Pingo Kim’s Travel Book

Part 6: Third Letter from Hoang Mai from Vietnam

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:09:50 +0800

Dear Joachim and Pingo Kim,

It is great to hear from you. The mountains are so towering, and there is still virgin nature, isn’t it? Especially, I really love the clouds and the sky. They seem to be lowered near the mountain top, and the sky appears to be leaned. In addition, the kids with whom you took the picture are so lovely!!! You and Pingo Kim must feel very relaxed and contented of what you have observed in that mountainous area, don’t you? I wish I could be like you. I took my Math and Literature exam on Monday and Wednesday, and I’m going to take my English exam the day after tomorrow. Hope that everything will be fine.

At the moment, in the Central of Vietnam, there is a devastating flood, which has caused serious damage of men and equipment. Moreover, the high bank-up water level has breached the Khe Mo dam. More than 60 people were dead, and the number of the missing hasn’t stopped yet.

Last week, our school opened a campaign to donate money for the people at the centre of the flood.

Bye for now,
Best regards,

Mai

Part 5: Central Asia (Part 1): Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:48:28 +0800

Will be updated soon

Part 4: Second Letter from Hoang Mai from Vietnam

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:20:43 +0800

Good afternoon, Joachim and Pingo Kim!!!

At the moment, it is 1p.m. in Vietnam. I’ve just got back from school. It is the beginning of the New School Year in Vietnam. We had the ceremony last Saturday. On the bottom photo you see our school’s principal. He is beating the drum to start the new academic year.

We are studying extremely hard for this year, however. Because at the end of grade 8, we’re going to have the exam to select the major class e.g. Class major in Math, etc. and the school selected team attend the municipal and national excellent students competitions. It’s really stressful. All of my classmates have taken extra classes to improve their knowledge.

On the following picture you see the new students of grade 6 and grade 10. They are with their senior teachers presenting themselves before the whole school.

Left bottom picture: Students of grade 6 singing the National Anthem. Right bottom picture: Salute the colors on the occasion of the New School Year.

You’ve said in your last e-mail that you were going on to Turkmenistan before crossing the Himalayan Area. I guess it must be a really exciting trip. How is life in the mountainous area? I’ve learned about them a lot in my Geography lessons, but I just cannot imagine sufficiently how people in those remote areas can confront such severe weather conditions. If you arrive there and take pictures, please send me the link. I just can’t wait to see them.

Really looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards, Yours sincerely,

Hoang Mai

Part 3: From West to East Europe - Arrival to Istanbul "Gate to Asia"

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:27:04 +0800

Dear Hoang Mai,

We were really happy when we got your message. Pingo Kim was a little jealous that I doted on your great exam scores, but he is glad that you’re doing so well in school. The last months have been full of adventures and unforgettable experiences, which we are going to share with you now.

Currently, after already 5000 kilometres cycled, we are sitting under a palm tree in front of the world famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul. While Pingo Kim is talking to some sparrows that flew all the way from Africa to spend the holidays in town, I am sitting here writing this travel book. I love watching the people from all over the world who come from so many different religious backgrounds. You should know that Istanbul is the world’s only city that is located on two continents. The Bosporus River crosses the city and separates Europe with Asia. So you just have to cross the 2 kilometre long Bosphorus Bridge, the “Gate to Asia”, and you are on another continent. Isn’t it amazing? In addition to its location, Istanbul is a really interesting city due to its historical background. We’ll tell you more about Istanbul later. First, let’s start with the beginning of our journey.

After some efforts to find the right way to Santiago de Compostella in western Spain (thanks to Pingo Kim’s ability to talk to animals, we found the way – (see Pingo Kim’s finding Santiago Trail movie), we rode always Eastward (direction Vietnam) on the famous Santiago Trail. As I said before, it is a very important religious city to the Christian world, and each year thousands of Christians from all over the world go on a pilgrimage to this city. The year 2010 is special because “Holy Santiago” falls on a Sunday, and even more people are doing the trail this year. Pingo Kim was so impressed by the number of people of all ages from different European Countries and also from North America, Australia, South Africa and even Asia. As we did the trail the reverse direction, we had the chance to see the peoples’ faces and talk to them.

We saw Tobi (pic bottom left), 11 years old from Germany who walked with his father. He preferred to spend his holidays in the nature instead in front of TV (which is quite common in Germany). Or Hideo from Japan (pic bottom right) who is not Christian but wanted to experience this pilgrimage to better understand the Christian world. Pingo Kim became good friends with him (see pic). If you want to see more pics of people he met, just click here. You shouldn’t miss Pingo Kim on Santiago Trail Movie.

On the trail, the beauty of nature is amazing. It is a great place to live for both people and animals. Pingo Kim made great friendships with a donkey named Esel (see short video clip) and a kissing dog named Maya (see short video clip). After two weeks cycling through beautiful and interesting cities like Leon, Burgos (where we met Nelson from Africa - see pic), Pamplona, we had a short rest in Bordeaux (France) where I lived for 2 years while studying. It was nice to meet old friends and enjoy French food and wine. France is world famous for excellent wines. Even Pingo Kim tried some, which was very funny. But please tell your parents to never drink alcohol before driving a vehicle, since it could result in a bad ending (see movie).

After couple of days we headed on to Barcelona, which is located on the Mediterranean Sea and famous for its good climate, cosmopolitan people and great food. For the last five years, I have lived in this city. Pingo Kim really loved being there and seeing some of my favorite places, for example the Sagrada Familia (see pic bottom left) which was constructed by the world famous architect Gaudi in the 1920’s. Gaudi never finished the construction because he died in an accident, and the Sagrada Familia remains under construction. Due to its unique and complicated design, it probably will not be finished within the next 20 years! Before arriving in Barcelona we crossed Andorra with its beautiful white snowy mountains. Pingo Kim was very happy because he hadn’t seen snow since he left his hometown in Antartica, so he had to take baths in the snow (see pic bottom right).

After few relaxing days in Barcelona (see Pingo Kim’s short video clip at the pool), we left Spain behind and crossed the border to France (see short video clip) where we spent 2 weeks with amazing nature and lovely people. Finally, after 5 weeks cycling in the winter cold and snowy mountains, warm spring weather arrived, and we were able to camp at the beach with sleeping bag and tent.

In France, we made friends with a group of young children who were very interested in our trip. The first friend was a young girl Vivienne from Montpellier (see short video clip). Then he made friends with horses Pierre & Amandine from the Camargue Area (see short video clip). Pingo Kim almost felt in love with Christelle from Marseille, who sang him a private goodbye song (see short video clip). Or Mr. Liliput who was the Boss of Mr. Bodyguard (see pic left). Last, but not least, he met the world famous Ronald McDonald, who you may know also in Vietnam (see short video clip). Throughout France, there were so many other nice people who invited us to dinner or to stay in their houses (one night we even had to camp in a hen house - see pic bottom left) . A unforgettable dinner we had with friendly people on a real “houseboat” (see pic bottom right). All of them we keep in our fondest memories.

After France with crossed the Principat of Monaco, where the richest people of the world live. As we are poor travelers, we didn’t want to spend too much time and headed directly to Italy. However, we made time to visit the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 Track. Luckily, we have been there at the right time, just one week before racing, therefore we could visit the scene behind the race. See for yourself in the short video clip. If we would have been there one week later, it would have been too crowded to visit the track. (There are crazy people who spend an enormous amount of money just to see the race.)

