Flood fear

The city centre is blocked with sand bags, many stores have their entrances walled up to different height. You need a wooden footbridge to get to some of them. To get to the consulate you need to jump over a little wall too. A big shopping mall presents piles of sand bags as if they...

Visa for Burma (Myanmar)

These two names are a little bit confusing because both names of the country  are still in use. The current regime uses the latter one. Firstly, a night visit to find the way to the consulate, sencondly, the first thing in the morning time for the queueing. We are experienced in that, ...

Surprise in Berlin

The farewell to Poland is in thick mist. Maybe it's better not to see what we are heading for. As of now, our destination is Berlin Tegel. Getting at the airport on time. There an ugly surprise no 1 is waiting for us (I'm going to number them expecting more to come, as far as I know life).  ...

Before departure

We've been "sitting on  suitcases", as the Polish idiom is saying, for a week now. Too many items to pack down, too many papers to prepare, too many things to think about.  What a pain in the neck! But we're still smiling having in mind what's coming up.

Ko Samet Island

Ko Samet used to be an island - a national park. Today, there are hotel complexes and a large number of tourists of all kinds. Those are  mainly unsightly British or Australians and tipsy Russians walking around the island, to the restaurants and shops wearing only underwear or bathing suits. Koh S...

Chiang Mai - Wat Phra That Do

 A beautiful temple Wat Phra That Doi was built in the thirteenth century on the side of a mountain - Doi Suthep. The construction site was pointed by an elephant which had been freely let go with a relic of the Buddha attached to his back. The tired animal died half the way to the top, which was c...

Chiang Mai - Elephants and Tigers

The Elephant Training Centre Maetaeng offered performances with elephants pulling big logs, playing soccer and performing a number of tricks, including painting flowers and self-portraits with the painter's signature. We were also in the Kingdom of the Tiger where we could make a choice of which  s...

Chiang Mai - Thd Gardens

Chiang Mai - New Town - was once known as the Rose of the North of Thailand. It also was the capital of Siam for fifty years. Within the walls of the city is located about 300 temples and a few dozen in the area beyond them. Do not be afraid! We have not seen them all! We visited a number of import...