Cagney

I arrived in Riga around 6:30am on the Friday. My ticket gave the impression that I would be changing buses in Vilnius, Lithuania, at 4:30, however, at 5:30, we had not stopped. I became a little concerned until I noticed street signs indicating that I was headed in the direction of Riga. I took a taxi to the Naughty Squirrel hostel, where I was greeted by a woman named Wendy. She showed me a city map and advised numerous places of interest. I went out for a walk, stopped for breakfast at a bakery called Martin's, then kicked back and relaxed in the common area of the hostel until my room was ready. I showered, pottered around and laid down for a while. I slept for perhaps half an hour before I was awoken by a ... read more

I slept on-off for the duration of the journey here before the attendant shook me awake (rather aggressively, in fact) to inform me that we were approaching Vitebsk. I'd already set my alarm anyway, so I dozed back off until it sounded. I swiftly hopped into a taxi outside the station and was driven to Mariya's apartment. It was so amazing to see her again! Despite being a busy new mother, she had made me a dinner of chicken, mashed potato and salad. It went down a treat! We sat chatting for a while before tiredness overcame me and I turned in. On Sunday morning, Mariya prepared a delicious breakfast, then we set out for a walk around town with baby Nikka and Mariya's niece, Paulina. Vitebsk is situated in the north-east of Belarus, close to ... read more

So, shortly after completing my last blog entry on the bus to Warsaw, I received a wonderful phone call from the woman I originally spoke to at Munich airport regarding my lost luggage. It had been found! Of course, I was on my way out of Germany by this point, so the woman arranged to have it delivered to my hostel in Poland. I gave her the address, thanked her for making my day and did my little in-head victory dance. I was originally intending to just get off the bus in Warsaw and rock up to some hostels in search of somewhere to stay, so it's lucky I pre-booked! Everything happens for a reason, eh? The bus ride was pretty straight-forward, again, very unlike any in Asia. We had regular toilet stops (even though there ... read more

Arriving in Ingolstadt, I felt every muscle in my body relax. My long-arse journey had reached its end. This is one instance when I revoke my usual belief of 'it's all about the journey' and thought "thank f*ck I've arrived". Suzanna drove us back to her place, and in my zombie-like state, we spent an hour or so comparing opinions and sharing stories on our teaching experiences, then I did something I've been longing to do for the past 30-odd hours: I took a steaming hot bubble bath. And oh my goodness, it was goooood! I could have laid in there for hours, but knowing I'd probably fall asleep, waking up cold and to the sounds of Suzanna and Christian banging on the door, needing to get ready for work, I made it brief. Ish. I ... read more

So, rather than give a blow-by-blow account of the multi-leg, 37 hour door-to-door, soul-destroying journey from Kathmandu to Munich, during which I glided around five airports and four planes in an Ed Norton in Fight Club-style insomniac trance, I decided to just make notes of random thoughts and conversations that took place along the way: Seriously bitch, jumping the queue by one person will not get you to Delhi any quicker. Why is there a pigeon in departures? Why am I the only person shocked by the pigeon in departures? Hmm....let me have a healthy dinner tonight. "Can I have an iced cafe latte, a Caesar salad with extra cheese, and a Boston nut brownie, please?" Doh! In fairness, though, I didn't expect the brownie to come covered in warm chocolate sauce! Three hours down; six ... read more