Despite bad weather conditions, Italy also was a great experience. Italy is famous for its good food, especially pasta and pizza. Since Pingo Kim never does the cycle work as I do, he gained three kilos – well, his own fault!. Italy is also famous for beautiful fashion design and opera music. One of the highlights was meeting our friends from Milano. One of them is Grafalo, who is a famous opera singer and dedicated a private opera to Pingo Kim (see short video clip). He became friend with famous Pinocchio who always lies but see how Pingo Kim tries to change that (see movie). Italy is also one of the most famous countries due to its ancient Roman history from approximately 2000 years ago. The “Romans”, named after the Italian capital Rome which for 200 years was the centre of the Roman Empire, conquered almost the whole world and left behind traces you still can see in the present time. Did you know that the first subterranean aqueduct system was created by Romans nearly 2000 years ago? The Romans had a huge influence on present-day European culture and history. However, Romans were also responsible for cruel things such as the “Gladiator Games”, in which thousands of people (especially criminals, prisoners, and Christians) were killed while fighting against each other or wild animals in huge arenas, such as the famous Coliseum in Rome. This cruelty was done to amuse the Roman public in order to calm them down, especially when they revolted against new tax increases. So you will understand why Pingo Kim was quite awed when he met one these dangerous Gladiators while travelling through Italy (see short video clip). Fortunately shortly thereafter, he met funny dressed people on “Italian Circus Style” who made him laugh a lot (see short video clip). So everything was fine again, and our trip could go on towards Venice, Italy.

After some delicious italian ice cremes with loving couple “Romeo & Julia” (see pic) and a funny traffic jam (see short video clip) we arrived to Venice in Italy which was our next big highlight after Santiago de Compostella and Barcelona. From Venice, 700 years ago, the famous world traveller and discoverer Marco Polo began his trip to China in the Far East. From now on a big portion of our trip will be on the route of Marco Polo and the famous Silk Road to China. Venice is also one of the most beautiful cities in the world and is constructed completely on water. Unfortunately, these days this is also its big problem. Over the years, thousands of wooden poles have rotted, and the city is also at risk of sinking into the ocean. Another danger to the city is the Global Warming process, which could make the seas rise and flood low-lying locations like Venice. Therefore, it is very important that we protect our environment (see Pingo Kims nature short video clip advice). Of course, while in Venice, Pingo Kim took the chance to do a ride aboard one of the world famous Venetian “Gondolas” (see movie) and was very impressed seeing many of the largest oil tanker (see short video clip).

After more than 2500 kilometres cycled, we arrived in sunny Croatia, where we spent 2 weeks of relaxed holidays with my dear family & friends who came from faraway Germany just to meet us. Together we enjoyed the beautiful beaches, and my little blue arctic friend almost got sunburned from too much sun, hihi (see short video clip). He became really good friends with cute little 5 year old Chiara, who knows by name almost all animals of the world (see short video clip).

The following movie gives you a little idea how beautiful Croatia is. As we film most of the movies with a self made helmet camera that looks like a GPS, we are always a funny “attraction” for the people we meet. Well, see yourself! (see amazing movie)

The time arrived to say goodbye to my dear family. Since we want to get to Vietnam by the end of 2010 or beginning of 2011, we had to go on. From this point forward, we were cycling through areas we never cycled before, and the real adventure began. What should we expect? How will the people treat us? In some of next countries war ended just few years ago, with conflict and tension still present today. Will it be dangerous…?

The first nice unexpected surprise, and definitely one of our most beautiful experiences yet, was Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As you are a very gifted girl, I am sure that you know that in some places, conflicts result from different religious beliefs (for example the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine). In Bosnia and Herzigovina, we had our first contact with the Islamic religion and saw many beautiful, historical mosques (see short video clip). In the capital of Sarajevo, Christians, Jews and Muslims live together in peace. A group of young people invited me to have dinner, and since it was already late, Pingo Kim had to stay in bed, which he didn’t like too much. One of my new friends was Jewish, one was Christian and the third was Muslim. I really enjoyed this nice meeting, which gave me hope that a peaceful world is possible if people are just a little more tolerant and open minded. The next day, Pingo Kim and I visited the city and mosque and we were really touched by the history of this very beautiful city. Only 15 years ago, from 1992-1995, Sarajevo was under siege, and 11,000 people were murdered because they belonged to different ethnic or religious groups. This is probably the reason why the people of Sarajevo can now live close together, because they had to defend their city together, no matter to which religion they belonged. (Maybe you have time and want to see a very interesting TV interview, I did, with the now 27 years old Shati from Sarajevo. She explains her experiences how she lived her childhood in this war).

After these impressive days in Sarajevo, we continued cycling to Mostar before arriving to the Waterfalls of Kravica, our next big highlight of the trip. A dream come true, Pingo Kim and I spent one night in front of amazing waterfalls. No else was there – just Pingo Kim and me. We made an open fire, played harmonica music and enjoyed the beauty of the nature. The next morning we got up early at 04.30h to see the sunrise behind the waterfalls and swim before anyone else woke up. Pingo Kim and I both love to swim (see short video clip). We could have spent lots of time in this beautiful spot, but we had to go on; new adventures were waiting for us…

In beautiful Montenegro with its amazing Fiord, Pingo Kim met Igor, a young 2 year old boy from Russia who, with his family, spent the holidays in this area. They became great friends (see pic bottom left) and enjoyed the beautiful view of these amazing Fjiord. Unfortunately, we saw more and more poor children begging for money or food (see pic bottom right). Whenever we could we shared our food with those who do not have the same opportunities as we have, and despite speaking different languages, Pingo Kim made them smile….

After Montenegro, we cycled to Albania, where most of the people recommended that we not visit. “Are you crazy, they will steal your bike and everything else.”
At the border we got our first surprise. The Police Border officer stopped us and with a forceful look into my eyes, he thoroughly examined our vehicle. Pingo Kim was scared and I was a little nervous, too. He took my passport (and Pingo Kim’s vaccination card) and went back to his office. I saw him making some phone calls without taking his piercing glance off of us. I realized that more and more police officers were surrounding us and lurking around my bike. I became more and more nervous when the police officer came back and ordered us not to move. Pingo Kim was shaking with fear, and it was hard to calm him down. I asked what happened, if something were wrong with our documents, but the police officer didn’t want to answer. He just said, “Wait and don’t move”. “Was there any chance to get out of here?”, I thought. After several long shaking minutes, I saw the police officer coming back, and beside him there was a strong man with a short military hair cut, a strong looking face and a sheriff star on his breast. Immediately I realized there was a gun at his hips! “What they are going to do with us? Shoot us?” Ping Kim asked me, still shaking. “I don’t know,” I said, and I put him in his box so he wouldn’t be more scared. I promised that everything would be fine.

The tall strong man approached me, holding my passport in his hand. With a deep look into my eyes he said, “Are you the boy who is travelling around the world by bicycle with a little blue Penguin, making many people happy on your way, and sharing your experiences in order to help people from other places better understand life in these countries?” My very brown, tanned skin suddenly became pallid; I didn’t expect that comment. With a whispering voice, I said, “Yes, we are those two guys.” Immediately, the man put his hand into the pocket close to his gun. I was scared and thought, “What will he do now?” Out of his pocket, he pulled a metallic glimmering object. Suddenly the man said with a big smile in his face, “I am the Chief Police Officer of this Border District and read about you in the newspaper. I really love what you are doing….Please, may I take a picture of us? It would be a great honour for me.” I became red with shame, because I had been scared of this nice man. Since the beginning of our trip, there had been many newspaper articles published about us, and we had done several radio shows. The story of our journey had made it all the way to Albania! I realised that all the police officers were smiling now and patting me on my shoulder. With a big smile on my face, we took a nice picture together (see pic). He wished me all the best for our trip and said that he will follow us whenever he can. He also said that I should not be scared, because Albanian people are nice people.

Full of emotions, I jumped on my bicycle, waved bye bye to my new Albanian friends, and drove towards the sunset expecting nice, friendly experiences. Pingo Kim already was sleeping, and after this unexpected emotional experience, I tried not to wake him up. After a nice wild camping night close to the border, we were woken up by kids who were hanging around the campsite. We shared a great breakfast together (scrambled eggs with bacon) and took some pictures (see pic right) before heading on to Albania’s Capital, Tirané. On the way we met many friendly people, such as two 12 year old boys from a grocery market (see pic bottom left) who spoke in perfect English. They expressed their support for the German Soccer National Team in the 2010 Soccer World Champion Chip in South Africa, which was being held in these days. The affiliation with Germany was definitely the biggest surprise of our visit to Albania. We saw lots of German flags in the streets (see pic bottom right), and whenever I said that I am German (although I feel more European) the people invited me for a coffee or tea.

