On January 26th Aussies celebrate the landing of the first fleet in Sydney Cove in 1788. Indigenous groups claim it should be called mourning day or invasion day. They probably have a point there. We were invited by the sister of a friend of Susan to celebrate in the traditional Aussie way: With beer and […]
Scenic Train Ride
Thanks to (another) strike of Deutsche Bahn train drivers, I ended up on a different connection on my trip to the north. Took only 1.5 hours longer and provided some nice views along the river Rhine valley. Small cities, vineyards and a castle every kilometre or so. Definitely one of the most scenic rides I […]
Volcanic Sunrise
It is surprising how many people get up in the middle of the night to climb a volcano. My friend and I were two of them. After a 2:00am pick up, we were delivered to the bottom of Mount Batur at 4:00 sharp. With two hours to go until sunrise, we set out on the […]
Ramallah relaxed
After the initial shock of the noisy market in front of the hostel, I found Ramallah to be a very relaxed and calm city. People in the streets are friendly and I get a lot of “Welcome” and “Hello”. Not a lot of tourists around here. Later in the day I met up with a […]
Hiking Slovakia #2
With amazing forested hills just outside the door, there was no way we wouldn’t go for another hike today. This time we benefited from frequent local trains that run up-and-down the eastern side of the Little Carpathians. With countless stops to choose from, we opted to exit at Svätý Jur (Sweaty You). Through a small […]
Bangkok to Yangon
Can’t believe I’ve already left Bangkok again. I had a couple of really good days and (as usually) was reluctant to leave Thailand. But with Myanmar calling, it was much easier to leave. I had an 11:30 flight out of BKK’s old airport, Don Mueang, which in terms of facilities isn’t exactly up to speed […]