All posts by Bernhard Kabelka

My name is Bernhard (or Bernie for short). I am child of the 1980s, and grew up in (and still live in) Vienna, Austria. My greatest passion is travelling. This blog is therefore mainly dedicated to my travelling adventures.

I just love to explore foreign (and, if possible, far away) countries. I have already spent my vacations on six different continents, and have (quite literally) travelled all around the globe: first in an eight-months-long RTW trip from September 2008 to May 2009, and again in another RTW trip from October 2023 to Februar 2024. But also during my regular vacations, I strive to get to know new places all over the world.

At the same time, I really enjoy my everyday life in my home town Vienna. Most of my friends live there, and I like to meet them e.g. for board game nights, going to the theater, or simply for a chat. In summer, I take advantage of Donauinsel for biking and inline skating, or for swimming in and stand-up paddling on Alte Donau. Finally, every once in a while, I also go hiking at the foothills of the Austrian alps close to Vienna – beautiful scenery cannot only be found abroad, after all!

When I am not roaming the world, I am spending my days as a software developer: After my studies of Technical Mathematics at UT Vienna, I have worked at PROFACTOR, a research company in Steyr (Austria), for three years, focusing on computer simulation and production planning. Since summer 2009, I am employed as a software developer at Dedalus HealthCare (formerly Agfa HealthCare), where I am working on the PACS client DeepUnity Diagnost (formerly IMPAX EE).

Relaxing on Koh Lanta

After saying goodbye to Northern Thailand, it is now time for the Thai beaches. I decided to visit the province of Krabi for that, as it is supposed to be not as crowded as the “big names” like Phuket or Ko Samui. The first three (full) days, I spent on the island of Koh Lanta. Continue reading Relaxing on Koh Lanta

Temple-hopping in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is really rich in temples – too rich to visit them all. So, on my first day and a half in the city, I concentrated on those temples that were considered particularly worth visiting or that looked particularly inviting to me as I walked past. Continue reading Temple-hopping in Chiang Mai

Colorful temples

The first Thai city I visited, Chiang Rai, had again lots of temples to show. However, these were not only “conventional” temples, but also temples in rather unusual colors: There is a Blue Temple as well as a White Temple, and also a Black House Museum which consists of black buildings in the shape of temples. Continue reading Colorful temples

Two days on the Mekong

Another entry in the list of must-dos during my Southeast Asia trip (besides Angkor and Luang Prabang) was a boat trip on the Mekong. So, I spent my last two days in Laos doing exactly that: I went on a cruise from Luang Prabang to the Thai border. Continue reading Two days on the Mekong

The karst hills of Nong Khiaw

In order to see a bit of rural Laos, I tried to find a small town somewhere in the northern Laotian mountains with certain properties: First, it should not be too far from Luang Prabang (because the Laotian buses are not particularly comfortable). Secondly, it should offer a few short hikes and maybe a nice day trip (because I do not feel like going on big hikes just yet after recovering from my short illness). In the end, I settled for Nong Khiaw – and this proved to be exactly the right choice. Continue reading The karst hills of Nong Khiaw

The temples of Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang! Ever since I read the descriptions by Peter Moore in his book “The Wrong Way Home” about this city, it was the epitome of Southeast Asia for me. Even though the city undoubtedly has some beautiful parts, reality could not quite keep up with my (very high) expectations – but this may also be due to a rather unfortunate start. Continue reading The temples of Luang Prabang