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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Aug 09, 2009 02:00 PM Arctic Ocean!
It was unforgettable river journey through the pristine areas of the Yakutia. Before reaching dead port in Tiksi we were wating in a bay more than 24 hours due to the stormy weather.
Finally yesterday in the evening we landed in the Neelovo - close to Tiksi.
It is Arctica! It is cold (3-4 deg only during a day and windy. )No dark at all. At midnight we still have a sun.
Great place to be and very depressing place - because after collapse of Russian economy Tiksi port is almost dead.
A lot of empty, devastated buildings... But the nature is still wonderful... Greetings from Arctica!
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Aug 04, 2009 02:00 PM Through Siberia by riverboat...
We are all five together!
I was very happy to see toptrotters from USA: Jeff and Kevin in the Yakutsk river terminal...
Only 4 times in the short summer season the riverboat take the long way down the Lena River to the Arctic Ocean.
We are departing today.
The journey through Siberia - Yakutia take usualy 4 days but you never know...
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Aug 02, 2009 02:00 PM By boat to Lena Pillars
It is not a luxury boat - built in 1995 "Mekhanik Kulibin" offers inexpensive tours to local people. One toilet and one shower for 32 people...
I spent 3 days/2 night sailing Lena upstream to the wonderful rock formations called "Lena Pillars" At thr Pillars we diembarked and climbed the rocks (about an hour on the trail to get to the view point. Fantastic panorama!
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Aug 01, 2009 02:00 PM First day in Yakutia
Is was only 10 centigrades in the morning when we landed in Yakutsk. Primitive terminal, bumpy roads - real Wil East.
I met already 2 other globetrotters from Spain and France - our Friends from USA are not here yet - they suffer from cancelled flights.
Internet is not easy accessible, slow and expensive.
Tomorrow I will take a boat down the Lena River to the famous Lena Pillars. Aftern return (I do hope) our delayed friends will wait in Yakutsk and we will hopefully sail up the river to the Far North...
Sleep, sleep...
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Jul 31, 2009 02:00 PM Novosibirsk on the Ob river
We landed in early morning then we were waiting more then 1 hour for the luggage (shame!).
I took a bus to the center and spent all day wandering around the city of Novosibirs - the capital of Western Siberia. Especially the museum at the Lenin Place is very interesting...
Then second night on the plane - very tiring, but that's the budget's traveller life...
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Jul 30, 2009 02:00 PM Moscow end to end...
There were only 4 passengers in the bus Gdansk-Kaliningrad (50 zl pp. So we didn't spent much time at the border for formalities. In Kaliningrad city bus took me for 30 rb ti the int'l airport ( 40 min - 30 min).
Aeroflot flight to Moscow was on time, but it was junk Tupolev 154 - it was noisy and it was stinking from the toilet. Happy to land in Sheremyetyevo I took bus- metro bus connection to Domododedovo airport on the other end of Moscow. A t midnight I starter by S7 to Novosibirsk... Goes well!...
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Jul 29, 2009 02:00 PM One way ticket to... the Wild East
I am departing for the new, long voyage! The most unusual point on the route will be Tiksi - little, forgotten port on the Arctic Ocean located far north of the polar circle, at the mouth of Lena River. I want to reach Tiksi sailing down the Lena - The Queen of Siberia. To enter this area you need special permit issued by Russian authorities. You have to wait 40 days for this paper. Only few days ago I did not know if I'll get it at all... Now I know that supposedly paper is waiting in Yakutsk. Maybe they expect any extra support? (Official fee for the permit is 50 USD). In Yakutsk I'll also meet four other toptrotters from USA, Spain and France, who accepted my idea of little known Yakutia as a place of our "G5 summit" :))
After return from the Far North back to Yakutsk I would like to take the infamous Road of Bones from Yakutsk to Magadan on the Pacific coast. I will be more then 2000 kms of 4WD on destroyed road crossing the area of virgin nature. My Friend Jorge is already in Yakutsk looking for suitable truck (no public transport on the old Road of Bones). Good luck Jorge!
I do not know yet, where I'll go later. It is my first voyage without clearly defined return. There are few different options I take into consideration. One of them will be chosen in Vladivostok in accordance with my financial and physical abilities after Siberia and Kamchatka. One-way ticket only...
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Apr 09, 2009 02:00 PM Spring flowers in Wojtkowka...
It was minus 20 Celsius when I was departing in January. Now I have an early spring... Plus 18 Celsius...
Before unpacking my backpack I went to my Wojtkowka - it is doing well, nothing wrong happened when I was travelling the world. Mruczek (The Purr)- my wild cat was really happy to see me again... Mrrrruu... Spring flowers are in blossom and there is a lot of work to do - but that's what I like (just after travelling).
It is the time to rest, to enjoy Polish spring and... to think about the next travel (flying the world I collected enough miles for the airline award ticket). - You are born to travel! - said one of my good friends. Maybe he is right...
Thanks, all my friends for your congratulations. And have a great Easter time wherever you are!
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Apr 08, 2009 02:00 PM 8th Round-the-World Voyage is completed!
You have to bargain taking a taxi from Kathmandu's Thamel to the airport. Little "suzuki" should not cost you more then 300 NRP - like 4 USD. It is acceptable price even for the backpacker like me...
In the airport there were unpleasant message: I had to pay the airport tax! - 1700 NPR. Those unexpected airport taxes payable in the airport are a nightmares of the budget traveller - your smart travel agent know nothing about them. Do you remember my Quito story?...
Fortunately in KTM you can pay it by credit card... I did.
Another story was at security control: there were young, uneducated boys searching my camera bag. They were stupid and rude, but they are here in charge... They found few little safety-pins in my bag and took them. -Not allowed on the plane! (Even strict US security did not care about them). I had also there half bare of the chocolate - my emergency food. Thery decided to try it to recognize what is that!
Shame on KTM airport!
Well, we started anyway on time. I had connections in Delhi (quite well disorganized airport) Amsterdam and Warsaw.
The sun was shining when I landed in Gdansk.
Home, sweet home! 8th Round-the-World Voyage was completed. It was the longest of my eight loops, 46 starts and landings, buses, trains, boats and miles of walking... Almost 100 days of adventures. Thousands of pictures, 19 hours of video recording! I had a great time, but it is good to be home...
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Apr 07, 2009 02:00 PM Tourist Thamel and Bhuddist Swayambhunath...
Thamel quarter is like a tourist ghetto in Kathmandu. It has plenty of little hotels and guest houses, bakeries selling European breads and pastries, internet cafes (100 NRP per hour) laundries (50 NRP per kilo), travel and trekking agencies and of course souvenir shops. Walking narrow streets you are all the time bothered by localc offering their products and services... I do not like it.
I escaped to Swayambhunath - I did not visit it when I was here years ago. Yhe Bhuddist temple of Swayambhunath is situated on the top of the hill on the west outskirts of the town. From Thamel it is like half an hour walk. This temple is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. I was walking long and quite steep stairs uphill another 10 minutes acommpanied by monkeys... On the top there is white stupa with altars, praying wheels, offering places - you can stay and see crowd of local people coming there to pray... Sorry, the view of the town is poor due to the cloud of smog over it...
It is my last day in Kathmandu... Almost 100 days left since I started from Poland... I pack my backpack for departure...
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