My last night in Serbia was dominated by apprehension, since I had read only on my last day in this schizophrenic country that all foreigners have to register with the local police within 24 hours of arrival. I decided to go to the immigration office and ask some vague questions. The man in charge was more than unfriendly, being very impatient and highly irritable having to deal with me and my questions. He said I would have to pay a hefty fine, but he didn't know exactly how much. In reply to my asking what would happen if I didn't pay and tried to leave the country, he said coldly: "Then you have problem at the border". In reality it wasn't all too bad. I slept for the best part of the bus journey and only ... read more

No visit to Italy is complete without a side trip to San Marino, or so I thought, at least. But what exactly is it with this country? Many people, especially outside Europe, wouldn't even know what to make of it when asked about San Marino. But Sanmarinese claim that many Italians don't even realize that this tiny enclave is actually independent, and not a part of Italy. The Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino occupies 61km² in the Apennine Mountains, which makes it two and a half times smaller than Liechtenstein, but three times bigger than the island group of Tuvalu. A mere 10km away is the Adriatic Coast, but the Republic is landlocked and completely surrounded by Italy. The 30,000 inhabitants take great pride in the fact that their country is the oldest sovereign state and ... read more

So after almost 11 months on the road, countless km travelled by foot, on cars, buses, trains, boats and planes on five continents, going one time around the world, contracting diarrhea, having several infections, getting bitten by thousands of blowflies and mosquitoes, and stung by contaminated needles, spending four days in hospital, and getting really pissed off more times that I can count at locals and 'fellow' travellers alike, I decided to change my plans and go home for Christmas. Basically I was caving in. A Portuguese would call the feeling that I had 'saudade', which is more than just homesickness, and as untranslatable without explanations as the German 'Gemuetlichkeit'. It was also a longing for decent food, clean toilets, hot showers, comfortable beds, clean sheets, and basic safety. The fact that I'd never spend Christmas ... read more

So we've made it to the capital, after some long and arduous boat and bus rides through the lower half of the country, which I daresay is way too long. The last entry featured us exclusively on the big island of Chiloé, where we spent some pleasant days looking at a variety of wooden churches throughout the island, sampling a wide range of empanadas, sandwiches and papas fritas, and wondering when the hell those fucking Spaniards in our hospedaje would finally shut up. We then went on to truly German country, the Lago Llanquihue, which was settled by a myriad of krauty Prussians in the middle of the 19th century, leaving their mark through churches reminiscent of the ones back in the Reich, a broad range of recipes for kuchen, and a fondness of punctuality and ... read more

Boo-yah, the last couple of weeks were kinda fun, I reckon. We're still in Argentina, going on to Chile soon. After Buenos Aires we went to Mendoza on a 13-hour bus ride. Very nice city. Next stop was San Rafael, where we did a small tour to a Canyon nearby, which was quite nice. Just the perpetual staring of the people on the tour was a bit annoying, and I have no idea why mullets and blue tracksuits are popular...with Argentinian girls. We then went on to Puerto Madryn via Neuquén. Madryn is the city where everybody goes to do Whale Watching, Penguin Molesting, and Robbenkloppen, so we joined in with the mindless hordes in happy snapping and being easily amused. We also drank Welsh tea in a settlement called Gaiman. Oh, and the Penguins tried ... read more