Albanians love German cars, and almost every car was a Mercedes, BMW, Audi or Volkswagen imported from Germany long, long time ago. Most of the cars were so old that I have never seen these models in Germany before! It was very funny to see that these old cars are still able to roll. A few of them were very recent models driven by the rich people, which contrasted with the horse drawn carriages driven by the poor people (see pic).

Also, we saw the most modern DIY Superstore next to a large rubbish pile with young boys digging in it to find food or something useful to sell. This experience reminded me that in spite all the flags and cars I saw from Germany, we were definitely not in Germany, where no one has to dig through the rubbish to live. This experience gave me more determination to fight against this inequality and show my followers that not everyone has the same chance in life. Therefore those who have better life conditions should help those who haven’t – it’s just fair. I am really happy to continue my project, and I am very much looking forward to be in Vietnam, hopefully having collected a great amount of money (for those who tant to help: Support Link).

After one week in Albania, cycling in beautiful landscape and meeting lovely and friendly people, we crossed the border to Macedonia (see pic left). For people from Greece it is called the “Democracy of Macedonia” because they never accepted the independence of one part of this area, which belonged to Greece almost 20 years ago. In Ohrid, we met 69 year old Boris, who suffers Parkinson’s disease. This disease makes a person’s body shake uncontrollably. Boris shook so much that he was not able to drink a tea without my help.

He explained with tears in his eyes that his best medicine is riding a bicycle. Whenever he cycles he feels good and doesn’t have uncontrolled shaking at all. So most of his time he spends on his bicycle. He was laughing a lot when Pingo Kim invited him to join our trip. Boris had to refuse, saying that maybe we (Pingo Kim and I) were not fast enough to keep up with him! That made Pingo Kim mad, even though he does not do any of the cycling! Maybe we will meet Boris again because he lives in Australia, which is on our route. I wonder if he will cycle back home…?

In Bitola we met Harriz, a older man who never was able to talk because he was born deaf. Nevertheless we were able to communicate, and I could see in his eyes that he was so happy to meet us. Using body language (basically hands and feets) he explained to me that I am doing what he has always dreamed of doing….cycling around the world. He was a brave man, and even though he didn’t have a lot of money he gave us a cold bottle of coke which you can see in the pic on your left.

After a couple of days in (Democracy of) Macedonia, we headed on to Greece, which was also a step back (or forward to Eastward) to the “European Union”. Unlike the last countries we cycled through - Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and (Democracy of) Macedonia - Greece is one of the 27 “European Union Member States”. The origin of the European Union (or European Community) dates back to the early 1950’s where 6 European Countries (Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Luxembourg) decided to make a common economic (and later political) partnership. The purpose of this partnership was to avoid “nationalism”, which had devastated the European Continent in 1933 – 1945, resulting in World War II (1939 – 1945), in which millions of people died from orders given by the German Nationalist (Nazi) Leader, Adolf Hitler. In the last 50 years, 27 countries have joined this Union, based on common economic, social and environmental policies. (Did you know that in most of these countries you can pay with one unique money – the Euro €? Also, citizens of the 27 member countries do not have to apply for visas to travel within the Union. Only an ID card is needed.)
To be accepted as a membership of this Union, a country must be able to guarantee its economical and political stability. Many countries that have tried to get into this union have not yet been accepted because of instability or not protecting human rights, which is also essential to be accepted. I mention all this because you are a very gifted girl, and you might be curious about European History.

Let’s go back to Greece, which is currently experiencing a huge crisis. The Greek politicians did not make good decisions on financial policy, and Greece had to ask for a huge amount of money from the European Union. Otherwise, the country would been bankrupt, which means it would not have been able to pay people’s salaries or provide public services as bus, trains, etc. Only thanks to the solidarity of the European Union, this huge crisis (hopefully) was solved. The other countries helped Greece by lending money. Now you understand why many countries try to get into the “EU” European Union!

Greece was nice, with great food and happy and friendly people of all ages (see pic bottom left). When Pingo Kim met 6 year old Litza and explained that we are cycling around the world, she just started laughing because she didn’t believe us (see pic bottom right). Finally she did after we showed her all of our great pictures. Greece is also famous for its beautiful islands and amazing beaches (see short video clip). Unfortunately we couldn’t see too much of it because I felt sick and had to stay in bed for a couple of days. Maybe I cycled too much or maybe the air conditioned buildings versus the extreme heat outside made me weak. Pingo Kim was very cute and stayed with me the entire time, preparing tea and soup to make me feel better.

After I felt better, we hurried East. Our next big highlight was Istanbul, Turkey, where I saw friends and my dearest Mum. Because Istanbul serves as the “Gate to Asia”, I was very happy and jumped when I arrived (see pic). Istanbul is one of the most amazing cities I have ever seen. 13 million people live here, and most of them are Muslims, but there are also people from all over the World with different religions and ethnic backgrounds.

In its long history, Istanbul has served as the capital city of many different Empires as the Roman Empire (330–395), Byzantine Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and probably the most important in recent times, the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). When the Ottomans conquered the city, they quickly transformed it from a bastion of Christianity to a symbol of Islamic culture and changed its name from “Constantinople” to “Istanbul”. Religious foundations were established to fund the construction of grand imperial mosques like the famous Hagia Sofia (see pic) which for hundreds of years had been the most important church in Christian World. Muslims, Jews, and Christians from other parts of the Ottoman Empire were invited to live in the city, which created a cosmopolitan society that still continues today.

One of the most beautiful moments was meeting my Mum again. She flew all the way from Germany to visit Pingo Kim and me. It was her Birthday, and I surprised her with a beautiful hotel with an amazing view of the Hagia Sofia. She was so happy! We spent five days together and visited all the famous places in Istanbul. Lucky (or nice) as we were, we met local people who invited us to visit the city a very special way: by motorbike. My Mum and Pingo Kim never have driven on a motorbike, so you can imagine how much fun we had. One of the most unforgettable moments was crossing the Bosphorus River on the 2km long Bosphorus Bridge which is the symbolic connection between Europe and Asia (see short video clip).

As we write this letter to you, we are sitting in the heart of Istanbul. My Mum left already, and I am a little sad because I don’t know when I will see her again. The next big step is waiting us, Central Asia and its fabulous “Silk Road”, which is a network of trade routes that connect East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, as well as Europe and North Africa. These routes have been used for almost 3000 years! Much more adventure awaits us, but this will be part of our next chapter of Pingo Kim’s Travel Book. Maybe then we will be able to answer all of your questions, like how long Visa Applications take, how the climate will be, and what I have to do to protect against animals or diseases.

Maybe we can answer one more question before asking you some: you asked me how long this trip will take. The answer is that I don’t know yet! This is part of our adventure - living and enjoying each day of this amazing trip, meeting people from all over the world, and hopefully helping to bring people closer together to have a better understanding of each other. We are so happy that you follow us, and it gives us a lot of strength and motivation. We can’t wait to meet you, your family and the HCWF Foundation personally. Pingo Kim just reminded me that it would be so great to get some pictures of you, your friends and the HCWF Foundation. We will put them on our Homepage if that is OK with you. It also would be great if you could send some pics and stories of your best friends of HCWF. What are their names? What is hobbies do they enjoy? What are their greatest wishes? What would they like to know about “European children”?

Meanwhile, we send you all the best from Turkey,
Yours Pingo Kim and Joachim

Part 2: First letter from Hoang Mai from Vietnam

Fri, 21 May 2010 19:20:23 +0800

Dear Joachim and Pingo Kim,

I am Hoang Mai from Tran Dai Nghia secondary school for the gifted. It is very famous school in Hochiminh City, Vietnam. I belong to class 7A1 with 43 pupils. Most of us are 13 years old and we are very good in Math. Most of us can speak English fluently too, but Vietnamese pupils are rather shy.

