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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
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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Apr 06, 2009 02:00 PM Kathmandu after years...
It was horrible night. The bus was crampy and old TATA junk. The road was bumpy and the people on the bus was not gently... It was not possible to sleep on board. -You must understand that you are carrying people, not potatoes!- I said to the driver during the first break. He was laughing, for him it was a joke...
We entered Kathmandu after 13 hours - at sunrise. My backpack was very dirty... Be happy you are here - on the lowlands they are on strike very often and then the roads are blocked! - said my neighbour. I took a little taxi to Thamel, found the quite hotel and took a shower...
Cup of coffee and then walk to the Durbar Square - the heart of the town. How is Kathmandu after 25 years? Sorry, it is not nicer! It is noisy, dusty, crowded and polluted. Many people wear face masks to avoid the smoke in the narrow streets... Sorry... The hit of the day was a walk to the Tibetan stupa in Bodnath - just few kms away - it is little enclave of the peace in the capital of Nepal... I prefere my first image of Kathmandu...
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Apr 05, 2009 02:00 PM Leaving Sikkim... entering Nepal...
I booked again the front seat in the jeep going from Pelling to Siliguri in West Bengal. They charge 175 rupees for 5-hours trip down the mountains. In Sliliguri - an important tansport hub - cycle rickshaw took me to anoteher jeep station - those cars are heading to the border of Nepal (32 km - 50 rupees).
There is only one borded crossing in Kakarvitta - they left me in front of Indian immigrations post and escaped. It was already hot afternoon when I got my exit stamp in the passport, I put my pack on my back and started to walk through the long bridge on the dry river to Nepal. Uff...
They issue Nepal tourist visas on the spot - what you need is one picture, 30 USD and one form to fill - after 10 minutes I got my visa. Bank nearby will change the rest of your Indian rupees and dollars or euro.
Welcome to Nepal!
It is 150 m from the Neleese immigrations to the Kakarvitta bus terminal. I recognized that all buses to the distant Kathmandu depart at 5 pm. It is long, 13-hours ride and they do not want to deliver you in the middle of the night... I bought the ticket - 910 Nepaleese rupees and took a shower in the one of few little hotels neat the terminal... Only one shop offers bread... It will be another night on the bus...
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Apr 04, 2009 02:00 PM I saw again Kangchenjunga - the third peak of the world!
Sikkim. You must be lucky to see Kangchenjunga 8,586 metres. I woke up at 5.30 to cook my morning tea. Then I saw through my window above the clouds the long range of white peaks. Himalaya! The central one was Kangchenjunga - third summit after Everest and K2... The spectacle took about 30 minutes, then all was covered again by the mist...
It is good idea to make a day tour from Pelling to Yuksom - the first capital of Sikkim. I found 2 companions and it cost us 10 USD per head to go by jeep with a local driver to three nice waterfalls, sacred lake and Yuksom - little, nice village "when Sikkim was born". At leat we saw some thatched houses on the high slopes and also nice, white rivers - we crossed them by suspension bridges. At the end we visited old gompa and photographed the stone throne of the first Sikkim's king. Yuksom is more atmospheric then Pelling, but you will not see Himalaya from this place...
Cold evening, brrrr... But it sems that the last one in the high mountains...
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Apr 03, 2009 02:00 PM Road to the clouds...
Sikkim. It was early morning when I said bye-bye to misty Gangtok. Our jeep was full - always try to buy a ticket a day before - you will not be cramped in the back seats... The price for the front is the same but you have here more space for the legs and a chance to take a pictures.
Narrow, but paved road was climbing mountains, up and up... to the clouds. Then little village, descent to the bridge in the valley and climbing again - more then 5 hours...
We reached Pelling in the mid-day. It is not a season so I found easily a nice room with the view from balcony for just 400 rurpees.
In the afrernoon I took a long walk to the nearest gompa - Tibetan monastery and to the ruins of Rabandtsee - the socond capital odf Sikkim (17th-19th century).
People come to Pelling mostly for the view of Mt Kangchanjunga - the third mountain of our world. Today the sky was covered by clouds. Lets wait till tomorrow...
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