Going through the memory cards before meeting a local food blogger for lunch.

Heat, humidity, smells, street food and ripped off by an incompetent taxi driver. It’s good to be back in Southeast Asia.

Staying at hotels is something I could get used to. The bed was incredibly more comfortable than anything any hostel has to offer and the breakfast buffet was as extensive as it was delicious. Scrambled eggs made to order for you? Certainly Sir, coming right away Sir! Belly filled I took a taxi over to the Etihad Towers to have a look at and from their viewing platform 300m above ground.

Etihad is considered one of the better airlines in the world and accordingly I had no reasons to complain about anything on the first leg of my Manila bound trip. Somewhere over Basra daybreak put a blue shimmer on the horizon. Down below were some extremely bright and yellow lights - are the Iraqi oil sources still on fire? The quiet flight took just over six hours and with dinner and breakfast service there were only about 2-3 hours for napping.

With Abu Dhabi being oil sheik country, I expected my stay to be somewhat pricey. A quick glance at the hotel restaurant’s menu confirmed that and had me crunching numbers. Fortunately a stroll through the neighborhood revealed that even in Abu Dhabi there is street food. A local bakery produces some cheese filled pide bread in their tandoori style oven and with 3 Dh a fix it costs less than a tenth of what the hotel charges for a basic meal.

15kg total luggage. Can’t believe I’m traveling that light. The half full backpacks constantly made me think I forgot something. Left early and stopped for a coffee at the main station. Sorted my head, went through my documents but it seems I didn’t leave anything important behind. Really happy and excited to go on a trip again. It’s been two years and the last one was the really big one. Right now I just have a fat smile on my face.

Strasbourg, very old city (currently French) just next to the Franco-German border. Features an abundance of old buildings, good food and a pretty high cathedral (330 steps to the viewing platform).

There hasn’t been much travelling in my life lately - and thus little to write about. However others had their adventures and provided some entertaining reading for cold and dark winter evenings. First on the list of recommended reads is a few stories by Huyen. I met her in Georgetown where we teamed up for the ride to Krabi. In her blog she shares some experiences from her time in Kuala Lumpur and a recent trip to the temples of Angkor: https://novembers689.

The weather was fine today and thus I saddled my steel horse and rode to see some old castles in the Pfälzerwald. The area is filled with castles but one of the main attractions is castle Trifels. It was build about 1,000 years ago (!) and is known for having been a prison to Richard the Lionheart (of England) during the 12th century. It is still well conserved and open for (paying) visitors.

Since of earlier today, my motorcycle is once again registered and ready to (legally) drive around on Germany’s roads. It hasn’t been easy though. This is the story. It started last Wednesday when I got the bike out of the basement - equipped with a nice new battery - and went to get a safety certificate. These certificates are mandatory and need to be renewed every two years. Mine was thus long expired.