I have finished my exams and I've got 11 "10" grades (similar to 10 "A+", I suppose). From now on, I will have more free time to talk with Pingo Kim and you. I have seen so many beautiful photos of your trip. You are excellent photographer. All pictures are very nice and beautiful. I can have better view of European scene.

I really like your idea to cycle for so long distant. How do you sleep? (I means in Hotel or in sleeping bag?) How is your food? There are different climate in different part of the world. How do you prepare for it? When you go to Far East, you will experience very hot weather and many insects. Have you take some medicine with? How long do you need to apply for so many visas? How is your total trip’s plan? I think it will be more easily for us to follow your route, if you put on your web one map and mark the way you want to go and the way you have been already there.

Like you, I enjoy cycling very much. I have a small bike. But Hochiminh City is very busy city and the traffic is really in chaos, therefore my parents do not allow me to ride very often. They are always worried about accident. On following picture you see my mum, my brother and me.

Where are you now? Your writing is very interesting. Next to the pictures, could you please tell us some interesting stories related to children and their education, their life? When you come to Vietnam, I will tell you more details about our life and our education.

Have a nice trip Joachim and Pingo Kim

Bye bye.

Hoang Mai from Vietnam

Part 1: How everything started

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0800

Dear Hoang Mai,

My name is Joachim, I come from Germany which is a beautiful and lovely country in the middle of Europe. Germany is quite famous not only for the good cars but also for its castles and the fairy tales such as “Cinderella” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (see the picture on the right of the Neuschwanstein Castle).
A few months ago I decided to do a world trip by bicycle and to cycle to the Far East as I have never been there in my life. Now you might ask why by bicycle? Well, very easy to answer: In this way I will be able to meet as many people as possible and to visit as many beautiful places on the way.

So I started 4 weeks ago from the most western Capital City in Europe which is Lisbon in Portugal and cycled all the way north to Santiago de Compostela, which is in the north west of Spain. For the Christian people of this world after Rome and Jerusalem the third most important pilgrim city (see pic on the left). Thousands of pilgrims are walking from all over Europe on the famous „Santiago Trail“, each year. But I decided to do it the reverse way. Why? Well, you should know that I wear a camera on my helmet to film all the people and places I will see on my big trip. This allows me to share funny moments and fabulous impressions with you and your friends from Ho-Chi-Minh City in Vietnam. So you will always be with me on my bicycle...but...we are not alone.

Pingo Kim
After having cycled a couple of days I met a lovely, cute blue Penguin sitting on a sign post on the way. I was wondering how it‘s possible as I have never seen a Penguin in this part of the world before and so I asked him what is he doing here? „I am lost“ he answered briefly, „I wanted to see the far north of this big world as I have never been there before“, he said. „I am from a place which is called Antarctica very far away in the south. As it‘s quite cold there I wanted to check out if the north is warmer....and here I am...lost and my feet are sore from all the walking“. Well, I had to smile as I have seen so many pilgrims with the same problem on the Santiago Trail. I explained to him that I am cycling from west to east and that I could give him a ride if he wants. „Oh yes“, he said luckily „it would be nice to relax and enjoy your company and the view from your bike for a while“. And here we are, two adventurers who met in the middle of the world, and now traveling together, visiting the most beautiful places and filming and interviewing interesting people but also animals (well, this is more Pingo Kim‘s part).

You know it would be great if we could be friends. Maybe you or your classmates want to ask questions about our trip. I am sure that there is so much we could tell you, you just have to ask. And don‘t be shy, Pingo Kim likes to talk a lot and will give you all the answers. Soon you will find his first video on the web.
We are also very curious and have so many questions about your daily life in Vietnam. Especially Pingo Kim wants to know if you like going to school? How many children are there in your classroom? What are their names and how old are they? What do you do after school? How is life in Ho-Chi-Ming City? Do you like cycling? Or do you like painting? Maybe you would like to paint a picture and send it to me. But only if you want to. We are waiting excitedly to hear from you and meanwhile Pingo Kim has prepared some of his favorite travel pics of the last month. We hope you will like them all.

Best Regards, your friends Pingo Kim and Joachim