One of the core components of the program was the 3DS foundations bootcamp, which I talked about in the previous post. Before the bootcamp, we had a few teambuilding exercises, such as a ridiculous scavenger hunt through Austin, where we had to take photo proof of some of the tasks we had to do. After the bootcamp, the rest of the time in Austin was spent visiting different tech companies, accelerators and other organizations in the startup environment, not to forget, relaxing, sightseeing and enjoying the unique Austin atmosphere. While the program was incredibly intense and exhausting, I got so much out of it, both in terms of knowledge and inspiration, for my own startup, which I’ll definitely be writing about more in the months to come.

One of the coolest things about the Austria to Austin program is the fact that you can choose the date and location of your return flight from the US. This means that there’s a lot more photos coming in the next days!

Shanghai seemed way more westernized than Beijing and Hangzhou, but it did have its unique asian quirks. For example, we visited an interactive exhibition, which was more of a glorified selfie gallery, where people lined up in front of the exhibits to take pretty photos of themselves. I don’t think we used any of the pieces for its intended purpose, but we did end up with some hilarious photos.

Otherwise, we saw most of Shanghai at night, which I think is the most beautiful time to experience it anyway. Not much to explain, just indulge the beauty of the Shanghai night sky:

Afterwards we took a plane to Hong Kong, where we stayed another four days. This part of the journey was mostly about food and souvenirs, as well as a museum visit and some other rather chill activities. We were all pretty exhausted from the trip already, and therefore at least not too unhappy to head back home in the end. However, I especially enjoyed the downtown markets, which have a really unique flair, being nudged in between all those skyscrapers.

The first evening, they invited us to a huge traditional Chinese Hotpot dinner. It was such a unique experience. We tried basically anything under the sun that I would or wouldn’t consider food. Both exotic and familiar ingredients, cooked fresh on the table in either a mild savory broth or a really hot chili broth with sichuan peppers. I immediately fell in love with Chinese Hotpot.

We stayed in Hangzhou for a few days and my friends took us everywhere, including a 3 hour roadtrip to some small village, because we wanted to get away from the big cities for a change. Here’s some photos from that trip:

Sadly, I didn’t take many photos in Hangzhou, I was too busy catching up with my friends and what they’ve been doing those past 2 years. But trust me, the city is really pretty and has a lot to offer.

Hotels are quite cheap in China, and one of my friends got us all an employee discount, so we lived quite luxurious (more than I ever did on other travels, I’m more the hostel / camping kind of person)

Beijing is fascinating, especially the wide open spaces and the complete absence of westerners (I didn’t expect many to be there and was still surprised). What I enjoyed most was that the city is not trying too hard to be touristic. Apart from the few typical tourist streets and famous restaurants, you can pretty much go anywhere and have an authentic experience. There’s one caveat however, which is that you have to learn at least a bit of chinese. Outside the big touristic spots you should not expect anyone to speak English. Some people obviously do, but then again, we went to bigger restaurants where not even a single waiter spoke a word of English. I did learn some Chinese beforehand and it was so worth it! We had by far the best (and cheapest) experiences in places where we had to talk using our hand and feet, and the little Chinese we knew.

Sadly, we didn’t have a lot of time to venture to the outskirts of the city, barring one trip to the summer palace and the obligatory great wall visit. Then it was already time to take a train to our next destination, where some friends of mine were already waiting for us. More to come!

Otherwise, there is not much more to say, so enjoy the very touristy photos of the obvious spots, and some probably lesser known places that I found while exploring the city.

Over time, the Doel became somewhat of an Eldorado for street artists, who came from all over and progressively repainted the whole town. This however led to demands for turning Doel into protected heritage.

Because of vandalism committed by both reckless street artists and tourists, and because of the constant demolition threats, more and more of the original inhabitants left the town.

What remains is a ghost of the towns former self, an eerie feeling and some beautiful street art.

At least I got a decent view from my apartment, and today the weather was nice, so I decided to put the camera out in the afternoon and timelapse as long as the battery lasted. Here’s the result:

However, we’re working on an awesome project here, don’t want to spoil too much yet, but it will be awesome (-ly immersive)!

We did even rent a car for a day and then we drove out to the very remote West Point, where we just chilled on the lonely beach and watched the sunset. Furthermore, we took a private boat tour around the island to discover some even more hidden mini-beaches. Finally, I went for a few night hikes to take some more time-lapses.

But the trip was well worth it, because Karumba is deservedly famous for it’s fresh and incredibly tasty seafood dishes, best served in a restaurant aptly titled the Sunset Tavern. We enjoyed the best prawns ever while simultaneously watching likely the most colorful sunset of the whole journey. While sadly I can’t upload the taste of the prawns, at least here is the sunset for you to enjoy:

During our time in Karumba, we stayed at a campsite which was also surrounded by wildlife. Since there was almost no light pollution, I went out during one night and tried for some more star photography.

On our first day in the park, we toured around on our own, admiring the age-old aboriginal paintings throughout various sites in the park, and hunting for some great animal photos.

On the next day, we got up very early to take the sunrise boat tour out on the Yellow Waters. Seeing and hearing the tropical wildlife waking up right at sunrise is such an incredible experience which I couldn’t even find the words to describe. So here are some pictures instead: