope the update has been successful, we had some problems with the server lately - if not working today, try again later!) .

Kind regards,

Cornelia, Fabrice, Alain, Rendy, Plukje and their new friend Snowy.

21 April '04

Happy New Year everybody !

Here in Bangkok (yes, again), the celebrations for the new lunar year, the so-called water festival, were grandiose!!!

During two and a half weeks, Alain and Snowy joined us for our trip to Laos. We visited the country at a Laotian pace, so we only did a part of the North; we would have needed a year to visit it all!

On the way back to Bangkok, we visited some more of Thailand, a country that we definitively visit bit by bit, and we ended this episode with the splashing New Year's celebrations!

Tomorrow, Friday the 23^rd of April, we'll head for a country that was originally not planned, Burma, where we'll stay for about three weeks. This will be the first country we cross where, according to the latest info, internet is not available!

So until we get back (to Bangkok again!), enjoy the surfing on our site: we spent some time making some minor corrections (i.e.: the king of Thailand is not dead like stated earlier,...) and of course, you can learn all about our latest travels by clicking on Photos, Adventures, and Route in South-East Asia (Laos and Thailand - part 2): www.whereonearth.tk.

Kind regards,

Cornelia, Fab, Plukje and Rendy

16 May '04

Mingala Ba! Hello!

We are back in Bangkok after three wonderful but quite difficult weeks in Myanmar.

Wonderful because the "Golden Land" is really fascinating with lots of places to visit and above all, with very friendly and generous people.

Difficult it was, not only due to the harsh climate (often above the 45 degrees), but mainly due to the political situation in the country. In short, it was up to now the most difficult country to travel in, and the most shocking scenes were seen (i.e. forced labour). It is a very under-developed country where the people are heavily oppressed, and we really have the impression that the situation is getting worse. Frequent and very long electricity breakdowns, even in the capital city Yangon; a completely degraded transport system with awful roads; and most of all, one of he poorest countries we have ever seen (and we have already seen a lot!) - completely cut from the outside world: barely any sign of "westernisation" to be found.

View photos and read more about this fascinating but emotionally troubling country on our website: www.whereonearth.tk.

Bye for now,

Fabrice and Cornelia.

20 June '04

Hello everybody,

Finally some news from us and from Malaysia! We took one month to cross this country, which is a bit more than we had expected! The main reason is that we re-routed our journey: instead of crossing Sumatra and Java, we decided to go directly to Kalimantan via Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah on the island of Borneo.

Malaysia is quite a controversial country: it is the most modern country we have visited up to now in South-East Asia, but also the one where we saw the most wildlife and flora than anywhere else. Let us hope that it will remain so a long time!

In Sarawak, in Kuching, we could nearly touch the equator (only 1 degree North), but we are now a bit further north again and we will reach the southern hemisphere next week in Indonesia, the last country before Australia!

Read more about our adventures and view some pictures on our site www.whereonearth.tk

Kind regards from Tawau, the border town between Sabah, Malaysia, and Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Fab, Cornelia, Rendy and Plukje

29 June '04

Selamat malam,

WWW.WHEREONEARTH.TK is momentarily out of order. The site has apparently been infected with a virus called: "Redlof A" or "Redlof B" (we are not sure). Normally, your antivirus scanner detects and destroys it. For the moment, we are trying to find a solution to this problem and as soon as we find out, we will let you know how to clean the virus (if you have been infected) and re-activate the site. However, this may take a while! Sorry for the inconvenience,

Fabrice and Cornelia, 29 June 2004, Samarinda, Kalimantan, Indonesia.

24 August '04

Hello Mister!

We have crossed Indonesia, a large chapter in our book of travels, and many things we saw! We have called China "another planet", but the same certainly goes for Indonesia: it is a world on its own. There are so many different cultures and years would be needed to see it all; so in the 6 weeks we spent there, we saw only a fraction of it all: East Kalimantan (Borneo), Central and South Sulawesi (Celebes), Flores, and Timor.

And now we are in Australia!

In Indonesia, it was impossible to find a good computer to update and clean the site, and here in Australia, we unfortunately do not have the time to do it: we are really busy travelling and arranging things of all sorts (namely a flight ticket towards Europe). So the site has not been updated yet! We promise to do it ASAP; we know you are all impatient for photos and adventures in Indonesia!

Our Australian adventures will have to wait a bit as well, but we will tell you something already: we are in Sydney now and the fellowship of the trip has been enlarged by Roo, who has made friends with Plukje and Rendy.

Hopefully the next update will be quite soon, no worries!

Bye for now,

Roo, Rendy, Plukje, Fabrice and Cornelia

PS: attached are three photos of us.

PS: yes, they say "Hello Mister!!!" to the ladies as well!

09 September '04

Hello everybody!

We finally managed to get the site back online again: it is clean and updated with all our adventures and photo's of Indonesia: www.whereonearth.tk.

Our Australian adventures and pictures are not yet online, so we still ask you for a bit of patience.

See ya, Cornelia & Fab

27 December '04

Doesn't time fly?? We promised you an update coming soon and finally, here it is!

The time we spent in Australia was not as much as initially planned but we still saw a lot: parts of the "Outback", and cultural treasures throughout the southern states of the island-continent. Throughout our trip in Australia we had a native guide, Roo. He became such close friends with Rendy and Plukje that he decided to stay with us when we returned to Europe! He is part of the family now!

And ... we made it to our final destination: Sydney! In the end it took us 322 days to get there, but we would not have minded had it taken twice as long! Now we are back where we started, in Brussels. It took us a while to find an appartment and it was hard to empty our backpacks and put them into storage, but slowly we are getting settled.

So, just before the new year starts, here is the update of the site, especially for you!!! ;-)

The Australian chapters have been updated: fotos and adventures in Australia. Also, you can meet Roo in the Whoo-Zoo on Plukje's and Rendy's page. Besides, you may notice we have made some minor changes: we polished the lay-out a bit and we have added extra photos (i.e. in Russia, Mongolia, China, and many other countries!).

Hope you enjoy it,

and of course a very, very happy new year,

Cornelia and Fabrice
Plukje, Rendy and Roo