Just outside the gates of Bratislava starts the mountain range of the Little Carpathians, providing plenty of opportunities for hiking (and sports). Yesterday public transport took us some 20 minutes from our place right to the foot of the south-western edge of the mountains. Even at ten in the morning the temperatures were past 30°, […]
Diving Thai Style
The sea around Koh Tao has a temperature of 31°C and the visibility is 10-15m at the moment. Not the worst conditions for diving although the visibility could be a bit better. Compared to the reef in Cairns the dive spots here have one big advantage. The scenery when you get out of the water […]
Fernbus
It’s been a while now since Deutsche Bahn’s monopoly on long distance transport was chopped down and the emerging bus market has shaken things up considerably. Bus operators are massively undercutting the train fares and are often charging around a quarter of what a regular train ticket costs. With my train discount card expired (no […]
Land Day
Yesterday evening I got into a conversation with an Israeli guy, also staying at the hostel. As was my plan for this trip, I enquired about his views on the country, the history and the current situation. He is a student at the Jerusalem university and described his political position as left-liberal. He gave me […]
Home Sweet Home
Roughly 20 months after moving out of my flat in Karlsruhe, I now have a place on my own for the first time since. It is a 1 bedroom/studio apartment on the edge of the CBD. It’s close to all the amenities and comes with a balcony and a view over West Auckland, the bay […]
Muay Thai
In Thailand Muay Thai or Thai boxing has a role similar to that of soccer in South America. It is a way for children from underprivileged families to become famous and earn loads of money. The sport’s Mecca is the Lumpini stadium in Bangkok where the highest prize money is paid and tickets cost up […]