Eastern Europe trip by train

This article is more about the discoveries and the people met during the trip. Less about the trains.

Yeah, that's a train ride alright. In Bulgaria. Shaky.

Interrail in the Balkans

This time, I thought, let's try something new.

So after quite a lot of evaluating and contradicting, I finally gave in and bought an Interrail Global Pass for two weeks consecutive. This means, I could ride trains every day using all the Interrail member companies for two weeks. There are plenty of different types of passes: single country, multiple days in a definite time span, etc. The most common thing they have, is that they are not valid in your country of residence, except for going out and coming back in once (only for some passes). I chose a global pass because I wanted to cover multiple countries and wanted to cover the way out of and back into Switzerland.

A wedding (or two) in India

Taj Mahal

What I kept repeating to local people, is that I was quite astonished that India was not at all like I expected it to be. And people told me that they knew the world had a bad image of India. After seeing movies like Slumdog Millionaire and hearing a lot about the overwhelming poverty in India, I arrived there positively surprised.

The Philippine Islands - Part III

El Nido was again rainy as in rain season. But this was also because it was not only rainy season but also typhoon season. We had a typhoon sweeping by over Manila towards Japan rippling some rainy effects upon us.

The view from Aquanaut and Camembert rocking the rain

The Philippine Islands - part II

In Puerto we stayed in Villa Travelista Travel Lodge, a small homestay type of accommodation run by the family living there. We stayed there for two nights with the husband and wife and their latest daughter. If I remember well, they had 4 daughters and maybe even a son. Two of the daughters were Miss Palawan at least. The latest was more interested in watching TV at home. The lodge is located out of tourist's way. I quite enjoyed it, although it was full of mosquitoes.

From Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Une traditionnelle maison sur pilotis

Juste avant 6h, je me suis réveillé et j'ai pu éteindre l'alarme de mon réveil pour empêcher de réveiller tout l'hôtel. Je devais être prêt pour mon pickup à 6h30 en bas. Le bus n'est arrivé que près des 7h, ce qui m'a permis de discuter un moment avec le propriétaire écossais. Il était prof d'anglais principal dans une école avant de prendre sa retraite quelque peu anticipée.

From Bangkok to Siem Reap

To enter Vietnam overland, I found out on Internet, that it was better to have a visa before getting to the border. So during my stay in Bangkok, I decided to go the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to apply for a visa. On Internet I also found a government website where you could buy apply and pay for your visa. But it said it's only for air travelers. The price mentioned, was something like USD 45 for the visa, and USD 17 for the letter of approval, totaling USD 62. But at the embassy, wanting to pay USD 62 in US Dollars, they told me I had to pay 2'500 Baht (about USD 80). So I went to change my USD to Baht at a nearby bank.

Hua Lamphong Railway Station Bangkok

2 Days Later

Zuerst ein kleines Video:

Un autre nouveau départ

Et voila, c'est un autre nouveau départ qui s'annonce. Dans quelques jours, je repars pour de nouvelles aventures.

Photo: page Facebook des Hivernales

Ce week-end c'était les Hivernales à Nyon, festival Rock'n'Beat de la région. En tant que bénévole en décoration, le festival m'a occupé 4 jours à plein temps, voire plus. Très bons moments passés en compagnie de l'équipe de la Roulotte ainsi que quelques autres, ainsi que des milliers de festivaliers.

Maintenant il est temps de ranger les affaires, trier ce que l'on doit prendre avec, séparer ce que l'on aimerait prendre de ce qu'on a absolument besoin de prendre, remettre le reste dans les cartons et sacs de voyages divers et refermer cette porte à clé jusqu'à la prochaine étape en Suisse.

Flashpacking vs backpacking

I recently discovered I am a flashpacker when on the road.

I always knew I wasn't like all the backpackers who travel very lightly (good for them, I would enjoy the feeling for a day or two), who go local for a matter of culture and price and who do almost no tourist activity. Partly because they don't have the budget, and partly because they don't want to go where tourists go. They travel for long periods of time.

So on some points I'm still doing that, but mostly not.